Alyson Baker-Barks, owner of Florence Cottage in Gosberton, wakes up at the crack of dawn to prepare her produce for customers

A popular village business which makes its own Lincolnshire inspired vinegar, has attracted a loyal band of customers who even swig it out of the bottle because they love it so much.

The owner of Florence Cottage, Alyson Baker-Barks, specialises in jams, chutneys, pickled eggs and onions, gins and more – and almost all of the ingredients are produced from her garden.

After previously living in Dorset, the family moved to Lincolnshire in 2015 as they wanted to be closer to loved ones.

The now Gosberton-based business is thriving and growing at a fast rate. Alyson said: “We had our own pub in Dorset and I wanted to keep up with what we had been doing there but in Lincolnshire.

“I would make chutneys, jams and afternoon teas and other pubs in our area started asking to stock my produce.

“When we moved up here we brought a lot of the stock I hadn’t used yet, and for a while my husband would travel back to Dorest to keep supplying, but in the end it wasn’t very viable to continue doing.

“I did worry about starting again from the beginning when we moved but I started doing fayres in the area and building up a reputation like that.

“Since covid it has gone absolutely mad. I am now in nine different shops and I think people want to source more locally.

“It’s just me doing it all in my kitchen at home and I grow as much of the produce as I can and what I can’t grow, I source from other people in the area.”

A firm favourite for customers of Vine House Farm in Deeping St Nicholas, is the pickled onions, beetroot and eggs – which Alyson makes with her own vinegar.

The work doesn’t stop there, as Alyson also makes 10 different chutneys, jams and marmalades which are also her best sellers.

She added: “I have always been a very keen gardener and through running a food orientated business, I gained lots of skills and practice there. I learnt quite a lot of my cooking skills from my mother and when we moved to Lincolnshire, she would help me prepare vegetables and fruits for the chutneys and jams.

“I enjoy making up names for the products such as my bumbleberry jam, which is a collection of strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blackcurrants and they are all bumbled together.

“My cheeky cockney chutney is made from apples, pears, ginger and garlic to give it a nice kick.

“I make my vinegar from scratch as well. I was told by some people that raspberry vinegar is popular in Lincolnshire so I did a bit of research and have sold loads and loads of that because it is so diverse.

“Lots of people swig it out of the bottle for a sore throat or add it to a salad and on Yorkshire puddings.”

Alyson starts her day bright and early at 4.30am, by going into her garden to water the plants and label anything she has made the day before.

At 6am, she will begin making something new with produce she has picked from the garden, she said: “I like seeing the end product and I enjoy seeing people come back to buy more as it is lovely and very rewarding.

“If you’re producing something that people want to eat then you have clearly got something right.

“I also love it when I have picked something from the garden and within an hour it is in a jar – my favourite is the royal strawberry and rhubarb jam.

If you are interested in buying Florence Cottage products, some of the places they can be found in include, Heckington Windmill shop, Osbournby village shop, Vine House Farm, Grange Farm Butchery in Gosberton, the Mountain farm shop in Heckington and Swineshead village shop.

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