Market Forces: Peacock Farm

This week, Patch spoke with Carole LeFlore, owner of Montclair-based jam company Peacock Farm. Her market table is filled with neatly stacked 9-oz. jars of fruit preserves and several baguettes, which LeFlore slices up to offer customers samples. Raspberry and strawberry are staples, but her jam flavors have changed with the seasonal availability of fruit – apricot in early summer, for example, and plum in the fall. Her stand is located at the center of the market lot.

Where did the name Peacock Farm come from?

People literally think there is a farm in Montclair, which there isn’t, so I have to constantly explain that. I grew up in Dublin, and my grandparents had a little farm. They had a peacock on the farm, and I never said ‘let’s go to the farm,’ I’d say, ‘I want to go to the peacock farm.’ When I was looking for a name for the business, a lot of things are taken, and it just came to me: Peacock Farm.

Would you describe your business?

It’s a lot of work. I started it in June. It’s just me, and I maintain the highest quality in the fruit that I purchase. I use only three ingredients to make my jam: fruit, sugar, and freshly squeezed lemon juice. I started at the farmer’s market in Montclair and then I added Summit.

My strategy for the winter is to get it into stores. And people have started placing orders for the holidays and their own use – my first was for 36 jars. I have beautiful labels being made for the jars. I put a little cover on with ribbons, and tissue paper. People can email me at peacockfarmpreserves@gmail.com to place orders.

How did you get into the jam business?

It’s not my background at all. I moved from New York City to Montclair two years ago. In New York, I sold real estate on the Upper East Side. This was more like a hobby. I love to cook. My mother and grandmother always made jam -- once a year they’d get fruit from the orchard and make it. I learned just by watching them.

I started Peacock Farm out of necessity. This is kind of personal, but I just went through a major breakup. I’ve been a housewife, and I just had to do something, so that’s how it all started.

I moved to the states 24 years ago. Before doing real estate, I had a sales background – I was a recruiter. I moved out here to New Jersey and I changed my whole life, so I don’t want to go back to that. I’d like to grow this business, and get the jams into stores and see what happens. 

How do you make your jam?

I use 5 cups of fruit per batch in two pots. That makes two and a half jars of jam. I use two cups of sugar and a half of cup of lemon juice per batch – that’s my formula. I don’t use pectin, I just use the natural pectin in the fruit, and I cook in very small batches. Then I water bath the jars in a big pot of boiling water. I have to chop a lot of fruit. Peaches and plums all have to get peeled. And the marmalade is a whole other story.   

I’ve just had the product analyzed for nutritional content, because in order to sell it to stores, you have to have that on the labels. They said technically I can’t call it a jam because it doesn’t have enough sugar. So it’s not a jam, it’s more of a spreadable fruit.

What’s a typical week like for you?  

Well, I typically take Monday off – that’s my non-jam day. I do administrative stuff.  Every other Monday I go to Lancaster, PA, to buy the jars. I buy 300 jars a trip. I have built a relationship with an Amish seller down there, so it’s just a zone-out drive to visit my friends there. I love it down there, and I get ideas. Tuesday I go and I get the fruit. I have different farmers that I have connections with. It’s much easier in summer, because the fruit is more abundant. Now it’s a matter of getting them from warehouses. Yesterday I got these peaches from a farmer who had them in storage – it was such a blessing. Tuesday afternoon I start cooking. Even though the jars are technically sterilized – they’re boxed - I put them though the dishwasher. I have a work station for cutting the fruit and squeezing the lemons. I do these in five-cup batches. Then I put it on to the stove. And then water bath them and box them. I make the jam Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, and then on Saturday I work the market in Montclair. Often times I sell out, so I end up having to make jam until 12 or 1 a.m., so I have it for Summit. So what I need to do is clone myself. I take care of two kids in between this, so that’s a lot of running and pick-up and drop-off and church activities, that takes up a lot of time. So that’s it – that’s what I’ve been doing. I really enjoy this. It can be stressful, but there’s something very therapeutic about making the jam itself, and rewarding about seeing the jam jars piling up.

What’s the hardest part about what you do?

The hardest part is stressing about not having enough jam, about being prepared for market. I guess that’s the hardest. Or being disappointed at not being able to get a particular type of fruit. It’s very seasonal. At the beginning of the summer I had apricot, and then I had pluot, but those fruits go out and you just can’t get them. It’s a learning process, the business, so next year I’m going to get as many apricots as I can so that I can have it all season, because people love it. Same with the pluot. I’m always able to have access to raspberries and strawberries. I can always make orange marmalade, but it’s a very different process – it takes much longer. One box of oranges makes only three jars, it’s much harder to prepare the fruit, and it takes five times as long to cook.   

What do you like best about what you’re doing?

The feedback that I get – people’s reaction and their commentary - is extremely gratifying. I can’t tell you how many people have said it’s absolutely the best jam they’ve ever tasted in their whole lives. I’ve got a following now. People keep asking me where it’s going to be in stores once the market ends. And I thoroughly enjoy the people at the market; both the vendors and the customers are amazing.