Foraging with Care and Respect

The hedgerows of late summer and early autumn are one of the great free larders of the British countryside, but they are not ours alone. Sloes, blackberries and crab apples feed dormice, thrushes, fieldfares and countless insects through the winter, so take a little from many bushes rather than stripping one clean. Leave the highest and lowest fruit for the birds, and never pick from a hedge within a few metres of a busy road where exhaust fumes and spray settle on the leaves.

Pick only what you can identify with absolute certainty, and always with the landowner's permission. Public footpaths give you a right to pass, not a right to harvest, though in practice most farmers are happy for you to take a modest bag from the verge. Take a basket rather than a plastic bag so the fruit does not sweat and bruise, and wear long sleeves — blackthorn is well named and the thorns carry a nasty infection.

Getting to Know Your Three Fruits

Each hedgerow fruit behaves differently in the pan, and knowing their quirks saves a lot of disappointment.

• Sloes: the fruit of the blackthorn, mouth-puckeringly astringent until the first frosts soften them. If you pick early, freeze them overnight — this mimics frost and breaks down the skins. Prick each one or freeze-and-thaw, then simmer gently. Sloes are naturally low in pectin, so they make a better gin, syrup or firm cheese than a set jam.
• Blackberries: the easiest and most generous. Pick when they pull away from the stem with almost no tug — underripe berries give a bitter, seedy jam. They are moderate in pectin, so a squeeze of lemon helps enormously.
• Crab apples: small, sour and packed with pectin. One or two handfuls added to a blackberry or sloe pan will give you a reliable set and a lovely sharpness. On their own they make a beautiful pale pink jelly.

Jam, Jelly or Both?

The rule of thumb is simple: jam keeps the fruit, jelly keeps the juice. Blackberries, with their seeds, suit a sieved jam or a clear jelly. Sloes and crab apples are best turned into jelly, where the slow drip through a jelly bag leaves behind the grit and pips.

For a basic blackberry jam, use 1kg of fruit to 800g of preserving sugar and the juice of one lemon. Simmer the fruit with a splash of water until soft, add the sugar warmed, and stir until it dissolves completely before you bring it to a hard boil. For jelly, simmer the fruit with just enough water to cover, mash it, then tip everything into a scalded jelly bag and leave it to drip overnight — never squeeze, or the jelly turns cloudy. Measure the juice and allow 450g of sugar to every 600ml.

Testing for a Set

Guessing whether your preserve will set is the most common source of kitchen tears. Three tests will tell you.

• The cold saucer test: chill a saucer in the freezer, drop a teaspoon of jam onto it, wait a minute and push it with your finger. If it wrinkles and holds, it is ready. If it runs, boil for another two minutes and test again.
• The temperature test: a jam thermometer should read 104–105°C at setting point. This is the most reliable method once you know your pan and your altitude.
• The flake test: lift a spoonful and let it fall. At setting point the last drops cling together and drop as a sheet rather than a stream.

Remember that setting point is reached quickly. Take the pan off the heat while you test, or you will overshoot into a stiff, dark toffee.

Sterilising Jars Properly

You cannot make a preserve keep by skimping here. Wash jars and lids in hot soapy water, rinse well, and sterilise by one of these methods:

• Oven: stand clean jars upright on a baking tray at 140°C (fan 120°C, gas 1) for 15 minutes. Boil metal lids for 10 minutes.
• Dishwasher: a hot rinse cycle works well, but fill the jars while they are still hot and dry.
• Boiling water: immerse jars in a large pan of water and boil for 10 minutes, then drain upside down on a clean tea towel.

Fill jars while both jam and jar are hot, leaving a 5mm headspace. Wipe the rim, seal immediately, and for long keeping, water-bath the filled jars at 90°C for 10 minutes for extra insurance.

Storing, Labelling and Troubleshooting

Label every jar with the fruit and the date — a jelly made in September will still be excellent the following spring, and you will be glad of the reminder. Store in a cool, dark cupboard.

If a jam refuses to set, tip it back into the pan with a little extra lemon juice and reboil. If it has set too firm, warm it gently with a spoonful of water. Mould on the surface means the jar or the seal was not clean; discard the lot rather than scraping it off. Above all, keep notes. Within a season or two you will know your own hedgerow's fruit by heart, and the shelf will fill itself.