Public parks and gardens

September 5, 2024

Where to Find Windtree Bee Honey

We’re a bit past halfway through this season, and it’s been terrific! The bees were very generous to us this year. Below are all the places you can find us and our honey. Stock up for winter! HONEY NEVER SPOILS! It will keep forever. So get your jars now for winter tea, oatmeal, pancakes, peanut butter & banana sandwiches, etc.

HEREFORD FARM MARKET

Our regular market is HFM, which is held every Saturday from 9:00 am to noon in the Hereford High School parking lot. Look for us at the “Hats & Honey” table with Mandi from Rosie Posie Design Co. Regular vendors include produce farmers, dairy farmers, fruit growers, flower growers & florists, fiber artists, pottery artists, fungi aficionados, bakers, beekeepers & honey sellers + plenty of pepper sellers (hot, specialty, etc.) There’s usually live music, a food truck, and fresh, organic juices. More information on HFM can be found on its website or Facebook page.

OAK SPRING FARM STORE

Craig is the beekeeper for Oak Spring Farm, so we keep two of our hives there. For anyone who isn’t already familiar with Lisa Duff’s awesome CSA farm, check out her website. Members can pick up their share at the farm on Tuesdays from 1:00-6:00 pm. During that time, Lisa sells extras and other goodies, including our honey, at her farm store. 20633 Mt. Zion Road in Freeland.

OREGON RIDGE HONEY HARVEST FESTIVAL

This local festival is on Sunday, October 6th, at the Oregon Ridge Nature Center from 11:00am – 4:00 pm. They’ll have education stations, children’s crafts, animal encounters, pumpkin painting, cider making, and of course — lots of beekeepers and honey! For more info, check out the event page.

HEREFORD FALL FESTIVAL

October 19th (10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.) & October 20th (10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.) This year is the 25th Hereford Fall Fest. 24 Mt. Carmel Road in Parkton, behind the Royal Farms. We’ve participated in this event for years and it’s always fun. It’s a fundraiser for the Hereford Volunteer Fire Company. They’ll have food trucks, beer trucks, craft vendors, and live music. Past years have offered helicopter rides, mechanical bulls, and monster trucks. Wear shoes that can get muddy and dress for blustery autumn weather!

FEDERAL ARMORED MUSEUM CHRISTMAS BAZAAR

On Sunday, December 8th, from 1:00 – 4:00 p.m. at 130 Lakefront Drive in Hunt Valley. This is a FREE event. Santa will be there, so your kids can come with their lists and you can get pictures with little to no wait. Music majors at Towson University will be singing carols and they’ll be vendors selling jewelry, ornaments, stained glass, candles, cards — and honey! My winter jars will have holiday quilt square toppers. Our honey makes a great gift for teachers, neighbors, friends, family, and coworkers! More info on the museum can be found on its website.

OTHER VENUES…?

I’m actively searching for some additional markets for our honey — both in-person events and small, boutique retail stores. If you know of a place where home-harvested honey would be a welcome addition to the offerings, please reach out. I’ll be posting here if/when we add more places and events to our calendar.

OTHER UPDATES SOON

It’s been a busy year! Be on the lookout for future updates on: our hives and queen bees, local and exotic butterflies, beeswax candle making, and Apple Valley honey (a fun partnership with Karen Dubs of Flexible Warrior Yoga).

September 1, 2023

Summer & Fall Jams + Penn State’s Arboretum & Mt Nittany

We’ll be back at the Hereford Farm Market tomorrow with two new jam batches (although both are old favorites):

Berry jam – a top seller! Raspberry, strawberry, blackberry & blueberry all mixed together in one delicious all-season, year-round jam; and

Caramel Apple Coffee Jam – perfect for coffee lovers! Awesome on homemade cinnamon rolls or on ice cream (try it with butter pecan or salted caramel because plain vanilla can be boring) +

Honey! The last of the 2023 harvest… stock up for winter. Honey NEVER goes bad!

Where have we been?

End of summer means kids heading back to college. We spent the last two weekends in State College and NYC. While we were in Happy Valley we were able to hike Mount Nittany and tour Penn State’s Arboretum. Both were a lot of fun! The last time Craig and I hiked Mount Nittany we were students there ourselves… so it’s been awhile!!

Craig and me at the Mike Lynch Overlook. The first part of the trail is a 600 feet elevation gain over a half mile or so. That’s Beaver Stadium in the background!

We finished off our hike with a stop at Happy Valley Vineyard. Got a flight and then a glass of their yummy Blue Luna blueberry wine. The arboretum keeps getting bigger and better every time we visit. They’ve added a honeybee observation hive, other free standing Langstroth hives, bee hotels for the solitary species, and tons and tons of flowering plants (including some people might consider weeds). It was all beautifully done and the bees — and us — were loving it!

Hope to see you at the market tomorrow! You can find us at the “Hats & Honey” table near the musician’s tent. The Hereford Farm Market is at Hereford High School from 9:00 a.m. to noon on Saturdays. Best wishes for a beautiful Labor Day weekend!

July 21, 2023

Seasonal Jams, Colorful Flowers, and Butterflies

We’ll be at the Hereford Farm Market tomorrow . For anyone new — the market is held at Hereford High School every Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to noon — live music, food truck + tons of great vendors! 🙂

We’re bringing our usual mid-summer offerings: seasonal jams and flowers. I grow lots of flowers for the bees and butterflies. It’s no secret that zinnias are some of the easiest cutting flowers to grow, which is good because I’m a middling gardener at best. I always joke that I like gardens a lot more than I like gardening – ha! 😉

For a short time during mid to late summer, I offer cut zinnias for $1.00 a piece. You choose which ones you want. Free clear jar with your purchase. Sometimes I offer colorful ribbons or vintage vases (prices vary for those). I can arrange your cottage bouquet or you can. I’m no more a professional florist than an experienced gardener — but our flowers are beautiful and every purchase helps support the bees. Any profit from our market table goes toward our beekeeping expenses.

From left to right: Chai Tea Rooibos Blend, Chai Tea Assam Blend, Pina Colada Jam, Black Forest Preserves, Maple Strawberry Jam, Mimosa Jelly, Strawberry Chipotle Jam.

Ladew Gardens’ Butterfly House

I volunteered there again this past Thursday. There were twice as many butterflies in the house as there were last week. It’s been really neat learning more about them. Obviously, butterflies are very different from honeybees! It’s fun chatting with other people about pollinators and pollinator gardens. And, by the end of the summer, I’m hoping I’ll be able to identify most of the butterflies that visit our house, gardens, and bee yard.

Hazy summer morning at Ladew Gardens, walking toward the Butterfly House.

See you tomorrow at the market!

Look for Windtree Bee at the “Hats & Honey” table near the musician’s tent!

June 16, 2023

Jams Dads Will Love

We’re bringing two jams dads will love to Hereford Farm Market tomorrow: Hot Peach with Sriracha (great as a marinade for grilled chicken & pork) and Strawberry Chipotle (excellent with turkey sandwiches or cheese & crackers). We still have about a dozen jars of honey left until our next harvest. Our honey makes a fantastic base for homemade hot honey or honey BBQ sauce!! Make dad happy this Sunday with a jar of something spicy!!

Also… Ladew Gardens’ Butterfly House opens July 6th!

Ladew Gardens is a wonderful public garden right in Monkton. Perhaps best known for its topiaries, it offers all sorts of excellent nature-themed info, education, and entertainment. I’ve posted here about its awesome fall event, Garden Glow. This summer, I’m volunteering in its Butterfly House, so I can help out in a place I’ve admired for years.

Native Butterflies

The neat thing about Ladew’s Butterfly House is that it’s a native butterfly house. Many of the region’s butterfly houses are gorgeous and magical, but they are full of non-native species — beautiful tropical varieties that look spectacular but wouldn’t live outside of their enclosed spaces. At Ladew, all of the butterflies are caught each year instead of shipped in from elsewhere. That way, it’s not a big deal if they escape. It also makes handling caterpillars easier and (frankly) nicer. If there are too many caterpillars in the house to be supported by the greenery in there… off they go to the great outdoors right outside the door. The other reason Ladew’s native Butterfly House is so cool is that it allows all of us (myself included) to learn more about those colorfully winged pollinators.

Did you know that butterflies don’t eat? They only eat in the caterpillar stage. AND many of them eat only ONE TYPE OF HOST PLANT. So, if that plant isn’t around… neither are they.

I hope to post more about the Butterfly House in the future. We can learn together — hahaha! In the meantime, please come see us at the market this weekend. Pick up something hot & spicy for Dad or the dude in your life! 🙂

We’ll be at the Hereford Farm Market, which is located at the Hereford High School, 17301 York Road, Hereford, Maryland, tomorrow from 9:00 a.m. to noon. Look for Windtree Bee at the “Hats & Honey” table!

June 1, 2023June 1, 2023

We’re bringing honeybees to the market this Saturday!

This Saturday, June 3^rd, we’re bringing an observation hive to the market.

What’s an observation hive?

It’s a specially made hive box that allows a queen and her attendant bees to be transported safely to an event, so that people can see what the bees look like up close. Everyone (especially kids) have a great time looking for the queen. The observation hive is sealed, so air can get in but bees can’t get out. There are two clear panels on either side of the top that give observers a chance to see what’s going on in the hive.

If observation hives are so neat, why don’t you bring one every week?

Moving a queen and her attendants from their regular hive box (the Langstroth box where they live year round) into a temporary observation hive is stressful to both the queen and the hive. In the past, we occasionally did it, because bringing live bees to an event always leads to some great interactions and discussions. But, because it was stressful for our bees, it was also stressful for us. Good news though! One of our beekeeper friends recently caught a swarm and loaned it to us for this summer. It’ll live in the observation hive until early fall and then we’ll return it, so that it can overwinter at our friend’s house in a winterized Langstroth box.

We’re excited to have an extra queen and hive just for observation purposes! Since this queen is going to be a celebrity, I’m naming her Scarlett after Scarlett Johansen, who dabbled in beekeeping. (This was a quick pick name – want something different? Stop by our table and you can suggest a different one!)

What else are we bringing to the market?

Honey! We have about two dozen jars left and then we’ll be out until we harvest again at the end of the summer.

Honey-sweetened strawberry jam: I’m excited about this batch because it was made with strawberries we grew and honey we harvested – neat, right? Because my strawberry patch is small, I supplemented it with some of Krista’s awesome berries. Foggy Bottom Berry Farm grows different varieties than we do, so the mix is delicious!

I also have a few jars left of my Spring Honey Rhubarb Jam and Chai Tea Blends (both caffeinated Assam and decaf Rooibos).

It’s biking season!

Since there was no market last weekend, Craig and I took a trip to Pittsburgh to visit Beekeeper Rebecca (Rebecca, a.k.a. Boudica II’s namesake). On Saturday, we hiked in McConnells Mill State Park. We toured the mill and then walked down to Eckert Bridge and back. It was a pretty hike and relatively easy. There are some other intriguing places like Hells Hollow and Breakneck Falls that we might explore next time.

On Sunday, we biked the ‘Burgh’s streets, bridges, and one tunnel during the city’s Open Streets.

If you’ve never been to Pittsburgh, you need to visit! It’s beautiful, has great food, Point State Park at Three Rivers, inclines, and tons of bridges and tunnels. A very fun weekend getaway / road trip destination!

That’s it for this week! I wish you happy hiking, biking, gardening, beekeeping, or whatever else you do that makes you happy. Craig, new Queen Scarlett, and I hope to see you this Saturday!

Hereford Farm Market at Hereford High School, 17301 York Road, from 9:00 a.m. to noon. Saturday, June 3, 2023. Lots of parking! Easy to get to! Easy to walk around! Look for us at the “Hats & Honey” table.

One of our honeybees on our garden’s clover

November 9, 2022

Fermentation Class + NYC Parks

Just before Halloween, I took a fermentation class down at the Baltimore Chef Shop. It was awesome! I’ve taken other classes there and love the vibe of their workspace and teaching areas. Their instructors are super friendly and full of know-how. Class sizes are small too, so you can ask lots of questions and chat with fellow students.

Our instructor was Flynn Harne and his enthusiasm for All Things Fermentation was contagious. Other folks in the class included a woman whose dog was nursed back to health using fermented goat’s milk after gut surgery, a professional baker, and other frequent water-bath canners like me who wanted to cross-train in the art & science of food preservation.

Mak Kimchi, Dill Pickles, and Basic Sauerkraut

We made three of the most popular veggie ferments and then sampled some of the many ferments that Flynn brought to class. All-in-all, a great time! If you are interested in Fermentation 101 or other Baltimore Chef Shop classes (they have an upcoming Bûche de Nöel class that looks amazing!) check out their schedule here.

And, for anyone heading to the Big Apple… Here’s my quick take on five NYC parks!

Last weekend was Family Weekend at my daughter’s school. Because she’s a nature-loving urbanite, she took us on a whirlwind tour of her favorite outdoor places.

Madison Square Park

This is a cute little park northeast of the Flatiron Building. It was the original site of Madison Square Gardens and the very first Westminster Dog Show, which makes its current dog park historically apropos.

The High Line

A rail trail, but not one you can ride on. This wonderful park is in Chelsea on a mile and a half of abandoned track that was repurposed as urban greenspace. I’ve walked along the High Line twice now and each time I’ve been thrilled to see little pollinators buzzing happily in the gardens.

Washington Square Park

The park’s most notable feature is its ginormous arch, which was built to commemorate the centennial of George Washington’s inauguration. It’s also the same arch that was featured on the cover of, and in the story of, The Golem and the Jinni. I was told, that if you’re an NYU student, you shouldn’t pass through the arch until you graduate… or you won’t. So, of course, my whole family passed through posthaste. If there’s some sort of dire warning about what happens to non-NYU students who pass through, don’t tell me!

Washington Square Arch and Helene Wecker’s 2013 novel.

Hudson River Park

A 4 1/2 mile waterfront promenade with various piers that have been redeveloped for recreational use. (It’s part of the larger Manhattan Waterfront Greenway, a 32 mile walking/cycling path.) You can pretty much find whatever sports & leisure activity you might be into here: tennis, volleyball, skateboarding, rock climbing, outdoor yoga, sunbathing, etc. We just strolled and enjoyed the view. 🙂

Central Park

The most famous park in NYC… and maybe the world?? It seems both crazily small and enormously large at the same time. When I look at maps of NYC, I can’t wrap my head around all that concrete. And there, in the middle of it all, is this speck of green. Yellowstone National Park is over 2,200,000 acres while Central Park is a mere 843. It doesn’t seem like it would be enough green space for everyone. And yet…

I’ve been to Central Park at least a handful of times and I’ve still not seen it all. Partly, that’s because I’m always walking (not biking) and I’m usually rushing to fit in other stuff (like the four other parks we visited). But it’s also because Central Park is legit BIG.

This time, we took the subway up and entered the park near the Museum of Natural History. We wandered around the Great Lawn for a bit, learned about Seneca Village, and then made our way over to the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir. Next time, we’re renting bikes!!