Living in NoCal was great for interesting varieties of wild honey, esp. at the farmers markets in Redding and Chico. There were loads of beekeepers in the area who would haul their bees around like Peter Fonda in Ulee's Gold and pollenate this n' that. I'd try some raw oak honey one week, thistle honey the next, wildflower honey after that, etc.
What got me thinking about that was this: I have an oregano plant in my back yard that managed to get its roots through its wicker basket and is going hog wild — it's probably 6 or 7 feet in diameter now, and is blooming up a storm. I wondered, what if you had a whole field of oregano in bloom, and a bee colony around to pollenate it? What would oregano honey taste like? Also, I have a couple of mint plants in a pot, and due to lack of pruning or harvesting, they're in bloom too. What would peppermint honey taste like? (Actually, I don't know if honey bees could pollenate this stuff — the blooms are little feathery tufts.)
― Truckdrivin' Buddha (Rock Hardy), Tuesday, 2 August 2005 01:58 (twenty years ago)