Wonderful Things about Raw Honey

Karen Dunham • May 03, 2024

Raw Honey is one truly amazing substance. We all know that it tastes fantastic, but did you know that it also provides a myriad of health benefits for us both internally and externally?

First, let’s talk about what defines Raw Honey as opposed to conventional honey. Raw Honey is not filtered, but instead is strained, often gravitationally, in order to remove bits of beeswax, bee parts, dead bees, and other impurities that are in the hives and honey frames. To be considered raw, honey isn't heat extracted from the frames or ever heated above the temperature that bees keep their hives (around 95-105 degrees) in order to strain or pour it. This careful process allows the honey to keep all of the beneficial nutrients that are naturally present in the hive, including pollen and propolis.

According to Dr. Josh Axe, Raw Honey is a “functional food” containing 22 amino acids, 27 minerals, 5000 enzymes, and at least 16 known antioxidants. Raw Honey is also anti-fungal, antibacterial, antiviral, anti-inflammatory and antiseptic. These properties make Raw Honey perfect for applying to wounds and killing infections as well as taking internally for digestive and gut issues. Personally, we have used raw honey to heal a staph infection, and it also worked wonders for me when I had a case of food poisoning.

This fabulous substance is full of phytonutrients, phytochemicals, and polyphenols that act as antioxidants, hunting down free radicals within the body, boosting our immune systems and unlocking neuroprotective functions that aid in brain performance.

Raw Honey does all of the above, and it even tastes fantastic too! Isn’t that crazy? I mean, we all know how great liver is for you, but it definitely does NOT taste anything like honey.

There are some other very interesting aspects about Raw Honey as well. For instance, Raw Honey never goes bad. It can freeze with no change in properties, and if you happen to stash a container in your storage room and find it years later (that'd be me!), it will still be perfectly fine - just hardened or crystallized. And speaking of crystallizing and hardening, honey does one or the other depending on the climate, water content, and conditions during the year in which it was made. Personally, I LOVE hardened honey, but most years, honey tends to crystallize rather than harden. Honey is harvested once a year, and so over the course of that year, it crystallizes (or hardens); some years it crystallizes quickly and other years more slowly. Our bee keeper says that honey is alive and can change in color and texture from year to year, even within the same hives that are in the exact location. It is a truly miraculous product.

We LOVE our Raw Honey. We’ve never tasted anything like it. I never particularly liked honey, and I NEVER would have licked the honey spoon, until I tried the honey we sell at Glacier Grown. That super dark stuff that the grocery stores call honey is a far inferior product. I’ve even had some honeys that are called raw, but are pretty terrible. You don’t have to sacrifice taste for quality and nutritional benefit - you can have both!!

If you haven’t tried our honey yet, do yourself a favor and give it a shot. We have some in stock now, from last fall’s harvest, but with the summer farm stand season starting in May, I’m expecting that we will sell it all prior to the 2024 honey being ready at the end of September. Running out of Glacier Grown Raw Honey is never a good thing.

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Spicy & Sweet Roasted Cauliflower

By Karen Dunham • 09 May, 2024

I made this up on accident one night when I was roasting cauliflower and obsessing over this Crunchy Chile Onion stuff from Trader Joe’s. I thought it might taste good w ith a little bit of sweet…..it did! We all loved it. Super easy and yummy. What you need: 1 head cauliflower, cut into florets (or use the easy button and buy a bag of florets at Costco) Avocado Oil Salt ( I love Redmond Smoked Real Salt . I don't get any money from these links, I just love it ) Glacier Grown Raw Honey Crunchy Chile Onion (Trader Joe’s is the brand that I hoard when we are around a TJ’s) What to do: Toss the Cauliflower in some Avocado Oil. Spread on a Stainless Steel Cookie Sheet. Sprinkle with coarse salt and bake at 400 degrees for about 20-25 minutes to desired tenderness. Drizzle 1- 2 T of raw honey and 1- 2 T of Crispy Chile Onions over the top. Delish!

Honey B's Modifiable Granola

By Karen Dunham • 09 May, 2024

We have used this granola recipe for years - my friend Honey B. shared it with me when my kids were little. They still ask me to make it for them when they are home. I’m really bad about following recipes exactly, so I modify it a little each time I make it depending on what I’ve got and what looks good. What you need 6 c. organic oats 2 c. flake cereal ( I love this one ) 2 c. roughly chopped nuts a pinch or two of salt “some” flax seed, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, sunflower seed, and/or hemp hearts (optional) 3/4 c grass fed butter 3/4 c. raw honey (or maple syrup) dried fruit (optional) What to do Combine the first three ingredients and any extra seeds that you want to add, to a large bowl. Melt the butter and honey together then pour over everything. Stir until well combined. Spread out on a rimmed, stainless baking sheet. Bake at 300 degrees for 45 minutes, stirring and re-spreading every 15 minutes. If you are adding dried fruit, stir it in after cooking. TIPS - this recipe is pretty forgiving. Sometimes I add more flakes and less oats. Sometimes I add seeds instead of some of the oats; sometimes I add seeds in addition to everything listed. If I’m adding and not substituting, I usually add a bit more butter and/or honey to make sure everything sticks together. Try a few versions and see what you like.

Ginger Lemon Tea with Raw Honey

By Karen Dunham • 09 May, 2024

This tea is easy, delicious and great for your gut and immune system. It's so much better than a store bought tea bag! What you need 1” - 2” Ginger Knob, peeled and chopped very small Juice of 1 Lemon Water that is just below boiling Raw Honey What to do Add the peeled, diced ginger and the lemon juice to a tea pot. Add hot water. Let that concoction steep for at least 5 minutes - the longer, the stronger the ginger taste. Once your tea cools to around 95-100 degrees, so that you don’t lose any of the amazing properties of that Raw Honey, add a big scoop of it and stir to dissolve. Use a fine mesh strainer, if your tea pot doesn’t have one in it, to pour into cups and enjoy! Tips: It may be common knowledge that scraping the ginger peel off with a spoon, instead of a knife or vegetable peeler, is a peeling game changer - super easy and quick, but it was new news to me recently. Where have I been? Also, if your ginger is really juicy, simply chop it up unpeeled and throw it all in the tea pot. Just make sure you’re using organic ginger if you’re going to include the peel. You can also make a second pot of tea using the same ginger. You’ll just need to let it steep longer the second time for it to have a strong ginger taste.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and just HELLO!

By Karen Dunham • 21 Jan, 2022

It's been a while since we've been in touch. The last 6 months have been a wild and woolly ride over at the Dunham household, but we've finally come up for air. We hope that you and yours enjoyed a lovely holiday season and that you have headed into the New Year full of hope and enthusiasm. Those of you who have been with us for years, undoubtedly, see a different group of people in the above photo than when we made deliveries to Southern California in the past. All of those previously little people have grown up - the baby started college this past year, and the oldest has a baby of his own. All in the blink of an eye. We wanted to say THANK YOU to all of you - we appreciate you and your continued support. It is a privilege to provide the very best 100% grass fed, grass finished, pasture raised, chemical-free, humanely raised meats that our northwest corner has to offer. If you are looking to stock your freezer for the next few months, before spring deliveries begin (we will start taking orders in March and deliveries will start in late May/early June), we still have some items remaining from the Fall Harvest ready to ship.