And who doesn't love jam? Maybe this summer is the time to test our your jam making skills whether it be making strawberry jam or something entirely different.
The UK’s first-ever online jam festival has been launched by the founder of the Guild of Jam and Preserve Makers and will take place from 25th July – 2nd August 2020.
Rosemary Jameson, who is based in Rutland, has a life-long passion for jam-making and in the last few years has worked tirelessly to make it an accessible skill to be passed down through the generations.
But with the current lockdown restrictions meaning most produce shows have been cancelled for 2020 and nowhere for jam makers to show off their wares, Rosie has launched The Stay at Home Jam Festival, which will take place on Facebook in July and August and offer opportunities for other creatives to get involved too, with some great prizes up for grabs.
She said: “Food and produce shows are always such a highlight for people who make their own preserves to show off their wares and it seems such a shame to have to write-off the 2020 season.
“While taste tasting is off the cards, we’ve come up with some really creative ways for people to get involved – and they don’t have to make jam to do so.”
The event will include a live jam making session from Rosie and everyone who makes jam throughout the week will be asked to send in their totals to be added to the “Jamometer”. There will be opportunities for artists, artisans, musicians, bakers, makers and poets to get involved and on the closing weekend, there will be a Jamkhana – a culmination of everything that makes a summer fair a wonderful event for all the family.
Rosie added: “It’s all just for fun but we have some great prizes from our sponsors to add to the competitive spirit.”
Rosie is the founder of Rosie Makes Jam and Love Jars – both businesses that support her passion for “preserving preserving” and passing on the traditional skills she was taught as a child.
In 2017, Rosie was diagnosed with breast cancer and during her treatment, which she has now fully recovered from, she wrote a book about her life called ‘In a Bit of a Jam’ and set a mission for herself to teach people who have never preserved before how to reduce waste, recycle food and fill their store cupboard with the right ingredients to do so.
As part of that Stay at Home Jam Festival, Rosie is launching her new initiative – Swap Crop, in which people who have an excess of fruit and vegetables can swap with their neighbours using the hashtag #SwapCrop or by posting in her Facebook Group. She will also be announcing another exciting “jampaign” throughout the week of the festival too.
For more information and to join in the festivities, Rosie is inviting people to join her Facebook Group – "Preserve it!" - where she will be posting all of the important details and running live workshops
