Farmer's Daughter Preserves Southern Flavors

April McGreger may have moved to North Carolina, but she never forgot her years as a farmer’s daughter in Mississippi.

- Kathy K. Martin

Today she preserves those rural memories in her Farmer’s Daughter line of artisan jams, relishes, and fresh sauerkraut. From Strawberry Honeysuckle Jam and Bourbon ‘d Figs to Jalapeño Ginger Jam and Collard Kraut, her products are packed full of fresh, Southern flavors true to her farm-girl upbringing.

Her brand stands out because of her old-fashioned approach to canning in small batches, while using no pectin, less sugar, and the freshest ingredients she can find. “My strawberries are picked, delivered, and made into jam on the same day; all from a farm just a mile or so down the road from my house.”

McGreger learned how to can by working elbow-to-elbow alongside her mother and grandmother on their farm in Vardaman. Restaurants weren’t located in her hometown, not even fast food, says McGreger, so cooking at home was a way of life. “We cooked for fun, to celebrate, and to mourn.” She describes cooking as a family activity and since she was raised in the heart of sweet potato, cotton, and bean fields, her first job was working in the sweet potato fields and helping plant and tend her family’s big summer garden of peas, butter beans, squash, cucumbers, okra, and corn. Her parents had a big pear tree and her grandparents had a fig tree, so summers were spent putting up food. They always grew and preserved enough to eat all year long, as well as enough to share with friends and neighbors, she says.