home-harvested honey, homemade jam, and cottage bouquets
We’ll be at the Hereford Farm Market tomorrow from 9:00 a.m. to noon. Two new jam batches this week: Blueberry & honey-sweetened strawberry. Either (or both) would make the perfect gift to bring to a neighbor’s backyard BBQ! Have a safe and happy holiday weekend, everyone! 🙂
Have you ever noticed how much more sweet-smelling and flavorful local, hand-picked strawberries are? I often buy organic strawberries from the supermarkets and they are big and beautiful but, by far, my favorite strawberries are the ones I buy from local farmers. They are often smaller, but are so much richer in terms of taste and color.
For this week’s batch of jams, I bought a flat of strawberries from Foggy Bottom Farm in White Hall, Maryland. They were hand-picked by Krista that day and I made this week’s batches within 48 hours of buying them. My kitchen smelled awesome the entire time, reminding me constantly of why everyone calls strawberries “nature’s candy.”
Honey-sweetened strawberry jam: No sugar, just organic honey + the fresh Foggy Bottom Farm berries, a few sprigs of thyme leaves and a splash of lemon juice. I’m offering these in little 4 oz jars. They are as precious as caviar – but not nearly as expensive! This was a very small batch, so I’ll likely sell out fast. Don’t wait to stop by our table if you want to buy!
Strawberry Cocoa Jam: same delicious strawberries, combined with cocoa, coconut sugar, and a whiff of vanilla. This jam would be perfect on waffles, croissants, or brioche (Wegman’s has it in the bread aisle). And amazing on s’mores!!
Strawberry lemonade mixer: only three ingredients – gorgeous, ripe, hand-picked local strawberries + organic lemon juice and sugar. That’s it! Use this to make the best strawberry lemonade you’ve ever had, as a mixer for a summer cocktail, or as an addition to your morning smoothie. To reconstitute this juice concentrate, mix one part water, tonic water, or ginger ale. Adjust to taste. Vodka optional. 🙂
Craig and I are trying to grow our own strawberry patch. I ordered a bunch of live strawberry roots, which arrived in the mail a few months ago. They were adorable – little Baby Groots. I planted them in pots and stuck them under our grow lights in the basement. They thrived and were ready for planting sooner than we had anticipated. There was some mad scrambling on our end to get the raised beds ready, but we’re excited about this project and very hopeful we’ll have our own strawberries next summer.
We’ll be at the Hereford Farm Market, 17004 York Road, in Parkton, Maryland, from 9:00 a.m. until noon this Saturday. Look for us at the “Hats & Honey” table beside The Contented Rooster. (The farm market down at the Maryland Ag Center is not happening tomorrow. We’ll keep everyone posted about next week!)
Last year, I made a trio of small batch jams that I named after the horses. It was so much fun, I had to repeat for this year — especially since Preakness is actually tomorrow, on market day!!
Tomorrow’s jams are inspired by past Preakness winners and our underdog pick for this year. We’ll have Big Brown’s Caramel Apple Coffee Jam, I’ll Have Another Mimosa Jam, and Happy Jack’s Hoppy Jam (a.k.a. berry ale jam). Stop by and tell us your pick for this year’s race!
We’ll be at the Hereford Farm Market, 17004 York Road, in Parkton, Maryland, from 9:00 a.m. until noon tomorrow. Look for us at the “Hats & Honey” table beside The Contented Rooster.
Spring rains bring summer flowers, right? They better!! Because the weather has not been very cooperative lately! Despite possible rain, we’ll be at two places this weekend – Hereford Farm Market on Saturday for Opening Day and Oak Spring Farm on Sunday for its Spring Festival. PLEASE COME SEE US AS WE KICK OFF OUR 2022 SEASON!! 😊
Breakfast Berry Jam: this is a returning favorite, one of our most popular products. This batch was made with strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries. It’s homemade jam at its best – only fruit, sugar, and pectin. Use this jam for anything and everything you would use jam for!!
Sunshine Citrus Preserves: these 8 oz jars are chock full of little clementine wedges and a sweet & spicy syrup. Each 8 oz jar contains double the amount of citrus wedges you get in the commercial snack-sized plastic cups – but ours are homemade, lightly flavored with honey, ginger, and cinnamon, and their packaging is reusable! Use these for snacking, drizzling over ice cream, adding to yogurt, or as a smoothie ingredient.
Honey Rhubarb Ginger Compote: I was so happy I was able to find fresh rhubarb this spring to make this small, seasonal batch. If you haven’t yet tried a rhubarb preserve, now’s your chance! This batch is a compote, which means a “dessert of fruit cooked in syrup.” I use the term here so that everyone knows this spread doesn’t have the consistency of jam. It has a looser set that is like applesauce. Combined with honey, rhubarb has a delicious, sweet tart taste. Pair this compote with custard or clotted cream & scones or serve solo in a cocktail glass. Bursting with flavor and originality!
Everything Bagel Spice Mix: another returning favorite. Each 8 oz jar contains a little over one cup of this handcrafted spice mix. It can be used on practically everything – sprinkle over cream cheese, mix into mashed potatoes or sour cream, shake onto your chicken, eggs, salad, French fries, popcorn, mac and cheese, guacamole, or Bloody Mary’s…
Brand-new, beautiful, one-of-a-kind stained-glass bee and honeycomb suncatchers: I have a whole new selection, each one is handmade by Mary Nolan, my niece and nephew’s grandmother, who is a glazier. She makes these specially for Windtree Bee. No two are alike. You can buy one with bees and honeycomb or one of St. Gobnait, the Patron Saint of Bees and Beekeepers. They make perfect gifts for anyone who loves bees, nature, and/or beautiful, whimsical pieces of art!
We’ll have two tables! Craig will be over by the beehives doing beekeeping demos. He is bringing equipment and an observation hive. His friend and mentor, Chuck Elrich, might also be there. If anyone is interested in bees or beekeeping, this is an excellent opportunity to ask questions and see the little ladies close up! I’ll have another table with the food vendors. We’ll be offering everything listed above, plus our Windtree Bee chai tea blend. I’ll post brewing instructions in the comments soon!
If you like keeping in touch via insta, follow us there! Our daughters, Ellie and Haley, are helping us with posts, etc. this summer. We hope to share more pics and behind-the-scenes videos. Stay tuned and connect with @windtree.bee on Instagram for additional content and future updates!
Saturday, we’ll be at the Hereford Farm Market, 17004 York Road, in Parkton, Maryland, from 9:00 a.m. until noon tomorrow. Look for us at the “Hats & Honey” table beside The Contented Rooster. Sunday, we’ll be at Oak Spring Farm, 20633 Mt Zion Rd, Freeland, Maryland, from noon until 4:00 p.m. Look for Craig by the beehives and Jill with the food vendors. See you there!
Craig’s been hard at work getting the bees ready for winter. The three biggest things that need to be done before winter are treating for varroa, making sure the bees have enough honey to last until spring, and making sure the hive is prepared for lower temps, freezing rain, and snow. Moisture in a hive during the winter will kill them.
Back in 2019, I posted about our process for winterizing the hives. The biggest difference between then and now is that we’ve upped the varroa treatment and this year, for the first time, Craig decided to insulate the hives. After losing all our hives in 2020, we’ve been wondering what else we can do to help our bees overwinter. After much hand-wringing, soul-searching, bellyaching, and griping to anyone who would listen about the plight of bees over the winter, we stumbled on the Honey Bee Obscura Podcast with Kim and Jim. They convinced us to insulate. We’ll keep everyone posted, but prayers for our bees might also help!!
It was amazing! Our whole family got up at 3:45 a.m. to watch. I wasn’t sure if it would be worth it, but it was. Even though it wasn’t a full lunar eclipse, the long period of time the moon was nearly fully eclipsed gave us time to look through our little telescope and take pictures. My younger daughter took these with her iPhone. Neat, huh? If you missed it, the next lunar eclipse will be in the spring.
Tomorrow is the LAST DAY OF THE SEASON for selling at the Hereford Farm Market. Wow!! It has been a terrific season!!! When I started selling jam back in May, my only goal was to simply sit at the “Hats & Honey” table so that I could chat with people in my community again. I had no idea if I would be able to sell enough jam to justify being at the market every week as a vendor. I figured, if my jam didn’t sell, I’d just be a guest vendor when our honey was finally harvested. But that didn’t happen. The jam sold, I went nearly every week, and it’s all because of YOU!!!
If you’re one of the people who bought jam, honey, or other items from us this season — THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART!!!!! It was truly a pleasure coming to the market every week. It was fun finding new recipes and making new batches, but even better was being able to talk about bees, honey, jam, farm markets, Hereford, kids, dogs — you name it! — with anyone and everyone who stopped by our table.
Mandi, owner of Rosie Posie Design Co., is my table partner and the other half of “Hats & Honey.” She was a HUGE part of the success of this season. She and her husband, Rob, are super laid back, fun, and easy going. Selling was never stressful with them. Although Windtree Bee’s season is winding down, Rosie Posie’s is in high gear. Her hats and knit accessories are the perfect handmade gift for friends and family this winter. If you haven’t already, check out her website. She has all sorts of winter goodies still available: hats, beanies, cowls, mittens, and the most adorable miniature hats that double as ornaments or wine toppers. She offers knitting kits and her own designs for knitters too.
Because it’s the last day, I went a little overboard this week and made double what I usually make. I really wanted to make some things with fresh cranberries, which can be hard to find sometimes, and also pie filling, which is more time consuming than basic jam or jelly, but worth it. Here’s what I’ll have:
Honey Maple Cranberry Sauce: Made with fresh cranberries, organic apple cider, honey and maple syrup, this isn’t your typical store-bought canned cranberry sauce.
Spiced Cranberries: Made with organic cranberries, orange juice, sugar, and a trio of autumn spices, this is another great choice if you want something different than tin can cranberry sauce.
Caramel Apple Coffee Jam: I made this at the very beginning of the season and reprised it because it’s so darn good. The perfect jam for coffee lovers!
Spiced Apple Pie Filling: This is available in one pint jars. Most traditional pie tins take two pints to fill. One jar is perfect for a personal pie pan or for filling apple tarts. This stuff makes pies easy! Just buy premade pie crust, roll it out, and add this. Or make your own crust, pour this in, and still have a 100% homemade pie.
CranApple Jelly: Made with Pomona’s Pectin, so there is a much lower sugar content than traditional jellies have. Plus, no high fructose corn sweetener. This jelly has only three ingredients — fruit juice, sugar, and pectin. Super simple but not super sweet.
“Black & Blue” Jelly: Black currant, blueberry, and apple jelly. Also made with Pomona’s Pectin, so a lower sugar alternative to store-bought jellies.
If you want to buy jam, jelly, marmalade, preserves, or conserves this winter (or dog treats! 🙂 ) click HERE for my new special orders page.
After this weekend, I won’t be blogging as frequently as I did during the market season, but I will post from time to time. I have several winter projects I’ll be working on and I’m looking forward to sharing them.
We’ll be at the Hereford Farm Market, 17004 York Road, in Parkton, Maryland, from 9:00 a.m. until noon tomorrow. Look for us at the “Hats & Honey” table beside The Contented Rooster.
Hereford Farm Market will only be open for two more Saturdays — tomorrow and the Saturday before Thanksgiving. Tomorrow, I’m bringing apple cranberry jam made with organic fresh cranberries. Perfect for gift giving! Mandi will have beanies, scarves, mittens, cowls, ornaments & wine toppers. Hope to see you there!
We’ll be at the Hereford Farm Market, 17004 York Road, in Parkton, Maryland, from 9:00 a.m. until noon tomorrow. Look for us at the “Hats & Honey” table beside The Contented Rooster.
We’ve been busy! After our Beekeeping Q&A at the Hereford Farm Market earlier this month, we did a Pop Up Shop at Oak Spring Farm and a whole weekend at the Hereford Fall Fest. It was awesome, despite having to close early Saturday due to rain and nearly losing our tent Sunday because of wind.
Tomorrow, we’ll be back at the Hereford Farm Market with some fun Halloween-themed offerings. I put together some trio packs of kiwi preserves, strawberry balsamic jam, and a “dessert rub” — all packaged in a cute Halloween pack that is perfect for gift giving. (Why should the kids get all the treats on Halloween??)
We’ll also have Pumpkin Pie Spiced Applesauce, a homemade Chai Tea blend, Mulling Spices, and the VERY LAST TWO JARS FROM THE 2021 HONEY HARVEST + autumn scented, handcrafted, hot processed soaps!!
Mandi (my table partner/Rosie Posie Design Co) will have knit pumpkins, pumpkin beanies, autumn cowls, Maryland beanies, and other knit accessories. Stop by our table! We’d love to see you!! 🙂
We’ll be at the Hereford Farm Market, 17004 York Road, in Parkton, Maryland, from 9:00 a.m. until noon tomorrow. Look for us at the “Hats & Honey” table beside The Contented Rooster.
I’ve posted a lot about my two favorite parts of beekeeping (planting pollinator-friendly flowers & harvesting honey), so I figured it was time to share some other aspects of it – swarm catching and wax rendering.
Craig built his first swarm catcher in the spring of 2020. (Click here for pics of it and a little bit about why beekeepers love catching honey bee swarms.) Since he built it, we’ve hung it in at least three different places and have captured absolutely nothing with it. Despite its uselessness, Craig was still able to capture two swarms this summer using other methods, which is fantastic!! The swarm hives are both still alive and thriving – one on our property, the other on a nearby farm.
Earlier this week, Craig and I decided to try to make beeswax candles. It was our first time trying it, so we started nice and early – around 9:00 p.m. 😉 I’d heard that making beeswax candles could be challenging (think maple syrup-type labor — where you basically spend hours and hours and hours to get one small 16oz jar), but I was motivated because I wanted to sell adorable, sweet-smelling beeswax candles during our beekeeping Q&A this weekend. (Spoiler alert: I do not have any beeswax candles to sell this weekend.)
We started with a huge bucket of unrendered wax. It was so heavy, I thought we’d get soooooo many candles out of it. Like 100 or more. We took a quarter of the unrendered wax and put it in a double boiler. (I’d bought two inexpensive pots for just this purpose.) Fast forward forty-five minutes or so and we’d basically created a mangled sausage omelette.
It was getting later and I was getting frustrated. I was tempted to throw everything — the crappy, waxy pots; the sticky, gooey half-rendered wax; and the idea of making candles — in the trash. But then I remembered how hard those little bees worked to make it and I couldn’t. So we rendered it again using a different method. Around midnight, we called it quits and left the wax out to cool. In the morning, we were rewarded with a near-perfect disc of wax. For one night’s effort we probably rendered enough wax to make one 4oz candle. Hahaha!
Still, with a good night’s sleep, I was able to look at the project more objectively. Most things are difficult in the beginning. Next time, I’ll start earlier and have realistic expectations. It will be messy. There will not be a lot of yield. But it will be worth it!!! (I think.)
I’m bringing honey-sweetened jam and preserves – honey lemon apple jam and honey cinnamon pears. I intentionally did not add pectin to the jam, to keep the ingredients all natural. The pears can be added to oatmeal, yogurt, cottage cheese, or just eaten on their own. We still have honey (it will probably sell out by mid-October), as well as some favorites from past market days.
Craig’s bringing some of his beekeeping equipment and would love to answer any questions you have about beginner backyard beekeeping! 🙂
We’ll be at the Hereford Farm Market, 17004 York Road, in Parkton, Maryland, from 9:00 a.m. until noon this Saturday. Look for us at the “Hats & Honey” table beside The Contented Rooster.
I’ve been telling everyone all season I would do a day where I would offer customer favorites — make the jams that everyone’s been requesting. By far, the most requested jams have been berry jams. That doesn’t mean everyone hasn’t loved the variety of other jam, jelly, and preserve offerings (thank you very much for all the compliments and for continuing to shop at our table!!) but folks clearly and understandably love good old fashioned berry jams. So, for tomorrow, I’m offering one of my most popular choices — Breakfast Berry, which is a mixed berry jam. I put all four favs in there: strawberry, blueberry, blackberry, and raspberry.
I also made a few jars of simple-but-delicious Morning Blueberry and a new berry flavor, Strawberry Kiwi. I think you’ll love it! 🙂
Another popular item we offered earlier this summer was “Everything Bagel” Spice Mix. It’s reasonably priced, can be used in many different ways (see below), and its only preservative is natural salt.
We still have one pound jars of our award-winning honey. I’ll likely sell out before the season ends, so don’t wait if you want to stock up for winter.
Because I often offer jams, jellies, or other items that require instructions, recipes, or suggestions on how to use them, I started printing out little “Jam & Tea Notes” to give to customers. Sometimes — especially if we’re chatting while I’m putting everything in your bag — I forget to include them. So, here’s this week’s in case you need it.
Windtree Bee’s Jam, Tea & Spice Notes 9.25.21 Cider Jelly: Can be used as traditional jelly on toast, etc. or pour water over a spoonful for instant hot spiced cider. Smoky Applesauce: Use with pork, chicken, or pierogi. Watermelon Jelly Vodka Cocktails: Put 2-3 tablespoons of jelly in a rocks glass. Heat in the microwave for 10-15 seconds. Watch it and remove it as soon as it turns to liquid. (Don’t overheat.) Fill the glass halfway with sparkling water. Add a shot of vodka (citrus flavors work well). Stir, add ice & enjoy!! Orange Spice Tea Blend: Use 1 ½ tablespoons of tea blend per 8 ounces of boiling water. Use a tea bag or ball. Steep for 7-8 min. Add lemon and/or honey. Chai Tea Blend: Use 1 ½ tablespoons of tea blend per 8 ounces of boiling water. Use a tea bag or ball. Steep for 7-8 min. Add milk and honey. Mulling Spices: Each jar contains four steep sacks. Each sack will spice one bottle of wine or ½ gallon of apple cider. To make mulled wine, warm a bottle of red wine over low heat along with the steep sack and 1/3 cup honey for about 20 min. For mulled apple cider, warm the apple cider along with the steep sack for 20-30 min. Discard steep sacks when finished. Everything Bagel Spice Mix: Use with or in – Homemade hash browns, Your CSA eggs, Avocado toast seasoning, Baked potatoes!!!, Grilled meat rub, Roasted veggies, Salad topper, Butter add-in, Bloody Mary rim rub, French fries & tater tots, Popcorn, Add to olive oil for quick bread dip.
Interested in beekeeping? Come to the market next Saturday for an informal Q&A. In the past, Craig’s done a whole Beekeeping 101 presentation at local libraries with Power Point slides, observation hives, etc. This time, we want to keep it simple. He’s going to bring his equipment and will answer questions about backyard beekeeping. If your goal is to get a hive in Spring 2022, he’ll make sure you know what to do and how to prepare!
Beekeeping not your thing? Come if you’re interested in bees or want to know more about where the honey you’ve been enjoying comes from.
I’ll also be offering new jams & preserves naturally sweetened with honey. Please help us spread the word to anyone you know who might be interested!
We’ll be at the Hereford Farm Market, 17004 York Road, in Parkton, Maryland, from 9:00 a.m. until noon tomorrow. Look for us at the “Hats & Honey” table beside The Contented Rooster.
“The pollen-dusted bees
search for the honey-lees
that linger in the last flowers of September” ~George Arnold
Mid-September means the growing season is ending. We’re still pulling flowers and peppers out, but that’s about it. I have mixed feelings about my flowers this year. On the one hand, my zinnias weren’t as strong as they usually are. I didn’t sell any at the market, which has been a goal of mine for years now. I wasn’t even able to give as many away this year as I have in years past.
On the other hand, I was completely smitten with my dahlias this year. I’d never tried to grow them until this summer and, even though they are more difficult than zinnias, and don’t seem to last nearly as long in the vase, I was thrilled to be able to include them in this summer’s bouquets.
I’m also just very thankful and so grateful that I was able to grow, cut, arrange, and enjoy the many flowers I was able to pull from the garden this year. This winter, I’ll be mulling over what worked and what didn’t, what to do again and what to give up on but, for now, I’m posting a few more of my favorites as a way to say goodbye to the beautiful bounty of summer 2021.
My younger daughter loves to buy clothes at consignment shops and second-hand stores. She loves the idea that each piece gets a new life. She sews and often upcycles them into something different. I think she also finds the range of clothing (from every decade and style) more interesting than anything that’s offered in the “fast fashion” mall stores. In any case, when I go with her, I shop for flower vases.
One of my favorite finds this summer was the silver-plated vintage vase pictured above. I found it in a shop on South Street in Philadelphia. It’s not worth much — a couple of dollars at most — but I think it’s beautiful.
To celebrate the upcoming fall equinox, I made a bunch of autumn-inspired treats.
MULLING SPICES: wrapped in unbleached “steep sacks” and tied with butcher’s twine, each jar holds four bags, which will each spice one bottle of wine or eight cups of apple cider.
FALL TEA BLENDS: Chai and orange spice. Best when sweetened with honey! 😉
CIDER JELLY: Spread on raisin bread toast or stir a spoonful into a mug of hot water for instant hot spiced cider.
SMOKY APPLESAUCE: This is a savory, spicy applesauce. The woman who made the recipe pairs it with pork or chicken, but I had mine with pierogies and red cabbage. Delish! 🙂
SPICED PEAR JAM: a great jam with the usual morning breads or on a cracker with brie.
We’ll be at the Hereford Farm Market, 17004 York Road, in Parkton, Maryland, from 9:00 a.m. until noon tomorrow. Look for us at the “Hats & Honey” table beside The Contented Rooster.
Windtree Bee 