After being injured in a motorcycle accident in 2014, my life just came unraveled. I lost my job, my apartment, pretty much everything. When I’d healed from my injury I had no idea how I was going to put my life back together and it just happened to be the season for picking blackberries. So I started picking. I spent the little money I had on some of mason jars, sugar, and pectin and made jam. A friend of mine had a peach tree so I picked those and made more jam. I made the trunk of my car into display area with a checkered tablecloth and a little wooden crate and went around selling the jam. People loved it. Using really ripe fruit lessened the need for added sugar so I would use only one half or even one third of the amounts called for in the recipes and I found raw sugar to have much better flavor. People loved it even more when they knew that. Then the holiday season came around and I started making pie fillings and preserving them as well. Blackberry, peach, apple. Before long I had a following. As customers returned again and again I expanded my inventory to include seven jam varieties, two of them having no sweetener added whatsoever, applesauce, pie fillings, and fresh baked pies. Nearly two years later, thanks to the unwavering support of over fifty regular customers and have just reached a major milestone in the development of my brand by being accepted as a vendor in my local farmer’s market. With applications in to three others, my goal this season is to participate in four regular weekly markets as well as other community events such as July Fourth Celebrations and possibly even the county fair. My ultimate goal is to grow Sustainable Sweets into a livelihood that will sustain me through law school.