Spring has sprung and not only are the birds and bees stirring, but humans on the Central Coast are out and about after a much-needed rainy winter season.

There are parties, garden workdays and spring cleaning to attend to. All of these activities leave very little time for working in the kitchen! When my rhubarb started coming in, I decided I wanted to use the fresh stalks without spending too much time in the kitchen. So, I made strawberry rhubarb jam with low-sugar pectin. (Ball Realfruit Low or No-Sugar Needed Pectin)

Friends and family often ask for a lower sugar product so no-sugar/low-sugar pectin is a great solution to use with a berry jam recipe. The peel-off label on the jar of pectin provides a useful table of ingredients listing the amounts to multiply by the number of jars you wish to make. My water bath canner fits about 7 jars, so I multiply the recipe by four to make about 8 - 8oz. jars of jam. That eighth jar is always my sampler that I do not process and just store in the fridge.

Strawberries can often be found at the farmers markets on the Central Coast, sometimes year-round! These were purchased at Cal Poly while I was in the orchard u-picking citrus fruit.

I grew up with rhubarb growing in our garden in Michigan. My Finnish grandmother always had a patch in her garden, too. It is not always easy to find here on the Central Coast, so I decided to plant my own. These stalks came from my second plant which did much better planted in full sun.

The people of China were the first to use this plant as a medicinal herb over 5,000 years ago. When the English discovered rhubarb, they began eating the leaves which caused great stomach discomfort as the leaves contain oxalic acid and should never be eaten. Two hundred years later, Europeans discovered the tart stalks and used them to make tarts, which gave rise to the nickname “pie plant.”

University of Wisconsin Horticulture

Now let's get started. First, follow this link to read up on how to properly prepare your jars.

Once your jars are preparred, clean and remove any blemishes and stems. Chop your strawberries, arranging them in a single layer. I use an old-fashioned biscuit cutter for chopping the berries. I leave it a little chunky as I like pieces of fruit in my jam.

Then, measure the chopped strawberries.

Chop the rhubarb into equal sized pieces.

Then, mix the chopped and measured fruit into heavy bottom pan and add water or fruit juice.

Gradually stir in pectin and bring to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly.

Then add sugar. It is important to fully dissolve the pectin before adding the sugar.

Return to a full rolling boil and boil hard for 1 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and skim any foam off the top that has formed.

Pack jam into prepared 8 ounce jars and measure the head space. There should be ¼ inch from the jam to the top of jar.

De-bubble each jar by sliding the tool down the sides of each jar.

Process the jars for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath canner at a full rolling boil. Steam will escape through the side of the lid during this process. At any point, if the water drops below the boiling point, start your timer over for the full processing time as directed by the recipe. After 10 minutes, turn off the heat, remove the lid and let the jars stand for 5 minutes.

After the 10 minute processing time and 5 minute standing time, carefully remove the lid and let the steam escape away from you. Leave the jars in the water bath canner for another 5 minutes.

When removing the jars, be careful not to tip the jars. Leave any remaining water collected on the lid in place. Water spots will likely form on the lid, which is ok. A little vinegar on a clean towel will easily remove those water stains.

Remember to label and date the jar and remove the band for storage. Store for a max of one year.

This recipe is a quick process and perfect for a teacher gift or host gift for spring parties, or to include with your beach picnic in the summertime!