Yow!

I was walking through my usual grocery store a few days ago and,
glancing down an aisle, saw "SALE" tags on the shelves of canning supplies.

Ball Pectin was on sale. For $3.49/package. Holy cow! No wonder the
farmers' markets and other small jam makers are charging $10+ a jar for
jams. If we have a late freeze this year or if our apricot trees fail
to bloom because of a dry winter and have t o buy the fruit again, I may
not make much jam.

gloria p

gloria p wrote:
>
>
> Yow!
>
> I was walking through my usual grocery store a few days ago and,
> glancing down an aisle, saw "SALE" tags on the shelves of canning supplies.
>
> Ball Pectin was on sale. For $3.49/package. Holy cow! No wonder the
> farmers' markets and other small jam makers are charging $10+ a jar for
> jams. If we have a late freeze this year or if our apricot trees fail
> to bloom because of a dry winter and have t o buy the fruit again, I may
> not make much jam.

considering what it can be made from this is very
expensive. have you ever tried harvesting your own?

this past year was not a good year for strawberries
so i didn't have to buy much. this summer i hope it
goes better.

i'm trying to reduce my sugar intake so instead of
making jam i'm hoping to freeze crushed berries
instead. the added nice part there is that it doesn't
take pectin.

i hope the apricot tree and weather comes through
for you.


songbird

gloria p wrote:

>
>
> Yow!
>
> I was walking through my usual grocery store a few days
> ago and, glancing down an aisle, saw "SALE" tags on the
> shelves of canning supplies.
>
> Ball Pectin was on sale. For $3.49/package. Holy cow!
> No wonder the farmers' markets and other small jam makers
> are charging $10+ a jar for
> jams. If we have a late freeze this year or if our
> apricot trees fail to bloom because of a dry winter and
> have t o buy the fruit again, I may not make much jam.
>
> gloria p

It's just like home sewing now. It used to be a way to
save money (as well as ending up with a better-made
product). Now the ingredients/materials to do it yourself
costs more than the mass-produced junk. (Same thing for
woodworking and other do-it-yourself activities.)

So now instead of making it yourself to save money, you
now have to pay more for the ingredients you need as
well as providing the labor to make it.

But, yes, you do end up (usually) with a better product.

I do all my own baking. I may only break even on the
cost of the final products, but they sure do taste a
lot better than the preservative-filled, bulk frozen
junk they offer in the stores.

Another advantage, as songbird points out, is being
able to control things like sugar and salt in the
make-it-yourself items.

I haven't made jam for decades, but my homegrown
blueberries find their way into muffins, cakes, and
other baked items whenever the critters leave enough
out there for me.

Nyssa, who has seedlings popping up under her plant
light, so will be trying once again to outwit the
critters in her garden this year