Every year, I always bring home a few treasures from the little monthly market on beautiful North Stradbroke Island ("Straddie") where we go for holidays every year. There's always a few bars of handmade soap, a bargain from the secondhand stall, something knitted or woven or sewn by a local crafter and we never leave without some island honey.
The honey stall is my favourite among all the little market stalls. I love to chat with the beekeeper (whom I've affectionately nicknamed "The Bee Man") about all things bees and I never fail to learn something new about these amazing little insects and their honeys. This year, I brought home a rather special honey too.
Jelly Bush Honey from North Stradbroke Island.
Jelly Bush Honey is thick, oozy honey. It comes from a tree in the Leptospermum family as does New Zealand's medicinal Manuka Honey. The Jelly Bush Honey I bought has an activity rating of 20+. This rating reflects the antibacterial level determined by tests in a laboratory. As I understand it, the higher the total activity rating, the higher the antibacterial level in the honey. On the side of my little pot of this special honey, it says it can be used as an ointment for wounds and ulcers and that it can be taken to soothe sore throats too.
As we often soothe our sore throats with a teaspoon of honey or a warming honey and lemon drink, I thought bringing home a little pot of this Jelly Bush Honey may come in handy during the colder months. I used it recently, when I developed a cold, and I found that it did soothe my sore, scratchy throat. And it tasted lovely too!
Straddie's bees forage in a beautiful place and they make beautiful honeys. When we return this Summer, they'll be busy collecting pollen from the Leptospermum's flowers and turning that in to this amazing Jelly Bush Honey. I will bring some home with me again, across the bay.
Meg
As we often soothe our sore throats with a teaspoon of honey or a warming honey and lemon drink, I thought bringing home a little pot of this Jelly Bush Honey may come in handy during the colder months. I used it recently, when I developed a cold, and I found that it did soothe my sore, scratchy throat. And it tasted lovely too!
Jelly Bush Blossom (Leptospermum polygalifolium)
Photo credit ~ John Tann via flickr.com
Straddie's bees forage in a beautiful place and they make beautiful honeys. When we return this Summer, they'll be busy collecting pollen from the Leptospermum's flowers and turning that in to this amazing Jelly Bush Honey. I will bring some home with me again, across the bay.
Meg
My daughter and I buy honey once a month from our farmers market and just like you it's our favourite stall. I call her the 'honey lady.'
ReplyDeleteI tend to go for the raw, unfiltered honey and as close to home as possible. It is good for allergies, supports immune health, cough syrup and contains pollen. The closer to home the better. My daughter chooses different varieties. From the same beekeeper. This month she chose honeycomb. It actually has the hard bits throughout. Not my favourite however she loves it.
Enjoy your honey.
Kylie
Honey is just amazing stuff, isn't it! I can buy local honey at little organic market close to here and it's lovely too. Meg:)
DeleteOh Meg, what I wouldn't give for a spoonful of that honey right now. I went to bed on Saturday night feeling perfectly fine, and some time in the night I awoke with a raging sore throat, the "feels like I've swallowed razor blades" kind of throat! All I had in the house was lemon/ginger tea that I added honey to, it felt nice but is a temporary fix. I had it all day Sunday too with a complimentary headache!...Agh I guess I'll chalk it up to the first lurgy for the Winter! I'm still feeling yuk as I sit here Monday morning and I've called in sick for work, I will try and get to the shops today for some real lemons to go in some warm water and honey.
ReplyDeleteI hope you feel better soon, Cheryl. I think sometimes all you can do, when at the mercy of a Winter lurgy, is rest and sip something soothing while the body fights off the cold. Chicken soup too! Meg:)
DeleteMeg I have just made some fire cider which I daresay will need to have honey added to it to get it down my throat as it smells a bit potent. We buy our honey from a local beekeeper.
ReplyDeleteI'd not heard of fire cider before, Chel, so I just looked it up. A potent brew indeed. Perhaps some honey will help! Meg:)
DeleteHi Meg , I was hoping to find somewhere on your rave where I can buy the Jelly bush but , alas , I dont see any link ..can you please help out ...what is the name of the merchant who sells the red label jelly Bush Honey please ?
ReplyDeleteHi. This Jelly Bush Honey is collected by the local Bowman family and I buy it from them at their little Stradbroke Island market stall when we are on the island for holidays. Unfortunately, they don't have a website where you can buy their honey. (That's why I stock up while we are there.) I did find Jelly Bush Honey for sale from hello honey. Their site lists Stradbroke Island Jelly Bush Honey as being out of stock but they do have Jelly Bush Honey produced in the Byron Bay region. This is the link:
Deletehttp://hellohoney.com.au/shop/medicinal-honey/1267/
I hope that helps. Meg:)
many thanks Meg ..Jelly Bush is terrific ..shame they dont have a website ..appreciate you getting back to me thanks again R
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