The strawberries are in at our farm.

This is a typical year — we never know what we're going to get, and we never get enough to freeze and cook later.

Because we had so many cold nights and hot days, the strawberries are small but flavorful — and it takes a lot of them to make a cooking of jam or jelly.

We have two kinds of strawberries here at the farm, ever-bearing and June bearers, so we have fruit all summer and into the fall. We never have an abundant amount and sometimes it takes several pickings to get enough for one jelly making.

Store-bought jam and jelly almost always contains fruit from the previous year's harvest. If you're looking for a fresh product, make sure the new crop of fruit is in.

We always make one batch — about five or six pints and several half-pints — at a time, and generally put each batch on sale the same week. This is how we do it:

STRAWBERRY JAM

5 cups cleaned, washed and mashed strawberries
1 box pectin
1/2 teaspoon of butter (helps keep down the foam)
7 cups sugar

Combine strawberries, pectin and butter. Bring to a rolling boil that cannot be stirred down. Add sugar. Bring back to a rolling boil and boil for 1 minute.

Have your sterilized jars ready. After taking the pan off the stove, pour up your jam. After closing the jars, give them a water bath.

Editor's note: If you don't know how to preserve foods by processing them in a water bath, you can download a guide from cahe.nmsu.edu/pubs/_e/E-314.pdf. Jelly or jam that has not been preserved should be stored in the refrigerator.