Life on a little urban homestead in the making, with ideas for self-sufficiency, Permaculture, DIYing, organic gardening, food preservation, Chicken keeping, cookery, crafts, thrifting and more...

Aug 15, 2013

Organic Choke Cherry Jelly


Organic Choke Cherry Jelly-
This spring I could tell I was going to get a bumper crop of choke cherries. Last year I got a handful, this year Dave picked 1 1/2 quarts! Since I was gimpy I had him put them in the freezer until they had all ripened. Nice and plump. That way I could process them all at once. So today was jelly time! Lots of stems to pick off, then wash, then make the juice. While this is a bit labor intensive I really LOVE the flavor. I used this recipe Chokecherry Jelly and added a little almond extract, a pinch of salt, and butter (to cut down on foaming). I got a much bigger batch this time and tasted wonderful! It set up nicely and I listened to pinging the last couple of hours. I was hesitant when I first planted the shrub, since I'd never tasted choke cherries. Glad I tried it! It's easy to plant and no maintenance except watering. Now THAT'S my kind of food production!


Ellie on bug patrol

Little Blackie left (named after the pony in True Grit) and Molly right (for the Unsinkable Titanic chick)



4 comments:

Endah Murniyati said...

Thanks for sharing pictures and information. Interesting blog. Thank you

Unknown said...

Thanks Endah! I love your gardens! :)

Sunny Simple Life said...

The jelly looks so beautiful. I have never had a choke cherry before. You hens look very happy in the garden.

Michelle said...

My husband loves choke cherry. Every year we go home ( black foot Idaho)to go hunting. His stepmother always makes choke cherry syrup for him. I think he would go home just for that.

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