After we finished picking in the prickly, red raspberry patch, my daughter and I were delighted to find that there were some currants ready for picking, too. We both spent time picking till the sun finally set.

We got a good crop. Of course, I wish we could have gotten twice as many as we did. These thornless bushes made the harvest painless.

 

 

 

You will notice from the photo that several berries grow on a tender, green stem.  I pick them stem and all.  Once I get them in the house, I wash them and remove the stems.

 

 

 

 

I mash the currants, add water to the berries, bring them to a boil and let it simmer 10 minutes. The juice is then strained through several layers of cheesecloth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The pectin is added to the juice and brought to a boil.  Sugar is added and the mixture is boiled again. The juice is skimmed to eliminate foam in the jelly.  The jelly is ready to ladle into prepared mason jar and processed in the canner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When finished the jelly is cooled

 

 

 

 

 

 

and labeled.

These jars of jelly will remind us of the delight of summer now and during the winter. 

photo credits: Wenda Grabau