“What I make depends on what I find!” explains Olivia, owner of Bohemian Dorset, the preserves maker and winner of the LLTL 2020 Diversification & Sustainability Award.
With the exception of her popular marmalade – for obvious reasons this is quite tricky to produce from local fruit! – everything Olivia makes is found or foraged locally to her home in Marnhull, either from the hedgerows or from friends and neighbours gardens.
A great example is Olivia’s Bohemian Pickle – made using nettle tops and wild garlic
(“…perfect for a ham or cheese sandwich”).
Her jams are equally popular
“…my son likes his toast cut into three pieces so he can have three flavours each morning!”
Olivia shared her LLTL journey;
“I stumbled across the awards on Facebook I think, barely a day or so before the closing date, and thought to myself ‘what have I got to lose by entering?’ So I hurriedly did, not for a moment thinking I could win!
The whole process was really simple, and it felt really good to share what I’m doing with a wider audience.
The prospect of the judging was
daunting until the process began. I delivered some of my products for tasting and just hoped the judges would at least like them!
I then had a long video call with the judge (we couldn’t meet because of covid issues). It was great to talk to someone as passionate about food and diversification/sustainability as me!
I felt completely invigorated, and determined to grow my fledgling business after speaking with the judge – but still didn’t for one minute believe I would win.
The first I saw about my success was that I was runner-up in the Jams, Chutneys and Honey category. I was thrilled – in fact I think I even shed a tear.
More than being thrilled I was shocked, but so happy that my hard work and, more importantly, my taste choices had been appreciated by strangers – not just my friends and family being polite!
I phoned my parents, posted it on Facebook and thought that was that.
To then find out the next day that I had won the Diversification and Sustainability category was a complete shock! I think I shed a few more tears!
I look forward to being able to get out and about to markets again after this lockdown to share my products with more people!
I also look forward to being able to hopefully enter the LLTL awards again this year…”
You can order direct through the Bohemian Dorset Facebook page, and the Bohemian Dorset Jam Stand is back up and running, now on Sackmore Lane in Marnhull.
Olivia’s produce is also stocked by the Dorset Dairy Co. in their vending machine at Harts of Stur, and featured in Black Cat Catering’s popular Graze Boxes.
