We were once again blessed with an abundance of pears from the neighbors after helping them harvest their pear tree, so I decided to experiment with another pear jam combination. This time around we made blueberry pear jam, pairing up the sweetness of the pears with berries, lemon and a touch of vanilla. My husband still prefers the cranberry-pear jam, but my sons gave this combo a “thumbs up”.
Since our blueberries are done by the time our pears are in season, I grabbed some blueberries out of the freezer to make the jam. Freezing fruit in season and then making jam later is a great way to spread out the work of harvest time. It also keeps the summer kitchen a little cooler, and provides heat in fall and winter when it’s more useful.
Blueberry Pear Jam Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 cups pears – cored, finely chopped (packed tightly)
- 1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen (wild blueberries are great if you have them)
- 1/4 cup bottled lemon juice
- 1/2 – 1 cup granulated sugar or 1/4 cup honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla (homemade vanilla is great if you have it)
- 2 teaspoons Pomona’s pectin powder
- 2 teaspoons calcium water (included with Pomona’s Universal Pectin)
Directions
In a small bowl, mix together sugar or honey and pectin powder. Don’t skip this step, or your pectin will clump. Set aside.
In a large, non-reactive pot (I use a heavy bottom stainless steel pot), combine pears, blueberries, lemon juice and the calcium water. Bring to a full boil.
Add honey-pectin or sugar-pectin mixture, stir vigorously 1-2 minutes while cooking to dissolve pectin. Return to boil and remove from heat. Stir in vanilla extract.
Ladle jam into sterilized jars leaving 1/4″ headspace.
Wipe rims clean and screw on the lids. Process for 10 minutes in water bath canner (add 1 minute for every 1,000 feet above sea level).
Remove jars from canner and allow to cool completely. Remove canning rings, wipe down lids if needed, date and label. Store in a cool, dry location out of direct sunlight. Best quality if used withing 18 months. Jam will last about three weeks once opened.
Makes around 5 cups.
The Old Pear Tree
As I mentioned at the top of the post, we help our neighbors harvest their pears each season in exchange for part of the harvest. They are getting older, and the tree is quite tall. Part of the harvest is gathered from the front end loader of the tractor, some with an extending harvest pole, some picked directly off the tree and some gleaned from the ground. It’s a fair amount of work, and they’re glad to have some extra help. You may be able to find someone who’s willing to share their harvest if you ask around – or perhaps you’d like to share your harvest for some helping hands. So much food goes to waste that it pays to ask around to connect those who still have an interest in preserving.
The pear tree itself is another item of note. It’s an old Bartlett, on original rootstock, and is over 50 years old. My neighbor told me it was on the farm and producing when they moved onto the farm after they got married, and they’ve been married over 50 years.
If you have any experience with cloning a new pear tree from an old pear tree, I’d love it if you could share your knowledge. We’ve tried taking cuttings and rooting them – so far with no luck. If possible, I’d like to grow it on the original rootstock, since that’s done so well in our area. The tree is starting to look rough with age, and I’m not sure how many more years it will last. The information that I’ve found so far on the internet is generally poor quality and incomplete, so I’d love to hear from someone who has successfully pulled this off.
Blueberry Pear Jam
Blueberry pear jam pairs up the sweetness of the pears with berries, lemon and a touch of vanilla.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 5 cups
- Category: Jam
- Method: Canning
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 3 cups pears – cored, finely chopped (packed tightly)
- 1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen (wild blueberries are great if you have them)
- 1/4 cup bottled lemon juice
- 1/2 – 1 cup granulated sugar or 1/4 cup honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla (homemade vanilla is great if you have it)
- 2 teaspoons Pomona’s pectin powder
- 2 teaspoons calcium water (included with Pomona’s Universal Pectin)
Instructions
- In a small bowl, mix together sugar or honey and pectin powder. Don’t skip this step, or your pectin will clump. Set aside.
- In a large, non-reactive pot (I use a heavy bottom stainless steel pot), combine pears, blueberries, lemon juice and the calcium water. Bring to a full boil.
- Add honey-pectin or sugar-pectin mixture, stir vigorously 1-2 minutes while cooking to dissolve pectin. Return to boil and remove from heat. Stir in vanilla extract.
- Ladle jam into sterilized jars leaving 1/4″ headspace. Wipe rims clean and screw on the lids. Process for 10 minutes in water bath canner (add 1 minute for every 1,000 feet above sea level).
- Remove jars from canner and allow to cool completely. Remove canning rings, wipe down lids if needed, date and label. Store in a cool, dry location out of direct sunlight. Best quality if used within 18 months. Jam will last about three weeks once opened.
