I'm very inspired by the group Not Far From the Tree, who gather volunteers to harvest fruit and sap that would otherwise go to waste from Toronto trees. They share it with community groups and with the volunteers and I think they do a wonderful thing.
For the last 5 years, I've worked near a tree that exploded with mulberries every year. The tree looks ancient, and 80% of its berries are out of reach to a shorty like me. Every year I told myself I'd get a ladder and some coworkers and shake that shit down.
Last week most of my coworkers and I found out we were being laid off next month. So now or never, right?
I made this jam from between 6 and 8 cups of mulberries, and I got six small jam jars full--that's enough to share with all the gleaners, and an extra one for me to eat with my welfare cheese in a few months (just kidding)
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| Kate, Mike and Liz star in 'The Gleaning" - Photo by Carly |
I kind of flew by the seat of my pants for this jam...there really aren't many mulberry jam recipes out there.
All told, it took about 5 hours (phew) of stemming, washing, boiling and jarring. I added a pinch of cinnamon and allspice because I was curious, and it turned out very well! I think you can use any basic jam recipe, with or without pectin, and this will work.
I see many more jams in my future!
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