03.22.23

Around The Farm

By Dan Cook, UW Farm long-time volunteer 
 

Jamming! Part One

When my wife, Lily, and I moved from Las Vegas to Berkeley, California, we started growing tomatoes in a small 10’ x 20’ garden plot in the front of our rental house. We were soon facing what any successful urban farmer faces at some point in time, that is, the “too much produce” dilemma. We were harvesting more tomatoes than we, our friends, neighbors and co-workers could possibly consume. Our choices were 1) throw it out, which was crazy-talk after all the effort that went into growing the tomatoes in the first place, or 2) learn how to preserve it for long-term storage. Now admittedly, there was a third option which was donating to a local food bank. The problem was that we were harvesting more than we could consume but not enough to satisfy the needs of the nearby food banks. So we learned how to “can” tomatoes. This was in 2011 and we have canned tomatoes every year since then, our best year being 2021 here in Seattle when we canned over 40 quarts of fresh tomatoes.

There are many food preservation methods including water bath canning, fermenting, pressure canning, freezing, dehydrating and curing. Many people are scared to preserve food because they think it may be too difficult or complicated or dangerous. Well, let me tell you, Lily and I had no idea what we were doing when we started. We basically had step-by-step instructions from her Mom on how to can tomatoes. If you can boil water and put food in a jar, you are golden. Safety issues, as in unhygienic or contaminated food, are something to be aware of, but as we work through this process, I will point out where you need to take extra care.

This week I’m going to start by talking about how to make fruit jams, which is one of the easiest, cheapest and tastiest ways to get started with preserving food. I will give you one of my recipes that I use all the time, explain the purpose of the various ingredients, and give a rough idea how to make the jam. Next week, I will go into more detail on the jam cooking process. Now, the recipe:

Dan’s Black Mango Jam

Blackberries 1800 grams (4 pounds or 64 ounces)

Mangoes 500 grams (1 pound or 16 ounces)

Sugar 800 grams (1.75 pounds or 28 ounces)

Pectin 80 grams (0.175 pounds or 3 ounces)

Limes 2, juiced

These numbers are not set in stone but should rather be viewed as a rough guideline as you move forward in your jam-making career. More blackberries and less mango will change the final flavor, but will not ruin the final product. If you do not have mangoes, you can substitute more blackberries or peaches or whatever fruit you may have on hand. This recipe will yield roughly 6 pints of jam, which is a lot of jam! You will have jam to give to friends and family if you make much of this stuff.

Blackberries

One reason I make blackberry jam is because, in Seattle, you can’t swing a dead cat without hitting a blackberry vine. We have one blackberry vine at our house and one summer we got over 50 pounds of blackberries from it (see photo)!

Mangoes
When we lived in Berkeley, my Filipino neighbor turned me on to fresh Champagne Mangoes which he would buy by the case at a market in downtown Oakland. Tasting those fresh mangoes was a mind-blowing experience. During mango season, I always head out to the Asian Family Market at 130^th and Aurora and buy several cases of them. Lily and I peel, pit and freeze them for later use in jams and daal. That being said, if I do not have access to those mangoes, I’m happy to use these frozen ones I can get at the supermarket.

Sugar
White cane sugar does two things in jam. First, it helps with the sweetness. Second, it helps thicken the final product. I personally do not like super sweet jam, so my recipe calls for much, much less sugar than you will find if you look at other recipes. I prefer the taste of the fruit. The amount of sugar you use is something that you can play with as you progress in your jam-making career.
 
Pectin
Pectin is also a thickening ingredient that helps the jam be 'jammy'. Too little pectin and the jam tends to be runny, too much and you get something that can stand alone on a plate. You can buy pectin at most grocery stores. I use Ball Pectin. 

Limes
The limes in the recipe provide citric acid which adds a couple things to the finished jam. First, it gives a bit of an acid bite to the jam, a palate cleansing finish with every mouthful. Second, often you mix up some of the berries, sugar and the lime juice and let it sit (macerate) for a few hours before you start cooking the ingredients. This softens the fruit and draws out extra juice. This way the final jam is not too chunky. I use limes because they are cheap and like the flavor they give. However, you could use lemons, oranges, or grapefruit if you have those around the house. 
 
For next week…
That is enough for this week. Next week, I will go into detail about the process we will use to turn these ingredients into jars and jars of tasty jam!
 

Celebrating Women's History Month:
 

News and Noteworthy:

Freeway Estates Community Orchard

SPRING PLANT SALE

 
Saturday, March 25 10:00am – 1:00pm
6020 6th Ave NE, Seattle, WA 98115, USA

• Vegetable Starts,
• Native Plants, non-Native plants
• Fairy Furniture and plenty of community!

Buy a plant for a friend!

Come prepared with cash or Venmo, please support us in this important annual fundraiser!

If you are short on cash, we can barter. Please see our list of needed materials and services on our How to Help page on our website
freewayestates.org

Career Opportunities in Agriculture & Food Systems:

• Kirsop Farm hiring for multiple positions
• Food Corps accepting Applications until March 27th
• Echinacea Project Paid Summer Internships – fieldwork in Minnesota prairies.
• Multiple Positions at Tilth Alliance
• EarthCorps – multiple job opportunities 
• Red Dog Farms – Multiple positions available
• Rogue Farm Corps – Multiple positions available
• U-District Food Bank – Development Coordinator 
• WA Farmland Trust Development Coordinator

Food Access Resources

The UW Farm donates regularly to the UW Food Pantry. During peak season we also donate to nearby food banks. The links below are resources to help you or someone you know with food access.  

• UW Food Pantry: The UW Food Pantry | Any Hungry Husky (washington.edu)
• Northwest Harvest Food Donation sites: Public Drop Sites – Northwest Harvest
• University District Food Bank: Donate Food and Items – University District Food Bank (udistrictfoodbank.org)
• Food Lifeline: Volunteer – Food Lifeline

Help The Farm Grow!

Every year, we have the capacity to grow more food and increase our educational and research program at the UW, but not without your support. Every contribution goes to work immediately, helping us better serve students. Your support can sustain our momentum and help seed new opportunities for student internships, academic work, and future growth. Please consider making a gift to the Farm online

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