Story by Aric McBay
Photos by Suzy Lamont
“The passion for cooking keeps me coming back to the kitchen,” says master jam maker Robert Henderson. “My parents cooked a lot, we always tried new foods.”
Along with family, Robert Henderson runs Henderson Farms on Wolfe Island; his farm’s speciality is their award-winning jellies and jams. “We have about 50 different types of jams, jellies, and marmalades.” Their repertoire includes traditional flavours like strawberry and blueberry jams, but also novel variations like peach & jalapeno jelly, wild dandelion wine jelly, and stinging nettle jelly.
Robert is the four-time Grand Champion Jam and Jelly Maker of the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto. He has won dozens of other high-profile awards for his farm’s products.
Robert makes his award-winning products in a large commercial kitchen at his third-generation family farm. “It’s a family-run business,” he explains. The farm business includes Robert’s partner Norman Dupont, Robert’s siblings William and Nancy Henderson, and their mother Wilda Henderson, who oversees daily activities.
“I grew up on Wolfe Island, so it’s home,” says Robert. “It’s calm, it’s quiet. The farm is a beautiful setting along the St. Lawrence River.”
While Robert has won awards in many cities, he uses ingredients from local farms whenever possible. Henderson Farms uses chokecherries and elderberries from Wolfe Island. And the Henderson family grows their own rhubarb. “Fig rhubarb is my favourite jam,” says Robert. “But the pepper jellies are always quite popular.”
The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto is where Robert tests his experimental flavours. “I’m always looking for a new recipe, a new product to try,” he says. “I look forward to travelling to the different craft shows and meeting new people.”
But most of Robert’s work is closer to home, and in recent summers the Henderson family has welcomed visitors to their farm for afternoon tea events. “It’s a traditional-style English Tea,” explains Robert. “So you have the three-tiered dish with the sandwiches on the bottom, the scones in the middle, and the desert on top. Served with fine bone china.”
“Each person gets their own teapot with a choice of three different teas,” adds Robert. “It’s in a setting on the island. You’re under a big tent, looking over the St. Lawrence River, so you can see the ships going by.” The experience is inspired by Robert’s visits to tea houses around the world in Belgium, England, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Scotland, Chile, and Costa Rica, as well as here in Canada.
If you can’t make it to an afternoon English Tea at Henderson Farms, you can still find their delicious baked goods at the Kingston Public Market on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.
Their whole kitchen is nut-free and dairy-free, and they offer plenty of gluten-free baking options to choose from. Each fall they bake hundreds of additional fruit crisps and pies in time for the holidays. Their award-winning jams and innovative baking keep their market stand busy. “We have an amazing flourless chocolate beet cake,” says Robert. “And soft ginger cookies which people are just raving for.”
Where to find Henderson Farms Products:
- Henderson Farms jams, jellies, and baked goods can be found at the Kingston Public Market every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.
- Products can also be found at Cooke’s Fine Foods, Glenburnie Grocery, and Fargo’s General Store on Wolfe Island.
- Afternoon English Tea typically runs from June to the first week of September; booking can be done via Eventbrite.
- Keep up with most recent online ordering information at www.hendersonfarms.on.ca
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