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Armenian preserves land on shelves in New York City, by Katie Gallagher

New York - Going back to her roots, Sylvia Tirakian has created her own import company here using the lavish fruits and vegetables that grow in her native country of Armenia.

Harvest Song, which Tirakian named after the traditional farmer's sing-along sung during harvest season, is in its first year of business. The first shipment, 300,000 jars of all natural jams, jellies and pickled vegatables, landedon specialty retailers' shelves here in mid-January, Tirakian said. The products are also being used at several area hotels. And Tirakian is in the process of getting area distributors to pick up the line for distribution in the tri-state area and Philadelphia, which she said is expected to happen this year.

Born in Armenia, Tirakian came to the United States to pursue a career in fiber optics engineering. After working as an engineer, Tirakian longed to free her creative side and started a business of her own.

"I wanted to do something very different," Tirakian said. "If you are creative, you're not a good engineer. It's a very technical job."

Harvest Song has contracts with Armenian farmers who harvest and pick the fruit and vegetables. Harvest Song imports the products direct and ships pallets of product via UPS from a warehouse in New Jersey directly to specialty retailers and hotels, Tirakian said.

The Harvest Song line consists of nine preserves and one yellow pear tomato pickle. The first retailers here to receive a shipment include Zabar's, Amish Market, Marche' Madison and Jefferson Market among others. Harvest Song is working with retailers to do demos and tastings of the preserves, pairing them with various cheeses.

Harvest Song designes the labels and packaging for the preserves. Each jar is topped with rice paper and tied with rope.