With all the rain we've been having, the fruit trees in the back garden, is competing with each other to see which can produce the biggest, the juiciest, and the most fruit. The fig tree might just be winning the race. Sadly, a large branch broke off due to the weight of the fruit and we had to recover whatever fruit we could from it. This is an excellent opportunity to make old-fashioned green fig jam. I learn with you in today's blog, allowing my mom's wisdom and experience to lead the way. This is the first batch of freshly picked green figs from the tree. They will be washed properly before we continue. I prepare a large bucket with a 3,4 litres water and 2 tablespoons (25 ml) baking soda solution. Each of the figs are skewered right trough 3-4 times. I make a cross incision at the flower side of the fruit. The fruit is then left to soak overnight in the baking soda solution. Drain the baking soda solution and wash the figs. Weigh the figs. Bring water to the boil in a large pot. Once the water is boiling, immerse the figs and allow to boil for 15 minutes to soften. Allow to drip, slightly squeezing the water from the figs. Retain the water in which the figs had been boiled. Crush/bruise some ginger. Measure 350 ml (1 1/2 cups) water for every 1 cup (200 g) sugar. Use the water that you had boiled the fruit in. The amount of sugar you use, should equal the weight of the fruit you are turning into jam, e.g 2,5 kg fruit requires 2,5 kg sugar. Add the ginger and 37,5 ml (3 tablespoons) lemon juice to the sugar and water solution. Bring the solution to the boil on the stove top, to make your syrup. Wash your bottles in scalding hot water. Now put your bottles in a hot oven to sterilize them. Immerse your fruit in the boiling syrup. Allow to continue boiling for about 2 hours. The syrup will remain runny and watery, but if you allow some to chill on a spoon, you will note that is actually more syrupy than you would have guessed. Fill a scalding hot jar about 1/3 up with scalding hot syrup. Start filling the jar with figs. Top the jar up with more syrup. Seal tight while still hot. My first fig jam! Now I am going to raid the tree and make some more! Marietjie Uys (Miekie) is a published author. You can buy the books here: You can purchase Designs By Miekie 1 here. Jy kan Kom Ons Teken en Verf Tuinstories hier koop. Jy kan Kom Ons Kleur Tuinstories In hier koop. Jy kan Tuinstories hier koop. You can follow Miekie's daily Bible Study blog, Bybel Legkaart, here in English & Afrikaans. For more crafty ideas and great products, visit A Pretty Talent on Facebook. Remember to keep nurturing your TALENT for making PRETTY things. You can subscribe to this blog and receive regular updates by email by simply registering your email address at the top of the current blog.