Each summer, Dad drives down to the Otways to pick Silvan berries to make jam. If I’m around I usually try to go down with him along with whoever else happens to be hanging out down here at their house and wants to go. Last year we missed it because it was closed due to changing hands and COVID, but this year, berry picking was back on. The girls and I went with dad. The weather was overcast, which made for comfortable picking, and there were plenty of berries on the bushes. Over the next two days, we turned them into jam. Out of all the jams we make, the silvan berry jam is the best.

We ran out of homemade jam this year so our cupboards are bare. I now have 9 jars of silvan berry jam for the cupboard and plan to pick up a couple of kilos of apricots to make apricot jam over the holidays too. After the jam is stocked I’ll think about all things tomatoes.