Canning Jam

Shortly after we came home from vacation the girls started bugging me to go berry picking since our blackberry jam supply was getting low.  We had missed the peak of the season and only found one place that still had u-pick berries.  We loaded up that day and went to get some berries.  The older girls helped with the whole process.  I think that was a first.  Usually, the get bored and I end up finishing myself. Here are the fruits of their labor.

After we finished Xandy came up with a plan based on her experiences in southern Utah, her love of berries, her love of horses, and the area we drove to to pick the berries.

She wants to buy a giant farm or ranch.  Dad will quit his job and will farm.  We will raise all kids of fruits and vegetables.  We will sell the produce and canned goods.  We will have chickens, cows amd pigs. We will also raise horses and give rides to people to help earn additional money.  Grandpa and Grandma Reed will come live on the farm/ranch since Grandpa kept looking for a place like that to move to.  She wants to be homeschooled but since she knows I don't want to homeschool, Mima and Pop-Pop can come live there also. Mima can homeschool the kids.  (Katy wasn't so sure about this idea...she likes her school athletics) Xandy was excited that with both grandparents living there she would get to see all her cousins everytime they went to visit grandparents.  I think at one point the idea of having a bed and breakfast was discussed.  Xandy and Bella proceeded to divide up the chores like collecting the eggs, milking the cows, and feeding the animals. No one really wanted to clean the horse stalls.  I get to bake and sell pies and other baked goods.

I explained that if we had a farm we wouldn't be able to leave for vacation.  They explained we would have a pool and all our family would come see us with the grandparents being there. I asked what about going to places like Disney. Too which they patienltly explained that we wouldn't all leave at the same time.  If we wanted to leave it would have to be when both sets of Grandparents were there and vice versa.  They really thought this through.

A couple of days later after finishing the first jar of jam and washing it out, Xandy made an impressive realization.  She turned from the sink and said "Mom, we will have to charge more for our jams since we won't get the jars back to re-use.  We will have to just buy more jars and charge more to make up for it"  I was impressed that a 9 yr old came up with that.

Not a bad plan if they can get all the adults to go for it.  So far, they haven't been too successful.