We have a pretty decent-sized strawberry patch at our house, probably about 50 plants. But we’ve also got a lot of berry-lovers.  It can be challenging to gather enough berries to make a batch of jam.  Fortunately we also have a nice big rhubarb plant, whose tart bright taste combines deliciously with my precious berries for a wonderful jam.  Most years I make several batches of this delicious jam.

Strawberry Rhubarb Jam

Ingredients:
4 cups rhubarb, thinly sliced
2 T. lemon juice
4 cups of fresh strawberries, sliced
10 cups of sugar
2 packages of fruit pectin
1/2 t. butter (keeps jam from getting too foamy)

In large kettle combine all ingredients except sugar. Bring mixture
to a full rolling boil. Add sugar and keep stirring till sugar is fully
dissolved. Return to boil and boil for one minute. Keep stirring.
Remove from the burner and skim off the foam with a spoon.

Spoon the hot jam into hot pint or half-pint canning jars. I like to
pour the jam into a glass 4-cup glass measuring cup first, then pour
into jars, as this makes jam easier to pour into jars. Leave 1/4 inch
of space at the top. Wipe jar rims clean and screw lids on firmly.
Place the jars in boiling-water canner and bring pot to a brisk boil. When water begins to
boil, set timer and boil for 5 minutes. Remove the jars from canner and
cool on racks. Try not to disturb jam til it is cool. It may take
several hours to set.

This makes about 10 half-pint jars.  If you don't have an official canning pot, you can use any pot that is large enough to fully submerge the jars.