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Indigenous Peoples’ Day

Spotlight on Singing Cedars Apiaries

This month we’re shining an extra bright Member Deals Spotlight on Singing Cedars Apiaries! From October 10th – 16th, Co-op member-owners can enjoy a 20% discount on all of Singing Cedars Apiaries’ honey products. Read on to learn more about this family-owned business and their commitment to providing you the best honey the Champlain Valley has to offer.

 

Singing Cedars Apiaries is a family operation started by native Abenaki Roland (Wants To Be Chief) and his wife Deborah (Little Cloud Big Storm) in the basement of their teepee in 1971. According to their website, they specialize in producing pure raw honey for retail sale, and nucleus colonies and queens both for their own enterprise and to sell to other beekeepers. A feature in American Bee Journal also points out that they sell their beeswax to candle makers and crafters, maximizing the use of every material their bees produce. In true family fashion, Roland, Deborah, and their four children developed this apiary which now manages over 1100 colonies with their grandchildren and Son-in-Laws Christopher (Hates to Bee Sticky) and Tim (Aboriginee) doing much of the work. Deborah was heavily involved with the beekeeping in the beginning, though now she has her hands full managing the office handling all of the orders of honey, queens, and nucs. 

Over the years they’ve established authentic relationships with each of the local retail outlets that offer their honey. Roland points out that the customers they’ve served for 20-plus years, with whom they have developed strong working relationships are the foundation of their stable business. Their bees are spread out over both sides of Lake Champlain in both Vermont and New York. Their forage primarily consists of white Dutch clover, honeysuckle, basswood, goldenrod, and asters. In a good year, they’re able to produce 100 – 150 pounds of honey per hive!

Singing Cedars offers a variety of honey products, including creamed honey flavored with natural oils. Their honey is unpasteurized to retain all the natural goodness nature provided in its enzymes and pollen, and unfiltered yet strained to remove any wax and propolis sometimes associated with raw honey to provide a rich smooth product for your enjoyment.

Abenaki Three Sisters Soup

Like many cultures around the world, the Abenaki celebrate a Fall harvest festival and the “Three Sisters” are often part of the celebratory feast.  Much has been documented about the significance of this famous companion planting of corn, beans, and squash and the importance of their cultivation.  This particular recipe comes to us from Shelburne Farms, who collaborated with Abenaki Scholar and Paleoethnobotanist Fred Wiseman and Anna Roy-Wiseman, to create a harvest dinner in celebration of the traditional Abenaki agricultural year. Three Sisters soup is almost a universal dish throughout Indigenous North America. To develop this particular recipe, Roy-Wiseman tasted several traditional recipes from various Native cooks in the region and experimented with adding various spices and Native American additions such as tomatoes, peppers, and onions, to fit a more modern palette. You can find many of the ingredients needed for this hearty soup in our weekly sale from October 5th – 11th in celebration of Indigenous Peoples’ Day. 

 

 

Spotlight on Singing Cedars Apiaries

Indigenous Peoples’ Day is celebrated on the second Monday of October and offers a time to honor the historic and cultural significance of the Indigenous Peoples here in Vermont and beyond, with the recognition that our country was founded and built upon unceded lands that Indigenous communities have inhabited and stewarded since time immemorial. The Western Abenaki are the traditional caretakers of these Vermont lands and waters, which they call Ndakinna. With this in mind, we wanted to shine an extra bright Member Deals Spotlight on Singing Cedars Apiaries, which, according to their website, was started by native Abenaki Roland Smith and his wife Deborah in the basement of their teepee in 1971. From October 5th – 11th, Co-op member-owners can enjoy a 20% discount on all of Singing Cedars Apiaries’ glorious honey products! Read on to learn more about this family-owned business and their commitment to providing you the best honey the Champlain Valley has to offer:

 

Singing Cedars Apiaries is a family operation started by native Abenaki Roland (Wants To Be Chief) and his wife Deborah (Little Cloud Big Storm) in the basement of their teepee in 1971. According to their website, they specialize in producing pure raw honey for retail sale, and nucleus colonies and queens both for their own enterprise and to sell to other beekeepers. A feature in American Bee Journal also points out that they sell their beeswax to candle makers and crafters, maximizing the use of every material their bees produce. In true family fashion, Roland, Deborah, and their four children developed this apiary which now manages over 1100 colonies with their grandchildren and Son-in-Laws Christopher (Hates to Bee Sticky) and Tim (Aboriginee) doing much of the work. Deborah was heavily involved with the beekeeping in the beginning, though now she has her hands full managing the office handling all of the orders of honey, queens, and nucs. 

Over the years they’ve established authentic relationships with each of the local retail outlets that offer their honey. Roland points out that the customers they’ve served for 20-plus years, with whom they have developed strong working relationships are the foundation of their stable business. Their bees are spread out over both sides of Lake Champlain in both Vermont and New York. Their forage primarily consists of white Dutch clover, honeysuckle, basswood, goldenrod, and asters. In a good year, they’re able to produce 100 – 150 pounds of honey per hive!

Singing Cedars offers a variety of honey products, including creamed honey flavored with natural oils. Their honey is unpasteurized to retain all the natural goodness nature provided in its enzymes and pollen, and unfiltered yet strained to remove any wax and propolis sometimes associated with raw honey to provide a rich smooth product for your enjoyment.

Skillet Cornbread

Our weekly sale from October 7th – 13th celebrates Indigenous Peoples’ Day, which falls on Monday, October 10th this year. You’ll find ingredients in the sale this week to help you pull together this simple Skillet Cornbread, which happens to pair beautifully with the Three Sisters Soup recipe also featured on our blog this week. The cast-iron skillet allows the cornbread to get extra crispy and golden on the outside, with a soft, smooth interior that’s irresistible! No skillet? No problem! Simply bake in an 8-9″ round or square baking pan. 

Abenaki Three Sisters Soup

Like many cultures around the world, the Abenaki celebrate a Fall harvest festival and the “Three Sisters” are often part of the celebratory feast.  Much has been documented about the significance of this famous companion planting of corn, beans, and squash and the importance of their cultivation.  This particular recipe comes to us from Shelburne Farms, who collaborated with Abenaki Scholar and Paleoethnobotanist Fred Wiseman and Anna Roy-Wiseman, to create a harvest dinner in celebration of the traditional Abenaki agricultural year. Three Sisters soup is almost a universal dish throughout Indigenous North America. To develop this particular recipe, Roy-Wiseman tasted several traditional recipes from various Native cooks in the region and experimented with adding various spices and Native American additions such as tomatoes, peppers, and onions, to fit a more modern palette. You can find many of the ingredients needed for this hearty soup in our weekly sale from October 6th – 12th in celebration of Indigenous Peoples’ Day. 

 

 

Abenaki Three Sisters Soup

Like many cultures around the world, the Abenaki celebrate a harvest festival in the fall and the “Three Sisters” are often part of the celebratory feast.  Much has been documented about the planting and importance of this famous companion planting of corn, beans, and squash and the importance of their cultivation.  This particular recipe comes to us from Shelburne Farms, who collaborated with Abenaki Scholar and Paleoethnobotanist Fred Wiseman and Anna Roy-Wiseman, to create a harvest dinner in celebration of the traditional Abenaki agricultural year. Three sisters soup is almost a universal dish throughout Indigenous North America. To develop this particular recipe, Roy-Wiseman tasted several traditional recipes from various Native cooks in the region and experimented with adding various spices and Native American additions such as tomatoes, peppers, and onions, to fit a more modern palette. You can find many of the ingredients needed for this hearty soup in our weekly sale from October 7th – 13th in celebration of Indigenous Peoples’ Day. 

 

 

Abenaki Three Sisters Soup

Like many cultures around the world, the Abenaki celebrated a harvest festival in the fall and the “Three Sisters” were often part of the celebratory feast.  Much has been documented about the planting and importance of this famous companion planting of corn, beans, and squash and the importance of their cultivation.  This particular recipe comes to us from Shelburne Farms, who collaborated with Abenaki Scholar and Paleoethnobotanist Fred Wiseman and Anna Roy-Wiseman, to create a harvest dinner in celebration of the traditional Abenaki agricultural year. Three sisters soup is almost a universal dish throughout Indigenous North America. To develop this particular recipe, Roy-Wiseman tasted several traditional recipes from various Native cooks in the region and experimented with adding various spices and Native American additions such as tomatoes, peppers, and onions, to fit a more modern palette. You can find many of the ingredients needed for this hearty soup in our weekly sale from October 8th – 14th in celebration of Indigenous Peoples’ Day.