Winchester’s Cheshire Garden began in 1986 when Patti Powers and her husband, Ralph Legrande, a former chef, purchased a barren piece of land on Burt Hill Road with the goal of transforming it into fertile organic beds and an orchard for the business. Today, Cheshire Garden’s preserves, mustards, and vinegars are made from organically grown heirloom berries, fruits, and herbs. Each jar and bottle is homegrown and handmade. Order directly on their website with worldwide delivery or contact-free local pickup at the Tiny Farmstand.
By Jen Risley (December 11, 2013)
This article first appeared in Monadnock Table
Patti Powers of Cheshire Garden and Elisa.
Winchester’s Cheshire Garden began in 1986 when Patti Powers and her husband, Ralph Legrande, a former chef, purchased a barren piece of land on Burt Hill Road with the goal of transforming it into fertile organic beds and an orchard for the business. Today, Cheshire Garden’s preserves, mustards and vinegars are made from organically grown heirloom berries, fruits and herbs.
The couple grows all the ingredients to make their product — and the distance from plant to jar is short. Harvest is steps away from their home; processing happens in their certified kitchen.
“We pick every fruit, vegetable and berry at its sun-ripened peak,” says Powers.
Cold weather doesn’t stop production; berries are kept fresh in seven freezers powered by solar panels. The distance from Cheshire Garden to market is also short — Powers sells exclusively to local markets, inns and farmers’ markets.
The Cheshire Garden logo came from a drawing given to the couple by a friend. It’s their cat, Rita, bringing strawberries in from the garden, “… to celebrate the successful transplanting of the strawberries— and me,” says Powers, who began farming in 1978 in Leyden, Massachusetts.
She spent more than a decade as a researcher in the department of entomology at the University of Massachusetts, studying the behavior of insects in the apple orchard ecosystem.
Find Cheshire Garden’s products at the Monadnock Food Co-op, Hannah Grimes Marketplace and Stonewall Farm in Keene, Rosaly’s Garden in Peterborough and The Bridges Inn in Swanzey. Visit Cheshire Garden online at: Cheshiregarden.com.