Mid september, it is still strangely warm, things are fortunately still ripening, and our nectarines are finally edible. They have a habit of dropping off the tree the very second they are ready, so you have to be constantly on the lookout for them. We’re eating the good ones as they ripen, but there’s always a fair selection that hit the ground, bruise, or get a bit eaten out of them by one of the huge variety of creatures that are forming a patient line to devour them.
Anyhow, I am a jam addict and so made up about 4lbs of nectarine jam. The pectin in nectarines is mainly in the skin, so I just cut them up small, added them to a pan with slightly less weight of sugar and a lemon’s worth of juice, and boiled until they were at the right temperature (apparently 105 degrees C) but as bloody hot as I could get them. Stir occasionally to stop the jam welding itself to the pan, give them 10 minutes max, and put the result into sterile (ish) jars. I wash jars well and then run boiling water over the lids and rims before using them.
Get the lids on tight, and if you’re reusing jars with the poppy bit on them, you’ll probably hear a click as the jar cools and the seal is made. Couldn’t resist testing some this morning and it is rather fine.
In other news, gigantic autumn raspberries are on their way and I’m hoping to get a few jars out of them, but it’s tricky as they get eaten as fast as they grow.
