It’s definitely preserving season again as I’ve been holding onto this post for about a month. However, it’s not to late to visit a local u-pick farm to pick the freshest and sweetest blueberries to preserve for the winter ahead.
My family adores blueberries especially in our pancakes. After picking over 13lbs of blueberries, I froze many of them to use throughout the winter and I also made nourishing blueberry jam naturally sweetened with local raw honey.
Blueberries are native to North America. They range in size and color and have a protective wax coating. They are a powerhouse when it comes to nutrition. Loaded with vitamin c, manganese, fiber and vitamin e. According to Worlds Healthiest Foods…
Blueberries are packed with antioxidant phytonutrients called anthocyanidins, blueberries neutralize free radical damage to the collagen matrix of cells and tissues that can lead to cataracts, glaucoma, varicose veins, hemorrhoids, peptic ulcers, heart disease and cancer.
By eating 3 servings of fruit a day, including a 1/2 cup of blueberries, you can help prevent colon cancer, ovarian cancer, macular degeneration and increase your overall digestive health. It’s a win win situation when you snack on natures candy.
Below are a couple of ways to preserve blueberries.
Freezing Blueberries
The easiest way to preserve your blueberries to use throughout the winter is to freeze them. Once frozen you can use them on pancakes, topped on yogurt/granola or as an icy cool snack for the kids. It’s so simple to do you’ll probably want to rush to your local u-pick farm!
Method:
- Rinse your blueberries to rid of any dirt or bugs.
- Place them on a towel and roll them back and forth until they are dry.
- Place in a large cake pan or other flat surface and put them in the freezer or deep freeze. (This will ensure that they do not stick together in one massive clump)
- Once they are frozen you can pack them in ziplock bags and keep them in the freezer.
Nourishing Blueberry Jelly Sweetened with Local Raw Honey
From Stocking Up, The Third Edition of the Classic Preserving Guide
Makes about 10 – 1/2 pints of blueberry jelly
Ingredients:
- 3 quarts blueberries (6 1/2 cups mashed blueberries)
- 3 1/4 tsp Pectin (included in Pamona’s Universal Pectin)
- 3/4 cup local raw honey
- 6 tsp lemon juice
- 6 1/2 tsp calcium solution (included in Pamona’s Universal Pectin)
- 10 1/2 pint canning jars with lids and bands
- Canning Equipment
Method:
- Stir pectin into the honey until completely mixed.
- Combine the mashed blueberries and lemon juice in a large pot or pan and bring to a boil.
- Stir in the pectin-honey mixture and return to a boil.
- Stir in the calcium solution and remove from the heat.
- Check firmness with a jelly test.
- Ladle into jars and seal in a hot water bath for 10 minutes.
This post is a part of Two for Tuesdays 😀 Due to time constraints I’m no longer able to host Two for Tuesdays at my own place. That’s okay, I still LURVE the woman involved and support every step they take to spread the Real Food Love! Besitos Amigas 😉
This post is also a part of Simple Lives Thursday which I am still hosting and the new Nourishing Jams, Jellies, Preserves and More Blog Hop.
I've had no luck finding local blueberries in SE Wisconsin, but I think I've still got time!
I love that pictures of your son. Too cute!
I guess fall is finally making its debut soon! Love the raw honey sweetener.
Las mermeladas caseras son una delicia. Saludos
So funny how we wind up holding on to posts. I literally have a folder with about a half dozen posts waiting to be finished and published. August is the season of bounty and there is so much to do. I am getting it all done and there might be room for one more item to be canned. Blueberry jelly sounds wonderful! I even have a co-worker who keeps bees to get the honey from.
We were recently given a small pack of local blueberries. My hubby likes them with his oatmeal.
Blessings,
andrea
That picture of Zekie is PRICELESS! Love you mama.
Fabulous and love the pictures too!!! What a cutie! 🙂
homemade tastes so much better…and your boy is so precious too!
Besitos right back atcha, sista 😉 You've always been one of my biggest inspirations. I love the sound of the blueberry jelly…but I totally adore that pic of your baby with the blueberries- Gorgeous! Thanks so much for sharing this with Two for Tuesdays this week =)
Diana, your son is so cute! And I bet the photo was taken just seconds before he grabbed a handfull of those berries!
We do not have any pick-your-own farms around here, and I am so saddened by it. In Ohio we went all the time to pick strawberries, tomatoes and in September the peppers.
My father had a cottage in the mountains of Serbia until a year ago, and every August we'd go picking wild blueberries. But these were flavor-packed, intense, small berries, hidden in the bushes close to the ground, fenced in by juniper bushes, prickly and NOT delicious at all.
I wish I had some, even domesticated. I remember the taste of my mother's blueberry preserves…
Greetings from California!
What a cutie your son is! I freeze as many blueberries as I possibly can – we love them in smoothies and over yogurt! Yum! Thanks for linking this blueberry yumminess to Two for Tuesdays!
The blueberry jelly sounds super delicious and what a cute pic of your son with blueberries!
Hola Diana, I can just feel, through your writing, the happy crew you have living life with you and getting as close to the earth as possible! What a blessing! My blueberries, sad to say didn't do so well this year! Thanks for linking to the Two for Tuesday Recipe Blog Hop and please visit me to enter my giveaway of a Real Food for Rookies Class! http://bit.ly/dwfvMj 🙂 Alex@amoderatelife
Oh Diana, I'm usually a sucker for a preserving post, but I can't concentrate on your post because that picture is just to adorable for words! Sigh.
I've got my eye on some huckleberries up in the mountains, and I hope that I'll be able to snag them before it freezes. If that's the case, I'll have a good frozen berry for winter use.
Miss you hosting 🙁 but will always enjoy your blog and contributions to Two for Tuesday.
Thank you so much for the kind comments everyone. Yes, I do agree my son is a cutie, lol!
Lana – how wonderful it must have been to pick fresh wild berries. I was able to do this on camping trip in Canada. The sweetest little berries I have ever tasted. They were wonderful. Thanks so much for sharing 😀
Love blueberries! And your black and white photo with the blueberries highlighted in blue. This summer I froze, canned, and dehyrated blueberries. Hoping to make the goodness last.
-Brenda
Blueberries are my absolute favourite so I really enjoyed your post – and the photograph at the top is wonderful – I love how it is in black and white but the blueberries are in colour. Your jelly recipe sounds lovely too.
This looks FABULOUS! Blueberries are my favorite. I can't wait to grow my own. I'm definitely saving and using this recipe. Thanks for sharing it! (Visiting From Simple Lives Thursday)
Okay, so how'd you do that? The picture, I mean? Love it! Great recipe, Diana! I have never worked with blueberries before, which is odd considering they're a favorite berry. Yumm!
Diana, your blueberry jam looks awesome! I wonder if I want to replace the Pamona pectin with the homemade pectin, what is the exact measuring needed in this recipe? I have to other choice cause there's no way I can get the readymade pectin here. I can still use my own method by adding in the lemon skin for the natural pectin but it's won't turned out as thick, yet still nice though! hehe… Thanks & have a fabulous day.
Blessings, kristy