Teresa's Aronia Jam/Jelly Production

Teresa is bringing her wonderfully delicious, nutritious, and some say even magical Aronia Jam and Jelly up to the indoor market at Immanuel Lutheran at 616 Lake St. in Evanston, Sat., Nov. 21, 9 - 1 p.m. She will offer specials on whole cases (12 jars) so you can knock off lots of gift-giving obligations in one fell swoop, and still have some leftover for yourself.

The aronia berries in these jars started off as clusters of beautiful white flowers in Teresa's 2-acre field of organic aronia bushes this past spring. They ripened all summer, and we picked them during one hot week in late August.

Then Teresa froze about half of them and took them up to an organic processor in Honor Michigan, Food for Thought. Here's what happened next . . .

They got warmed up and dumped in a copper cauldron. Then someone turned the chopper blade 10 times to chop the fruit into small pieces.


Here's Timothy, the CEO and chef at Food for Thought, who's just finished chopping up a batch of aronia berries. The chopped fruit is then dumped into a large heated cauldron and mixed with organic sugar, lemon juice, and pectin. Here Trish, the floor supervisor, is getting ready to dump whole berries into the grinder.

The huge pot of boiling hot jam mixture is poured into a machine that squirts it into the sterilized bottles, which are then capped and cooled.

This year, Teresa made 1200 jars of jam from about 360 pounds of berries. She made another 200 jars of jelly from 9 gallons of fresh-pressed aronia juice.

Come up to Evanston and get enough to last you all winter!

Aronia Harvest Time Is Here!

Come out to the farm and join Teresa and the crew THIS SUNDAY, Aug. 24, 1:00-6:00 or whenever you need to go.

Teresa called me earlier and said, “I’m out here in the aronia field, and it’s ready!”

“What’s aronia?” you may ask. Well, there are a few pictures here that I took yesterday, but come out and see for yourself!

There will be prizes for the most berries picked, and the opportunity to have your wages donated to the charity of your choice.

Teresa planted two acres of the bushes two years ago, went to Poland a year ago to research harvesting and processing, and is now offering you and your family and friends a day in the country picking them -- with the option of having your “wages” go to either The Land Connection’s New Farmer Scholarship Fund, or the charity of your choice.

Directions to the Aronia Harvest: We are located in between Bloomington and Peoria.

From the East or West. Take the Goodfield Exit on I-74, and go straight through the stoplight in Goodfield. A quarter mile after you leave the village, turn right just before the “Hillside Hideaway” display of wooden gazebos, sheds, play-sets, etc. There is a sign that point to the Yogi Bear Campground at the turnoff.

Follow the road as it zigzags around and goes by the trailer park. When you come to the 2^nd stop sign (Grimm Road), turn left. Take the next right (less than ¼ mile) onto 400 North. Go about half a mile to the top of the hill, and look for a sign.