Jam time

We went up to the orange grove this morning, John strimmed, I raked everything into heaps - hopefully to rot down and feed the land - and then picked figs for more wine.

There are lots of grape vines climbing through the orange trees, up into the fig trees too, and they are nearly ready for picking.  Most of the grapes are lovely and sweet, some of the larger bunches have some a little bit too sour still,  but we are going to pick some tomorrow and make grape jelly.  Apparently those under-ripe ones have more pectin in and so there's no need to add any.  And grapes with pips don't need pectin added as it's in the pips!   I want to do both black grape jelly and white grape jelly, don't suppose the taste is any different but the black grapes have such a rich colour.

grapes with the balsa in the background

Yesterday I made 4 jars of  peach jam, there's only so many you can eat fresh or with ice cream and although I'd love to freeze some for winter crumbles, we are running out of freezer space. If we have any space before the peaches all drop off the  trees, I'll get some sliced and frozen.