Picking raspberries and raspberry jam

I have mentioned my love of picking fruits and vegetables in the past. There is something about it that I just love. It might be the fact that it gets you outdoors, perhaps I just love being around food ;), whatever it is there is no denying that it is something I could spend hours doing.

I have been telling my husband for the past week that I want to get out and pick some raspberries but life has just been so busy. He keeps telling me that instead of 'picking' raspberries it would make so much more sense if I just went out and 'bought' some. And for a few days I was starting to think he was right. When was I ever going to find the time to actually do it this year.

This morning I got up at 7am, jumped into some clothes, grabbed my fruit baskets and took a slight drive north to Whittamore Farms. On the way there I was thinking about all of the things that I need to get done today and by the time I made it to the farm I had almost convinced myself that my husband was right. It just made more sense for me to go into the store, buy the berries and get back in my car so that I could get home and start knocking things off the to-do list.

Am I ever happy I told that inner voice to shut up!

From 7:30am til just past 9am, I stood in amongst rows and rows of ripe juicy berries forgetting completely about all of the things on my to-do list, eating half of what I picked :) and just letting my mind be a blank. The birds were chirping, there was a gentle breeze and the raspberries were so ripe that they were just falling right off into my hands and into my baskets. By about the 2nd basket all you could smell was the sweet smell of fresh rasperries, and the earthy aromas of the farm. It was almost therapeutic.

And now I am home and I have half of the berries in my deep freeze to carry me through the winter and the other half washed and ready to be made into jam. I have a simple recipe that I have used for years and has never let me down. I posted it a couple of months ago using frozen berries but it is exactly the same with fresh. You will find me in the kitchen for the next couple of hours mashing away!