My grandma’s kitchen was always such a happy place.  Numerous heartwarming concoctions evolved there.  She taught me to make juice and jelly from her concord grapes. We’d go out and cut the clusters together and bring them in to her kitchen to wash and prep.  There was always soft music gently playing… and she hummed along while she worked.

One of the reasons we chose this house in beautiful central PA 4 years ago was the large backyard garden.  It had existing blackberries, black raspberries, strawberries, grapes, black currants and gooseberries. I since added Rhubarb, asparagus, honeyberries and goji berries. The blackberries and black raspberries are trellised. Yes, they are a bit of work.  The blackberries are luckily thornless, but alas the raspberries bite. The process of thinning, trimming and tying in the fall can be a job.  But I hum while I work.

I grow organic so I do have to get these little gems of goodness before the birds do. But I share, the berries at the top of the trellis are all theirs.  So far, the only crop I cover with bird netting is blueberries.  I do place a plastic hawk out when they come ripe, and it seems to help, but I’ve also noticed that before the blueberries are finished the lack of birds allows a rise in bug populations. Yes, I do enlist the help of several armies of ladybugs and it has really helped.

On the most part I assemble a stockpile of frozen fruit in gallon freezer bags.  The fruit sometimes freezes in a block so I compile a mixture as I pick.  When I’m ready to cook, into a large crockpot they go and gently warm on low heat. High heat sometimes creates a slight harshness to the taste.

Add to the fruit a healthy amount of filtered water, almost to cover (finished juice can always be diluted to taste.)  After several hours, fruit softens enough to mash with a potato masher.  Now for the fun part.  Last Christmas, I received from my wonderful husband, the gift of a stainless steel fruit press.  Yeah!  Much better than straining or hanging in a cheesecloth bag, It has a heavy hand crank presses that does all the work for you. 

Now, if I run out of time, I can freeze the juice in a container and warm it up again when I am ready to can.  This way, several batches can be produced at once.  One word of warning, berry juice stains.  Dark clothes, blue/black towel covering work area are a must.  Yes your hands can stain too, but it will fade with multiple handwashings.

At this point, the juice smells fresh and marvelous! It can be used to make wine…

 …and jelly.

I home can my juice in quart jars.  Water bath for 15 minutes.  I choose to sweeten it a little with a small amount of organic raw sugar, honey and agave.  For information on canning, Canning Granny has some very thorough water bath canning instructions here.

It’s amazing how fresh and nutrient packed this juice is.  With the first sip, it feels as if your body wakes up!  No wonder…  the love put into the fruit, and the energy preserved out of respect for the plant, processed with care and gratitude, creates an amazing health elixir that raises your vibration.

To your health!