BLUEBERRY JAM & SHEPHERD'S PIE (ブルーベリージャムとシェパーズパイ)

Today is Marine Day.  It's a national holiday (the 3rd Monday of July) in Japan and I'm off.
In the morning we made blueberry jam for the first time this summer.  About four pounds of jam was made, and we filled the jam into jars and plastic containers.  Tomorrow I will bring the containers to the English conversation class for sharing the jam with my classmates and an English teacher.

（今日は海の日、日本では国民の祭日で、今日は仕事は休みです。今朝はブルーベリージャムをこの夏初めて作りました。およそ4ポンドのジャムが出来上がり、瓶とプラスチック容器に詰めました。明日はこのジャムを英会話教室にもっていって、クラスメイトと先生におすそ分けするつもりです。）

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For lunch we went to Cafe Little Britain, and I ordered my favorite; shepherd's pie.  My wife ordered Banoffi Pie and a trifle.  We enjoyed them together.

（お昼はカフェ・リトル・ブリテンに行って、私の好物のシェパーズパイを注文、家内はバノフィー・パイとトライフルをたのみました。一緒においしくいただきました。）

We presented seedlings of foxglove to the owner.  They will bloom beautifully next year.


（ジギタリスの苗を持っていってプレゼントしました。来年綺麗に咲いてくれることでしょう。）

click to English Garden blogs

RHUBARB JAM (ルバーブでジャム)

Rhubarb is not so popular in Japan.  It is cultivated in cooler areas, and we bought a seedlings when I visited Nagano and Yamanashi in June 2014.  The seedlings did not grow well and died.
So, we tried to grow rhubarb once again this year.  Fortunately, two seedlings has grown well in pots, and today we harvested its  stalks and made jam, of course, for the first time.  It tastes good with its sourness.


（ルバーブはあまり日本では一般的ではありません。涼しい気候の土地で栽培されていて、去年の六月に長野と山梨へ旅行に行ったときに苗をかってきました。しかしうまく育たずに枯れてしまいました。そこで今年も再度栽培をしてみました。運よく苗は植木鉢でよく育って、今日茎を収穫してジャムを、もちろん初めて、作りました。酸味がとてもおいしい味です。）

In a very hot summer, it is said to be better to grow in shade.  So I transferred the pots in the shade of a car park. We wish rhubarb survive hot summer.

（とても暑い夏では、日陰で育てたほうがよいと聞きました。それで、植木鉢は駐車場の日陰に写しました。暑い夏を乗り切ってくれるように願っています。）

click to English Garden blogs in Japan

PLUM JAM (スモモのジャム)

Today, Marple made plum jam.  About 1,100g jam from 1,400g plums without seeds.



（今日、マープルはスモモのジャムを作りました。種を除いた1.4キロから1.1キロのジャムができました。）

I made new labels and put them on jam jars.


（私は新しいラベルを作ってジャムの瓶に貼りました。）

click to English Garden blogs

BLUEBERRY JAM

This morning we harvested blueberries.  There was a shower before sunrise due to a passage of a cold front, and the air had become much dry and cooler than the last week.

Rabbiteye blueberries

Looks like a cluster of grapes！

In the afternoon, we have made blueberry jam for the first time this year.  Today's harvest was about 1,500 grammes, and 1,200 grammes were used for making jam.

It weighed 1,469 g

1,200 g blueberries + 400 g sugar

Low heat for 60 min. 

Heating has finished after 120 min

About 900 grammes of jam was divided into small jars and a plastic container.   

Each jar contains about 100 grammes.  

We tried the jam after dinner with plain vanilla ice cream, and it tasted very good!
Some of the jars will be sent to our friends with plum jam jars we made last month.

PLUM JAM

We harvested almost 4 kg of  plum 'Santa Rosa'.  Because its skin is very sour, it is better to peel the skin when you eat.  Whether its skin is removed or not at making jam is depends on preference of each.

We harvested a basket full of plums.  Agapanthus flowers are still beautiful.  

Today we have made plum jam.  Half of plum skin was removed to make it moderately sour.
After peeling its skin and removing seeds, its weight had become about 3 kg.
We haven't a large pot and therefore needed two separate processes.

Just ready for boiling with sugar

The freshly made jam tastes so sweet and sour with nice plum scent.  We bottled the jam in small jars.  We can enjoy it for a while, and some of them will be presented to our friends and neighbours.

New Labels have been printed and attached on jars.  

Growing fruits

We have several kinds of fruit trees in the garden.  The fruits including crab apple, grape, blueberry, fig, persimmon, pomegranate and 'rose hip'.

Crab apples 'Arupus-Otome'

This grape vine 'Kyoho' is very popular in Japan.  The size of fruit is large and it tastes very sweet.

Grapes

We have six rabit-eye blueberry trees.  Last year we harvested 16 kilogrammes from July to September.  My wife MARPLE made a lot of jam, and a tart.  We are looking forward to harvesting.  

Blueberries are growing. 

Blueberry tart and jam in August 2013

I found a ladybird on the rose hip.  

Rose hips of Japanese wild rose 'Rosa multiflora'