D. Madison & Daughters: still jammin’

Dianne and Mike Madison have a family farm in Solano County. Dianne talked to me about her homemade preserves, which she sells at the Davis farmers’ market and area food co-ops:

“Both of my grandfathers were produce managers, so our family always canned. Several years ago, our farm was in the medfly-quarantine area. We had to process everything, so I started by making fig jam.

“I have been selling under the name Yolo Jam, but I’m changing the label to D. Madison & Daughters. Canning is a dying art, and more people need to know how to do it.

“Whatever is in season, people just love. Right now, I’m selling a lot of apricot, and fig is next. I could probably sell a lot of nectarine conserve, but I’ll hold onto that for the holidays. People like to buy it as a gift because it’s a little unusual.”