With all the excitement of the Japanese Maples I forgot to mention the reason for my trip to the Botanical gardens last weekend.
My brother-in-law Martin (too) had told me that the Japonica had fruited and the ground around them was littered with wind falls.

He knew that one of my life’s passions is Japonica Jelly.

Small bit of science first.
Japonicas, at least what I call Japonicas, are in fact Chaenomeles, a shrub which has a bright red flower and yellow green apple like fruit.
These are the ones which I lust after.

Just pick handfulls of them the next time you come across them and put them in a bowl in a warm room.
They have a wonderful warm waxy citrus scent which will seduce you.
Well, with just the smallest amount of effort you can turn this smell into a taste by making Japonica Jelly.
If you want to collect them in the Botanicals you will need two people, one to stand guard and one to scrabble under the bushes for wind falls.
This was my role last sunday.
I gathered about a kilo, filling every pocket I possessed and looking a little like a misshapen Michelin Man.
(This gave me a kilo and a half of jelly)

Keep them for a few days in a bowl in a warm room, just to work up your appetite.
Then make jelly from them.

Now I am more than happy to use sugar which is special for jelly.
This gives a reliable set after one minute’s boiling thereby preserving the freshness of the fruit.
If you are picky about this, tackle in the traditional way and keep boiling until you get a set.

Whichever method you use the start up is the same.

Quarter the fruit, put into a large pot, just cover with water, boil until soft and mushy (and have given their all)
Strain the juice off the pulp. measure and boil up with a kilo for every litre of juice.
If using Jam Sugar you boil vigorously for just one minute, if using ordinary sugar keep boiling until a teaspoonful in a cold saucer wrinkles into a set after a few seconds.

Which ever way you use do not bother with jelly bags and all that palaver, so who cares if the end result is a bit cloudy.

What really matters is the taste.

My cloudy, but delicious, Japonica jelly.