Entries from June 2013

  • Strawberry Jam

    Posted by Allison on 17 June 2013 in ,

    Grandpa showed up at the kitchen door yesterday with 4 giant flats of local strawberries -- time to make the annual batch of Utz family strawberry jam! I'd been looking forward to jam day for a while. I made my own jam for the first time last summer, and now I'm hooked. Homemade jam is so simple to make and so much better than the store-bought stuff that I'm surprised more people don't make it.

  • Spring Bloom

    Posted by Allison on 8 June 2013 in

    These steadily warmer June days have had a dramatic effect on the land – the strawberries are deep red and heavy in our garden, the lavender is beginning to bloom purple and white, the olive trees are peppered with buds, and the mint has jumped its pot and is plotting a takeover of the herb bed. In the vineyard, the buds are blooming with delicate white flowers, a hopeful sign of an early harvest this year. Beneath the sound of the breeze is a constant chorus of honeybees; when it’s quiet, you can hear them humming as they work.