Love Your Mother!

Happy Earth Day – or should I say Earth Month since the official day has passed.

Our family celebrated Earth Day by taking an evening walk picking up recyclables and trash along the way. My son’s loved know that they were making a difference in keeping our neighborhood clean. Isn’t funny how kids believe that their small actions will help the planet but adults think the problem is too big to make difference. On Earth Day, I watched several shows and listened to several green pod casts (my new favorite thing to do while making jam and cleaning) and the one theme held by every show/podcast was your small changes will add up. It may not seem that the one plastic bottle will make a difference but if you recycle that bottle along with another million people, cumulatively, it will have a positive impact for our earth. The funny thing is kids believe this – no questions asked. Something else we can learn from our children – we can each make a difference: And don’t we owe that to them? Our next generation deserves clean air, beautiful oceans and the best environment we can give them.

One thing I heard on a podcast was if we all eat one meatless meal a week that would be the equivalent energy savings as one person driving a hybrid car for a year! WOW! Now that is significant. Not to mention the added health benefits – assuming your not eating onion rings, fried mushrooms, and a double stuffed bean burrito from Taco Bell. You can find more at www.meatlessmondays.com.


Our family started eating more local; as much as possible anyway. About a year ago, we started buying local fresh eggs. I love them. If you have not had real fresh eggs you are defiantly missing out. Not only is it satisfying to see the chickens that lay our eggs but the flavor far exceeds those found in the store. In fact, my egg lady told me that eggs sold in the store could be up to 90 days old – yuck.

So I encourage you to try one small thing to help the environment. One prefect way to re-connect with your community and support the environment is to visit a local Farmer’s Market. These are so much fun and the best way to actually get the freshest food available (besides your backyard of course).

We will be at the Elizabeth City, NC Downtown waterfront Market this Saturday from 9 am – 1 pm selling our freshly made jams and jellies (made with locally produced fruit). If you have the opportunity please come see us as it is a very nice market and it will be a beautiful day!

Website is Up and Running!

Spring has sprung in Tidewater! Although our winter was not severe by any means its always nice to welcome spring. We did just that last weekend at the 23^rd annual Daffodil Festival in Glouster. It was a wonderful event and we met great people and received wonderful comments on our jam. In fact, we are working on getting our jams in two shops in the Glouster area. Some exciting things have been happening with Fresh Batch Jams.

Are you or someone you know getting married this year? Brides all over are planning their special day and we have a great wedding favor idea to share. Fresh Batch Jams now has small jars with custom labeling (i.e., Bride and Grooms name and wedding date). Let us know if we can provide some help making wedding, shower or party favors that your guests will be sure to remember.

We have just launched a web site and although it is a work in progress, I invite you to check it out at www.freshbatchjams.com. We are working to get our shipping quotes fixed but you can order online. We will also be adding an option for pick-up instead of shipping. You can order and pick up from me in Chesapeake or let me know if you want to pick-up at one of our scheduled Market/Fair Days.

Speaking of our Market/Fair dates, we are in the process of working out our schedule for the remaining of the summer. This will be posted on our web page as well so you can come out and see us and get a refill of your favorite product if needed. This weekend you can find us at St. Pauls’ United Methoist Church Craft/Flea Market off Providence Rd. from 8-2 pm located at 437 Providence Rd. Chesapeake, VA 23325

We have new seasonal flavors we are working on can can’t wait to share those with each of you. Thanks for being a great customer and supporting our small business and the local farmers we acquire our fruit from.