After long days of strawberry picking, we hauled home lots of berries. During our picking, we noticed most people avoided the really ripe squishy ones so we decided to pick a lot of those so they don’t go to waste. They’re perfect for things like jam, pie, or just an ice cream topping.

• 16 oz strawberries
• 1/2 cup of cane sugar
• 2 tbs lemon juice
• 2 tbs chia seeds

1. Place strawberries + sugar + lemon juice +chia seeds in a large bowl and mix
2. Then, in a sauce pan or deep pot, put this mixture and stir over low/med heat until most of the sugar blends in well.
3. Turn down to simmer and stir often until mixture thickens (about 1 hour)

To vacuum seal, fill a large pot with water and let it boil. Then place the mason jar (without the lid) in the boiling water until submerged. Boil for 10 minutes. Then carefully take out of the pot (it’s hot!) Pour the jam into the jar and using a fork stir a little to get rid of the air bubbles. Seal with the lid. That’s it!

This jam is great on biscuits, sourdough toast, or even as a topping for pancakes, waffles, and ice-cream.