In early September, I made my way to the coast of Maine to connect with the hard working harvesters of the land and sea and to gather together some of the healing ingredients that go into our plant medicine. The most important part of my journey was meeting the spirited people who provide us with the means to create our plant medicine. Larch Hanson of the Maine Seaweed Co. provides us with his nutritious kelp seaweed for our Rejuvenation Tonic and goldenrod facial masque. I also met with Theresa and Tom Gaffney who harvest beautiful antioxidant blueberries for our Rejuvenation Tonic.

I drove up in the baby blue bee truck, equipped to carry back 2,000 pounds of organic blueberries and 75 pounds of seaweed. As I drove along Route 2, I was filled with anticipation. But after settling in to the rhythm of big wheels on a long and twisting road, I slowed my thoughts and enjoyed the winding journey. The pace gave me a chance to fully enjoy the landscape and catch the first few whiffs of the dewy, salty air as I approached the Atlantic Ocean.

The first stop I made was at the home of Larch Hanson. He has been harvesting seaweed for thirty years and currently harvests seaweed from a chain of islands off the coast of Steuben, Maine. In addition to harvesting, Larch builds his own boats, Windsor chairs, greenhouses, dome shelters, and a beautiful house complete with a spiraling light house staircase. Larch and his son David welcomed me with their charming humor, delightful food, patient teachings about seaweed harvesting, and a few Maine lobsterman jokes.

On a gray blue morning, we went fishing at the edge the five islands where the seaweed is harvested. We took out the wooden boats that Larch crafted himself. The two larger wooden boats linked together were followed by the loyal dinghies, looking like a family of ducks bobbing in the bay. All of us fully dressed in our wet suits and heavy winter jackets, we waved to the lobster men as they slowed their boats at each personalized net buoy. Approaching the islands, David recited their names by heart, as a hiker would look to the mountain range and pick out his favorite peaks. The water surrounding the islands is very pristine. There aren’t any factories, harbors, or cities in the bay. When seaweed harvesting begins there is no boat traffic.

Larch took me out in one of the small dinghies to get a closer look at the jungle of seaweed on the seafloor. We paused to peer down into the clear water to see an example of kelp or the nori clinging to the rocks. I was intrigued when I learned that many coastal people from around the world include seaweed as a part of their daily diet, yet our current culture typically does not. Seaweed is an excellent source of vitamins, minerals, and trace elements. As with many traditional foods and medicines, the wisdom and the healing of these plants still remain an untapped source of healing for many people.

The following article is written by Larch Hanson. It is a comprehensive article that highlights some of the nutritional benefits of including seaweed into our daily diets.

Through seaweeds, the earth’s sea-blood strengthens our own sea-blood that we carry within us. Seaweeds are an excellent source of trace minerals in our diet. As our air and water become more acidified through pollution, minerals are leached and depleted from our land, fields, and they wash down to the sea, where the wild seaweeds incorporate them. When we eat seaweeds we take these minerals back into our bodies, and these minerals help us maintain an alkaline condition in our bloodstream, which is a healthy condition, resistant to fatigue and stress.

Seaweeds have admirable qualities: they are flexible, they are tenacious, they are prolific, and they are the oldest family of plants on earth. These plants link us to the primitive vitality of the sea. They strengthen our own primitive glandular system and nervous system. Don’t fear salt. Salt is necessary to life. If you are willing to sweat, you can move salt through you, and in the process, you will be actively creating your life and your dream from the universe-intellect structures of the complex salts and trace elements of the Universe. Quality counts more than quantity. If you eat the more complex salts of the sea, you will have less craving for simple junk food salt, and you will find yourself becoming more whole, satisfied and healthy.

Honey Gardens uses the seaweed that Larch collects in our Rejuvenation Tonic and facial masque. At the honey house, we enjoy munching on his nutritious dulse seaweed. For information on how to include this healthy food in your diet, click here for dulse recipes.

After a delightful stay with Larch and his son, I made my way south to Stockton Springs, Maine to meet with Theresa and Tom Gaffney and family at their organic farm, Highland Blueberries. A warm glow of hospitality followed my late arrival. Theresa welcomed me into her house and over a cup of tea, we talked about the interdependency of healing each other and our communities. As the darkness settled in, I was in a state of wonder at the vast 22 acres of organic blueberries that thrived on the land behind their house and the hard work the family puts into the harvest season each year. I was truly humbled by their vision, spirit, and integrity. Healing and antioxidant qualities are encapsulated in the joyful blueberries from their farm.

Theresa showed me pictures of her hard working crew of neighborhood children with smiling faces. Every summer for blueberry harvest, they give the opportunity to these children to have the responsibility and rewards of a job.

Before I left at 5 am in the morning, Tom and Theresa helped me to pack the mother lode of 2,000 pounds of blueberries onto the back of the blue truck. It was a challenge in the early frosty morning air to piece together all of the boxes of blueberries in an orderly fashion, but we were able to wrap and insulate the entire package just before the sun started to rise above the horizon. Returning to Vermont with a load of Maine organic blueberries and wild crafted seaweed, I felt grateful for all the hard work of both the harvesters.

The passion and integrity of these healers is significant, obvious by the way they choose to lead their lives. They live in a simple grace that isn’t imposing or preachy. Not much needed to be said, it was all there, the sparkle in their eyes as they took me out into the fields and out to their islands. A celebration of spirit and healing is what I found in the people that provide us with these vibrant plants. The opportunity to meet and interact with the people who put all the love and integrity into the healing plants was an inspiring gift…….

Vermont cat in winter

The dance of the seasons continues, and snow is on the ground in northern Vermont. At the end of this growing season, I think about what great grandfather Thomas told us as he reflected on his life as a farmer, “The best fertilizer is always the imprint of the owner’s feet.” There are so many feet that have made our work possible this season; thank you so much.

We have moved through the months of harvesting, and our Apitherapy honey is in jars throughout the honey house, all naturally crystallized and reflecting the different flowers in each one. Buckets of organic elderberry and organic blueberries are in the freezer and leave every month to make our line of plant medicine. Dried purple loosestrife sit in glass jars in dark, protected places, resting in their purple majesty of pure plant medicine. Bags of pumpkin seeds wait for the final cleaning before being ground into oil.

The honey harvest was medium plus; much came in the eleventh hour, testing our patience and trust. We are grateful that our sustainability and continuity is not pegged to the amount of the honey crop any more because of our diversification further into plant medicine. What springs from the earth is what we are given, and for this we are grateful. It is exciting to have our Apitherapy honey elderberry extract available in this cold season and at time where one’s immunity can be supported when the flu comes. It is ironic that with all of the talk about the shortage of the flu vaccine, there is a traditional elderberrythat works so well. Elderberry has the anti-viral agent not found in chemical cold & flu medicines. The new 8 oz. value bottles have been discovered and are moving into the market, thanks to you all.

The tough news is that the honey bees are continuing to decline world wide, as they are affected by the parasitic mites, the poor quality of air and our land, and a lost of flowers due to development of buildings and structures. Our friend who took off a season from our honey house to work with bees in Montana reports that populations of bees reports widespread decrease of bees all over the West and a shortage of colonies for bees to pollinate the almonds. The populations of our own bees are crashing in many places, and many will have to go to South Carolina for a more gentle winter and re-build their families in the early Spring there to return to their home in the Champlain Valley of Vermont and St. Lawrence River Valley of northern New York State where the crops are.

Because almost 40% of what we eat dependent on insects (primarily honey bees) for pollination, this is of concern. Most of the wild bees have already died.

research

Raw honey has been shown to inhibit the growth of pathogens in food and food spoilage organisms. Scientists at Cornell University, Geneva, New York report “Honey has been used as a topical and gastrointestinal remedy for thousands of years, and has recently gained recognition from the medical field. The growth of many microorganisms associated with disease or infection is inhibited by honey.” more, full abstract from International Journal of Food Microbiology.

It is exciting that raw honey is now getting this kind of through review from the scientific community; we are so thankful to two of the authors of this article for help in the development of our blueberry Rejuvenation Tonic and for monitoring our product for shelf life stability.

candlelight

As we move towards winter and the solstice, we offer our pure lemon yellow beeswax candles and beeswax for your own candle making. The beeswax from the bees and flowers burns pure and actually changes the charges on ions in the air, similar to what happens when you stand next to a waterfall or take a shower. People report this cleaner air helps with their allergies and sinus conditions. Burning a paraffin candles in your home is like burning a old tire in your living room;it is not safe.

education/T-shirts

To share more about elderberries, blueberries, purple loosestrife, and raw honey, we made some cotton T-shirts.

This picture of Abigail and Margaret was taken at the honey house in late August, with Camel’s Hump, 4th highest peak in Vermont, in the background. more

pumpkin seeds for oil

We planted several acres of Stryian pumpkins this summer, seeking to learn more about the historical uses of plants as medicine for people. This plant ally is traditionally grown in the Styria region of Austria and produces oil called “the green gold of Styria”; it is a rich, dark green color due to the high levels of chlorophyll, anti-oxidative substances and unsaturated fatty acids. The oil also contains many important minerals including magnesium, silica, and calcium as well as essential vitamins.This medicinal plant supports cardiovascular health, aid in urinary well being and has been known to helps support urinary well being, cardiovascular and prostate health. by Abigail Burns

www.hgfarmersmarket.com

a new sister website offering organic Maine dulse from Larch and fresh pollen from Paul’s honey bees in the highlands of Colorado

In time, we saw that the exclusive production of honey was not sustainable. As special as truly raw honey is, beekeeping is extremely labor intensive, and along with the fluctuations of crops each year, the pressure that the bees are feeling from the parasitic mites worldwide and deterioration of the environment and flowers, and loss of nectar and pollen plants to development, we had to diversify to continue in agriculture. A string of partnerships with people began as we grew our line of plant medicine, mixing organic and wild crafted plants with raw honey, bee gathered propolis & flower pollen, and beeswax. We now support other family farms that grow and gather some of the natural raw materials that we use, such as organic elderberry, blueberry, calendula, seaweed, and propolis.

Our support of organic farmers and the web of these growing relationships has revealed that many of these farmers would benefit from an introduction to the market and community that supports Honey Gardens. Certainly our relationships have grown because of the internet connections which allow us to move towards sustainability in our work.

As Honey Gardens started and continues to remain a family business, the sharing of our friends’ work will start small and embody the same standards of being simple, genuine and true. We have come to love Theresa and her family that grow our organic blueberries and share their excitement as their crop moves from beyond the fresh and frozen arena into a medicinal use. It is an honor to support Larch’s work off the Atlantic coast of Maine as he gathers the seaweed that we use in our Rejuvenation Tonic and facial masque and now offer to you for your meals and healthy snacks. Over 20 years ago, I traveled to the highlands above the Colorado River with Paul and we worked with his bees in sacred meadows, harvesting the fresh pollen that we now use in our line and want to share with others through this farmers market.

For all of the feet in the field to the market, we thank you for your interest in and support of these people, plants and the work of the bees.

the honey house to Washington County, Maine May 1999

We brought our bees to the blueberry barrens of Cherryfield, Maine. When the bees pollinate the blueberry flowers, the fruit crop is increased around 300% compared to relying on just the wild bees and other insects for pollination.

When this land is cleared, the blueberry crop comes up the next year. The wild, low growing blueberries do not need to be planted here; they have always been in the soil. The brown bears must celebrate the arrival of the bees. Electric fences around each group of beehives and constant patrols throughout the night minimize the number of hives they tear apart looking for the next meal. The blueberries will grow throughout the summer and be harvested in August.

Research has shown that the antioxidants in blueberries may slow the aging process, reverse memory loss, and improve vision.

the honey house to Waldo County, Maine February 2004

The fertile, rich fields of Maine have supported these blueberry plants for thousands of years. Every year a dense carpet of low bush blueberries inhabit and flourish on the land. Planted or propagated by the natives long ago or perhaps Nature’s own garden, they inspire awe at their abundance.

The family who work hard and harvest the fields hold much thankfulness in their hearts. The connection has inspired a deeper commitment in them to steward the land and to give back to the plants. The land had been chemically fertilized before they moved in and they decided on less intrusive methods. Simple. Their methods of harvest have not changed since the plants were the food of their ancestors. A little hand rake with a basket. No tractors. No plows. No Chemicals. The blueberry plants fertilize themselves from their own berries, leaves, returning to the soil from the guano of visiting birds.

Every year during the flurry of harvest they hire young folk from the community to do the hand work. This could be the most important aspect of the farm. Community participation – exposing the kids (12 years & older) to the purity and connection to the Earth. Being close to the plants, the smells, the tactile sensations, the peace that comes with it.

The little storehouses are not only a rich food source but have many medicinal qualities under study today. They exhibit antioxidant activity, cardiovascular protection, anti-diabetic, vision improvement (night vision), inhibition of cancer forming conditions, ant-microbial & wound healing (using leaves & fruit), relieving diarrhea (leaves), urinary tract infection, gastric protection, brain protection. (Bilberries & blueberries as functional food & Nutraceuticals M.E. Camire, University of Maine.)

With some of the 2003 crop, on a snowy day February 2004

Abigail and I came to Theresa’s organic blueberry farm in Stockton Springs, Maine to get 700 lbs. of frozen berries from her freezer on the farm and bring them back to Vermont on a cold day in deep winter. This begins a bountiful partnership connecting and synergizing these two natural wonders, blueberries and honey, the plants and the bees. All spring from the soil and inn reverence and awe for these gifts we give thanks.

Rejuvenation Tonic

After months of working together with a team from the honey house, Cornell University, Geneva, NY, the University of Vermont, the Vermont Food Venture Center, and the University of Maine, we have made Rejuvenation Tonic. With organic wild blueberries from Theresa and Tom Gaffney’s organic blueberry farm in Stockton Springs, Maine, this tonic will nutrify and support our bodies well being via the vitamin and mineral content and enzymes of its ingredients. Rejuvenation Tonic will help the body adapt to stress and promote an overall sense of well-being.

This formulation also includes our bees’ Apitherapy raw honey and tonifying herb Eleuthrococcus; this used to be called Siberian ginseng and is considered an adaptogen, helping the body adapt to stressful situations.

This tonic also contains burdock root, which stimulates the natural flow of lymphatic fluid, thus supporting the excretion of toxic products from the body. The nettles, rich in iron, Vitamin C, Calcium Magnesium Zinc support the blood and immune system and urinary tract. The milk thistle seed supports liver protection and exhibits antioxidant activity. The fresh bee pollen is rich in B vitamins, bioflavanoids, and protein. It is energizing. The kelp is high in natural iodine, trace minerals which support thyroid function and lends a touch of ocean energy.

This tonic will nutrify, aid in protecting the body from stress via the antioxidant activity of blueberries, support digestion (raw honey), and strengthen the blood (nettles), supply trace minerals, vitamins and energy.

We have sold all of our 2003 Apitherapy raw honey, and will begin shipping again with the new crop of mid-July. After a few pallets of 5 lb. and 2 lb. cases are filled, we will only be filling one lb. jars. We are directing our bees’ special honey to our line of plant medicine and the 1 lb. jars, both of which are most supportive our sustainability in agriculture.

Thank you for your interest in and support of our honey bees and plants.