… WITH JAM ON IT – RUBY SPOON JAM!
A product of our beautiful Adelaide Hills,the genesis of Ruby Spoon Jams came to Lynda Demaagd over a cup of tea one Sunday when discussing with her parents the future of their berry farm. Her parents own the property, a short walk from Lynda’s own home, and have grown a variety of berries, including strawberries, raspberries, tayberries, sylvanberries, loganberries and Boysenberries, commercially for some years. Lynda grew up in these hills, running feral (her word – not mine!) and developing a healthy respect for her natural environment – the latter helped along by her parents respect for the land and the local fauna. Her mother and father have always kept a 30 acre parcel of their property as natural scrub, in order to preserve the local blue wrens, and the family occasionally cared for injured native animals. When Lynda left school she went on to study a Bachelor in Design, in time working as a jeweler and metal-smith in Sydney. She eventually moved back here to her Adelaide Hills where she is bringing up her young family and encouraging them to develop an understanding and respect for their environment and the natural cycles of nature.
Not one to remain idle for very long and thinking about ways to extend the enjoyment of local, seasonal products she soon began looking at the berries growing down the road. Now with a TAFE business course under her belt, Lynda and her mother spend 2 1/2 to 3 days a week in the small kitchen they have built on her parents property concocting and then producing their luscious range of jams. Using apples from local growers and their own berries, the delightfully named Ruby Spoon – a reference to her jewelery making and the colour of the fruit – is in production all year round. During the peak of the berry season and with the help of some casual local labour, the fruit is picked and then frozen, enabling them to stagger their production over the course of the year. The jams are hugely popular although they do very little marketing, relying instead on the personal contact with their customers at the Adelaide Showground Farmers Market – where they have held a stall since it’s inception – and word of mouth. Lynda has some ideas up her sleeve to extend the current range and she is starting to look at some commercial equipment with a view to expanding production – but will never compromise her standards.
The jams sound fantastic-did you have a favourite flavour?
Amanda…there was a time where I had jams all the time and in many flavours…especially raspberry and blueberry and apricot…alright, I’ll stop. I also used to make frozen jams which I started appreciating even more.
Lately, in the last couple of years…I kind of let go of them…I may just start looking to make jams again ;o)
Flavourful wishes,
Claudia
What a divine name – jam looks delish too ! My mother used to spread jam on the bread for bread and butter pudding and put jam on the sponge in a trifle !!
My heart always belongs to anything raspberry!
I have made jam, but don’t do it often – not when I can buy such a great local product!
Kate – yum! Jam on bread and butter pudding – great idea!
What a catchy name for a jam. I’ve not heard of sylvanberries, what do they taste like Amanda? They’ve got a great range and I love making jam, or any preserves for that matter.
We loooove raspberry jam, but only ever get to make it with frozen raspberries. I can only imagine how much better it must be with fresh!
Anna – I don’t really know as I haven’t tried that one (see previous rely re raspberries!).
Celia – Yes – we deal mostly with frozen raspberries here because of the cost – although I sometimes buy them fresh in season and hide them from everyone else!
I love reading the back ground of how people have started their successful businesses. All those jams sound gorgeous. I am a big jam maker and put it in just about everything I can, and jam crostata is a firrrrm fave 🙂
I love your behind the scenes look at local food producers. I’m going to look for out for Ruby Spoon Jams now, I’m sure I’ve seen them at the greengrocers shop. I didn’t realize they were made in SA.
Anilou & Brydie – it is nice to be able to get a peek at the person behind the product, isn’t it?!
Amanda – the Farmer’s Market should use your blog as the ‘go to’ reference library for local producers! Your attention to the details behind the products and the producers is fascinating stuff. I love the name ‘Ruby Spoon’.
Sarah – many thanks for the compliment, but it is quite a pleasure for me to do- I do love the “back story” to things. My kids just think I’m nosey!!
Ruby Spoon jam is the best jam we’ve had. We love it and can’t go back to anything else. I buy 2 or 3 big jars of the strawberry when we go to the Farmer’s Markets. Absolutely delicious.