Our Story
Tayberries. It all began with tayberries.
In 2016, Carl Momberger ran a catering kitchen on the edge of the agricultural region in Washington County, OR. One June morning, his produce buying guide featured an unfamiliar item called a tayberry for $30 per lb. “What’s so special about these berries? Are they going to do my taxes for me?” he asked, incredulously.
This peculiar berry prompted research to find out what they were and why they were so expensive. In the course of that research, he found that they were available for U-Pick only three miles away at Hoffman Farms. Within minutes, he could hold this berry and learn its secrets.
Tayberries are a hybrid of raspberry and blackberry. Their name comes from the River Tay, which flows through Dundee, Scotland, where they were originally developed. Both of tayberry’s component parts shine through in the final berry, making it simultaneously unique and familiar.
Part of the reason that they are expensive is that they are extremely fragile berries. By the time he returned to the shop, the berries had started to look more like soup. The best thing to do with these tayberries was to make them into jam. After some research into preserving fruit, he gathered the necessary tools and set to work. The results were better than he could have imagined. The raspberry and blackberry balanced each other perfectly, with a beautiful floral note that carried from the field to the final product. This incredible jam sparked a new passion.
That first spark grew into a flame. Carl returned to Hoffman Farms and began picking berries from their wide selection. More tayberries and blackberries and raspberries and strawberries, each made it back to the kitchen and into its own jam.
In spring 2017, he started making jams and selling them to friends and family under the name Golden Eel Jams. That first year saw the production of 14 different jams and a lot of on-the-job training. Tromping through muddy fields and eating exotic berries made this labor of love a lot of fun.
The first subscription service began in 2018, with both summer fruit and winter fruit subscriptions available. It was a smashing success, leading to over 30 different jam flavors getting produced that year. The jams all became so popular that Carl decided to take the product to the people!
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Golden Eel Jams became a mouthful to explain to people, as many folks thought that perhaps the jams were made with EELS! In an effort to reduce the confusion, and perhaps create more, Carl's lovely wife, Amanda, suggested the name Big Jalm, with the silent 'L" representing LOVE! The new name was an immediate hit and has stuck since 2020. Big Jalm finds the best family grown fruit and preserves that fruit for the ages.