Selling jams and apple sauce

Last weekend was had a garage sale and I had my blueberry jam for sale.    People tend to not believe me that it is as good as it is.  It seems that many people really do not like blueberry jam because it can be overly sweet or cloying.  

My jam is a low sugar and made with some lemon juice in it.   The addition of the lemon juice gives the blueberry jam the little bit of tartness that is needed to make it sublime.    Without trying too hard, I sold bunch of the blueberry jam on Saturday.

Sheila recently was talking with one of her clients about the jams and apple sauce I make.   She brought some for the woman to try and she liked all three on offer and bought one blueberry, one strawberry and one apple sauce.

For a couple of years I sold my jams in Whistler at their farmer's market as part of my produce stand.   I had a lot of repeat customers.

I know I am biased, but my jams are the best I have ever tasted.   My strawberry jam tastes first and foremost like the fruit and not like something SWEET as so many jams do.   The same is true of raspberry or blackberry jams when I have them.   I tend not to sell my crab apple jelly as I only make a small amount each year and the effort is enough that I want to keep it all to myself.  In general I find jellies more hassle to make than they are worth.

The one 'jam' I make that I still have not managed to make dramatically better than others I have tasted is my cranberry one.  I make my cranberry sauce more like a jam in consistency, but there is still something missing from the flavour to make it sublime in the way my blueberry jam is.  I will continue to experiment and see if I can make something better.

If you are intrigued, they are for sale:

• 125ml - $3
• 250ml - $5
• 500ml - $8

Currently I have:

• Strawberry
• Blueberry
• Apple Sauce
• Cranberry

Shortly there will be blackberry

Sheila has a POS machine, so people can pay with debit or credit card.

You can call us at 250-298-7501 if you are interested.

Should you wish to have your own fruit or jams canned, I can do that for you for $1 a jar ($1.50 a jar if I have to provide the jars).   I have a decent pressure canner and use it a lot.

I also make salsa and tomato sauce, though none will be available till September and then only for sale if I decide to produce more than we can use for the next year.