Life & Work with Ariel Jewell

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ariel Jewell.

Hi Ariel, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Let me preface this by saying, I never started out to have a business. It was simply a happy accident. I work full time as a Paramedic for ATCEMS so having a business wasn’t something I had time for, but fate knew better than I that what I needed was something cathartic to help me deal with all of the trauma I see at work. Cooking is that catharsis for me. When I was about nine years old my brothers and I decided to go pick pears from a tree on an abandoned property near our house. We filled pillowcase after pillowcase full of pears. When we got home we had enough to fill up our claw foot bathtub! Needless to say, our parents were not impressed and quite angry with us. A few years later we moved into the hill country and my younger brother and I would spend hours roaming the thousand-acre ranch near our house. Our favorite thing to do in the summer was to pick prickly pears, cut the needles off, and eat them raw. My love of foraging came from these experiences. Once I became a teenager I would help my grandpa, John, pick wild mustang grapes off fence lines on the side of the road then we would make jelly together. We would give the jars to our family and friends. It was a labor of love. I get my love of cooking from him. After he died, I took over making the mustang jelly.

Four years ago I decided to start experimenting with other flavors. Before I knew it our Harry Potter closet was full of jam and jelly! My husband asked me “what are we going to do with all of this?” My response was, “I like hanging out at farmer’s markets.” I started out selling the few flavors I had at the Leander Farmer’s Market. Pretty soon, as I started getting more regular customers, I realized that I had something pretty unique and special. You see, I don’t just make traditional jam flavors, I make a lot of eclectic ones that you can’t find anywhere else because the vast majority of the 102 flavors I make are my own recipes. However, foraging around our area for Texas native plants are still my favorite jams to make. Not many people are aware of the abundance of native plants in our area. From April – September, I have my little haunts for Dewberry, Mimosa, Honeysuckle, Agarita, Mustang Grape, Prickly Pear, and Texas Persimmon. However, making Mustang grape is still my favorite as it brings back a lot of memories of my adventures with my grandpa. I still use his recipe and named the jelly after him.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Really the hardest part has been trying to find time to cook in between my 24-hour shifts at work. Oftentimes I’m exhausted but I have a festival to get ready for so I give up a lot of my free time and sleep, to cook. Sometimes I spend up to 10 hours in front of my stove, cooking, I call these days “Jamathons.” The other struggle is to be able to take off shifts when I need to for the local festivals I sell at. I wish I could add more time to the clock some days. Over the past two years, it has been difficult to get jelly jars. Just another side effect from supply shortages due to covid. The prices of my supplies has also gone up due to inflation but I try to keep my prices fair. You can only charge so much for a jar of jam. Due to that my profit margins have gotten quite narrow. Most people don’t realize when you are an artisan there is not a lot of profit there. Our arts require a lot of time and supplies are anything but cheap. We just hope they realize we keep doing it because we love doing it and it makes us feel good when people love and enjoy our art as much as we do.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
My business falls under Texas Cottage Law so I do everything out of my home and don’t have a store front, but I spend a lot of weekends around Central Texas at various festivals and there is always a list on my website or Facebook page on where I’ll be next. My jams and jellies are quite unique. If I don’t have it, it probably doesn’t exist yet. I have many that are great on biscuits and toast but have many more that make great marinades or for charcuterie boards. I have jams with different kinds of peppers and some with wine and liquor! It’s not your average jar of jam. I have over 100 flavors but my Peach Pecan Whisky is hands down my favorite of them all. I absolutely love cooking with my jams too. I call this the “Think Outside the Jelly Jar Challenge.”

Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
One of my dear friends started her own specialty spice company, Aunt T’s Seasoning. She has been an amazing support system for me. We often attend the same events so we can watch each other’s booths for bathroom breaks. She’s made several sauces using my jams and her spices and they are absolutely amazing! Also, last year at the Brady National Goat Cookoff Challenge, I had several of the cookers use my jams for their BBQ. I thought that was pretty darn cool!! I’m always open to collaborating with other food businesses on creating one of a kind dishes, otherwise, I’m a one-woman operation.

Pricing:

• $5-8 per jar (depending on the flavor)
• Peach Pecan Whisky $8
• Blackberry Lavender $7
• Balsamic Strawberry & Rosemary $6
• Meyer Lemon & Saffron $7
• Wild Honeysuckle $5

Contact Info:

• Email: jewellsjellyandjams@gmail.com
• Website: https://jewellsjellyandjam.wixsite.com/mysite
• Instagram: @jewellsjellyandjams
• Facebook: @jewellsjellyandjams

Image Credits
My husband, Ron Jewell took the one of me in the Texas shirt. My nine years old daughter, Ruby, took the one of me in the chair.