One of the biggest challenges to eating seasonally and locally is knowing when certain items are available. After all, if you aren’t actively growing your food, how are you supposed to know when the watermelons are ripe? Especially with the crazy weather we’ve had this year, where many foods have ripened weeks, if not months, ahead of schedule… it can be hard to keep up!

Well, here’s a friendly notice for you: the honey is in. Beekeepers around the state have been harvesting honey and getting it ready for you. As I’ve been trying to substitute the bulk of my use of cane sugar with local sweeteners like honey and sorghum, I need a lot of honey to make it through the year. From my brief stint of a beekeeper, I was lucky enough to befriend many of the kind folks at the Lake Cumberland Beekeeper’s Association, and I hope to buy as much of the honey as I can from them this year.

My amazing friend Ray Tucker of Solar Place Farm invited me to come help him harvest and extract his honey a few weeks back. I was excited to do so since I no longer have bees of my own (thanks to a pesky allergy). I’ll leave you with the gorgeous photos that should have you headed to your local farmer’s market for some fresh honey! (If you are having trouble finding local honey, call your extension office. They should be able to help you if there is any nearby.)

Other posts on Solar Place Farm:

House Tour: Solar Place Farm

Ray Tucker of Solar Place Farm Talks Community