nb. some men are from Venus: Hexagonal jam jars pictured for scale (available from: @JamJar

It's jam time of year and so far we've made three batches of cherry jam, three of mulberry, a mirabelle plum, an exotic greengage pickle and assortment of fruit mushes. There is a bucket of damsons to process as well as a few bits and bobs for gin and a demijohn of blackberry wine on the bubble. Safe to say it's been a good fruit year so far.
Therefore it is also that time of year when empty jars become rather important. We tend to keep most, but even still supplies are running low. Also, while it is good to recycle used jars (unless health and safety have got to you) and the quest for the nicest shop brought jars is satisfying, there is something much more pleasing about having all your jars the same size and shape. Very pleasing indeed. That is where The Jam Jar Shop comes into its own. You can buy case-loads of lovely jam jars all the same size. You can even buy ones in different sizes and have a little family of them. I much prefer the hexagonal variety as they stack so nicely and afford a good view of the jam inside. Specifically the 8oz size as this is a good balance between a practical amount of jam to enjoy per jar, but filling lots of jars generating plenty for you to give away. The 12oz are best if you're going to eat your own jam (or are really super generous to give away large jars). Meanwhile the 4 ozers are really cute but don't contain enough jam to make their gift-bestowal adequate. When it comes to lids I'm on the side of black looks best. I've found that the silver/gold ones tend to decay a bit over time and with repeated usage.
The only problem I have with the shop itself is the pictures of the jam jars. It's really quite hard to compare the different sizes when the images have no frame of reference. Hence why I have tried to take the photos below. In doing so I have discovered that it is quite tricky to give jars that are the same shape but mildly differing in size a sense of proportion. I walked round the house looking for something suitable. I tried filling them with whole cloves as these have a very definitive size, but then there are just too many to make the comparison useful. In the end I found that standing them on the newspaper was as effective as I could get it.
As a side note I do use these jars, the 8oz size, as spice jars. They look fabulous, naturally tessellate on the shelf and you don't need labels as you get such a good view of the contents. Sometime I find the 12oz more appropriate for some of the bulkier spices which tend to come in larger packs.
jamjarshop. © Nick Bailey