Local honey
We use honey in many foods, such as in a cup of tea, a bowl of oatmeal, in yogurt, on toast, and to sweeten a tomato sauce. Honey is also our primary bottling sugar. We buy most of our honey from the Phoenix Earth Food Co-op, which sells at least two options, produced by local farmers who locate their beehives within and around Toledo.
The product sold in the glass jar is relatively new at the co-op. I mainly buy what's sold in the generic plastic containers, which, as of July 2014, sells for six dollars per pound. The color varies. Sometimes the honey nearly has the color of maple syrup.
In the fall of 2014, a new vendor from across the line in Michigan opened up shop at the Toledo farmers market. The farmer calls his business "Dee's Bees." He describes his honey as local honey that is 100% raw, unfiltered, non-pasteurized, and not heated.
The light colored honey comes from the spring when the bees forage on fruit trees or flowering trees and maybe clover. The dark honey comes from the late summer and early fall when the bees forage on goldenrod. I like both, but the dark version is amazing. November 2014 photo.
The Dee's Bees goldenrod-based honey on the right is nearly as dark as the Ohio maple syrup that we bought at The Andersons. Both items were purchased on Dec 13, 2014. Deb's cranberry butter that she made that morning resides in the background.
In January 2017, I'm still buying Dee's Bees honey on a regular basis at the downtown Toledo farmers market, which is held year-round on Saturdays. He also sells his honey at the West Toledo farmers market, which is held on Wednesdays, during the summer and fall.
The 2016 goldenrod version of Dee's Bees honey was even darker.
July 2017 update
I continue to buy Dee's Bees honey from the downtown Toledo farmers market on Saturday mornings and occasionally from the West Toledo seasonal farmers market that occurs on Wednesdays.
Recently, I bought three small jars of Dee's Bees honey to show the naturally different types that are available.
From left to right, the light yellow honey was made by bees collecting from spring blooms. The amber-colored honey comes from early to mid summer blooms. The dark brown honey comes from late summer and early fall blooms, especially from the bees collecting from goldenrod.
I can taste the differences. All are fantastic, but the dark brown, goldenrod honey is my favorite. The farmer still had some leftover goldenrod honey from last year.
This looks like chocolate syrup, covering soft-serve vanilla ice cream, but it's Dee's Bees, dark brown, goldenrod honey, spread on plain yogurt.
I consume a lot of yogurt. I buy my yogurt at Al Habib, which is located nearby. At least twice a week, I buy two two-pound containers of plain yogurt. They sell different varieties. I like both the loose, runny version and the thick version.
Simple plain yogurt with local honey is one of my favorite things to eat. I eat it nearly everyday. Plain yogurt is tart to me. The honey balances the flavors.
I could be vegetarian, but I could not be a vegan because I enjoy eating cheese, eggs, yogurt, and honey. And I like wearing wool clothing.