Sublime Organic Olive Oil

I've just received a delivery of top grade organic olive oil from Cordoba - at £9.50 a litre I believe it compares very favourably with much more expensive gourmet olive oils. I love good olive oil, use it religiously. Most Mediterranean and Middle Eastern food is olive oil based and traditional food from this part of the world is certainly one of the healthiest.
Luque olive oil comes from Cordoba in Andalucia. It is fruity and full of flavour, extra virgin first cold pressing and has less than 0.04 acidity.
It's affordable at £9.5o per litre bottle. If you are about to order honey you can save on delivery charges by adding a purchase of olive oil to your order. Please call Karen on 01273 604707 if you have any questions about this superb oil.

Bad Hair Day Cure: Honey & olive oil hair & body wash - an amazing creation

This morning I woke up to a seriously bad hair day. After spending most of the weekend exposed to the elements of the Great British Summer my hair looked frightening, and so did I. Fortunately the only creature unlucky enough to see me was Roc, our resident herring gull who was on the ground floor window sill waiting patiently for his breakfast as I went down to the kitchen to make a cup of tea.

A bit later I went to the bathroom to have a shower and PING! An exciting idea. I'll make some shampoo out of the ingredients I like most of all.....honey, cider vinegar and olive oil, thought I. Back in the kitchen I mixed more or less equal portions of cider vinegar, olive oil, honey (all organic and raw), water and pure soap flakes made by my friend Teresa in Tarragona, Spain. I added a little salt and shook the mixture well. I wasn't sure as I was shampooing my hair if the concoction would work, but it felt rich and natural and lathered remarkably well so I left it on my hair for a couple of minutes and also used it as body wash.

After rinsing and drying the end result was superb. My hair and skin feel and look much softer and much more radiant.

If you fancy making some of your own shampoo and body wash we have the ingredients - raw cider vinegar, organic olive oil and of course lots of honey. Just email me at Karen if you want any of the ingredients.
Karen

Some doctors wrongly dismiss honey

some more research about the antibiotic affects of some honeys.

English Honey from Mitcham, Surrey

• Just got some exceptional English honey. It's from Mitcham in Surrey. The beekeeper says the flora is very varied from the area of allotments the hives are on. Has a beautiful 'tang'. Email info@themagicofspain if you want some, £5 a jar + £2 postage. You can pay with paypal if you want - use the email address above.
  

Local Honey At Churchill Square Farmer's Market

Just managed to get some local honey from Moulscomb allotments. We've just been selling it at Churchill Square Farmer's Market and it's been flying off the table. (It's on the left in this photo in the three jars next to the long row). The 30 jars we got have virtually gone in a week, a reflection of the popularity of local honey.

Many people say it is an effective cure for hayfever. The reasoning goes that resistance builds up through absorbing the small amounts of local pollen contained in the honey over a long period. I know of two people with very severe hayfever who say they have found that by eating local honey for six months or so before the pollen season their hayfever has been cured.

Personally I don't know, but it certainly does seem to work for some.

10 Things You Can Do To Help Save The Bees

The famous Einstein quote: "If the bee disappears from the surface of the earth, man would have no more than four years to live." is in fact an urban myth. He never said it. Nevertheless it is a powerful and possibly true comment. We do rely on the bee to pollinate many of the crops upon which we depend.

Bees are in real trouble and The Barefooted Beekeeper has suggested 10 things you can do to help save the bees.

http://biobees.blogspot.com/2009/06/10-things-you-can-do-to-help-save-bees.html

Honey's Antiseptic and Antibacterial Qualities

There's been a lot in the press recently about honey being used in wound and ulcer dressings. Here's an article about the growing evidence for the effectiveness of honey in treating wounds and its acceptance by the medical profession. (You need a pdf reader to see this article.)

There is anecdotal evidence for the effectiveness of honey in treating other skin conditions - Karen, for instance, has used thyme honey on her eczema. It cleared up within a day of the honey application. All our honey is raw.

Pyrenees Honey at the Garden Gadabout

Had a stall today in Bridge Saunders garden in Warleigh Road, Brighton for the annual Garden Gadabout - a day when some of Brighton's best gardens are opened to the public. This year the charity for donations was the Sussex Beacon.

Weather wasn't great in the morning, a few heavy downpours. We were expecting to have to pack up by lunchtime but then it really brightened up and a steady stream of people flowed through the garden.

Bridge's garden really is fantastic garden-lots of hidden spaces and an incredible variety of plants. The garden is completely organic and uses lots of recycled materials.

We had a stall selling raw honey, organic first cold pressing olive oil and raw apple-pear vinegar. You can see Karen here (wearing a scarf to protect herself from the wind and rain). Met some really nice people with an interest in a natural life style eating natural raw products.

Raw Honey at Jubilee Square Farmer's Market Brighton

First occasion of the Jubilee Square Farmer's Market in Brighton. A bit sparse on people but it was the first one and lots of interest in raw honey. The local honey especially went well, we managed to get 30 jars yesterday. Really good flavour, just bottled.

The market is every third Saturday in the month.

Antonio - Fourth Generation Organic Honey Producer

We've been getting a lot of requests recently for more information about the beekeepers we get our honey from.

This is Antonio, who is a fourth generation beekeeper. (You can buy his honey here.)

He is one of the founding members of the Committee of Ecological Agriculture in Spain. Antonio is one of the few organic beekeepers in Spain.

Here he's pictured with some brood hives.

Antonio really is devoted to his bees. He looks after them very well and always makes sure he leaves them enough honey - a lot of beekeepers here tend to feed their bees with a sugar solution.

When Antonio's bees are sick he treats them with herbal remedies. One of the remedies, which he uses against the varoa mite, is made from thyme. Thyme is actually a very powerful antiseptic, thymol a derivative of thyme is one of the main ingredients in listerine.

We have noticed that his harvest of honey is available later than other beekeepers and we discovered that Antonio lets his honey mature in the comb, for at least a month and sometimes for up to three months, before extracting it. Most beekeepers exact the honey immediately but his process seems to improve the flavour and possibly the health benefits.

Antonio doesn't pastuerise his honey and most of his hives are in mountain ranges.

An analysis of his honey showed it to be very pure and very high quality. This table shows the test for pesticides in the oak honey, there were none detectable.

In the detailed analysis document we received the scientist making the analysis commented on the high quality of the honey.

Antonio lives with his wife Gloria.

I'll add some more information about him tomorrow and also about Ramon, the other beekeeper who we get raw honey from.

You can buy Antonio's honeys here. Although as a high grade honey (like a fine olive oil or wine) the price is higher than normal we do offer discounts of up to 25% - with three jars being available at 15% off.

Honey Tasting - some unusual raw & organic honeys

Today (Sunday) we did a bit of a honey tasting with Jenny, a customer from London who came down to Brighton to visit us.

We tried a range of honeys that we're looking at stocking including:

• Strawberry Tree honey (nothing to do with Strawberrys!), very unusual honey with a bitter taste. Supposed to have a range of medicinal benefits. The fruit really does look like a strawberry. The sample of honey that we tried comes from Sardinia. A scientific study found that this honey was the highest of ten different honeys in a test of antioxidant levels. (You do have to purchase the article unfortunately to read the report from the prior link.)
  

• Artichoke Honey, again quite unusual. This honey is light with a slightly oily texture.
  
• Sidr honey, from Yemen, renowned by Muslims and I believe mentioned in the Koran. Sidr honey is dark, a little similar to heather honey. A lot of Muslim customers have been ordering heather honey because they consider the flavour and consistency to be very similar to Sidr honey. Sidr honey is quite dark with a malty flavour.Sidr honey has been tested in Canada against Manuka honey and has similar antibacterial qualities. Here's a link to an article about the study.
  

• Sunflower honey from Spain, which has quite an oily texture but a pleasant flavour. It's light in honey and has a granular texture - but quite fine, unlike other raw honeys which have a more crystallised texture when set.
  
• Some English raw honey, which didn't have a very distinctive flavour.
  

We will be seeking to stock some of these honeys, definitely the artichoke honey (which is also organic). Difficult to get hold of Sidr honey - it is very expensive to buy, around $50 a kilo, which could make it prohibitively expensive to sell. But we would like to stock some. The Strawberry Tree honey is also very expensive, would probably retail at about £10 a quarter kilo, comparable in price with Manuka.

Patchfest - Great Day Despite The Rain

Had the stall at Patchfest today (11 July 2009), which was good despite the steady rain all day.

The Patch, also known as William Clarke Park, is a place I didn't know existed, even though it is just 5 minutes walk from our house. And we've lived in Brighton for 11 years.

A really nice atmostphere, excellent music, reasonably priced food and drinks + good entertainment for the kids (who had really great fun at the end play fighting on the bales of straw).

There were also some really amazing kids bands on the main stage - very talented.

And we had a good day selling honey. There was a lot of interest in the raw and organic honey - especially the honeycomb. Seems like an area where people have a real interest in buying totally natural food.

Jenny, a customer, who has become a good friend came down for the day and helped out.

Honeycomb In A Jar

You can buy the honeycomb in a jar here.

We'll also be selling our new honeycomb (wikipedia def) in a jar at Patchfest, just got a delivery in.

This is a fairly unique kind of honeycomb as far as I can tell. The beekeeper Antonio, whose hives are in the mountains north of Madrid, puts the jars in the hive with a little honey in the bottom. The bees then make the honeycomb in the jars. Then when the comb is sealed Antonio the beekeeper removes the jars from the hive.

Most comb honey is not good. The comb is cut and then pasteurised honey (usually from a different source) is poured over it. The reason for this is that raw honey naturally sets, and when it sets the honeycomb is hidden from view. Apparently this isn't appealing to consumers who would prefer runny honey in the comb.

We have a few jars of this honey for sale. I'm afraid it is really expensive. Antonio doesn't produce much of this honeycomb in a jar. However, the quality is exceptional. If you buy one then you should eat the whole thing, wax included. The honeycomb will contain some propolis and all the live enzymes that you get in raw honey.

This honeycomb (also known as comb honey) is certified organic. You can buy it here. When you come to enter delivery costs on the order page select the option for £4 delivery, even if you order two jars.

If you want to find out more about us then go to www.pyreneeshoney.com/organic. You can also see references from satisfied customers there.

Pyrenees Honey at Patchfest (11th July 2009)

Patch Festival promises to be a great event this year with up to 3,000 people expected. Patchfest is off Hartington Road, Brighton - a proper community festival with music (lots of it for all tastes), kids events and stall.

Pyreneeshoney will be having a stall there - and we'll be having some new honeys on offer - including comb honey in a jar (the bees actually make the comb in the jar).

This is some of the stuff that's going on at Patchfest

• 2 music stages
• Market Place
• Beer Tent
• BBQ
• Football tournament
• Tea tents
• Ferris Wheel
• Circus Skills
• Bouncy Castles
• Healing area

Here's a link to a site where you'll find some more information about the event.

Honey bees and the health problems they face

The Barefoot Beekeeper: Towards More Natural Beekeeping

I thought I'd include a link to this article about bees and the problems they face because of our exploitation of them and the degraded environment we've forced them to live in.

This bee is infected with the varoa mite, a mite that lives on the bees. Whilst the varoa mite has been around for practically as long as bees, they're not able to withstand them in the way they used to - and it seems lots of hives are being lost to this mite. Of course it's not the main cause of the problems bees face - the attached article highlights some of the problems.

Boiling hot day at Churchill Square Farmers Market selling honey

A boiling hot day at Churchill Square Farmer's Market. Lots of feedback on the honey. Some Americans said this was the best honey they'd ever tasted - much better than any honey they'd had in America. They tried the lemon blossom and chestnut honeys.

You can see from the picture of Karen at the stall though why some people think we sell jam - does look like that from a distance.

On 18th July we're at the market in Jubilee Square, Brighton (from 10am) and also at a market in George Street, Kemptown, Brighton (from noon).

Churchill Square Farmer's Market - Raw Honey

We're off to Churchill Square Farmer's Market tomorrow - it's going to be scorching. Have some new gift baskets for sale, which are selling for £4. A great way to test out some honeys at a low cost before committing to them. They're not on www.pyreneeshoney.com yet but you can buy them from Buy Gift Basket Set of raw Heather, raw Orange Blossom & raw Lemon Blossom honey

The farmer's market is in Churchill Square, Brighton every Wednesday from 9am to 5pm.