Blossom Meadow Farm of Southold was recently awarded a pair of Good Food awards for its strawberry and red raspberry jams.
These accolades are given annually to food and drink crafters around the nation through blind tastings and a vetting process. Blossom Meadow is one of 13 preserve winners nationwide, and the only company to win two medals.
“Now that we’ve really gotten into jam, and I have been churning out quite a few jars, I was like, ‘All right, you know, it’s time for entering the competition,’” said Laura Klahre, the farm’s owner.
She applied in the summer, sent in her jars in August and found out she was a finalist in the fall. She was then put through a sustainability analysis.
“It’s not just that your jam tastes good. They want to know how it’s grown and where you get your other ingredients from,” she said.
That included having to prove she uses cane sugar and show her organic farm practices. She also uses mason bees and moths for pollination. Soon after, Klahre got an email from the Good Food foundation saying she should attend the awards ceremony in San Francisco, and it’s a good thing she did.
“The jam is the direct result of these pollinators, and so it’s kind of neat to show that there’s that connection,” she said. “And then all of a sudden to win this Good Food award, two Good Food awards, is pretty wild.”
Her awards were presented by two people she looks up to: Michael Pollan, journalist and author of “Omnivore’s Dilemma,” and Alice Waters, chef, restaurateur and champion of organic and local ingredients.
“You work so hard, and to have this vision of a small farm where alternative pollinators and good growing practices are the focus, and then all of a sudden to be whisked away and appreciated on a national stage was otherworldly,” she said.
Klahre said her alternative pollination methods and letting the fruit ripen on its own time are what set her jam apart. And for now, she is happy to keep doing that.
“Our future is to just keep on going with what we are,” she said. “We just want to keep on producing great fruit from these two acres and just making a limited amount of jam each year.”
To get your hands on a jar, or two, you’ll have to wait until their winery tasting room, Coffee Pot Cellars in Cutchogue, re-opens Feb. 14. But if you can’t wait any longer, head to their website to order some online.
