EVEN Marg Ashton admits her move from Melbourne to Eildon nine years ago is something of a "tree-change cliche".

Tired of hectic city life, Marg and her husband, Alan, jumped at the opportunity to move to the town, after 30 years of holidaying there.

But the couple don't spend their days cruising on Lake Eildon.

Instead, you'll find them hard at work, making Ashton Lodge Country Preserves.

"We had a mini golf business here, which we'd taken over," Marg says.

"We started making chutneys and preserves to promote that business."

But traditional, handmade preserves ended up being more appetising than putting, and the Ashtons closed the course after a short time to concentrate on cooking.

The tasty range includes about 20 varieties of chutney, relishes and jellies, depending on the season.

For summer, this means peach and chilli chutney, while their best-sellers include roast pumpkin relish and beetroot relish, spiced damson jelly, plus rum and butter fruit mince for Christmas.

The Ashtons like to source their ingredients locally and estimate that 60 per cent comes from Victoria.

"We have very kind neighbours, fruit farmers, who are always ringing and asking 'Can you use ours?"' Marg says.

Everything is handmade and involves a lot of chopping, stirring and kitchen finesse - skills that are relatively new to the couple.

Marg was in organisational development and Alan worked in IT.

"While I was growing up, my mum was always doing preserves. It was an era before tins and jars at the supermarket. Not many people make (preserves) any more," she says.

The couple are also learning new ways to use their recipes.

"A customer kept coming in and buying heaps of our spiced capsicum relish. He was using it for pizza bases because he hated tomato paste," Marg says.

"I've got a huge collection of old and new recipe books, which we use as bases. But we like to add spices or use different fruits. It makes it ours."

The Ashtons encourage customers to call in to the home kitchen for tastings of new products and serving suggestions.

Marg is even nice enough to share a few trade secrets.

"Don't take shortcuts and use a long, slow cooking process," she says.

"We've never had a product go off. The trick is to use traditional recipes with the right balance of sugar and vinegar. Those recipes were invented before fridges, so they'll keep."

It's this dedication to traditional, handmade practices that have made Ashton Lodge County Preserves a local success.

When they began, the Ashtons made just two trips a year to their wholesaler to get the 200 jars they needed. Now they need 300 jars a month to keep up with demand.

The Ashtons say they will keep selling at their kitchen door and at farmers' markets around Eildon and Mansfield, and have no plans to expand.

"We said when we started we didn't want to be a factory. We've gradually grown, but we can still manage it and enjoy it."

  • Ashton Lodge Country Preserves, Back Eildon Rd, Eildon, ph: (03) 5774 2487.