Oh, NEVER double a recipe when it uses regular pectins!! Sorry, thats probably the reason it failed then. It may not have had a 'broken' pectin, so adding another box and a little sugar may bring it back to a jelly, or make it even stiffer than a normal jelly. Just make sure the pectin has totally dissolved. The ONLY pectin that can be doubled, tripled, or even beyond quadrupled is the Pomona type. As mentioned it uses calcium carbonate as the setting agent and needs no sugar of any kind. I am diabetic and like to use Pomona as I have never had a failed batch yet. I hate doing tiny batches too, as its always tempting to increase the yields. I made almost thirty 8 ounce jars of apricot preserves with Pomona and it set up just slightly less than a jelly, but still very spreadable. I also added some ascorbic acid to help it keep the bright orange yellow color. Also, because I find that Splenda and most other non sugar additves seem to give an off taste, I add an acid blend of citric, malic, and tarteric acids. These are granular and are bought through wine making supply stores. I use quite a lot of the acid blend and also add it to juice drinks that tend to taste like they were overcooked. The acid blend adds 'character' to a jelly, jam, or preserve. With yours, you could also add apple juice if the batch size was too small, to bring it up to the 6 cup measure. Without sugar and only the acid present in the juices, the sugarless jams tend to spoil if left refrigerated for more than a couple of months after they were opened. Adding that extra fruit acid in the blend, helps to keep the jams from geting any traces of mold. Mine are sometimes in the fridge for almost a year once opened with no signs of spoilage. Another option is to cut up some fresh cranberries and add them to the jelly for both a chunkier texture and also for natual pectin. Cranberries with sugar alone will set up very well all by themselves. Later on, you can try making jellies without pectin, but a lot of sugar is needed and also the juices must have ahigh amount of natural pectin. Ever try boiling down apple cider? After reducing it to half or less it gets very syrupy and boiling longer will set it up, even without added sugar.

Since blueberries mostly ripen in the latter part of summer, selling plants wouldn't really be an option - most people already have their gardens in by then. But if you have the time and space, plus the money to buy the seeds and starts, having vegetables or cut flowers to sell, although probably not u-pick, might work. You could have the flowers growing, and go out to pick as a customer wanted a bunch, with a posted price list such as "Bunch of 10 stems, $8.00 (or $12.00); Bunch of 15 stems, $10.00 (or $15.00), lilies $2.00 per stem, etc., etc." Your prices should be competitive with the ones in a decent florist and at the least match or exceed those in the local grocery store - after all, the customer is getting very fresh flowers, and just the ones they want! You probably should get a bucket of florist's preservative solution, and package it in small envelopes or small zip-locs, for the customer to add to their vases. Or buy a case of the small packets of it, already made up. Wrapping the whole bouquet in newspaper, and then damping the ends and putting that in a plastic bag would keep the flowers fresh while they were being taken home. For the veggies, having them picked and displayed at or near the cashier's area would probably generate sales. Just have them close enough to dicourage "grazing"! Having people pick their own would probably result in damaged plants - most people don't know how to pick ripe vegetables, nor how to recognize what is a ripe vegetable, unless they are experienced gardeners already, in which case, they probably HAVE a garden!

Hi everybody, Wow have I been missing things! Sounds like good news there for Bunny and Veeja's Grandbaby( great) it a cutie. Earthly, and Mellen and Sue K and Jeanne and Raggedy and Oh Mercy I'm sure I'm forgetting some of you, Anita.... SO GREAT to see you back active. You have been in my thoughts over the past few months. Really wish I could get back into trading because that is even more fun than gardening but..... I am limited to what will survive life on the road. My picnic table is half full of plants and I know I can't take them all with me so I am going to tuck few herbs into a corner by the laundry room here. I'll leave a sign telling folks to take some and enjoy them. Hope they survive the summer OK I have fallen in love with deep East Texas. It is more pines than Palms so does not feel tropical but is so mild that the Amarillis are growing in yards in clumps of 12 or 15 flower stalks. What a beautiful sight. The people are friendly too and I look foreward to getting back here again. Wednesday, I'll head for Oklahoma to see parts of the historic RT 66 and visit museums about that. Then on to New Mexico. So much to see there too. I'll be working for the summer right by Mesa Verda in Colorado. Plan to spend my free time visiting/studying the history of the Four Corners area. With the price of Gas continuing to go up I'll have to plan my trips carefully but I'm thinking if I don't see it now.... then when will it ever be any cheaper???? Carol, I have told many people about the book "The Long Emergency". He was so "right on" I hate to thing about next year oe five years from now. Hugs to all, Miss you. BB

Margo-Congratulations on your first grandchild -soon-to-be. So sad to hear about your bird....I love when they can talk to you that is so cool. We get so attached to our pets and it is hard when we lose them. Hugs coming your way. Thanks for all the happy anniversaries...I remember when Eddie asked me to marry him and I said no way. I hate needles and told him no blood tests for me. He said he knew we could go to SC and not have to get blood tests so that is what we did. Jeanne-lets pray the treatments get scheduled soon. Keep us updated. Glad you received the daylily and hope you see tons of blooms. WE have had so much rain it is unreal. I don't know if my bearded irises can withstand all this rain, they are bad to get bacterial soft-rot with too much rain. Sue G - I received the daylilies and will ship out your Freda James Daylily Monday. Thanks A Halloween anniversary sounds interesting. Eddie always says everyone celebrates our anniversary with all the fireworks. Shirley