When you think about the food miles of Taste of TamO’Shanter’s products, the operation’s carbon footprint is very negligible.
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Owner Karen Robson grows the produce she uses to create her delicious jams, preserves, chutneys and pickles in her Tam O’Shanter garden, near Pipers Brook, and those of friends.
“I have friends who let me pinch their gardens and they get some award-winning produce in return,” Ms Robson said.
“I’d like to get some more land to grow more. I’m hoping to expand the business over the next two years,” she said.
Ms Robson’s mother also contributes tomatoes from her Latrobe garden.
Growing her produce by season, Ms Robson has come to understand the peaks and troughs of horticultural production that is open to the elements.
“I grew up on a farm so I always had an interest in home-grown produce. As I got older I found I wanted to get back to that,” Ms Robson said.
“It’s a one-woman show at the moment. I grow everything myself from heirloom seed and I started seed saving four years ago,” she said.
After selling a business in Launceston and working in the service industry for a few years, Ms Robson decided to test her entrepreneurial skills again, drawing on her love of gardening and cooking.
She had a tried and tested recipe for zucchini pickles to start her off and the rest of the products have come through trial and error.
“My zucchini pickle recipe has been passed down through a few generations. The rest of the recipes are my own concoctions,” Ms Robson said.
“I practice my recipes in the kitchen at night. I practice until I get them the way I want,” she said.
The seasonal nature of Taste of TamO’Shanter’s products means preserves are a lucky dip at times.
“The jams always depend on the seasons and how things grow. I’ve been doing it all by nature and I like that,” Ms Robson said.
“This summer I want to grow more hot chillies to produce different recipes.
“Hopefully one day I will have a greenhouse and make the season last longer,” she said.
Ms Robson’s ‘concoctions’ have won fans at the Royal Hobart Fine Food Awards, with Taste of TamO’Shanter picking up three gold medals for Auntie Jil's Zucchini Pickles, onion jam, chilli jam; silver for rhubarb and apple jam; and bronze for beetroot and apple chutney, pumpkin chutney and melon and lemon jam.
“I’ve won eight gold medals in the past three years. That’s when I thought I was on to a good thing,” Ms Robson said.
“I entered because I wanted feedback, I wanted an independent review on my products,” she said.
Taste of TamO’Shanter products are stocked at Jansz vineyard in Pipers Brook and Ms Robson is at Harvest Launceston market casually.
“A few other Tamar Valley wineries are interested too,” she said.