Local Vendor Focus: Good Flow Honey
How long have you been in the honey business and what prompted you to start?
We started selling honey in 1975. We only had a few hives, but they produced enough of a surplus for us to be able to sell some honey.
Do you have a favorite variety of honey?
The best honey is the stuff you get to dip into when you are extracting it fresh off the hives.
What is your best selling honey?
Wildflower.
How long have you been selling honey to Wheatsville?
Wheatsville has been carrying our honey since the beginning. We used to take in a drum, turn it on its side and let people bottle out of it. Wheatsville and Woody Hills Co-op were our first customers. And as I recall, our very first customer was a food-buying club started by the same people who started Wheatsville. We used to deliver to them on a street corner.
How often do you get stung?
It depends on what we are doing, but it usually happens in the spring when it is still cold. They don’t like having the roof taken off and if you get someone mad at you there is a good chance you’ll get a lot of stings from that one and friends.
Does it still hurt a lot after all of these years?
No, it is just a minor irritation. Old-timers used to come in for stings to help with rheumatism and arthritis, but if you are allergic you better stay away.
What is the most unusual way that you’ve heard of Good Flow honey being used?
Some people use it in their hair or as a mask on their face. One person who is a pedicurist uses it for his treatment on feet.
What is one thing about honey or bees that most people might not know?
They have an incredible communications system based on the chemicals in their pheromones.
Will Good Flow Juice ever be available again? (Shoppers still ask every few weeks when your juice will return!)
Perseverance furthers as they say. We have been working at it steadily since we were forced to shut down because of new FDA regulations in 2008, and this might even be the year when it happens. We are getting close.
What’s your favorite recipe that features honey?
Bar-b-que sauce!
EZ BBQ Sauce
1/2 cup organic ketchup
1/4 cup Good Flow honey
1 TBS Bragg’s Liquid Aminos or soy sauce
1 tsp yellow mustard
1 tsp chili powder (or more to taste)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
Directions
Mix all ingredients together. Baste onto meat, tofu or tempeh before cooking or use as a dip. Serves 6