IF Heather Chaloner had her way we would not need money.

Instead we would go back to living off the land and trading goods with each other.

Heather does this in a small way now with fellow allotment holders. She takes any surplus fruit and vegetables like redcurrents, plums and rhubarb and exchanges them for her home- made cakes and preserves.

"It's a nice way of living because I use up things that would otherwise go to waste. It is something I would like to do more of," says the 57-year-old mother of two, who can often be found raiding the hedgerows on the hilltops near her home in Triangle, collecting varies types of berries.

"I think I was a squirrel in a previous life. I'm into collecting things," says Heather, who puts all the fruit and veg she collects and grows or is given to good use making jams, chutneys and cakes, which she sells at craft fairs throughout Yorkshire.

Heather, who has always been into good food, started making cakes and preserves as a hobby, but as demand for her products grew it became a full-time job. Two years ago she set up her own company, Farmhouse Kitchen, which she says has taken over her life.

It is a huge departure from the 30 years she spent as a Calderdale librarian, but one she would never change.

"I fancied a career change some years ago and retrained to be an adult education teacher. I started doing craft fairs to support my income and have made and sold all sorts of things in the past. It was an accident really that I got into preserves. I was doing a craft fair at the Piece Hall, and noticed the woman who usually did the preserve stall was missing. I was told she had retired. I thought 'I could do that,' so I asked if I could have a go and the rest is history."

She now makes for the trade and shops such as Triangle Post Office, and has just had her kitchen extended to cope with her workload. A lot of her recipes have been handed down through generations of her family or are her invention, and she feels customers return time and time again for their favourite products, because it is real food.

"I use traditional methods to make high-quality full-flavoured preserves and cakes that take you back to your childhood. I think there is a lot of nostalgia involved when people buy them and most women these days don't have the time to make their own. I use local produce and everything is additive and preservative-free," says Heather.

She makes all sorts of cakes and preserves and says her best sellers are her date and walnut cake, her lemon curd, her lavender jelly and her chutney with chilli. She also does a sugar and fat free cake for diabetics – she has had the condition for the past six years – which is very popular.

She says her busy periods are from May to September and October to Christmas. "The craft fairs start in May and run through the summer. I go to them because I enjoy meeting and talking to other people.