As this is the first blog entry, in what hopefully will be a long and fruitful venture, I suppose I should start by telling you what I do.
I own a small business in South Wales that makes jams, jellies, marmalades, chutneys, relishes, condiments, sauces and preserves. Along with making all this wonderful produce, I grow about 90% of what I cook in the garden. I don’t use chemicals, I don’t use pesticides. It’s fresh, it’s organic, it’s full of natural goodness.
It’s home-grown and homemade.
I started this business last November after graduating from Law School and having a final summer of fun. At first I bought all the fruit and vegetables, but I didn’t like the fact I couldn’t pinpoint on a map where the produce came from, or what they had been sprayed with, or how long they had travelled for before reaching the warehouse. If I didn’t know what was being put on these fruits, then I didn’t know what I was putting in my jars. So, I bought some plants and bought some seeds, dug up the better half of an acre and planted everything I could think of that would survive the inconsistent and unpredictable British/Welsh weather.
I have: apple trees, pear trees, cherry trees, crabapple trees, fig trees, gooseberries, strawberries, tayberries, raspberries, blackberries, redcurrents, blackcurrents, whitecurrents, rhubarb, grape vines and inca berries.
I also have: runner beans, broad beans, fennel, spring onions, beetroot (about 5 varieties of) pumpkins, winter/summer squash, courgettes (another 5 varieties) chard, turnips, aubergines, tomatoes (34 plants) chillies (46 plants) peppers, potatoes, lettuces, red cabbage, sprouts and finally, I have pak choi. That’s for me though.
I have an abundance of herbs, and even saffron growing in the garden, which is guarded under lock and key.
The only things I don’t grow are onions and the citrus fruits. I would need a field of onions to keep up with my onion intake, however, the onions I do use are locally sourced and organic and the citrus fruits come from this amazing farm in Spain who take more care of their fruits than I do of myself.
The produce is picked in the morning, taken straight down the steps into my kitchen, washed, chopped/diced/grated and turned into delicious preserves and chutneys by the afternoon.
See? It really is home-grown and homemade.
