And a very fruitful day was had at Coves Reservoir. Our original plan for the day had been to thin out some trees, but Rebecca had an extra task for us – jam making!
So, as we made our way along to path towards the woods needing thinned, we kept our eyes peeled for blackberries – or brambles are they’re more locally known.
And there were loads of them! Even taking care to pick only the ripest and juiciest (as well as avoiding any lower down near the paths that might have been ‘contaminated’ by dogs) we were quickly able to fill several cups.
The area around the reservoirs has plenty of bramble patches so we weren’t worried about depriving the local wildlife of their share, there is more than enough for all.
Nibbling on too much of our juicy berries, we arrived at our clearing, put up a tarpaulin to keep the worst of the rain and started a nice low charcoal fire.
Not wanting to neglect our main task we divided into two groups, most went to work cutting down split trunk and otherwise problematic trees, while Rebecca and I started on our jammy task.
First we gave the berries a quick wash and then put into the pot and gently crushed with a spoon. Once they were mashed down, onto the heat they went and gently stirred until it boiled.
They were very juicy indeed and we didn’t need to add any liquid to bulk it out all.
Once they had boiled for a while, we took it off the fire and added the second ingredient – sugar!
Two cupfuls were gently folded in and then the pot was back over the fire.
When you are cooking with any amount of sugar, you really do have to take care, the sugar pushes the boiling point to way above that of water, and it’s sticky – not the sort of thing you want to be splashed with.
Once boiled, we let it simmer a while and thicken while stirring, after it had thickened a bit, off the fire it came and we let it cool a while (didn’t want to burn our mouths!)
By the time everyone else had come back from their felling, it was perfect, but how would we serve it? Thankfully Rebecca was on the ball and had brought the perfect accompaniment – a loaf of bread!
A quick open air toasting later, freshly made wild bramble jam on toast was served!
The verdict? DELICIOUS!
Next week it’s our old favourite (and necessary) job – Rhoddie bashing!
Check out a video of us making jam on the Community Rewilding Twitter page www.twitter.com/TCVRewilding. Why not give us a follow while you’re there?!