Wednesday 15 August 2012

The Year Without A Summer

I know, it happened in 1816, not 2012, and it was far worse than this - for a start we are not going to starve, even if the outdoor tomatoes are all blighted, and the marigolds mildewy.

But sunny days seem to have been few and far between, and the ones that have happened have been mainly when I have been inside at the computer, grappling with the sailors, or sweating over the smoothing iron.

But mustn't grumble (I always think of this book when I say that - well worth a read, and um, squirmingly truthful at times, not to mention screamingly funny), as we have managed to bottle up some of that elusive sunshine, and I have to say, it tastes jolly nice.

Sunshine in a jar

We used half raspberries and half blackberries with a solitary giant strawberry as makeweight - bounty brought home from a rained-off county show by dear Papa - the largest blackberries I have ever seen in all my born days.

(And if you are coveting one of these rather wonderful boards, a good friend of mine has a shop here where she sells such wares.)

16 comments:

Marigold Jam said...

Indeed - I love that book too! Glad you managed to bottle some sunshine so it isn't all gloom. Our tomatoes are looking very sorry for themselves too and cucumbers refused to grow outdoors too wet they cried!

greenrabbitdesigns said...

Lucky you having sunshine in a jar! It was in short supply here today and I didn't even have a jar of it!!
My tomoatoes are in a greenhouse and they are still green!!! :(
Vivienne x

Rowan said...

Think I shall treat myself to the book, it sounds rather good. The jam looks great and so does that board, shall have to follow the link to the shop:)

Mousy Brown said...

Not a single tomato yet and I think I may have to just give up...no cherries, chillis or artichokes either and just 3 VERY small courgettes...the only thing that is still growing as usual is the bramley, which I was looking forward to failing...bah humbug!

Thrifty Household said...

My tomatoes (4th lots of seeds- first 3 lots didn't bother to even germinate) have one solitary flower on them- I'm not anticipating a bumper crop...
I like the sound of your sunshine-in-a-jar-jam (the board's nice too!)

Katy Cameron said...

I really did have a year without summer in 2007 when I went from spring in the UK to autumn then winter and a bit of spring in South Africa, coming home 6 months later to autumn in the UK again. Of course mid winter in South Africa is about 10 x nicer than summer in the UK lol

Mrs. Micawber said...

Your summer was too wet, and ours too hot and dry. My tomato plants are putting out a few blossoms but setting very little fruit (sigh).

Have just ordered that book from the library - thanks for the recommendation!

Let us hope for better crops next year.

GardenOfDaisies said...

Your jam looks delicious!! I wish I could have swapped some of our relentless sunshine for some of your rain and cooler temperatures. Everything here is fried to a crisp!

Denise said...

Wow great minds think alike. I also just blogged about the climate although I touched on the little ice age.

ted and bunny said...

t'aint a bad summer...simply a warm winter!

Anonymous said...

It has been a dire year so far in my garden. But the hedges locally look like a bumper crop of blackberries are going to appear! So blackberry jam will be on my list, along with blackberry ice cream. Yum :)

Annie Cholewa said...

I am waiting for the blackberries here to ripen. Blackberry jelly here we come!

Love the book, *would* love one of the boards, but way beyond my humble purse. Gorgeous though :D

andrea creates said...

wish i could send you some of our sunshine-ours has been a hot sunny summer :)

sea-blue-sky & abstracts said...

Yes, it's been a rough season that's for sure - 'seizing the moment' has never been more important, because we don't know when the sun will shine again!

Summer jam looks (and sounds) delicious. Lesley x

Jane and Lance Hattatt said...

Hello:
By coincidence we have stumbled across your delightful blog via our dear friend Madelief to find that both you and we are writing about jam. It must be the season!

Your jam looks wonderfully good and, we are sure, will taste delicious. The blackberries available here in Budapest at the moment are gigantic too. We enjoy them as a cold soup!

We have signed ourselves as Followers and look forward to staying in touch.

Barbara said...

Yes I was coveting your board with your initials on and then I saw the price! Jam looks and sounds divine.

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