Get a good field guide and (or) find a friend who knows what she or he is looking for. Good jelly can be made from choke cherries, elderberries, black cherries, which do not have enough pectin without combining with a high pectin juice, or barberries, cranberries or plums which have enough pectin on their own. There are many other wild fruits that can be used.

The recipe is about the same as the 2 preceding, about 4 cups of juice, total, combined with about 3/4 as much sugar, boiled until it gels. The whole way the substance called pectin breaks down and recombines, enclosing the juice, is fascinating to me, but it is a long and boring subject to most other people that I know, (they're tired of listening to me and trying out one jelly after another... at one point the whole top shelf of my refrigerator was covered with little tiny jars of various jellies). Anyway, the juice has to be able to clump up in a small amount of rubbing alcohol before it will turn into jelly.

Some of my favorites are:

ELDERBERRY JELLY:

2 c. elderberry juice
2 c. apple juice
3 c. sugar

Boil until it sheets from a spoon. Skim the foam off. Pour into sterilized jars and seal.

CHOKECHERRY JELLY:

2 c. chokecherry juice
2 c. apple juice
3 c. sugar

Boil until it sheets from a spoon. Skim the foam off. Pour into sterilized jars and seal.

GRAPE SUMAC JELLY:

3 c. grape juice
1 c. sumac juice
3 c. sugar

Boil until it sheets from a spoon. Skim the foam off. Pour into sterilized jars and seal. Although jelly has never traditionally been processed, current USDA recommendations are to process it in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. This step may be skipped if you plan to refrigerate the jelly.