Comb to Counter: Beekeeping at MSCG

I woke up late (read: 8 am) this morning as I had a rare opportunity to not set an alarm. I had loose plans to show a friend around MSCG today and do a little work on my plot. As I sipped the last of my cold brew batch from the other day, I started preparing a new pitcher to steep for the coming days. I prepared a summer favorite - Honey Lavender.

As if grabbing the jar of honey summoned a cosmic force,  my phone buzzed with a text from Marsha, Garden President. The beekeeper decided to harvest today and she needed someone to document the process. As luck, and my non-traditional work schedule would have it, I was available for the task!  Full disclosure:  I was rather excited to do so as well. I have loved the bees since the moment I stepped foot in the garden! When I describe MSCG to friends and family, the bees are always included. First off, I love honey and I also appreciate that the Garden is home-base for the little worker bees who support our garden ecosystem. I picked and pickled a few cucumbers today and I promise you I was not out there with a toothbrush pollinating their flowers manually this year!

After talking to Garry Grube, our beekeeper, it's clear that he has developed his process for harvesting over time. This year, he is using almond extract as a bee repellant to clear the bees from the upper boxes. While the fumes of almond extract lured me over, apparently the bees hate it. I watched closely as he and his assistant moved tray by tray and box by box to assess which hives were ready to harvest. Overall the bees were well behaved. As you can see, I'm rather close when taking photos and I wasn't wearing protective gear. The process took over two hours! The final product will be ready soon, but for now I'll be dreaming up end of summer and fall recipes to use my next jar of our garden honey.

Honey Lavender Cold Brew Recipe

Equipment: Cold brew maker (pitchers are available online for ~$20-30 or you can purchase cold brew steeping bags (~$5-7) or even a stainless steel filter (~$10-15) that fits into a mason jar.

Ingredients

~60 oz cold water

7 tablespoons of coarsely ground coffee beans

1/4 teaspoon of dried lavender

2-3 tablespoons of honey (to taste)

Preparation

Step 1: Drizzle honey on sides and at the bottom of empty pitcher

Step 2: Place coffee grounds and lavender into either cold brew bags or filter insert and place in pitcher

Step 3: Fill pitcher with cold water

Step 4: Steep for 12-24 hours. Keeps well lin refrigerator for up to 1 week

Optional: I like to add almond milk to mine before drinking but the cold brew is typically not bitter and is great black as well. Never in my life have I measured this and I encourage all to measure this part with their heart.

Servings

Approximately 4-6

*This depends entirely on how much coffee you drink

Notes

You can make this without the honey or lavender - I just happen to always have both on hand in the summer. I've played around with the recipe and these are the ratios of coffee grounds and add ons that work for me but everyone is different. You need just a tiny bit of lavender to permeate the pitcher!