Berry Harvest! Homemade Salve! A Suburban Permaculture Backyard!

This weekend was great for harvesting Wineberries near me.  Wineberries got their name because they have a high sugar content, making them great for making wine.  They are an asian cousin of the rasberry.  I harvested a bunch down in Rancocas Creek Park in NJ.  I made some jam, and maybe next time I'll make some wine!  By the time I got around to making jam, I had already eaten about half the berries.  I had about 2.5 cups of berries left, so I used this recipe, but I cut all the ingredients in half.  It seemed to be a bit liquidy after cannning, but we'll see how it looks when it's cooled.

A huge patch of Wineberries

This beautiful berry was everywhere

I harvested about 5 cups

JAM!

I can honestly say this was the best PB&J I've ever had.  12-Grain bread, Organic Almond Butter, and Homemade Wineberry Jam.  :D

I also filmed a video tour at my buddy Joe's house, where he's got a beautiful permaculture garden in his suburban backyard.  I'll be posting that video as soon as it's edited.

Coming soon, a tour of a suburban permaculture backyard

I also made some Jewelweed salve from Jewelweeed harvest on my lunch break from work.  I used organic coconut oil, beeswax, jewelweed, plantain, violet, sage, essential oils (lavendar, tea tree, and sweet orange), and vitamin E oil to help with preservation of the salve.  I have some available for sale or trade if anyone's interested.  It helps soothe skin irritations like poison ivy, bug bites or stings, scrapes, or burns.

It's a gloomy day, but these green onions on the windowsil are happy!