first loquat jam

There's a big fruit tree next to my raised bed that bears clusters of small pale orange fruit. The squirrels and birds pay a lot of attention to the fruit as it ripens on the tree, whereas I have always assumed that the fruit was inedible. But this weekend my neighbor informed me that the tree is in fact a loquat tree and loquats are edible. Loquats are native to southeastern China but began growing in California in the 1870s. The name "loquat" comes from an ancient Cantonese word meaning "reed orange."

Loquats can be made into jellies and jams. So I decided to harvest the loquats and follow this jam recipe:

1. Wash the loquats and remove the seeds (seeds contain cyanide)
2. Blend/chop into a pulp (I added lemon juice from a backyard lemon.)
   
3. Barely cover with water and cook until red.
4. Stirr in 3/4 cups of sugar for everyone 1 cup of loquat pulp.
   
5. Continue to cook and stir until thick.

My harvest yielded 8 small jars of loquat jam. Delicious!