why girl meets dirt?
Girl Meets Dirt is my own story. The longer version is on Our Story and on Instagram, and still being written.
I’m a Northwest native who got swept away to New York after college and spent almost ten years in an accidental career on Wall Street, plotting my escape - back to an inspired life, back to the great PNW. Along the way I met a boy, an Irish lad, who bought into my Northwest fairytale, and together we said adios to New York and moved onto five farmette acres on a little island called Orcas, in the far northwest tip of Washington State.
Before there was fruit, I holed up in the farmette’s little potting shed with a stack of seed catalogs and taught myself how to grow things. The first things I preserved were vegetables - curried squash and pickled green beans. Girl Meets Dirt started as a blog about a city slicker moving to a remote island and learning to grow. Then, that first summer, the farmette’s Shiro plum tree gave us 150 pounds of fruit. That’s a lot of pies - and I come from a Polish pie-making tradition, through my mother and grandfather. Instead, I bought a copper pot and a copy of Mes Confitures, and learned the art of jam.
When I gave a jar to a neighbor, he pointed to the gnarled old trees out front - the ones I can still see from my back porch, offered me his pears, and told me their history - and the orchard legacy of the whole island. I’d never fancied myself a jam-maker, but in that moment the storyline came together: I was making something delicious, with a beautiful story to tell.
It hasn’t been all rosebuds, but I found what I’d been craving: rootedness. If anyone tries to take me away, they’ll have to drag me - boot heels dug firmly in the dirt, dusty stilettos in the closet. The girl on our label isn’t me, exactly. She’s every woman who ever followed her wanderlust somewhere, and decided to stay.
what is a cutting preserve?
“Cutting preserves” are membrillo style highly concentrated fruit purees. We coined the phrase, but not the style. “Membrillo” is the Spanish word for “quince,” but it is universally accepted as shortcode for “dulce de membrillo” or literally, “candy of the quince,” a traditionally made preserve of quince fruit and sugar, cooked over a very long period of time until it is intensely red and thick - yielding a cuttable preserve. Also known as “fruit cheese” in Europe, this classic recipe was originally used to take advantage of fallen orchard fruit.
Our recipe is much softer than you’d find in Europe - but still holds its shape on a cheese platter. Because “membrillo” involves too much explanation, and “fruit cheese” sounds like it involves cheese, we came up with a better moniker: cutting preserves. So grab a knife and start spreading (start with cheese)!
what’s the difference b/w a cutting & spoon preserve?
Read above for the full download on cutting preserves. Spoon preserves, more like a traditional jam, have a softer set than our cutting preserves. They are equally at home on toast, dessert, or cheese. Cutting preserves are firmer, smooth with no chunks of fruit, and highly concentrated. They will hold their shape on a cheese platter without a cute little bowl and demitasse spoon (the “spoons” do just fine dolloped on top of a gigantic wedge for a stunning, albeit messy presentation).
All of our spoon preserves are, really, preserved fruit. We don’t try to hide the fruit in a sugar puree like other commercial jam makers. This is also why most of ours aren’t jams in the classic sense - there’s too much fruit going on. But fear not, they get along with toast just fine, and those wee nubs of fruity texture keep us firmly rooted in where things come from. We think this makes our “spoons” pretty darn versatile. You can always puree them if you require a smooth ‘sauce’ for something, but we think a little bit of fruit on a wedge of cheese is both delicious and attractive.
what’s so bad about commercial pectin?
It’s not that we think commercial pectin is evil, it’s that we believe the fruit gives us exactly what we need - and that means you get more fruit. Most fruits have naturally occurring pectin in them - for those fruits we are most grateful and squeeze, and soak and drip out every last bit of their nectar for a preserve with exceptional, natural set. Some fruits have low or very little pectin, like pears for example. We’ve responded by working with the fruit’s natural tendencies (letting those pears shine in a syrupy balsamic reduction, for example) and sometimes adding a little juice, or stock made from seeds or rinds from a fruit with superfluous pectin (aka quince or tart heirloom apples). We also take advantage of the wonderful powers of fresh-pressed organic California lemon juice, and even the rinds and seeds, rich with pectin, and add a good squeeze to all of our preserves. Finally, the traditional method of preserving we use takes full advantage of the setting powers of old-fashioned (unrefined, fair trade, organic cane, of course) sugar cooked fast and furious with soaked fruit to concentrate for a classic set. Pectin can set jam with very little fruit. Going without takes care and precision, and we think it makes a better-tasting preserve.
You may find some of our preserves are a bit darker than comparable brands - this is the result of two factors. First, we don’t use added pectin for set - we actually have to work with the fruit’s natural sugars and pectin, balance that with added organic sugar and cook time to get a preserve with a spoonable (or cuttable) consistency by concentration (which means you get more fruit). Secondly, we use Fair Trade unrefined organic cane sugar instead of bleached processed white sugar and less sugar than most jam. The latter will give you the most pristine color. No added pectin means we rely on fruit concentration for set and our notably thick textures. The sugar we use has traces of nutrients and molasses - and that will caramelize differently (and generally more darkly) than processed white sugar. We think it adds a nice complexity.
why unrefined organic sugar? why fair trade?
When we started thinking about starting a food business, our thoughts naturally veered to the sweet stuff. Admittedly, we can’t get enough. The global infrastructure creates a system where trickle down to farmers on a global scale often doesn’t occur. We grow many fruits, vegetables and herbs, and carefully farm organically - the rest of our fruit comes from local small family orchardists or small family farms, many who have been deepening their roots in the islands for over a century. The staples we need to buy, like sugar, we buy organic, and at a fair price. It’s what we demand in our home so we want to provide the same for you. Sugar, in moderation, can be very life affirming. It’s important that when we’re eating it we’re eating the highest quality we can find. And that means unrefined organic cane sugar. That means fair trade. The majority of non-cane sugar on the market today is made from processed sugar beets - predominantly from GMO seeds (for herbicide and pesticide resistance). That’s not for us. Unrefined organic cane sugar, on the other hand, is made from actual sugarcane and grown and harvested without synthetic pesticides and herbicides. It’s also not heavily refined, so some nutrients from molasses remain. It is also unbleached (who wants bleached sugar, really?). Most importantly, the farmers that grow the sugarcane are getting a much more ‘fair’ price (though we’re sure more trickledown is justified). We’re doing one small part by paying more for equitably sourced organic sugar.
why single varietal?
Most of our preserves are fruit forward, delicately spiced (if at all), handmade labors of single-varietal love. We carefully source much of our fruit from family orchards in the islands - some that have been around for several generations. What we cannot get here, we have grown by vetted and trusted partner farmers who abide by organic practices (Smallwood Farms, Broomstick Farms). If we have to purchase through distribution, we buy certified organic. We think this is pretty powerful. We think terroir is essential to fruit trees, and abide by varietals that grow well on our island, on a particular hillside, or in Crow Valley, for example. If we mashed up five different varietals from five different farmers, we’d lose that connection. We want you to taste the fruit - and where it came from. And I want to be able to thank the farmer (with one jar, all theirs). Single varietal is the best way to do that.
what’s with the copper pots?
We’ve cooked in the same six since 2013. Copper conducts heat more effectively than any other metal commonly used in cookware. This is particularly important given the traditional way that we make our preserves. For our spoon preserves, the quicker we can get up to temperature, the more we can preserve chunks of fruit in the process. Achieving a classic set is a delicate balance as well - overcooking is easier than you might think. The copper allows us to quickly adjust the heat of our preserves, and gives us greater control over the finished product. The wide-bottomed shape of our pans also helps greatly with quick moisture evaporation, which means more fruit for you. Some very smart people also suggest that the copper works its magic on the preserves and makes them extra special. We’ll let you decide for yourself. But that’s not the sexy answer. They’re so, so pretty, that’s why!
are you organic?
We’re not certified organic. We use organic fair trade cane sugar, fresh-pressed organic California lemon juice, and organically grown fruit from island orchards and beyond.
are your preserves gluten free and vegan?
Yes to both.
how long will my preserves last?
All of our products are good for 2 years from the date they were made. This information is indicated in the stamp by the barcode, which reads as XXmonthXXyear/ followed by the batch number, which is our way of tracing the path and production of our fruit. All preserves and shrubs are shelf-stable until opening, and should be refrigerated after opening. If you ever have any questions, please feel free to give us a shout at info@girlmeetsdirt.mom.