Redcurrants

I love the bright jewel-like redness of redcurrants.

And this year, by dint of covering the bushes with old net curtains we were able to keep the birds from devouring the crop  :)   Not the most ornamental garden decoration - but effective! The result -- 8 lbs of luscious redness -- with more to come when the stragglers ripen.

Stringing them was a tedious job -- but eventually they were all done and into the jam pan they went with some water to simmer for a while. Then into the fruit press to extract as much juice as possible.
This went back into the pan with some sugar (a pound of sugar for every pint of juice) and boiled till setting point was reached. Redcurrants being so full of pectin, this did not take too long.
I now have 22 jars of redcurrant jelly all ready for my eager customers!
And although it is more traditionally served with lamb, it certainly went down well with the pork sausages we had for tea!

And to end -- a close-up that makes them look like a box of beads!