Spent the morning off yesterday out in the fields picking honeysuckles and wild roses then cleaning them and making jelly.
It was awe inspiring to stand in the huge old bushes listening to the symphony of birds watching as honeysuckles fell in my hair or flittered to the ground while an overall small percentage made it into my grasp and bag. Abundance. More than I could ever hold. Plenty for mistakes and drops and spills and waste and bees and me.
I tried making half with sugar and half with honey. The sugar batch turned out great: golden with floral aromas and citrus, ginger notes.
The honey batch did not gel. So I think I will make it into apricot, honeysuckle margaritas and have a 5 de mayo party this weekend. Yes, I know it is a not really Mexican Independence Day, but what else can someone allergic to honey do with wild rose and honeysuckle syrup made with honey? FIESTA.
Generosity and abundance aplenty. Mistakes allowed and happily consumed.

Our family began beekeeping six years ago and began an unending adventure. Among all the other thing we have learned, we realized bees need flowering plants 10 months a year. To enrich our rocky east Tennessee soil and appease Lulu and Arlo, our children who have begged for bunnies for many years, we bought two flemish giant rabbits. Quickly thereafter, we accidentally became Giant Bunny Breeders. We learned the trade over the first year with our Flemish Giants and have since become enamored with Continental giants and more recently French Lops as well. Giant rabbits are wonderfully funny and sweet pets, and the fertilizer they produce keeps the blooms for bees going for most of the year. We leave an acre of our property wild to allow a buffer habitat for wild species of plants and animals (like milkweed, raccoons and foxes). Our Livestock Guard dogs, Aphrodite and Freyr, keep the wildlife out of the bunny yard. All of our rabbits are vet checked and vaccinated. We handle them daily and start litter box training at weaning.
Following the bees has led us to numerous flourishing, beautiful endeavors that inspire us to mimic the art we see in our little farm. From our home to yours, in addition to giant rabbits we also offer organic produce, honey, seasonal homemade pastries and canned goods, natural cosmetic oils, botanicals and occasionally, artwork and hemp… all free of anything that might harm our planet, children or you. I work with transporters on a monthly basis who traverse the country to deliver bunnies for a fee. Contact me by phone, text or email if you have questions about any of our products.