And a story of how not to make money…

Raspberry jam from our farm-picked raspberries. From farm to jar in one day with only four ingredients.

Jam is a treat and although made from fresh berries it’s hard to argue that it is “healthy” as sugar is an important ingredient. If you are going to indulge yourself a bit, jam made from organic berries picked at their peak, pure cane sugar, freshly-squeezed lemon juice and fruit pectin is better for you than store-bought brands and you sure as heck can taste the difference.

Do you ever get a chemical after taste from store-bought jam or a gummy, overly sweet taste?

Fruit, never mind the raspberries you think you are buying, is often not even the first ingredient in store-bought jam. Look out for ingredients such fruit syrup (concentrated juices from less expensive fruit such as apples, pears or pineapples), high fructose corn syrup which is cheaper than pure cane sugar (now this is an ingredient you should avoid at all costs), natural flavours (which can be a whole lot of things that have nothing to do with raspberries) and citric acid which is made in a lab to substitute for lemon juice.

We grow our raspberries with a whole lot of care, no pesticides and only organic fertilizers.

I will let you in a little secret. I make absolutely no profit and do not even cover my costs when making jam with raspberries from our farm and selling it for $7 (Canadian) a jar. Hence…spreading the love.

I haven’t been able to find new jars that sell for less than $1 each

The jars, lids and rings cost about $1 each although to find that price now I have to search for sales as these prices go up every year.

I love my labels designed by calligrapher http://Kathyguthrie.com and printed by http://Stickerapp.com

My labels, not including the one-time design cost, are about 25 cents each. (They would be slightly cheaper if I ordered in larger quantities.)

Each jar has a pint of fresh-picked organic raspberries from our farm which I would sell for $5.

The fresh lemon juice is also an expensive ingredient.

I make my jam in a copper jam pan I ordered from France. The jam heats more quickly reducing cooking time and preserving more flavour in the copper pan.

So with the cost of the ingredients, jars and labels adding up to my sale price I have not yet added in labour which includes sterilizing everything, meticulously cleaning work surfaces, making multiple small batches to control the quality and electricity to make the jam and boil the water in the canner. In addition time is spent marketing and distributing the jam which I often deliver.

Some batches of jam are made even more special with some artisan vodka. Get this…This Slowpoke Vodka made by http://Legenddistilling.com is made from our raspberries so the jam is like raspberry flavour squared.

Why do I make and sell jam? I love making jam. The smell of a simmering pan of raspberry jam is my favourite scent in the world. I like it that we have developed a bit of a following (and a wait list) and local bed and breakfasts, lodges and neighbours appreciate how great it tastes and have an inkling of what goes into making it. As cheesy as it sounds, it truly feels like spreading the love.