Jam making!

My weekend was cut a little short, as I had to work Saturday morning (not best pleased) but I still managed to cram a lot in. Saturday afternoon after speeding out of Birmingham I managed to get the time to go to a farm sale, something I haven’t done in years, it was good fun looking round all the tat but I didn’t feel the urge to buy anything. The rest of the day was quite social, catching up with people I haven’t seen in ages and going for a walk with my sister (which turned into a bit of a run thanks to an April shower!). On Sunday I was very productive, spending a lot of the day in the garden (weeding mostly), and I cooked some roast lamb (my dad had given us this the last time he had one killed) with all the trimmings, first time I’ve cooked in ages as I’m always back too late with my job.
As the rhubarb is running rampant I decided to do something with it and make jam (we’ve nearly run out of blackberry and apple jam). The recipe was simply equal amounts of fruit and sugar (in weight) with a bit out ground ginger. This is simmered until its all mushy then boiled rapidly until setting point is reached (it wrinkles on a cold plate). Making jam is so easy and it didn’t take long, not sure why anyone would want the supermarket stuff with all its preservatives in it.

Homemade stuff always tastes better as well!

Lovely Rhubarb

Well after working in Birmingham all week with an hours drive either side of a 7 till 6 day I was looking forward to the weekend a little more than usual. Even though one of my jobs was to fix our toilet as it had leaked and soaked the dining room ceiling – I’m always glad I can do jobs like this myself or it would cost a fortune to get a plumber in.
I spent almost the whole weekend in the garden pottering round, tidying up, mowing the lawn and doing other odd jobs. I even managed to sort out some of my herbs and pots.
Planted my early potatoes yesterday (rocket as these did well last year), also took a bit of risk and transplanted my tomatoes and left them in the greenhouse overnight (even though there was a frost – they seem alright today so I’m really pleased).
Also brought and planted some herbs, angelica so I can use the roots to ease the indigestion I get all the time, and chamomile to relax me after a day at my stressful job!
Gave myself a little treat tonight as I had a bit of the rhubarb that I’ve forced dipped in a sugar – so nice! It’s much less sharp than unforced rhubarb. I’ll take some with me to work tomorrow so I can pretend I’m not in the city centre for two minutes!