• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Connect
  • Donate
  • Join
  • Login
Story Circle Network Logo

Story Circle

by, for, and about women

  • Home
  • Events
    • Spain Writing Trip
    • Members in the News
    • Opportunities
  • Classes
    • Online Classes
    • Webinars
    • Enroll
    • Propose a Class
    • Propose a Webinar
  • Book Reviews
    • Story Circle Book Reviews
    • For Authors & Publishers
    • Author Interviews
    • For Reviewers
    • Review Team
  • Publications
    • SCN Journal
    • Our Substack
      • True Words from Real Women
      • StoryCraft: Writers Write About Writing
      • Submit a post
    • Real Women Write anthology
      • 2024 Anthology
    • Member Library
    • Story Circle Books
    • Flash newsletter
  • Book Awards
    • Sarton & Gilda
    • Guidelines
    • Sarton Application
    • Gilda Application
    • Past SCN Book Award Winners
  • Contests
    • The Story Circle LifeWriting Competition
    • The Story CIrcle Poetry Competition
    • The Story Circle Online Writing Competition
  • Resources
    • Circles Program
    • Roundtables
    • Opportunities
    • Member Library
    • Media
  • About
    • About SCN
    • Member Benefits

June 7 – Bumper Crop!

June 7, 2021 by Sara Etgen-Baker

Spring washed in like the tide, advancing confidently with warmth and sunshine one day and retreating the next.  Some days the daffodils in Mother’s garden were bathed in lukewarm air that gently encouraged them, on others the wintry wind gusted, demanding a return to the bitterness of the months before.  But like the tide, spring wouldn’t be stopped. Warming winds blew, banishing winter’s chill; brown grasses became lush, erasing the memory of their wintry selves; the air vibrated with birds singing, and the plum trees in our back yard budded with leaves and brilliant pink blossoms.

 By May the pink blossoms had fallen off, replacing every branch with sweet-tasting large red plums that ripened at once. 

 “Bumper crop!” Mother announced, grabbing bushel baskets from the shed. 

I followed her to the backyard. Together we plucked them from their branches, occasionally rubbing one clean on our shirts and biting into it quenching our parched throats with its juicy warmth and sweetness.  At day’s end, we’d picked so many plums that our fingers were sticky and our hands cramped. 

“Look!” Mother exclaimed. “We have over six bushels of plums—too many to eat before they rot in the baskets.  Time to make plum jelly!”  

 The next morning Mother retrieved her jelly jars from the attic, carefully inspecting them for cracks and the rings for rust.  We immersed the jars in hot, simmering water until the jelly mixture was ready.  We washed the plums, cut them in half and removed the pits, combined them with sugar and water in a large pot, and brought the mixture to a boil until it looked like thick plum soup.  I added pectin to the mixture while she stirred until the consistency was, as she put it, just right.  The sweet, savory aroma of plums and sugar wafted through the air.  My stomach clenched with hunger as I thought of spreading delicious, red jelly on a piece of warm toast. 

 Mother removed the mixture from the heat while I skimmed off the heavy foam and ladled the jelly into the hot, sterilized jars.

“Wipe off the tops of the jars and place the lids on the top,” she instructed before screwing on the rings finger-tight and returning the jars to the boiling water. After 20 minutes, we removed them from the boiling water and placed them on the countertop. 

 “When will we have jelly?” I asked, my mouth all but drooling.

 “After they’ve cooled and sealed.  Listen for the soft popping sound.”

I sat at the kitchen table, my chin resting in my hands, waiting and listening for what seemed like forever.  Eventually, I heard the repetitive popping sound as each of the jars announced “I’m ready.”

Afterward, we treated ourselves to some of our jelly, spreading it on a piece of warm toast.  How delicious that jelly was! How priceless were the memories we made!  Even now, I can still taste the sweetness of that jelly and cherish the magic of making memories with Mother that spring. 

After a 25-year teaching career, Sara Etgen-Baker began her writing journey. She’s written a collection of memoir vignettes/personal narratives (Shoebox Stories), a chapbook of poetry (Kaleidoscopic Verses), and a novel (Secrets at Dillehay Crossing). Her work has been published in numerous anthologies and magazines including Chicken Soup for the Soul, and Guideposts

Filed Under: Sara Etgen-Baker, True Words from Real Women

Primary Sidebar

hoye-orig

This blog is coordinated by author, photographer, and gardener Linda Hoye. Find her at A Slice of Life.

Subscribe

Get new posts in your inbox!
Loading

Archives

2009-2019 Archives

This blog is written by Story Circle members.


Not a member? Go here to join.

Contributors

  • Amber Lea Starfire
    • February 1 - What Happens When You Write 20 Minutes a Day?
  • Ariela Zucker - View Blog
    • To Walk With Stability
    • Not Doing is a Form of Doing
  • Carol Newman
    • June 26 - Cascade
    • June 5 - Trains, Planes, and Automobiles
  • blatter.carol
    • I Met Nurse Ratched
    • November 8 - My Mother
  • Barbara Scott - View Blog
    • February 12 - LOL Before Divorce
  • christinamwells - View Blog
    • May 31 - The Hairbrush
  • Christine Hassing - View Blog
    • December 20 - Opening
  • Carrie Steckl - View Blog
    • April 4 - Let’s Love the Good in Others
    • Five Minutes on Sundays
  • debradolan1958
    • Wedding Dress Whim
    • March 13 - Museum of Broken Relationships
  • Diane
    • Walking Through Fear
  • Doris Clark - View Blog
    • May 24 - Dad's Home Again
  • Dorothy Preston - View Blog
    • December 6 - The Rutted Path
    • August 23 - Ghosts of Rejection
  • Lisa Droz - View Blog
    • July 27 - The Seat Next to Me
    • June 29 - Pay Dirt
  • Girly
    • November 2 - A Morning
  • Heidi Schwab-Wilhelmi
    • November 22 - Piano Days
  • Judy - View Blog
    • December 12 - Numb and Puzzling Grief
  • Jeanne Guy - View Blog
    • July 20 - Under Water
  • Jeanette
    • A Clouded Mind
  • Janice Airhart - View Blog
    • October 19 - The Broadmoor
  • Joanne Martin
    • April 12 - The Last Time
    • November 2 - Helping Hands
  • JSchecterZeeb
    • D-Day June 6, 1944
  • Kali - View Blog
    • March 29 - When Life Hands You . . .
    • May 10 - A Newfound Friend
  • B. Lynn Goodwin - View Blog
    • August 3 - Notes From an Exceptional Terrier
  • Linda Hoye - View Blog
    • We've Moved
    • September 12 - Just Lily and Me
  • Len Leatherwood
    • July 6 - Love, Color, and a Bit of Surprise
  • LWatt - View Blog
    • October 18 - In-Between
    • January 31 - Hail Oh, Hail
  • Marian Beaman - View Blog
    • You Found Your Glasses Where?
    • June 14 - Right Thing Too Late
  • Marilea Rabasa - View Blog
    • Walking Through Cancer - Part 13
    • Walking Through Cancer - Part 12
  • marthaslavin - View Blog
    • December 30 - Unfinished Year 2020
  • Michele Kwasniewski
    • November 29 - Hanging With The Big Dogs
    • May 6 - Happy Birthday, Mom
  • Melanie
    • May 18 - Infusing Hope
  • Monique - View Blog
    • February 7 - The Answer
  • Nancy Oelklaus - View Blog
    • September 6 - Life Goes On
  • Lisa Hacker
    • August 30 -The Great Book Purge
  • repak.t
    • Switching Creative Gears
  • Sara Etgen-Baker
    • Talking Aprons
    • You Had Me At Pumpkin Spice
  • simonandrea - View Blog
    • February 22 - Words Are My Life
  • srick18153 - View Blog
    • April 2 - Sarah and Wally Go to Space Camp
  • Story Circle Network - View Blog
    • April 19 - My Mother's Kitchen
  • Suzanne Adam - View Blog
    • July 13 - COVID Roller Coaster
  • suzy beal
    • April 26 - The Culling Year
    • January 18 - Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice
  • Wentlin
    • August 24 - Uncommon
    • July 6 - An Exercise in Being Human

Footer

Subscribe to our Substack

Her Stories: Writing Craft & Community

Story Circle Network Logo
  • Home
  • About
  • Classes
  • Publications
  • Book Reviews
  • Growing Together
  • Connect
  • Donate
  • Join
  • Login

Copyright 1997 - 2025  Story Circle Network, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy