Jelly Time!

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Avatar for JonicaBradley
3 years ago

lead image: jars of jelly being sealed in a canning pot

We harvested grapes this year instead of letting the birds have them. The birds got some but we got more.

Faced with a choice between fermenting for juice, fermenting for wine, or making jelly, I chose jelly!

Harvested grapes

Two of our grapevines produced this year. One, the oldest vine, has been here since Keith's grandmother was still alive and making jelly. Over 20 years ago!

I think it's a concord grape. A purple variety with seeds.

Grandma's grapevine

Grandma's Vine is hard to see with all the green behind it and leaves from the mulberry tree surrounding it. Keith thinks this vine might've been here as early as 1979.

There's still some dispute over the grapevine in the garden.

Garden grapevine

When we first moved here, in 2010, we had cousins of growing table grapes and growing pasture raised chickens for sale.

We had over 100 chickens!

Chickens following me into the feed shed

We had 25 grape vine seedlings.

What we city kids didn't know was chickens will eat and scratch at every and any thing. If there's lose dirt, they'll scratch it. If there's wet dirt, they'll scratch it. If there's dry dirt they'll make holes and take a dirt bath in them.

If a tiny leaf pokes out of a stem, they'll peck it. Even if they don't eat it, they peck it. We also had about 25 tomato plants planted that year. After the chickens got finished, we had some lovely tomato sticks! They were still alive but they never put on leaves or flowers and certainty no fruit. The grape vine seedlings were scratched up and pecked. Sometimes we didn't even have sticks left. Just holes in the ground.

We gave up on the idea of growing table grapes for a while. Wet focused on growing chickens for meat and eggs and fencing off our garden area.

I learned how to kill, clean, and dress a chicken.

My mother-in-law teaching me how to clean a chicken.

I learned how to package out for the freezer and how to butcher it for the getting pan or the soup pot.

The first few times, I cried really hard. After that, I just cried on the inside.

My mother-in-law and I had some fun while she was teaching me.

Chicken puppet doing a chicken dance.

Ultimately we discovered people around here don't want to buy pasture raised chickens. They are too small, too tough (from running around eating bugs, grape vines, and tomato plants!), and too expensive. In the big cities, a pasture raised chicken would sell for between 10 and 15 dollars. They could get ginormous chickens for relatively cheap. They didn't care how or where they were raised. They didn't care what chemicals and artificial crap was injected into their fast growing, barn or cage raised chickens!

We gave up on selling pasture raised meat chickens.

I focused instead on selling pasture raised eggs. Even then, people didn't like to pay 7 to 10 dollars a dozen. That's what we would get in a city like Austin or Los Angeles. Not around here!

I was collecting baskets full of eggs every morning.

I got $3/dozen at first, but bumped it up to $4/ dozen and $5/18 pack.

I had a few loyal customers, but ultimately it didn't pay for the feed the chickens needed. As they slowly died off or disappeared because of predators I just didn't replace them.

For several years I was down to a much more manageable 30 chickens, then 20, then 12, until finally I only had one old hen.

There's a funny story here. For a few weeks my husband and I have been hearing a rooster crow in the back. I kept looking at my pullets trying to figure out which one was actually a cockerel. This morning I finally saw the chicken that was crowing like a rooster. It was my old laying hen! I guess she's trying to tell the youngsters who is the boss.

Seven of the new pullets

I bought 10 replacement pullets, one of which died recently. I'm not sure what it does from. I think maybe a lack of some B vitamins. It couldn't stand. But it had been fine for a few months before!

Little ChickChick. I tried so hard to save it. It didn't make it through the night.

Currently I have one old hen who lays an egg maybe once or twice a week. And 9 pullets who aren't yet laying. And 1 turkey hen who is sitting on a clutch of eggs. There's no boy turkey any more, so those eggs won't be fertilized. But PomPom is still trying to make them hatch!

Ok. Back to the grape vines. The one in the garden is of unkown type.

Keith bought several more grape vines and planted them. One in the garden. A few out front along our front yard fence. None of them made it.

The vines planted along the fence didn't make it.

He bought more and planted one in the garden and one in the yard. He was buying the seedless table grape varieties.

The vine in the yard has put on lots of plant and leaves but has never truly fruited.

The grapevine in the front yard.

At some point during this grapevine buying and planting and not growing, he took a cutting from Grandma's old grapevine and planted it in the garden.

I can't remember if that is the vine that's growing or if it was one of the purchased seedless "table" varieties that's growing there.

They look like exactly the same kind of grape to me, so I think it's from the cutting. Keith insists it is not. Rather, it is a vine seedlings he purchased.

So. The garden grapevine type is in dispute.

And my jelly recipe calls for certain specific types of grape, such as Concord, among others. That's the kind of grape Welch's uses for their grape juice and grape jelly.

After harvesting the grapes, we had to pull them off the stems, rinse them, smash them, and boil then down into juice. It was pretty hot that day and I didn't fancy boiling anything. It would beat up the house and make us all miserable.

Grapes pulled off the stem and rinsed, ready to go into the crock pot.

I put the grapes into a crock pot and added just a little water. I put the pot on low temperature and mashed them up a lot. I continued mashing then throughout the day. When all the color was leached out of the skins, the juice was ready to be stained.

I strained the juice and put it in a glass container in the refrigerator to allow the sediment to fall to the bottom over the next 24 hours.

Grape juice with sediment sticking to the side of the glass container. Next to it is fresh milk and you can just see a plate of tomatoes and peppers hiding on the lower shelf.

I set a huge canning pot full of water to boil on the stove.

Huge canning pot. The jelly jars get sealed in boiling water. They'll last a few years in the pantry.
I took this picture after I sealed the jars. You can tell a little bit of jelly seeped out of one or more jars. The water is tinted purple The jar rack sinks into the pot leaving about 2 inches of boiling water over the jars .

After the sediment fell to the bottom of the jar I measured out 5 cups of juice and added it to a pot. I sprinkled 1 package of pectin into the juice and brought it to a roiling boil.

Pectin (and sugar) is what makes the jelly firm

While the juice and pectin were heating up, I measured 7 cups of sugar into a big bowl.

After the juice reached a rolling boil, I added the sugar slowly, stirring it so it would dissolve.

I brought that to a rolling boil and let it boil for exactly 1 minute.

Finally, I ladled the hot juice into the jelly jars.

I used a two piece lid, called lid and ring, to close the jars of hot jelly juice. I only tightened them "finger tip tight." One per more of the rings must've come loose in the roiling, boiling water.

The jars stayed in the canning pot under 2 inches of boiling water for 5 minutes. After that, it was time to take the jars out, wipe them off, and let them cool. Even had one of the rings not loosened, I would still wipe the jars. We have a lot of hard scale in our water. Maybe calcium, maybe lime. We have a well and our water is chlorine and flouride free. And delicious!

It definitely leaves a white residue on the outside of the lids and jars. So, I wipe them down.

Grape jelly cooling on s towel. I can't wait to try some. I must wait 24 hours for it to completely cool.

The jelly is made. The jars are coming on the counter. My stomach is growling and my mouth is drooling. I am looking forward to some biscuits with butter and jelly.

Several years ago I fermented the grapes and made a bubbly grape juice. I also made biscuits.

I love hot, fresh, homemade biscuits with butter and jelly on top.

Sourdough biscuits ready to go into the oven.

I made delicious sourdough biscuits last year.

Huge sourdough biscuits

I don't currently have a sourdough starter, but this jelly would make it worth it to start a batch.

I'm using this story as a PromptlyJonica submission. Fruits of Labor

Please see my profile for that prompt and others you might be interested in, including a complete list of all the prompts linked in order.

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3 years ago

Comments

Hey Jelly YOU are so funny. I am waiting for your jelly. I eat it with Bread.😁

$ 0.00
3 years ago

You and your mother in law both are so cute.It's look nice that how she teaching about cleaning the chikhen.It's great that you saaw us a chicken dance,hahahaha. Great job..

$ 0.02
3 years ago

It helps me to learn when I have fun.

$ 0.00
3 years ago

It's really nice to have a little farm or plot to plant with and you can raise animals as well. The chickens are cute following you haha. Grapes looks yummy 😋! Nice work.

$ 0.03
3 years ago

I do love it here.

$ 0.00
3 years ago

Real great job mam. You should have a wonderful time as you are connected to nature....growing of chickens and grapes 🍇. The step-by-step procedure of how to make grape jelly is just excellent. Any layman will understand. Have a great day.

$ 0.03
3 years ago

You, too. Thanks.

$ 0.00
3 years ago

wow a very wonderful life in farm, i really love to stay and live in farm, its very quit place at far away from polluted city, farmlife is the most beautiful life ever

$ 0.03
User's avatar Amz
3 years ago

I agree!

$ 0.00
3 years ago

Please send some Jelly to me 😅😅🤣🤣🤣 Those bottled ones look so delicious :0

$ 0.06
3 years ago

I would love to try those sourdough biscuits you made. First time hearing about thise kinds of bread or biscuits. If I live there, I guess I'll never run out of foods to eat. Haha!

$ 0.03
3 years ago

If you lived here, I'd be cooking for you!

$ 0.00
3 years ago

I would love that!

$ 0.03
3 years ago

Wow, your place is beautiful, this is also what I want in my future to take care of animals and then sell them. I also want to try planting grapes so I'm not sure if we can benefit hahha. Thank you for this idea. Godbless po moreeee animals to come.

$ 0.03
3 years ago

I can't wait until it's time to breed the goats again. Baby goats are so cute.

$ 0.00
3 years ago

Very nice, maybe more sweet than just eating as it looks.

$ 0.00
3 years ago

Woahh it looks like you're a great and fantastic cook, I wanted also to taste some of your special recipes, wahh I really love foods. And also that jelly is kinda uniwue for me, I've never heard that preparation before.

$ 0.03
3 years ago

I also love all the food.

$ 0.00
3 years ago

It's pretty yummy.

$ 0.00
3 years ago

Wow I really love to try your jelly Ms. Jonica my mouth watered seeing your preparation 😁

$ 0.03
3 years ago

It's quite delicious!

$ 0.00
3 years ago

From the looks of it, I bet it surely is. 🤤

$ 0.00
3 years ago

Pasture-raised chickens are yummier when grilled :) In the province where I grew up, we burn leaves near our trees so they would bear fruit. I think it is not applicable there.

$ 0.03
3 years ago

It's very dry here. It's dangerous to burn anything. This is a stage year because it's been very wet. When I started at the temple in Laos we would do all the leaves into a pile and burn them.

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3 years ago

Yes, it may start a wildfire so better be safe than sorry. I think Laos is a very interesting country. It is pretty much like Philippines I guess.

$ 0.03
3 years ago

Both are in South East Asia. So, yes.

$ 0.00
3 years ago

I have loved farming from when I was a child. The area of keeping birds/poultry is. more fascinating for me. Sometime during the dry season snakes, black in color, mostly cobra do come to kill the chicks or eat up their eggs. Until we discovered some anti-snake flowers that chased the snakes away naturally. I can tell it anywhere. Farming is fun. I remember those times when we had to plant corn, melon, and cassava in one farm space. It was just like having to nurture your kids and see them grow before your eyes. This post brings back those memories.

$ 0.03
3 years ago

Marigolds help to keep the snakes away. And mothballs. We can get mothballs that come in little sacks so the chickens don't eat them. Usually, if I see a snake (nonvenomous) I just catch it and take it down the road. We have a lot of bull snakes. One, recently, ate 7 of my baby turkeys before I found it. That particular snake died. I was so upset.

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3 years ago

Woah 😍 there are still people who do hard work for having healthy and own produced food. Why the color of eggs are different 🤔

$ 0.03
3 years ago

The eggs come out of the chicken that way, depending on their breed.

$ 0.00
3 years ago

I feel this post is incomplete. I saw no picture of jar tongs, anywhere. People who need this level of detail need to see jar tongs. Otherwise they might believe you are superhuman and just used your hands.

$ 0.03
3 years ago

I'll get on that! I have 2 pair.

$ 0.00
3 years ago

Waoo colourful eggs looks really beautiful. Very interesting article. I enjoyed ot a lot.

$ 0.03
3 years ago

It is Kinda you have skills of making jelly and you can make most of things you need rather than Purchase from market. I am sad from story of Rooster hens started from 100 and now one. Predator causes a lot of damage if we didn't care. Your grand-mother in law is so luck to have such a learning mind. I kinda get learning for making jell and I try my best to prepare this in next days.

$ 0.03
3 years ago

She has taught me a lot.

$ 0.00
3 years ago

Looking at those eggs is so beautiful. Those different colors makes it even look more lovely.

$ 0.03
3 years ago

There's a lady who buys them just to display. She doesn't eat eggs. She just thinks they're pretty.

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3 years ago

Such an amazing farm and thank God for good reward. You really invested time in Agriculture and it's yielding for you ma'am.

$ 0.03
3 years ago

I am amazed at the vast expanse of your farm. Everything is pretty much there for your needs. That's the life that I would want for sure. Those jellies and chickens are awesome!

$ 0.03
3 years ago

It's definitely a dream come true. It's also a huge learning curve. Neither of us were raised on a farm. We're city kids.

$ 0.01
3 years ago

This is amazing. Having a poultry and farming together awww such a nice view every morning and it would be such a great routine to harvest something from it. I am also loving the vibe between you and your mother in law. And the grape jelly is mouthwatering as well. Would love to try doing it if the cost of the grapes here drops.

$ 0.03
3 years ago

I only make jerky from the stuff we harvest. Plum, cactus, and spicy jalapeno are my favorites.

$ 0.00
3 years ago

You and your mother really have a lot to in your hands to handle. I love Poultry farming a lot and I have few fowls and chicks

$ 0.03
3 years ago

She loves far away, but when she comes to visit we have fun doing stuff.

$ 0.00
3 years ago

I mean, this post had a little bit of everything in it. From 100s of chickens to practically none and a hen who thought she was a rooster. Tomato plants to sticks, but no tomatoes. Mother-in-laws and posing pre-cooked chickens. Biscuits...

Oh, and let's not forget the jelly. We can't forget the jelly. That was really the main thing wasn't it? lol

$ 0.03
3 years ago

It was intended, but I rambled a bit.

$ 0.01
3 years ago

No worries. Your rambles were interesting enough that I kept reading them. lol

$ 0.03
3 years ago

Well. My work here is done.

$ 0.01
3 years ago

This article showcases the beauty of farming, a hardworking farmer like yours have a lot to smile about during harvest

$ 0.03
3 years ago

True. I don't like cleaning up after, though!

$ 0.00
3 years ago

Speaking of fruits of labour hahahaha. Wow. I didn't know grape vine live that long and that's remarkable.

I noticed a purple egg or was it the camera, Mama?

So good to see your face and smile with the chicken puppet dance 😂😂🤣😂🤣

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3 years ago

The eggs were white, pink, brown, green, and blue. I still have one green egg layer left. I'm not sure what color the new chickens will lay. Either brown or white is my guess.

$ 0.01
3 years ago

Wow. I am used to seeing the white. My first time of seeing another colour.

$ 0.03
3 years ago

It just depends on the breed of chicken. Auracauna's and Ameracauna's lay the blue and green eggs. The others are all in a range of brown. There's one chicken that lays a dark chocolate brown. I want those, too.

$ 0.01
3 years ago

Wow. I never knew this, mama. Thank you so much for this, ma.

I really hope you get that type too. I doubt I can get those around here.

$ 0.03
3 years ago

Oh, my these biscuits look so yummy! Madam Jonica is a great housekeeper besides from writer :D Butter biscuits jelly time!

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3 years ago

maybe for breakfast!

$ 0.00
3 years ago

You have plenty of harvest... Grapes 🍇, eggs 🥚,. Chicken 🐔 and a bonding time with your mother in law while cleaning the chicken turned into a chicken dance 😅

$ 0.03
3 years ago

It was a good time.

$ 0.00
3 years ago