Thank you to all our customers, Pick-Your-Own enthusiasts, and honey, jam & syrup lovers who made 2024 a success at Sunshine Valley! The fresh fruit season came to a close many weeks ago of course but now the farm store is closing up for a spell too. Happy Holidays!
We will be taking time off to rest through January 2025. Farmers’ markets will start up again in May but after February 1 we will be able to ship you our raw honey (22 varieties-see below!), Patricia’s famous low-sugar jam, local maple syrup, Vermont-made soy candles, and Vermont-themed cookbooks. We have twenty-two different vintages of honey at present including several unique 2024 honeys–Aster; Knotweed; a type we’re calling “Old Gold ’24”, from right here in Granville, VT; White Clover from Waitsfield; and “Ziggy’s”, a thoroughly funky true Goldenrod from Southern Vermont.
Please contact Rob by email (rob@vermontberries.com) or text (802-349-6485) with your order request.
Please see the full list of our raw honeys and jams below.
Big pot o’ honey!
photo: Liz Horstman
Our Raw Honeys
From right here in Rochester. VT:
“Berry Farm” 2023 is SOLD OUT. There will not be any 2024 Berry Farm honey–it has all been left with the bees this year for their winter supply.
1. Blackberry 2024, a spring/early summer honey made by the bees from this year’s very abundant wild blackberries. Also contains clover and dandelion. Light and fruity, it is selling fast.
2. Aster 2024 Dark and musky. Also contains goldenrod nectar but purple aster was very abundant this year and dominated the fall crop.
Also from Vermont:
3. White Clover 2024 (Waitsfield, VT) Dutch clover and mustard grass were the dominant nectar sources of this lovely honey making it platinum blonde, almost white. It comes with a note of vanilla and is now creamed and has a slightly gritty texture.
4. Black Locust 2024 (Panton, VT) light and buttery. This year’s is a little more golden than earlier vintages and now creamy and blonde.
5. Wildflower 2024 (Shaftsbury, VT) from clover & dandelion flowers mostly, and more floral than Black Locust. Beautifully smooth, creamy, and pale, this honey has the light sweetness of powdered sugar, with a hint of fruitiness about it.
6. Trefoil 2023 (Hinesburg, VT) is pale, buttery smooth and fruity, with a light taste of sweet orange. Clover and vetch nectar were also involved in this high-summer, naturally-creamed honey. Selling quickly.
7. Basswood 2023 (Shaftsbury, VT) A spring honey that has a slight “bite” like citrus. Crystallized and darker than Wildflower. Running low on this vintage. We have no 2024 Basswood because it was very rainy during bloom time and the bees were not flying much.
8. Buckthorn 2023 (Sunderland, VT) a spring honey with a butterscotch taste that is also slightly sour. Even people who say they don’t like honey like this honey! The 2023 vintage is creamy now–there was no Buckthorn harvest in 2024, probably due to wet conditions.
9. Purple Loosetrife 2024 (Hinesburg, VT) The invasive plant Lythrum salicaria likes damp ground and has made a comeback in Vermont recently due to wetter conditions. This new honey is darker than early summer honeys usually are and has fruity, candy-like vibrancy.
10. Knotweed 2024 (Putnamville, VT), a rare late summer/early fall honey that the bees made from Japanese Knotweed, Aster and Goldenrod. Smooth, creamy, darkish, with a taste of funky fruitiness.
11. “Bamboo” 2023 (Putnamville, VT) a rare late summer/early fall honey that the bees made from “Japanese Bamboo” (aka Knotweed) and other fall field weeds. Smooth, creamy, blonde, and with a taste of tropical fruit. This is is one of our Top Shelf honeys!
12. Goldenrod 2023 (Shaftsbury, VT) This fall honey has a somewhat earthy, yeasty taste and a slightly gritty texture. Not as “funky” as earlier vintages of Goldenrod we have had.
13. Goldenrod 2024 (Hinesburg, VT) Much paler than Goldenrod usually comes out–contains a good bit of Clover and Aster nectar. Creamy.
14. “Old Gold” 2024 (Granville, VT) from bees kept at Old Road Farm. It has an earthy nose (goldenrod-influenced) but lighter in color and slower to crystalize than Goldenrod usually is (perhaps due to clover and mustard nectars). In its liquid state it has the greenish tinge that you see with high fructose honeys such as Tupelo and Black Locust..
15. “Ziggy’s” 2024 (Shaftsbury, VT) Named in honor of a local Rochester honey aficionado, “Ziggy’s” is a thoroughly funky true Goldenrod honey: dark, creamed and smooth.
Seven monofloral raw honeys from out of state:
16. Wild Blueberry 2024 (Cherryfield, ME) from the vast fields of low bush blueberries north of Bar Harbor. Smooth, quite dark, and not yet crystallized.
17. Raspberry 2024 (Downeast, ME) You can taste the raspberry in it! Rich, fruity, and a little fiery, a beautiful golden-brown color, and still runny.
18. Cranberry 2022 (Cape Cod, MA) It doesn’t taste like cranberries but instead has a hint of apricot flavor. Now crystallized, it is a warm golden color and has a gritty mouth feel.
19. Dark Knotweed 2024 (Cooperstown NY) very dark with a molasses flavor and strong notes of rum raisin liqueur and dark chocolate. Unforgettable! The darker the honey the greater the health benefits, they say.
20. Star Thistle 2020 (Beulah, MI) creamy and blonde, with a taste of marzipan and notes of green apple! It’s amazing.
21. Orange Blossom 2024 (Central FL) From orange groves, with a very strong orange taste. Very popular, it is another of our Top Shelf honeys.
22. Tupelo 2024 (Ponce de Leon, FL) from the Florida panhandle swamplands, now back in stock! A rare honey with a green tinge to its color, a buttery mouth feel, and hint of spiciness. Made famous by Van Morrison’s song, Tupelo does not crystalize due to its high fructose/low glucose ratio. Top Shelf!
Here are the sizes and prices of the honey (due to rising costs, some honeys have had price increases.)
2 oz. net jar: $3 for most types; $4 for Aster, White Clover, both Knotweeds, Goldenrod ’24, and all the berry flavors; $5 for Bamboo, Orange Blossom, & Tupelo
5 oz. net jar: $6 for most types; $8 for Aster, White Clover, both Knotweeds, Goldenrod ’24, and all the berry flavors; $10 for Bamboo, Orange Blossom, & Tupelo
9 oz. net jar: $9 for most types; $12 for Aster, White Clover, both Knotweeds, Goldenrod ’24, and all the berry flavors; $15 for Bamboo, Orange Blossom, & Tupelo
13 oz. net jar: $12 for most types; $16 for Aster, White Clover, both Knotweeds, Goldenrod ’24, Berry Farm, and all the berry flavors; $20 for Bamboo, Orange Blossom, & Tupelo
18 oz. net jar: $15 for most types; $20 for Aster, White Clover, both Knotweeds, Goldenrod ’24, Berry Farm, and all the berry flavors; $25 for Bamboo, Orange Blossom, & Tupelo
38 oz net jar: $25 for most types; $35 for Aster, White Clover, both Knotweeds, Goldenrod ’24, Berry Farm, and all the berry flavors; $45 for Bamboo, Orange Blossom, & Tupelo
Honey by the pail–available in Black Locust, Wildflower, Goldenrod ’23, Old Gold, and Star Thistle: 4 lb. bucket: $35; 7 lb. bucket: $60; 12 lb. bucket: $90
Our jams are available in the three smallest sizes: Blueberry at $3, $6, and $9; Raspberry at $4, $7, and $10.
For mail orders, we add $7 for handling and materials regardless of order size, plus actual USPS shipping charges. Write to Rob at rob@vermontberries.com, or text 802-349-6485.
Some quick notes:
The ingredients in our jams are usually certified organic except for the Pomona’s fruit pectin (made from lemon peel) but sometimes we run short of certified organic fruit and can only get conventionally grown. With all our batches of jam the label accurately shows whether the ingredients are certified organic or not.
The honeys we sell are truly raw and unfiltered; and the bees are kept well away from any spraying or GMO crops, although none of the above are certified organic.
Please write to us using the contact page or to rob@vermontberries.com for more info.
