Food & Drink

Preserved foods pioneer Farmer's Daughter hanging up 'her jamming pot'

By Drew Jackson
April McGreger of Farmer's Daughter taste tests a batch of orange marmalade to see if it is ready to be jarred at her Hillsborough home Monday, March 31, 2014.
April McGreger of Farmer's Daughter taste tests a batch of orange marmalade to see if it is ready to be jarred at her Hillsborough home Monday, March 31, 2014. jleonard@newsobserver.com Juli Leonard

The Farmer's Daughter, a purveyor of homemade pickles and preserves and all things sweet, spicy and funky, will end its decade-long run as a local preserved foods pioneer and farmer's market staple.

Owner April McGreger announced on Instagram Wednesday that this weekend will be the Farmer's Daughter's final appearance at local Saturday markets. Her online store will stay open through the month, or until she sells out.

"After 11 years in the Farmer’s Daughter kitchen, I have decided to hang up my jamming pot," McGreger wrote.

After 11 years in the Farmer’s Daughter kitchen, I have decided to hang up my jamming pot. I would like to thank all of my loyal customers for their support over the years and all the farmers who have made my work possible. This Saturday - April 14 - will be our last farmers’ markets. Our web store will remain open through the end of the month or until the remaining inventory is depleted. When I started Farmer’s Daughter in 2007, I was the first person in North Carolina selling raw sauerkraut. The inspectors and I had to learn the ropes together. Now there are more than a dozen fermented food and beverage crafters across the state, many more small batch jam makers, and many restaurants and home cooks preserving their own food. It makes me proud to think I have contributed to this booming good food movement, and I hope you will seek out @fiddleheadfarmnc and @twochicksfarm for your jam and pickle needs here in the Piedmont. I've always considered my customers as partners in this project, and to you I say, please continue to support the great farmers and makers who sell at the Carrboro and Durham Farmers' Markets. Every time the food culture movement scores a victory, the big corporations swoop in to claim the prize. There are a gazillion options for (somewhat) better food these days but nothing that replaces the many benefits and satisfactions you get from the farmers’ market. To those who have kept these institutions alive week to week- you are the real heroes! As amazing as these markets are, and as unique as the relationships one finds there can be, farmers markets are naturally limited in their ability to counter the larger negative effects that corporate food has on our cultures and foodways. My next venture, I hope, will take me more directly into this conundrum, but more on that will have to wait. Thanks, y’all!

A post shared by April McGreger (@preservingthesouth) on

Over the years, the Farmer's Daughter has collected more than a dozen Good Food Awards, most recently a pair in 2017 for sweet potato habanero hot sauce and strawberry preserves. The industry honors recognize craft-made products using local ingredients.

When McGreger started out in 2007, today's buzzing food scene in the Triangle and North Carolina was in its infancy. She used ancient preserving methods, but offered creative and seasonal products, an array of fruit jams and delicacies like paw paw butter.

"When I started Farmer’s Daughter in 2007, I was the first person in North Carolina selling raw sauerkraut," McGreger wrote. "The inspectors and I had to learn the ropes together. Now there are more than a dozen fermented food and beverage crafters across the state, many more small batch jam makers, and many restaurants and home cooks preserving their own food. It makes me proud to think I have contributed to this booming good food movement."

Though the Farmer's Daughter is closing, McGreger assured fans they're not in a pickle, encouraging local eaters to seek out Fiddlehead Farm and Two Chicks for their preserved food needs.

McGreger alludes to a new chapter in her life, staying within the food industry, but moving on to the issue of food access.

This isn't the first time she's put a pause on her business. In 2014, she stepped away to refocus her business. Then, she had seen a burst of new business following a mention in Bon Appetit magazine.

Drew Jackson; 919-829-4707; @jdrewjackson

This story was originally published April 11, 2018 at 4:16 PM with the headline "Preserved foods pioneer Farmer's Daughter hanging up 'her jamming pot'."

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