How do cover crops help our farm?

Samples of honey produced by Honey Paddle’s bees

At Honey Paddle Farm, we take a long view with honey. The planning for our honey starts the previous fall with seed selection and our goal is to utilize cover crops and specialty flowers to provide bees with a wide variety of flora to feast on before and after the naturally occurring blackberry honey flow in our area.

In our first year, we planted over 10 acres of borage, phacelia, and 3 different types of clover, vital cover crops that help build the soil. Our second year, we succession planted mustard, phacelia, and specialty flowers. Each year, our signature release of McKenzie River Blossom Honey will capture the essence of our growing season at Honey Paddle farm.

Our 2021 release of Pop of Phacelia Honey reflects “honey chasing” where our bees traveled to another Oregon farm to pollinate their crop and bee-craft a specialty honey. Phacelia is a top honey producing cover crop that can transform a field into a sea of tall, elegant, purple blooms. The flowers produce a sweet, lilac scent pleasing to bees and the honey is delectable.

For the 2022 honey harvest season, in addition to our McKenzie River Blossom Honey and Phacelia Honey harvest, we will be adding Meadowfoam and Buckwheat to our cover crop rotation. We are proud to have doubled our selection of honey each year and can’t wait for you to try the new varietals!