People Profile: Melanie Mulherin
Community People Profiles is a series on the Salt Spring Exchange featuring local personalities on our dynamic Gulf Island. Our People Profiles are short interviews, with one answer questions to share with you a little about what each of the people we will feature are thinking about as they go about their lives living on Salt Spring Island.
This weeks featured local people profile is: Melanie Mulherin
Here’s a bit about Melanie:
Melanie Mulherin Busy Mom OR Jam Empire builder! As it happens both and more, market vendor & artisan food producer. Her company SaltSpring Kitchen co. is steadily gaining recognition both on and off island for her small batch, artisan preserves. Specializing in savoury preserves to pair with cheese and unique bread spreads. She love to experiment and push the envelope with unexpected flavour combinations.
In addition to building her jam empire, Melanie is working with a group of passionate and dedicated market vendors to produce the very first SaltSpring in the city show March 14-16th at the Heritage Hall in Vancouver.
Q. What brought you to Salt Spring Island?
A. We had just closed our restaurant of almost 8 years in Northern BC and were ready for a change of scenery and a new adventure. I really wanted to live by the ocean so we decided on Victoria. After only a few months, my husband was offered a job with BC Ferries, the catch being we had to move to Salt Spring. We jumped at the opportunity and the rest is history.
Q. What one thing about Salt Spring would you tell someone who has never visited the island?
A. Come hungry! Salt Spring is a foodie paradise filled with organic farms, bakeries, cafes, restaurants, small food producers, wineries, a brewery and coffee roaster.
Q. If you had a magic Salt Spring wand, what island thing would you change?
A. I would love to extend the Saturday market during the summer to include a Friday night market with the streets closed to traffic, live music/street performers and food carts. The energy of the market is so special it seems a shame to limit it to Saturdays only.
Q. Which well known person, living or dead, do you think would be a good addition to the island?
A. Maynard James Keenan ~ He could try his hand at west coast wine making and perform with his multiple bands at the Treehouse cafe.
Q. Is there a really good interview question should I have asked you….and what would the answer be?
A. Why do we want to stay on Salt Spring?
A~Hands down the people here are simply the best. There is a true sense of community that is unique in this day and age. Everyone has been so welcoming to our family and supportive of my business. I couldn’t dream of a better place to call home.
