Remember grandma’s pantry, stocked with jellies, chutneys, and sauces so that a taste of local bounty was a twist of a lid away? Brothers Noel and Dwight Garrett, founders of Lobeco, South Carolina-based Lowcountry Produce, sure do. And with their line of all-natural goods—from green tomato relish and fig preserves to veggie soup and Lowcountry gumbo—you don’t have to put up your own produce to get that old-fashioned flavor.
In 2005, Dwight, with help from Charlestonian Steve Dowdney, began experimenting with canning recipes collected from family and friends. The first official product, Dwight’s grandmother’s sweet cucumber pickles, led to some 40 more, all canned in a facility behind the Garrett family’s farm stand outside Beaufort.
“People want a connection to the way things used to be. They love opening a jar of chutney that reminds them of childhood,” says Noel. And while the products capture the flavors of the coastal South, they sell in stores from California to New York. The sweet potato butter even made it onto O, The Oprah Magazine’s “O List” last December.
For a list of local retailers—including Charleston Cooks! and Caviar & Bananas—visit lowcountryproduce.com. Or, if you’re up for a day trip, head for their farm stand to shop the fresh goods and savor lunch on the screened porch.
