WHERE some people might choose yoga or fishing to relax, Robyn Stenborg reaches for her preserving pan, a basket heaving with local soft fruits and a tray of warm jars.

It's a hobby that has seen her through good times and bad, including breast cancer and divorce.

She explains: "I've always had a strong belief in good quality foods. So when I heard about a farmers' market in Malvern I had to see what it was all about.

"I thought 'this is wonderful', and applied to have my own stall. I've been going to the market ever since."

That first visit was four years ago and Robyn is now

one of a handful of stall holders who form the backbone of the market, turning up each month without fail.

"I've met some very interesting people and made some good friends at the market," she says.

"I never intended on being a big producer.

"What I make is carried out for relaxation and because I love cooking.

"I only attend two markets a month, Welland and Malvern, and that is perfect for the amount of preserves that I make."

Robyn's antipodean upbringing is still very apparent in her preserves today.

"Being Australian I can always tell a good organic mango but I still only make mango chutney when the season is right.

"My regular customers know that if they want marmalade they will have to wait until mid-February.

"I have them lining up at the stall when the time comes. I use organic Seville oranges and make it in the best old fashioned way."

The 61-year-old uses whatever fruit she has growing in her two-acre garden and is often invited by neighbours and friends to help herself to their fruits.

"I love the old varieties that grow around here. No one sprays because a lot of horses are kept in neighbouring fields."

After the marmalade, Robyn turns her attention to rhubarb.

Then there are the strawberries, soft fruits and apples, making her popular Swagman's Chutney, among others. Robyn's the oldest of five girls, there was no shortage of home-cooked meals in the Stenborg household.

"We all loved to cook," explained Robyn.

"I was just a young girl when I made my first jam. Someone gave me a case of plums and I couldn't bear to waste them so I rushed out and bought my first preserving pan.

"I still have the pan today, although I don't use it any more. People think Australian cooking is about throwing a few bits on a barbecue. They couldn't be more wrong.

"Cooking and food is taken extremely seriously. Australians eat every well. When I was growing up we didn't have freezers and some people didn't even have fridges so we all ate with the seasons.

"Of course, the climate is very different to England."

Although Robyn grew oranges, mangos and pineapple back home, it wasn't until she arrived in England that she got to taste her first strawberry.

She moved to England in the 60s after training as a midwife and working as a general nurse in Canberra and Sydney.

"It was quite a common practise for nurses to come to England to continue their training for a couple of years.

"Although you needed a visa you didn't need a work permit. I suppose it was inevitable that some of us would stay."

Robyn was to marry in the 70s but divorced in the 80s. Her marriage over, she continued to advance in the nursing profession until she found herself in a high-pressure managerial role in occupational health.

"I would arrive at work and reveal that I had just been making raspberry jam. It was obvious from the surprised looks on my colleagues faces that they couldn't imagine that I would undertake something so domestic when away from work, but I found it a great way to unwind.

"I've always loved cooking, especially when it's for other people."

Robyn shares a Chartists cottage with her good friend Mary Nation, who nursed Robyn when she was diagnosed with breast cancer and given only a year to live.

That was nine years ago and the cancer is in remission.

"I decided to retire early and we came to live here.

"It's a fantastic area, we love the local countryside and people."