BLUE spot lids are here!

I am almost fainting with excitement! We have just received our new delivery of blue spot lids - you've had the red - and we still have those - now we have blue as well! They are so new we don't even have a picture yet. People have found them on the website and ordered them though. They match the blue spot labels if you want to see the colour.

What are you making at the moment? We are very, very lucky to have been given a huge amount of quince by a lovely lady in our next village. Our preserve business, 'Jam on the Hill', has survived the re-branding and this boost of these rare fruits is very welcome indeed. Classes are underway at The Old Smithy and I am just working on the programme for next year, which will be published on the website this week. There are still a few places left leading up to Christmas as well.

We will be launching our gift vouchers this week - ideal for Christmas presents - watch the website.Talking of Christmas, there are some fantastic packaging ideas on-line as well - we have hampers, trugs, crates, fill, ribbons - you just need to provide the contents. Take a look.

SwapCrop and the Guild at the Organic Food Festival

Well, if anyone has been to the Organic Food Festival in the past or was there this year, you'll know that it's always a successful event, with so much going on over the two days and we were very happy to be part of it this year. The response to both SwapCrop and The Guild of Jam and Preserve Makers was so positive with lots of interest in memberships so we've been pretty busy since!

It was really interesting to meet people from all ages and walks of life who were truly making the most of the seasons fruits making everything from jam and chutneys to flavoured vodkas and cordials. We even spoke to a lady that uses a bread maker to make her jam but, we were particularly inspired by a group of young men that were keen preservers and told us that they regularly hold 'jam offs' (as apposed to bake offs) of an evening!

This is brilliant, really good to see that all ages are making jam and in their case, making an event of it too.

During the weekend, we also met several journalists and school teachers, all very interested in the concept of a Jam Guild and the benefits of a scheme such as SwapCrop so look out for up and coming write ups!

I hadn't disappeared - back with some great offers

Phew! Where have I been? Working. that's where. There has been no time to be bloging or filming for YouTube, hardly time to see the grandbabies, although we did go camping with them last weekend. I have been asked to write for a magazine, we have had lots of national press coverage, taken a lease on The Old Smithy to start our courses and jam making and dealt with more orders in the last month than in four months this time last year.

We have lots of new products on the website that I haven't had time to tell you about - especially the bumper packs of labels - great value - same great quality!

We also have new packs of the popular Firenze bottles - the average purchase ofd these bottles is in 6's so we have had a box produced for this quantity, packed them, AND reduced the price - can't be bad - check them out here . Will be great for Sloe Gin.

May and Katie will be starting on the Plum Jam later this week, so we'll get the recipe up on the website over the weekend, hopefully. Normal service is resumed!

Elderflowers

Fab newsletter here http://jjsurl.com/?22 all about the elegant, exciting, extrovert, economic, ebullient elderflower. Recipes, ideas, offers, check it out.

Jam Jar Tongs for Preserving

Just a quickie - we have finally got the jam jar tongs in for lifting jars from a sterilisation water bath - I know many of you have been trying to find them so they are just on the website now . We also have several other sizes for preserving jar replacement seals, there are plenty of pictures, plus line drawings with the specific sizes shown clearly - you just need to click onto the thumbnails.

We still have great deals on boxed jars - the 8oz hex have joined in now! Stock up before the season gets underway and you won't have to think twice about making an extra batch or two.

FreeTree and The Guild of Jam and Preserve Makers

At Jam Jar Shop we are excited to bring you a brilliant new scheme - FreeTree! Take a look at the page on the website and get applying. We love to think that lots of new fruit trees and bushes will be planted for the future and there will be lots of lovely fruit for jams and chutneys, of course. Whether you are an allotment association, a playschool or school, a care home or just an individual you can apply to receive a fruit tree of your choice - absolutely FREE. Write us a letter, send us an email, a picture of where the tree will be going - tell us why you need it. We will award a tree every week but the trees will be dispatched at the appropriate time for planting, not actually every week. Let's hear from you.

The other project we would like to bring to your attention is The Guild of Jam and Preserve Makers. Newly launched, you can email for a membership pack and join in with the jam making community. From individual home producers through artisans to the industry, membership is open to all. Membership also incorporates SwapCrop a community based scheme to match folks that have spare fruit or vegetable crops with those willing - or even desperate - to make them into jams and preserves, to be shared with the cropper of course! Make new friends, learn new skills, make the most of nature's harvest. Visit http://www.jamguild.com/ for all information. We will be adding lots of items over the next few weeks so visit often.

Italian Bottles

We have lots of lovely new Italian bottles in stock - already for the Elderflower season which will be here before we know it! The bottles are reasonably priced, stylish and in a variety of sizes with some beautiful shapes. There are two sizes of oil bottle in both green glass and clear and they come with a choice of cap - gold or black with an intergral plastic pourer. The sweetest little bottle with a swing top stopper is just 40ml and ideal to use as a wedding favour. Take a look - we'll be having some lovely new elderflower labels as well shortly.