** News Update - On Sunday August 30 2009 the Lynwood Cafe closed, as our media announcment explained. However, this site is still the place to get Lynwood Preserves, through our secure online store. **
Starting with a gift of a beautiful copper pot given by her friend Anders Ousback, jam maker Robbie Howard began the Lynwood Preserves journey in the late 1980s, and she continues today to make jams, marmalades, relishes and chutneys along with her daughter Kate.
Intitially, she began producing seven jars in a batch, but now Lynwood has a sophisticated temperature controlled urn that allows her to maintain the same quality in larger batches. Fruit is sourced from established orchards and the preserves are hand-made in individual batches following their seasonal availability.
Underscoring everything Lynwood does is a profound sense of respect for authenticity, community, the land and quality - and its based around a strong and enduring family tradition.
“Robbie Howard grew up with a fig tree outside her back door. Every morning, it was her little brother’s job to climb the tree and beat the starlings to the ripe figs. Robbie suspects that the preserving ethic is in her blood. ‘The day your mother and I got married’ her father once told her ‘your grandmother was bottling apricots in the morning because she couldn’t bear to waste them.’
‘I do love the land,’ Robbie confesses, ‘and for me one of the most beautiful days I could have is to go out with a bucket and pick some fruit. You find an old tree and often they’re much harder to work with because they’re knobbly and the fruit’s hard to peel, but the flavour is really good.’
‘I do love the land,’ Robbie confesses, ‘and for me one of the most beautiful days I could have is to go out with a bucket and pick some fruit. You find an old tree and often they’re much harder to work with because they’re knobbly and the fruit’s hard to peel, but the flavour is really good.’