Fresh Batch Jams

2010-05-24T20:10:00.000-07:00

All things Strawberry

Life has been busy with Strawberries and such. We have been picking berries, making jam, picking more berries and making more jam. This time of May I always fret of the ending of strawberry season and feel that we have not picked enough not made enough.

I truly love picking all berries but Strawberries are probably my favorite. I know, picking strawberries requires you to bend close to the ground and its a little dirty but Strawberries are the Ruby of them all. They are sweet, beautiful are abundant in our area and make WONDERFUL Jam.

I was recently asked to be a Taste Tester for an special our local news paper runs on judging three restaurant specializing in various foods. This time it's the Best Strawberry Desert. Because of my vast Strawberry knowledge and love for all things Strawberry, I was invited to join as a judge. Wow - I was super excited and ready for the challenge to help determine the BEST STRAWBERRY DESERT in Hampton Roads. It would be a tough task but I would dutifully accept this huge responsibility. The feature article has not been published yet (this Sunday) but I can give you a little snap shot of the three contenders.

First on our list was a classic Strawberry Pie. Oh my, it was beautiful and everything was homemade! The original creator, an 82 year-old grandmother is even in the kitchen daily to help roll out the pie crusts. You could definitely taste the love in this pie. I loved that it was packed full of freshly picked berries and just enough jell. In many of the commercial Strawberry Pies, its mostly jelly with a few berries thrown in. And topping it all was homemade whipped cream -- YUMMY!

I was kind of embarrassed that I wolfed it down in a few seconds flat but It was scrumptious.

Next we had Strawberry Cupcakes. My sister-in-law is a cupcake queen and has spoiled me with wonderful cupcakes (many filled with our jam). Now, truth be told, I love cupcakes but I am not one to seek out a Cupcake Shop and buy a fancy-pants cupcake so I was still thinking the pie would be my fav. (I am an old fashioned gal).

The Cupcake was wonderful and looked so sweet. They use local berries chopped up and their icing was YUMMY. Although I must admit it was too much for me. I know many of you would disagree that you can never have too much icing - but I thought it was. The shop was modern and crisp. It was a nice spot to have a cupcake!

Our third stop was on the other side of the earth - or at least it felt that way. About a 40 minute drive later we were at a sushi restaurant. It was actually a blessing that we had such a long drive as we were all getting full on sweetness! I was a little surprised that a sushi place was nominated for a good strawberry desert but ready for our final stop.

The restaurant itself was a cool little place in a very unlikely spot. It was a funky yet traditional and it everything looked amazing. As we waited for our Strawberry Deserts we were all eager to have the final taste. We were all served the most beautiful Strawberry Wonton Napoleons. Everyone in the restaurant turned to look as they were truly beautiful!

Each desert was very good and I truly enjoyed them in a different way. The thing that struck me most was that each one of these locally owned restaurants all commented on exactly where their strawberries were from. I love them for that. They were making every effort to use the best and freshest berries available and helping a farmer along the way -- just as we strive to do with our jam!

Of course I don’t want to spoil the article by telling you who won the official taste test but it was a close one. I can tell you that I will return for a homemade Strawberry Pie, stop in the cupcake store for a little sweet treat and return for sushi and wonton napoleons before strawberry season comes to an end.

Now get out there and enjoy some local strawberries before they are gone for another year!!

A New Year

2010-04-15T10:29:00.000-07:00

Many people love the marking of a new year. They look forward to what’s a head, make resolutions on how they will rid themselves of bad habits and make plans to acquire new healthily habits: To leave all the bad behind and make room for all the good life has to offer. I too love the New Year. I love its new possibilities and a “fresh start”. Like the new year, I also love the fall. It’s a time when kids return to school with new books, crisp white paper to soon hold all the teaching and stories. However, my favorite fresh start comes in the Spring. I love watching the ground come alive. First the, Daffodils, the Forsythia, and Cherry Blossoms. It’s a time to enjoy but mostly a time to ready for the harvest to come.

After a little requesting on my part, my Husband took my compost bin and poured my new dirt over the beds, getting them ready for their new growth. I use to feel sorry that I was excited by something as simple as dirt but now I feel it should be celebrated. I made this dirt! Who knew I could make dirt? All my scraps, yard waste and peelings from the hundreds of apples, pears, peaches we used for our jams this past summer and fall have worked themselves down to perfect dirt; “Black gold” as it’s called.

Sorry I got off on a tangent….

Like a new book promising to hold knowledge for a student in the fall. Our beds hold promise of the possibilities of abundance of fruit and veggies. The hardest part of it all? It’s not the weeding, not the watering or remembering to water, it’s the waiting. Recently, I had someone tell me they did not garden as it took to long to grown veggies. Yes, you must care, tend and wait 50-72 days before the picking is good but it IS worth the wait!

It’s partly my passion as I love nature. Watching things grow and produce food for my family, but mainly as I know it’s the right thing to do. We need to be connected to our food. Either by growing food ourselves or buying directly from a grower. How sad is it that our kids today don’t know the basics of where the food comes from that they eat. Not even that apples come from a tree and potatoes come from the ground! I have held in my hart for some time that I want a farm and get our own chickens, grow more of our food but mostly to want to slow down and teach my children how to love the planet by being good to our Mother Earth. But for now, I will be happy growing our families own food and putting up all I can for the winter.

Nicene Creed and the Birds and the Bees'

2010-01-12T19:18:00.000-08:00

Our family is Catholic and Jake is at the wonderful age of preparing for his his first communion. I am so excited for him and we have lots to prepare before he actually receives his first communion.

Our family goes to classes where we all learn different aspects to our religion and the scripture.

In Jake's class, they learn the structure of mass, about Saints, prayers, etc. In the adult class we learn how to be better parents by incorporating our faith into our child rearing, we read scripture and discuss how it affects our daily lives (especially dealing with raising children).

However, we have not discussed anything in our class to help me with this...

In preparation for our class this week, Jake and I were working on memorizing the Nicene Creed (the Catholics confession of faith that is recited by memory at each mass). We started working through it together. The first paragraph was no problem.

Second paragraph was getting a little hazy so to make it easier for Jake to understand, I was was explaining what each paragraph meant. ...."we believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father..." I was able to explain how Jesus was begotten and is part of God.

All was going well and Jake was really getting into how I was explaning how Jesus came from God to be with us and teach us.

Until ...three lines down.

"by the power of the Holy Spirit, He was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man".

I was still naive enough to think I could skirt over this one but Jake stopped and asked "What is a Virgin?".

My mouth turned to cotton and I could not think of how to answer his question while keeping the meaning of how (and more importantly why) Jesus became man. I should of been prepared but I was NOT. Not-the-least-bit-prepared. I failed with my "uh, uh, well...ummm".

Mitch, standing behind Jake, was giving me the "OK Mom, what do you have to say to that!" look. I can't even remember what I said to answer his question. (And I use answer loosely) but I know Mitch had to jump in and try and save me!

Why did we not cover this in class? There had to be so many parents before us who were asked this question as Virgin is not in our normal conversation with our 8 year-old child. Anytime the news comes on I mute or turn off the TV so I don't have to answer these questions yet. I relish this time on innocence. I am trying to find my "life remote" to hit a pause button!

I know theses conversations are coming. I will be ready to answer these questions and be honest with my children when they are 10, or 15, or better yet 30. But not yet. I am not ready! And I did not think these questions would come from learing about Jesus for goodness sakes!

So, one more thing to add to the to do list...research answers to give to your child when asked about the birds and the bees.

Pray for me as I am so not ready for this!

Happy New Year

2010-01-03T19:22:00.000-08:00

Well, its been some time since I have sat down to jot a few things that are going on in our lives. Why? I am not really sure why I did not stop to "journal" before now. Maybe its I could not find a spare minute or two to formulate my thoughts, maybe I could not stand to work about if my grammar was correct, or maybe I could not think of anything witty to share with you or who knows why.....

Any way on to the update, we had such a busy fall and winter I don't know where to begin! Between back to school, harvest time, making as much jam as I could fit in my days and nights, and trying to fill in some family memories in between all of this - things were crazy! My favorite time of the year is fall and it seems that in a blink of an eye fall had come and gone. We packed our weeks full of festivals and craft shows and met some great people along the way!

Then before we knew it, the holidays were knocking on our door. Again, we filled our days with shows.

Now, it seems, I can finally take a needed breath. In fact, I have slept in all weekend and enjoyed extra time in my jammies playing with the boys with all their new toys.

January and February will be a nice reprieve and a slow time for us were I will be filling my time scheduling our upcoming show/market dates, coming up with new flavor ideas, and improving our web site. New things are soon to come.

Thank you to each of our new (and old) customers who have believed in our cottage business and have supported us along the way. We hope to have new items for you to fall in love with in the coming year!

Wishing you all the best for 2010!

Shortcomings As a Proper Mother

2009-09-16T12:54:00.000-07:00

Last night, I realized I am the worst Mom ever - at least in Kyland’s view of the world. My three year-old child, who did not take a nap but still REQUIRES a 3-hour nap daily, wanted ice cream for his after bath snack. Kyland always requests ice cream for his snack and since he is skinny as a string bean I am happy to scoop it out. Kyland’s number one favorite ice cream flavor - Vanilla with chocolate syrup. I held my breath as we did not have boring ole’ - I mean plain vanilla. We only had sherbet (Jake’s fav) and cookie dough (my fav). But with little effort, I was able to sway him away from a total melt down by offering a banana split.

I immediately think to myself “Yeah, Your good you successfully diverted that disaster”. However, my praise was quickly interrupted after handing Kyland his bowl. I was mildly attacked when he tearfully declared “That’s not a REAL banana split! Make it like Daddy!”

I spent the next few minutes of trying to figure out how wonderfully Daddy (who was not around at the time) makes said banana split. Evidently this is the only proper way to make a banana split.

I begin thinking What’s wrong with my banana split making abilities? It may not be Baskin Robbins but I thought it looked pretty good: Bananas? Check; Two scoops of ice cream? Check; Syrup? Check; Whipped topping? Check.

But Kyland knew what he wanted and it was not what was in front of him. I on the other hand, did not have a clue what he wanted! Once the tears were flowing, (by Kyland too) I gave up and sent him on to bed thinking to my self “You ungrateful child – your getting a banana split on a Tuesday for crying out loud!” After everyone clamed down and Kyland was getting his much needed sleep, I tried getting over my shortcomings as a proper banana split making mother by eating the rejected banana split and making a mental note that Kyland MUST take a nap tomorrow…..sigh.

Swim Team and Family Time

2009-07-16T09:36:00.000-07:00

After such a busy month of end of school and festivals in May and June, we were happy to take time off in July. My oldest son Jake, is on swim team and has had a meet every Saturday since late June. The swim teams schedule is almost over so we are gearing up for a few shows in Aug. (God Bless us wanting to stand in the heat all day!).

During this small jamming hiatus, we have been able to try a few new recipes (Watermelon Rind Preserves is the latest) and pick blueberries and blackberries – although I am panicking that we have not picked enough to hold us through the summer! But mostly we have been spending time with the family.

My dad’s side of the family held a family reunion/memorial for both my grandparents. Unfortunately, I did not attend but spent that weekend making Aebleskiver’s (Danish pancake balls).

This is a Strong Family tradition that we all loved when my Grandma made these. I was ecstatic to learn that I am the proud new owner of my Grandmother’s cast iron Aebleskiver pan. Actually it is handed down from my Great-grandmother. I am honored that out of all her seven children and 25+ grandchildren I am the lucky one to receive this gift (thank you Pat for going to bat for me!) I have such fond memories of my cousins and I waiting for the next batch of Ableskivers to be done. We knew not to sleep in or you would miss out! I hope to bring that tradition to my family and give them the excitement of waiting for the next batch of hot Ableskivers my cousins and I experienced.

Our family just had a family weekend with my husband’s side of the family as well. It was a nice weekend at my brother-in-laws pool. We had good food, games, and lots of time for the little kids to play together.

Kyland Tie-Dying his shirt

Jake and Brianna making their tie-die shirts

Up next, deciding where we should go during my husbands time off? We always wait till the last moment to make any plans. We want to go somewhere close (within 5 hrs. drive) and kid friendly. Any ideas?

2009-07-03T14:56:00.000-07:00

Its it really July 4th weekend? Where did June go? Does anyone know? Anyway, we have been super busy. We have done two shows in June - the Ashland Strawberry Faire and Gwyn's Island Festival. Both were fun on different levels. Ashland was crazy busy. Great weather, great crowds, and the biggest strawberries from Ashland Berry Farm I have ever seen. These things were on steroids, I swear. I will have to see if my BIL got a photo of them.

Gwyn's Island was a small county fair. It was different in many ways. There was a good crowd (considering the small town) but everything was on a much slower pace. A bit hard to get use to at first. It was also HOT. But, we got to stay an extra night and really enjoyed the opportunity to rest for a day! The boys went crabbing - caught nothing, Fishing - again nothing and finally resorted to catching minnows for bait. That they did catch. And luckily they are young enough that they were OK with that!

Heading home, we made a delivery of fresh jam to Bena Country Store and after talking to the owner we were told there was a huge blackberry patch not far. So we scoped it out and it is huge. We made an attempt at picking but were ill-prepared in our shorts and flip-flops. We did manage to pick enough for a delish blackberry cobbler that night for dinner. But, we are making plan to go back. Hopefully the beginning of next week!

Our oldest son is on swim team this year and although he is not a strong swimmer yet, I am impressed with his dedication. He is having a good time and getting lots of activity in the water! He actually took 10 seconds off his 25m freestyle at thier meet on Wed. night. That tells you how slow he was at his first meet as its not typical for swimmers to shed 10 second off their time.

Wishing you all a Happy 4th of July! Go eat some watermelon and have a safe weekend!!

Strawberry What?

2009-05-19T19:50:00.000-07:00

Many times I am approached by a customer asking if I have Strawberry Rhubarb Jam. My first response is….”your not from around here are you?”. But of course I know what it is as my dad LOVES Rhubarb. Me however, not so much. I should say I have not had it since I was my oldest son’s age so I may feel different about it now.

Well we finally found some fresh Rhubarb as it does not grow well around here. It’s funny how the smell of the rhubarb took me back to 1981. I felt I was in my parents’ kitchen surrounded by the orange counters and the microwave that was the size of the oven! Remember them? It probably leaked radiation but I thought we were cool as we were the first ones on the block who could nuke our food.

So, I made up a batch of Strawberry Rhubarb jam but I have no idea what it’s supposed to taste like. Therefore, its hard to tell if this is good, great or just OK? We don’t like selling anything but great so what is a girl to do? Can you tell me how Strawberry Rhubarb Jam should taste? Does it have a sour edge, just a little tart or is it sweet? Ours is kind of sweet and you can tell there is something more than Strawberries. I have a few customers who are waiting for me to make this so I am sure I can track them down to get them to give me their opinions but I am wondering if you know how it should taste?

Faviorite Quotes

2009-05-18T10:50:00.000-07:00

We had a very nice relaxing show at The Elements Spa and Yoga Center. On a side note, it was a great place that everyone who is local should visit. The owner also makes a wonderful organic soap which I love!

It was a small show but packed full of neat people. I met several, but one wonderful woman stands out. She is a breast cancer survivor and had a wonderful aura about her. After first meeting her you could tell she knew who she was and was very happy in her skin. She shared with me her favorite quote to live by – which is now my favorite quote:

There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is.
Albert Einstein
US (German-born) physicist (1879 - 1955)

It struck me at my core. You see, although I have to remind myself many times, I should have a full understanding of this quote as I have walked down a difficult road and found out what really matters in life. Not only was I faced with the dreaded cancer card with my then two year old child, but my very dear friend had lived her young life as this quote stated. She, my dearest Samantha, was one to believe in life and all it had to hold. Although the last five of her years was full of cancer, surgeries, chemo, radiation, pills, scans, physical therapy and the list goes on, she saw the miracle in every day. She believed in positive thinking, meditation and yoga - even after most of her leg was amputated. She would of loved this spa..I am sorry we never were able to enjoy a yoga class together!

One thing I never thought would happen in our journey selling our homemade jam was the impact of the people we meet would have in my life.

We enjoy making homemade jam, giving back to our community through volunteering, fundraising for childhood cancer organizations, and working with local farmers. We receive wonderful comments and its great to see people who truly enjoy the fruits of our labor. But I never imagined the profound impact meeting our customers would make in my life. Every person has a story and I find joy that I can hear parts of their lives I would of never of known otherwise. Most comments are about their grandma or mother who has since past and how they use to make them homemade jam. Or stories of growing up in a simpler time - picking berries, canning their own food, etc.. But then there are other stories like the one I had with this lady that give me thanks that I am lucky enough to meet these people and to be reminded of the good things here on earth.

So while I was in this beautiful spa, with soothing background music and wonderful energy, I was blessed to be reminded of my missed friend Samantha, with this inspiring quote. As I said, it struck me at my core.

What is your favorite quote and how has it made a difference in your life?

Beautiful Ruby Red

2009-05-07T19:02:00.000-07:00

This time of year means one thing....small beautiful berries! Berry's are in abundance. Every Wednesday our local paper has a Flavor Section. Low and behold this weeks paper featured Strawberries!

The paper featured an article on making Strawberry Jam. It was fun reading about someone who was very fearful of making jam but was basically being forced to learn and write about it for this article.

Our garden holds a wonderful albeit very small berry patch. Unfortunately, that is only large enough to barley feed our berry loving family. We eat fresh strawberries anyway possible. My favorite: smoothies. I can hide all kinds of veggies and supplements (i.e., fiber) without my little ones being the least suspicious of eating healthy stuff. But we also make ice cream in the Via-mix, fresh berries and a Strawberry Pie!! Now that is why berries are love so much - yummy pie!!

My husband and our oldest son has already had a head start on the berry pickin' season. Last week we picked over 60 lbs of berries. So our day of fresh berry picking lead us out to a local farm. It was a wonderful way to slow down and re-connect with our community and nature. We picked our beautiful sweet berries from Poor John's Farms. We talked a great deal with Poor John. There is something special seeing and speaking to the people who grow the food you are eating. It not as easy as pulling a plastic package off the grocery store shelf but it is much more satisfasting and much tastier!

Seeing 60 lbs of berrys on our kitchen counter was a little overwhelming...yikes that is a lot of work ahead of us. But then my husband, in-laws and mother came to the rescue. With all of us working together we washed, hulled and froze them all in 40 minutes. Now I am sure there are many of professionals working on the Dole Factory line that could of done the same work in half the time but I was impressed with our quick work none the less.

This past week many of those beautiful berries were transformed into yummy Strawberry Jam and beautiful Strawberry Kiwi Jam. Not only is the flavor fantastic but they are picture perfect. They just look yummy.

...Now we are ready for round 2. As those 60 lbs are almost gone. But the jam is ready for our next few shows and internet orders.

"Strawberry Fields Forever"....

Weekend Festivals and Country Stores

2009-05-05T20:14:00.001-07:00

Last weekend we had a wonderful time attending a festival at the Glebe Church in Gloucester, VA. We received an invite to this festival after the Daffodil Festival earlier in March. This was their first year and it was a great sucess. Not only did they have a live band, several great vendors, and lots of great people attending but the setting was perfect. It was set on 17 acres at a historical home that was converted into a church. I left my Mom in charge of the tent long enough to get a little shopping done and go on a tour of the historical house. I missed a little of the history but it was built sometime during 1882-1885 and is in fantastic condition! I loved the home but the property is what was amazing. It had several out buildings: one being a chicken coop that was refurbished into the current church that holds about 30 parinishers. My first thought was how anyone could use a chicken coop to worship. But after taking a short tour (I mean very short) I saw first hand that the coop was transformed into a lovely worship center.

I had a chance to snap a few photos: here are few of my favorite.

The Chicken Coop....

Turned Church. Actually quite a nice church. You would never know you are in a old Chicken Coop!

Town Cowboy and Sherif to keep peace and order

I found a new favorite product while shopping at the festival: Mojack Fresh Organic Free Trade Coffee. This coffee is freshly roasted in Gloucester and a portion of its proceeds go to Clean the Bay organizations. I purchased a pound of Bena Blend (special blend for the Gloucester area). We ground some up on Sunday morning and it was delish! This will defiantly be in the next Bed and Breakfast basket we give away. You can check out this great coffee and their company.

Finally, after a wonderful day at the festival, we stopped by our new friends John and Heidi’s newly opened store Bena Country Store and Frame Shop. It was the day of their Grand Opening. This store is Fabulous! It is a work in progress but I can tell it will be a huge hit. The building itself is the town's original General Store (about 100 years old if I remember correctly). They have a collection of penny candy (well, almost penny candy), candles, gifts, unique prints, a frame shop, and Fresh Batch Jams! We had to take some photos of our items in their first storefront!

Fresh Batch Jams on the shelves at Bena Country Store

It was a great day!

And Sunday was full of gardening. We still had lots of spring cleanup but most importantly we got the veggie beds ready for planting. Many peppers and tomato plants are in....60 days to yummy veggies and all the ingredients for Roasted Red Pepper Relish!

PS, Thanks to those who entered the Gift Basket give away. I hope the winner Emily enjoys her breakfast items this Mother’s Day.

And the Winner is...

2009-05-04T06:24:00.000-07:00

Emily! Please send your information to this email address and I'll get the gift basket in the mail to you by tomorrow!

Congratulations and don't forget to tell your buddies about www.freshbatchjams.com where they can order home-made jams, jellies and preserves directly to their doorsteps!

Happy Mother's Day!

Mother's Day Giveaway

2009-05-01T05:03:00.000-07:00

Mother's Day Breakfast in Bed Gift Basket. Included is an All Natural Buttermilk and Honey Pancake Mix, Fair Trade Organic Coffee, and selection of three Fresh Batch Jams: Raspberry Jam, Peach Jam and Strawberry Champagne Jam.
All of the selected jams are delicious on toast or right on top of pancakes.

Just leave a comment describing your favorite Mother's Day memory and a way to contact you and you're automatically entered! You have until Sunday at midnight to enter and the winner will be announced Monday morning.

Here's mine:

My most vivid memory for Mother's Day was one from when I was about 7 years old. My dad and I made my mom breakfast in bed. I can't remember what we made her but I worked so hard at it and I was determined to do it all by myself. Everything was made with love and care, I carried it all on a tray to wake up my Mom with a surprise. Everything was perfect! Then, just before I woke her up, I spilled the entire glass of OJ on her. So instead of waking up happily to breakfast in bed, my Mom was jolted awake with a splash of OJ. I was heart broken. She assured me that the thought behind it was what she loved (I think we went out for breakfast after we cleaned up). I did not truly believe her at the time - the day was ruined because I spilled the OJ.

Well fast forward twenty some years and my dear oldest son made breakfast in bed for me last Mother's Day. He woke up early and snuck downstairs to prepare breakfast all by himself. He picked out my favorite cereal, fruit and OJ. I woke up to my sweet boy holding a tray full of breakfast goodies. He was so proud of himself! After taking the first bite, I stopped in my tracks. Something was off about this cereal. While I was trying to figure it out with a smile on my face, I asked my son "What milk did you use?" He replied "The one in the small carton". OH, now I knew what was off...the little carton was buttermilk! I ate as much as I could so he would not feel the same way I did after I messed up my attempt to make the best Mother's Day ever. At that moment, I then understood what my mom told me over twenty years earlier.

Wishing everyone a happy mother's day.

Good Luck!

Love Your Mother!

2009-04-24T15:50:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-04-05T17:45:00.000-07:00

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.

Williamsburg

2009-03-09T10:51:00.000-07:00

We were in Williamsburg over the weekend at a local show. Sales were great and things went so well, we're thinking of making Williamsburg a monthly show.

Today, we're working on blueberry butter and apple butter!

Still working on the website. Stay tuned...

Getting Started

2009-03-06T17:09:00.001-08:00

Website is almost finished! Should be up and running, ready to take orders within the week. I'll let you know when it's official.