Southery fruit grower and bee-keeper using Covenham House Orchard Fayre label gains commended at World Original Marmalade Awards
A Southery fruit grower and preserve maker is celebrating a Commended place after sending her home made preserve into competition with over 3,000 jars from around the world.
Kathy McIntyre makes a selection of preserves, under the Covenham House Orchard Fayre label, using home-grown fruit from her orchard between Southery and Brandon Creek and selling them from a self service stall on the A10.
She is also a keen member of the West Norfolk and King’s Lynn Beekeepers’ Association and used honey from her own hives in the Lemon & Honey Preserve recipe that was commended in the Artisan section of the 15th World's Original Marmalade Awards.
The competition takes place annually at Dalemain in Cumbria and this year received entries from more than 40 countries around the world, including Lebanon, Japan, the USA, Argentina, Senegal and Australia. The preserves are judged by their appearance, colour, consistency, aroma and flavour.
Kathy said: “The honey is the key ingredient in this recipe. We all know that local is best, but until I started keeping bees to help pollinate the orchard I had no idea how different the honey would taste. The flavour and texture varies depending on which flowers the bees have visited at different times of the year. And I love the thought that it was made by bees foraging in my own orchard and the surrounding fields."
Unlike oranges for the traditional Seville marmalade, which are only available for a few weeks of the year, good quality lemons are available anytime so Kathy has her preserving pans at the ready to make plenty more jars of the popular preserve, with help from her bees too.