Strawberry Jam and a Look at Spring


The Fall Flowering Cherry is blooming.  I think this might be the latest it has ever bloomed.
 I found strawberries for sale for 99 cents a container so I bought ten of them and made jam for the shelter.

 I combine the berries with a bit of sugar.  I used about 1-1/4 cups of sugar for the entire batch.  You cover the pot and turn it on medium.  Check it often so it doesn't boil over.  As soon as it begins to boil, uncover it and let it simmer, stirring occasionally until it begins to thicken. This made almost 5 quarts.  I made 100 biscuits to go with this for the shelter's breakfast this morning.  Of course, I forgot to take pics of them.


Teddy and I took a walk through the lower gardens to see what is growing after the rain.
 It's amazing what a Spring rain coaxes out of the ground.

 The hostas are peeking out from beneath the dead leaves.  The creek will be turned on soon.

 I can not figure out why blogger is loading my photos out of order?

 The daffodils are still blooming nicely.

 The Katsuras are starting to open.

 So are the Oakleaf Hydrangeas.

 Teddy gets her usual drink of fish water.

  The chard is always one of the first things to pop up.

 My rhubarb is not dead after all.

 I planted these red raspberries last year.  I am hoping this year they will produce some fruit.

 More daffodils.

 The apples are blooming.

 The Service Berries are about to bloom but the birds always get the berries before I get to them.

 Iron bats on the fence.

 Irises.


 Teddy still insists on entering the raised garden through the doors even though the new trees have not formed a wall yet.

 In two more years these trees should grow together and once again the raised garden will be separated from the rest.

 Teddy says phfffttt to winter.

More things to plant.

Comments

luckybunny said…
Love the pictures, always love Teddy pictures. Jam looks delicious and I cannot wait to make some here (my guy has them in early June) because I ran out and cannot let that happen again. I'm making a double batch! I loved seeing the flowers and a little bit of green, very positive signs!
Anonymous said…
I do like those bats :-)

I bought some strawberries grown in Spain, it was a bit like eating apples with strawberry taste :-) Very unlike our own berries.

It really looks like Teddy says phfffttt :-) :-) She's soo cute!

Have a great day!
Christer.
ahhh first signs of spring - always love seeing the ground wake up.

Teddy is very good walking through the gate - clever girl
Barb said…
You definitely have wonderful signs of Spring!! It is beautiful and very green here!
JFM said…
Spring looks lovely at your home and so does the strawberry jam :)

Teddy sure looks happy!

Jan
It's nice to see Spring arriving in your garden. No sign of it here. Although this morning I heard geese honking overhead as they fly back north.
lovely...

i love a walk in your gardens.

guess who just cut her finger, on broken glass of a candle holder? it was a totally stupid move/catch. and i knew it was stupid, as i did it. ugh...

nothing like what you did a year ago, of course! but did take a little chunk out of a finger.

i have to take blood thinners and aspirin daily, because of my stents. and wow, do they EVER make the blood flllllllllllowwwww. ,-)
Sounds like a delicious dessert! I loved the tour of your garden with Teddy!
I just love your photos....I love your Blog.....

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I would love for you to be a follower of my New Blog.

Barbara F. said…
I love your espaliered (sp?) apple tree. Is it hard to do? xo
TARYTERRE said…
Like the garden pictures and of course Teddy. BUT OMG the iron bats are my favorite thing ever.
Anonymous said…
I imagine the smell in your house today! Strawberries, mmmmm,
Anonymous said…
oh I meant to also say how real those bats look, we have bats roosting under our eaves and they look just like this, only smaller of course, yours are much bigger!So realistic!
Nellie said…
Yum! Fresh strawberry jam and biscuits! Delicious treat!

Yes, I can imagine Teddy is thinking the winter has been very long.
Sandy Livesay said…
Strawberry Jam and biscuits sound amazing right now.

I love all the pictures you posted of your plants and fruit trees, spring is in the air and Teddy knows it :-)
Lots of butter too? It sounds wonderful..
brokenteepee said…
If you are loading more than one photo at a time blogger will load them as they were uploaded not as you want them to be inserted. You need to put them in one at a time to get them in the order you want.