I don’t post things for any other reason than for the pure enjoyment of photographing something beautiful and writing about it. I just had to get that out of the way before bragging about this island business. It all came about because I walked into Girl Meets Dirt a few weeks ago and felt it was way too photogenic to pass up.
Several years ago we noticed a new table at the Orcas Farmers’ Market. We met Audra, with her neatly balanced, professionally-printed jars of jam made from fruit grown here on the island.
Many of us who live here love the fact that fruit grows on bushes and trees all over this place. We pick it, invert the fronts of the sweaters we’re wearing to make nice deep pockets, and fill them to the spilling point. We urge our children to gather all they can. We walk home, roll the fruit gingerly out of our garments and into baskets, and begin cutting away to make all kinds of experimental cobblers and pies. Even my husband, at the sight of an engorged tree one day, couldn’t help stopping to collect enough pears to make two huge pans of baked deliciousness. He doesn’t cook, but the nostalgic (or genetic) notion of gathering abundant fruit and making something of it led him to cut and bake pears for hours.
I bet this is what Audra experienced too. Actually, she’ll tell you herself in her own beautiful language on her site. After working on Wall Street, you can see that her life has changed dramatically.
I walked in Girl Meets Dirt yesterday, asked quite out-of-the-blue if I could photograph the place, and got to hear more of Audra’s story from Jessica, the woman here in the blue jacket. Rather than retell it, I’ll pass on what I learned from Audra’s own words on her blog and then you can read more there too…
So much can happen in just three years. Three years ago (now four years ago), I summoned my extended family to our Thanksgiving table, filled not with a brined and roasted turkey, homemade cranberry sauce, buttery mashed potatoes, and bacon-glazed brussels sprouts… but with cases upon cases of the inaugural Girl Meets Dirt jams – handmade by me, with local fruit handpicked by me, in a borrowed kitchen, with all the love I could muster – with all the love I couldn’t expend on a little baby, which I so desperately wanted. This little company that could was launched in the midst of loss – in between miscarriages number 4 and 5 – in between bouts of grief and intense moments of longing – but after a bountiful fruit season that taught me to have faith in renewal and rebirth – and to await the blossoms of spring.
How all of this has blossomed! The wonderful, right-off-the-land beauty and simplicity of what she makes is very appealing. So is the experience of being in her jam shop and kitchen where it’s all made, on the corner of Enchanted Forest Road and Lovers Lane in Eastsound, in a large open grassy area flanked by forest on two sides. Here is the gist of what she makes:
Girl Meets Dirt Heritage Preserves are inspired by the long history of orchard-keeping on Orcas Island and a craving for the highest quality, locally-sourced, organic fruit preserves nature and careful craft can provide. Our throwback jams are made in an old-school style that emphasizes structure and pure, ripe, naturally-grown fruit. Our ingredient lists are short and sweet. We don’t use commercial pectin and rely on time and concentration for set.
I am a sucker for anything that is off the land and made in the right way. It’s nice to see that someone else is too.
