Who is making jam?

[FourChimneys]

Sorry if there is a thread already, I couldn't see one.

It's jam making time, who is making what? Chutney stories equally welcome!

I made 10 lb of blackberry jam today, and plan to make plum jam tomorrow if I can find time to pick them. My elderly neighbour has a tree but can't pick them any more. I'll make the jam and give her a few jars. It's a good excuse to gently check up on her and have a natter.

It feels good to have stuff stored up for the winter. I rarely make chutney but another neighbour does so we usually do a jam/chutney swap.

Help me, jam-makers of Mumsnet!

Every time I make jam, it winds up nearer to fruit-flavoured caramel instead. I just attempted lemon curd, and now have a saucepan full of lemony caramel.

I'm a good cook, I'm a good baker. Why does jam elude me so?

OP-Where do you live? I'm East Anglia and our blackberries are still red and hard! I made strawberry jam earlier this year. Last year I had a glut of courgettes and pickled them using this recipe: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/crunchy-courgette-pickle. We have just finished them off, eating them on ham sandwiches, with cheese etc. Yum! I also had a courgette which hid from me, and turned into a massive marrow like thing! I turned it into marrow and ginger jam, and was the best thing to use a marrow for!
A previous year I made fig, vanilla and sesame jam which was delicious.

@SkylarSpirit sounds like too much sugar and cooking for too long.
Maybe follow a recipe from BBC good food? I always use less sugar than suggested, so you can taste the fruit more

I'm making morello cherry jam with last year's cherries from the freezer! It's a gorgeous jam, with good acidity so it sets well without the need for pectin, even though i reduce the sugar to about 800 grams per kilo of fruit.
The only problem is the stones. After much trial and error I now cook the fruit gently with the stones in and then let it cool. When it's cool or cold i go in with my (scrubbed clean) hands and squeeze the stones out of the now-soft fruit. Then add sugar, lemon juice and boil it all up.
Morello cherries make superb flavoured jam. They're rubbish for eating raw though unless you like really, really sharp fruit....
We have a glut of cucumbers at the moment and I've make some bread and butter pickles, very nice, plus fermented (cucumber) dill pickles. Soggy Disaster.
In the autumn I make a bog-standard apple and onion chutney with chilli. I also make fermented chilli sauce.