Strawberry Season just may be my second favorite pick-your-own offering, after apples, of course. We visited Butternut Farm in Farmington, NH, our favorite local pick-your-own farm. It is a beautiful farm and you will find Gif the farmer roaming around, visiting with his customers, answering questions, and offering help wherever needed. He and his staff have created a beautiful and aesthetically pleasing orchard that is gorgeous through and through. Last week we stopped by right before Lucy’s piano lesson and quickly picked 13 pounds of strawberries. At least four pounds were consumed throughout the day by my littles and their friends. Another 2 or so went to a strawberry rhubarb pie which my daughter claimed to be, “the best one yet.” And 4 more pounds were used for my very first adventure into jam-making!

I used this recipe from Allrecipes.com after Google searching for a jam recipe without pectin. I mashed my strawberries using a chopper and heated my mix slowly as one reviewer suggested. Once I kicked the heat up to high, it boiled almost immediately but took a LOT longer than I expected to reach 220 degrees. I sanitized my jars but did not process them in a water bath. Instead, I turned them upside down as soon as they were sealed and left them like that for 10 minutes. I didn’t make enough to need preserving because I had intended on giving most of it away but the added measure and refrigeration should keep this batch good long enough for us to eat a couple of pints. The remaining jars were given away as gifts. I will be returning to Butternut Farm next week to make a batch for preserving and hopefully I’ll have this adorable little helper by my side again!