Swallowtail Preserves

Swallowtail Preserves We are a family run business producing handmade preserves in Bacton, Suffolk.

Thanks for being a top engager and making it onto my weekly engagement list! 🎉 Julia Fowler, Jas Meads
14/07/2026

Thanks for being a top engager and making it onto my weekly engagement list! 🎉 Julia Fowler, Jas Meads

Good evening friends and followers 😊. A nice breeze at the moment and cooler temperatures- a relief for a lot of us.I'v...
12/07/2026

Good evening friends and followers 😊. A nice breeze at the moment and cooler temperatures- a relief for a lot of us.

I've been thinking about putting a post together, and realised that I haven't told you about our Wild Strawberry plants. They've taken over one of our borders in the back garden. Last year there was just one. Now they've tillered out and have covered 2 or 3 square metres. We're getting a pick of fruit most days and the leaves make a nice herbal tea....I'm very happy 😊. A lot of gardeners wouldn't be I know, but I love them and I'm going to nurture them. They are a gift 🎁.

The pickled walnuts have cured for 2 weeks in a strong brine and are now laid out in trays in and airy, sunny room to dry and blacken. We'll be making up our spiced vinegar this week and jarring the walnuts in the time-honoured fashion 🙂.

Have a lovely evening. Unit 5 will be open Wednesday to Saturday, 10am to 4pm this week.

Good evening friends and followers 😊. It's been another hot day. I hope you managed to find some shade, keep cool and ...
10/07/2026

Good evening friends and followers 😊. It's been another hot day. I hope you managed to find some shade, keep cool and hydrated.

It's a bit difficult cooking chutney in this heat, but it needs to be done otherwise we won't have enough when it's in demand in November and December. We'll just have to suck ice cubes in the kitchen.

So Sarah and John Irons (trading as SJI Greengrocers of Old Newton) found us some lovely marrows from the London markets. We diced them up this morning and cooked our Provencal Chutney this afternoon. It's a recipe we have developed over the years out of necessity to use the glut of marrows when we had an allotment. We were inspired by dishes that were served to us during holidays in the south of France. We've got 22 jars.....not a huge number....it's got a following of people that like it with soft cheese.

We've finished cooking now until next Wednesday, when we're hoping it will be a bit cooler. A shame that Rickinghall Country Market can't go ahead this month. We will have a stall at Gislingham Village Hall tomorrow from 1pm to 4pm for the Summer Fête, and Unit 5 is open from 10am to 4pm as well. Hope to see you again soon.

Good afternoon friends and followers 😊. Thank you to everyone who braved the heat and visited Unit 5 today. It was much...
09/07/2026

Good afternoon friends and followers 😊. Thank you to everyone who braved the heat and visited Unit 5 today. It was much appreciated.

Last week I moaned that I couldn't find garlic and ginger puree in any of our regular outlets. Stocks of Enthusiastic Pickle, Hot Mango Chutney and Brinjal Pickle were perilously low.....I was worried. So today I pureed a few kilos of ginger and garlic in the food processor and we spent an eye-watering few hours making Enthusiastic Pickle. Sometimes these things happen for a reason......using fresh ingredients instead of branded frozen ones, yield was up by 4 jars, cooking time was much shorter, flavour is incredible 😀......the prep time is longer, but it paid off.....a result.

It requires a bit of patience 👌.... all being well we will be releasing it for sale at the Bacton Fayre. Have a lovely evening 😊.

Hello again all you lovely people 😀. Just an update on work in the kitchen at Unit 5 today.It was hot....so we only took...
08/07/2026

Hello again all you lovely people 😀. Just an update on work in the kitchen at Unit 5 today.

It was hot....so we only took on one preparation....I chose Redcurrant and Rosemary Chutney. We had done our research and we thought the combination of flavours would compliment cold chicken or turkey. We used redcurrants reserved after jellymaking, so it also ticked the thrifty box.

We prudently used a combination of granulated sugar and Redcurrant Jelly to sweeten the chutney, being mindful that a lot of the juice and flavour is strained out in the jellymaking process. It's a bold flavour ..... sweet, aromatic and tart ..... it needs a few months to develop but will be perfect by late autumn or winter.

Unit 5 will be open from 10am to 4pm tomorrow. Hope to see you again soon.....

Good evening friends and followers 😊. I hope all is well with you....and a warm welcome to our new followers......it's a...
08/07/2026

Good evening friends and followers 😊. I hope all is well with you....and a warm welcome to our new followers......it's a pleasure to have you onboard and I hope you enjoy reading about our endeavours.

I've always enjoyed experimenting in the kitchen, so some of our preserves are one-offs....a bit like this grape jelly. The grapes were foraged from a garden in Cotton and we saved our apple cores after making a chutney in January. Combined with a large bunch of fresh mint from our planter at the front of the shop, and hey presto....you've got the makings of an aromatic jelly.

It's turned out a pink jelly.....sweet, aromatic and slightly tart.....perfect with a dark meat such as lamb.....but it also spreads nicely on toast or crumpets. So if you fancy something a bit different, something that isn't made to a formula or that's been pumped around a factory, then maybe this is for you. By the weekend it'll be ready and on sale at Unit 5. Have a lovely evening 😊

06/07/2026

Hello everyone, if you sent me a message through my website, please check your spam folder for my reply. I’m working on a way to prevent my replies going there, but please don’t think I’m ignoring any, I aim to reply to all messages within 6 hours. Thank you.

Good morning friends and followers 😊. We're all setup at Felsham and Gedding Summer Fair on the recreation ground. The...
05/07/2026

Good morning friends and followers 😊. We're all setup at Felsham and Gedding Summer Fair on the recreation ground. The Fair opens at 12 noon and we are trading until 5pm. It'll be a really fun day....

Good morning friends and followers 😊. Hope you're all doing well. Unit 5 will be open until 4pm today. Jean is at the W...
04/07/2026

Good morning friends and followers 😊. Hope you're all doing well.

Unit 5 will be open until 4pm today. Jean is at the Wyverstone Cafe this morning. There's a really great array of stalls there....clothing, bags, Swallowtail Preserves and cards. We're also offering Bacton bees honey 🐝. Why not grab yourself a coffee and a bacon roll and snap up a bargain from the stallholders at the same time. It's a lovely bustling, lively atmosphere there....what better way to start the weekend 😀

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Bacton
Stowmarket
IP144

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