Monday, May 3, 2021

HONEYSUCKLE IN BLOOM

When we pull up to the farm this time of year and get out of the car, we can smell the familiar scent on the breeze.  Indeed while I'm mowing I get to inhale that intoxicatingly wonderful scent of childhood...

Honeysuckle patch

Honeysuckle is in bloom everywhere!  This patch is behind the house...

Honeysuckle growing wild

When I was mowing last weekend, I found it everywhere else too.  Here along one side by the fence.

Honeysuckle in bloom

And here is more on the other side of the property.  Who among us hasn't plucked some flowers and pulled out that oh so sweet nectar?  We're grateful to have these just growing wild everywhere on the property.  

Because of this, we've been researching recipes to use with honeysuckle and found some jelly recipes that are supposed to be "Summer in a jar delicious".

I think I'm going to try that here in the next couple of weeks before the flowers go away.  It takes a lot for a batch but I'm willing to do it to try something new and maybe recreate that taste of childhood Summers.

Image via pinterest.com

Anyone ever tasted and/or made a batch of honeysuckle jelly?

9 comments:

  1. Sweet! love the smell of honeysuckle.
    For a batch of jelly you will need at least 6 cups of honeysuckle but no more.
    Be sure to follow the directions to a T. Do Not try to double a batch cause then the jelly won't set up.
    Best of luck on your canning experience.

    Found this for you which gives you step by step instructions.
    https://www.pickyourown.org/HoneysuckleJelly.php#:~:text=Honeysuckle%20blooms%20from%20May%20through,make%20a%20batch%20of%20jelly.

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  2. pick your own is a great resource and I haven't had a bad recipe from there. It tastes like honey and smells like honeysuckle. I find it is too sweet but its a person choice.

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  3. It is interesting that in Ohio honeysuckle is pulled out because it is so invasive here. It takes over our yards so quickly and is problematic because it intertwines in fences.

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  4. I have never tried honeysuckle jelly but will be very interested in yours if you make it.
    Nothing smells better than honeysuckle on a spring breeze.

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  5. I have never heard of honeysuckle jelly but it looks beautiful in those jars in the picture.
    I have just a bit of it growing on my back fence, so I don’t have enough to make jelly. Might need to plant more now. I love the way it smells!
    With the abundance you have at the Farm, you’ll definitely have enough to make jars and jars of it. Looking forward to you trying it and seeing how it turns out.

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  6. I love the smell of honeysuckle and have had the jelly. You have a crop to work on without picking it elsewhere. At my house, I let a woodsy place grow all the honeysuckle it could. Those sweet bits of honey sucked from a flower are a little bit of heaven and my childhood.

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  7. While intoxicating to smell and delightful to taste it is very invasive and if left unchecked will take over your property

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  8. Honeysuckle can be grown in containers with a trellis of some sort and if you want; it can be formed into a tree which I think would look really nice setting by your front or back door or porch area providing that it receives lots of sun.

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  9. Yes: see this page for step-by-step directions: https://www.pickyourown.org/HoneysuckleJelly.php

    The jelly has the scent and flavor of honeysuckles, and like all extracted jellies (as compared with fruit jellies) is is a more clear jelly, with an amber color.

    There is also Kudzu jelly which captures the flavor of the scent of the flowers:

    https://www.pickyourown.org/KudzuJelly.php

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