Canning season is on us again. Gabriola orchards and gardens are bursting with fruit and veggies. You can drive by the rows of fruit trees and practically hear them shout "Pick me! Pick me-e-e!" Even grapes on the vine are bunching up and hoping to be in your next batch of Chardonnay, not withstanding the racoons.

Weeks ago, the locals felt the stir and began collecting jars and all the paraphernalia for the annual ritual of 'doing up preserves'. Any canning jars on the shelves of local stores were cleared first, and then began the watch on GIRO as new treasures showed up on the shelves on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The doors open, eyes scan back and forth and then Nab! Some clever canner grabs a whole box of jars complete with lids, and has the certain pleasure of walking out, head held high, with a smug smile, and slowly placing the box into the trunk of her car.

Next step. Finding the fruit and veggies is also a bit of a competition, for the best produce must be picked at the optimum time. My culinary friend Dinah has several favourite spots and kindly shared her blackberry patch locations with me. Brickyard Beach has a long patch that is easy to pick, and the one at El Verano just keeps producing. She gets her raspberries, blueberries, currants and gooseberries from private gardens, and buys her apples from several island orchards, like Ike's who sell from their own property or at roadside stands. For everything else, and I mean anything you can grow, Dinah says you can't beat the Farmer's Market at the Agi Hall on Saturdays.

There is one herb that grows abundantly on Gabriola and that is mint. It's free for the picking and makes wonderful mint jelly. I'll share that recipe with you at the end of my prattle on preserves.

Now that we have the produce and the equipment we need the cooks. Enter Dinah and her 3 friends. I have been invited to join them, to watch and learn. Following a clean sweep of family, pets, etc. the kitchen is transformed into a canner’s factory. Pots, ingredients, jars, sealing wax, and everything else is on the counters, table and stove top.

These 4 lovely ladies then morph into culinary wizards. The crazy hats are on, Dinah puts on the hot New Orleans jazz, and the wine and glasses just sort of appear. This amazing melee is what it takes to create some of the finest preserves on the island. Jams, jellies, pickles, canned bean salad; sauerkraut, chutneys, and salsa recipes are studied and shared. Labelled jars of all sizes and colors crowd the counters and glitter under the lights.

Late into the evening, exhausted, and the slightly pickled four of us slide out to the back patio and put weary feet up on the chaise lounges. There is a 'plink plink', coming from the kitchen, same as last year. Yup, "Someone's in the kitchen with Dinah, strummin' on the 'ol banjo!" I apologize for that, but you had to know it was coming. Please forgive, and I offer this wonderful recipe.

Gabriola Roadside Mint Jelly


1 1/2 cups washed mint leaves
6 cups apple juice
4 cups sugar
1 package fruit Pectin
Green food coloring
Mint flavouring

Boil mint leaves in 1/2 cup water for 5 minutes and save liquid.
Add to apple juice to make 6 cups.
Mix Pectin with 1/4 cup sugar and add to apple juice.
Bring to a rolling boil.
Stir in remaining sugar and bring to a rolling boil again and boil 1 minute.
Add mint flavouring to taste and green food coloring to tint.
Skim off foam if needed and pour into heat-resistant jars with lids and seal.