Back in May, the raspberry hedge had filled in and greened up. All during July, I picked plenty for eating, and then froze at least 20 pounds of beautiful raspberries.
It turns out that December is the month I truly begin missing and craving beautiful, fresh  berries from the garden, so I decided to spend some time making and canning raspberry jam this week. The aromas filled the house with good cheer.
The preference at Coppertop is for some seeds in raspberry jam, so I just removed about half of the many seeds with my food mill equipped with its finest sieve. The berry mash was then sugared and cooked to sweet, red perfection. A thorough stay in the water-bath canner, and voilà ! Twelve half-pints and three pints will make their way to Christmas gift recipients and our own tummies.
Imagine my surprise when I was reorganizing the freezer yesterday and found FOUR MORE gallon size baggies of frozen raspberries. There are so many yummy ways to use a great raspberry sauce over the holidays! Then there are the blackberries I’ve tucked away even deeper in the freezer…
This week the depleted raspberry canes were covered in snow. I’ll cut them back in late winter/early spring again and hope for another glorious crimson harvest.
Gardens at Coppertop 
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