Vermont Magazine Summer 19 | Page 28

toothsome ruby beet chunks, savory green tomatoes. Blazin’ Beans and hot peppers aptly dubbed Pure Fire. Pickled wild ramps and fiddle- heads are available seasonally in small batches. The pickled vegetables are perfect to snack on straight out of the jar, as part of an appetizer course, or with a summer cocktail or cold beer. Melissa also produces cranberry ketchup, made with Vermont-grown cranberries, and Green Mountain Grill Sauce, a maple-based barbecue sauce perfect for marinades or swabbing on top of chicken, beef, or pork. And then an array of jams, crafted to highlight the summer-ripe fruit, not sugar: raspberry peach, strawberry rhubarb, orange marmalade, summer berry, and black gold, a delicious blend of black raspber- ries and rhubarb. Grab a spoon—toast is optional! Oak Summit honey is packaged in whimsical chubby bear-shape glass jars or in square-sided bottles capped with a cork and dipped in fragrant beeswax. Thick, creamy raw honey comes in standard glass jars ranging in sizes from one pound to a whopping six pounds. Melissa gained a keen eye for aesthetics from her dad. “I was always painting or drawing. He encouraged my creativity, and he was honest whether something looked good. That helped me develop a visual concept.” Melissa’s innate art- istry infuses everything she touches: the colorful pickled veggies, fresh flower arrangements, and the alluring dis- play of pickles, preserves, and honey at her Dorset Farmers’ Market stand. 26