Slowly, slowly we are building the apothecary here with items that you can easily incorporate into your daily routine. Small gestures that will undoubtedly make a larger impact in the long term. Shortly after I moved to the Cully Neighborhood my son Jasper was born and I spend endless hours walking up and down each and every street. I love this neighborhood. And one of the homes that made me so excited is over on Alberta Court. Since then I've found out that this is the home of Glen Andresen, one of the founders of Bridgetown Bees. There are what seems like 100s of beehives in his yard, and on a perfect Spring day I swear I can hear them buzzing from about half a block away and smell the sweet smell of honey and propolis as it warms from the sun. The yard is surrounded by cedars and espaliered fruit trees and as both a gardener and a lover of all creatures big and small I was inspired.
Glen teaches backyard organic beekeeping at PCC and Garden Fever, and has a radio show on KBOO (90.7fm) called "The Dirt Bag" about edible gardening. In other words, a man after my own heart. I'm happy to be supporting Bridgetown Bees in even this small way, because they bring heart and care to their work. Last year they produced 3,300 lbs of honey, even with leaving ample amounts of pollen and honey in the hives to support the bees through our cold + wet spring and winter seasons here. They are also working on producing queens that are particularly strong and healthy in this particular ecosystem.
The health benefits of raw unfiltered, unheated, organic honey are many. Some of my favorite uses for honey are immediately applying it to burns in the kitchen, and for allergies. Allergy relief has not been substantiated by any good research I can find, but my clinical experience has proven time and time again that it helps immensely. A lot of my clients will find relief with just the honey, the next tier needs to do honey and nettles, and then the more severe cases usually find total relief with a classic TCM formula and frequent acupuncture. I'm so happy that I can source such amazing medicine from just a few blocks away from the studio. I would love to help you with allergies if you need some relief, no-one should suffer from Spring and Summer!