Where the Locals Hang Out

Walk into Deb Greiner’s home kitchen on any given weekday, and she and Tina Labossiere are probably making jam. The taste and the charm in each jar is derived from the personal handling each receives. Even as their business has grown, they’ve kept it personal. Recently, someone asked Greiner for her card in a .pdf file so that he could reprint it. Greiner, who tracks all her business in an old-fashioned black and white marble notebook, responded, “PD what?” Undeterred, the person asked her to have her advertising people send it along. “My advertising people?” she responded, incredulously. “You think I have advertising people? Uh-huh. Tina and I do everything ourselves. That’s why some of the labels are askew. We’ve put them on the jars after a few glasses of wine!”

Yes, they’re having fun, but they’re also producing award-winning jam with cranberries grown and harvested within walking distance of Deb’s Harwich home. But if you point that out, she’s careful to be clear that she would never walk over to get the cranberries. She’ll drive, thank you. And when you take a look around her kitchen – crowded with jam jars cooling, a carton of red peppers, a dishwasher running jam jars, a pot on the stove cooking jam, kids’ drawings and schedules crowding the refrigerators and cabinets – you get the picture. Greiner and Labossiere really don’t have time for a leisurely walk over to the cranberry farm.

A fixture at many local shows and festivals, they are regulars at the Chatham Farmers’ Market. Deb’s favorite is the white pepper cranberry garlic jam. Tina’s favorite is also the crowd favorite: cranberry pepper jam.

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