I had a wonderful childhood blessed to live off the grid before off the grid was cool. It was even before solar panels came out--not that I am trying to date myself or anything...Well my mother was a gardener and preserver of food extraordinaire. She would make jams, jellies, pickles, relishes, ketchups, chutneys all summer long to store for our winter food supply. Which sounds awesome until you consider that all of the produce had to be grown by us. It meant she spent a large portion of her summer in the garden weeding and taking care of those crops. That left her little time for berry picking. That oh so fun task was assigned to us kids. At the time I hated it. Who wants to give up frolicking in the sun and playing in the mud to go pick berries. Wild strawberries are piddly and to get enough to make jam was an all day affair. Chokecherries were somewhat easier and only needed to be plucked off the trees. Thankfully saskatoon berries were so small in quantity that we never need pick them. Raspberries though we without a doubt the most worrisome berry to pick. We had to pick them in the bush or along roadsides. That meant watching out for bears. And the plants are riddled with tiny 'prickles' as they are known. Just a lot of sweating and worrying about the bears. Not fun at all save the few snuck into our mouths.
PS for those who are wondering I just use the recipe that comes with the pectin. It's so simple you can make jam in less than an hour.
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