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Nearly Enlightened
Join Nearly Enlightened's host Giana Giarrusso and discover the body, mind and spirit connection! The Nearly Enlightened Podcast is for the soul-centered seeker who is on the path of personal growth and spiritual development. This podcast takes a light-hearted approach exploring topics rooted in themes of mental, physical and spiritual wellbeing.
Nearly Enlightened
Finding Balance Through Life's Different Seasons with Kelly McMenamin
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Kelly from Forest Farms is back on the podcast—just four and a half months postpartum, baby Walker in her lap—to give us an honest look at what it's really like balancing motherhood, beekeeping, herbalism, and a growing small business rooted in clean, intentional living.
We dive into the world of bees, unpacking everything from swarms, queen cells, and hive splits to what "bearding" actually means and why catching a swarm can make or break a colony. If you've ever been curious about what goes on inside a hive, this episode is your crash course.
Then we talk honey. Why is spring honey light and floral while fall honey is darker and richer? What does local honey actually tell you about where it came from? Kelly walks us through the harvesting process, why raw honey naturally crystallizes, what that foamy layer on top really means, and why less processing often means a better product.
The conversation expands into holistic wellness, non-toxic living, and becoming a more conscious consumer. We cover beeswax skincare, castor oil serums, clean candles, hidden fragrances, soil health, organic gardening, tick season, and why her homemade pickles somehow steal the show at every farmers market.
If you're passionate about sustainable living, supporting local farms, and bringing cleaner, more intentional products into your home, this episode is packed with practical takeaways and plenty of fascinating bee facts along the way.
Nearly Enlightened Podcast
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Welcome To Nearly Enlightened
SPEAKER_01Welcome to the Nearly Enlightened Podcast, a high vibe toolbox designed to help you connect to your body, mind, and spirit. I am your host, Gianna Girusso, and I'm here to share tools, conversations, and insights to help you on your journey of self-discovery. This podcast is all about exploring what it means to live a conscious, connected, and nearly enlightened life because the truth is the answers don't lie outside of us. They are already within. Let's dive in.
Postpartum Return And Forest Farms Update
SPEAKER_01Kelly is here from Forest Farms. You might have heard her on a previous episode. I think it was last season. It was like a year ago. More than that. Yeah. Maybe. Yeah. I think two.
SPEAKER_02Say it again. Did you do two? No, I've done one, but I believe it was almost two years ago.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's crazy. So if you haven't listened to that, go back, listen. You'll hear a little bit about the inception of her company, Forest Farms. And we're back today. She's four and a half months postpartum. Queen.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. So baby in lap. Yep. In my lap with this bottle. So if you hear a little cry, that's my dude. Or is Lurp.
SPEAKER_01Or a Burp. A BARP. This is a nearly enlightened first. This is exciting. So we were just talking like a little bit before we got recording. And you're back. Forest Farms is back. You did your first farmer's market. Yes.
SPEAKER_02My first one of this year. I am at Mount Hope Farm in Bristol, which is a lovely ground. They have a million farmers' vendors that go, they have a million food trucks. It's all it's really good. That's fun. The lawn is super nice.
SPEAKER_01They have to not be a Rhode Islander and make the drive.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, probably only about like 20 minutes.
SPEAKER_01But you know, it's the bridge. Yeah. No, two bridges to get there. My sister got married in Bristol. It's nice. Yeah, it's very pretty. Yeah, it's really pretty. Anyways, so we're here to talk a little bit about forest farms, and you have some exciting news. You just had something major happen today. Oh, today.
SPEAKER_02Or is it oh yeah, today? Yeah.
How Beekeeping Became Her Work
SPEAKER_02I dropped my merch. I'm selling tank tops, sweatshirts. I have bags with pickles on them because when you buy the pickles, you need something to carry your pickles in. The best pickles ever. And then I have men's t-shirts, and it has my honey label small on the front and big on the back. It's so cute.
SPEAKER_01There's like little bees on the tank tops. Very neutral. Yeah. Trying to go neutral. Love that. Yeah. You put up a video, and that's like what I want to talk about a little bit is like the actual beekeeping. And oh gosh. Yeah. How did you get into it?
SPEAKER_02So I got into it. My husband was the beekeeper, and he started his own electrical business, local solar electric, your neighborhood electricians. Holla at us if you need any electrical work. And he started getting super busy. So he's like, you need to kind of take it over. So I went to B school. Like it was that like every Friday for about like three months. And it was like three and a half hour classes, three hour classes. And it was great. It was run by a woman, Betty, who is one of the best speekeepers in Rhode Island. Super informative. And yeah, it was great. So I went once a week for three hours of class, and here we are, three years later.
SPEAKER_01That's awesome. And you love it, and you're so good at it. Love watching your videos, like that swarm that you had. That was wild. That was wild.
SPEAKER_02So a swarm, like in my book, is actually like a mistake. So the the reason your bees swarm is because there's not enough room in the hive, or if the queen is not doing well. So what will happen is the queen will fly away with half the colony. So there are indications that a swarm is gonna happen. Extreme bearding, which means all of the bees on the outside of the hive, and they'll just like be out, and you'll just know if they're out that much, you'll know that they're getting ready. And then if you go through your hive, they will have queen cells, and queen cells is elongated where they make a queen, so there'll be multiple and you'll see it. So my fault was I just didn't get into that hive soon enough. Which, if that has happened, there are things that you can do to prevent the swarm. And so I didn't get into there, so they did swarm. Luckily, they swarmed into my that was my mom's yard on the swing.
SPEAKER_01So I was able to you have that set up intentionally, so they go down. That's my child's swing. Oh my gosh, that's so crazy.
SPEAKER_02That is my child's swing. There are swarm traps you can do, but they're typically nukes, which are like small hives. But no, that was my child swinging swing set. So I am very fortunate that I was able to catch that swarm because then that means that whole that's a whole colony, so I can create another hive from that. But if I didn't catch it, it would have flown away and I am missing out on another hive, which is one expensive to get, two hard to do.
SPEAKER_01And so yeah, I'm very fortunate I was able to catch it. That's awesome. How many hives do you have now?
SPEAKER_02I did a split this year with I have a few hives at my at my house, and I was able to split that one. So I have three at my house, and then I have two on another property.
SPEAKER_01Was that kind of like the inspiration behind forest farms was like bringing honey and bee products forward?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, basically forest farms, yeah, because it happened with all of my wax and the beeswax, but I think that kind of like fell into the mix. Forest farms really started because I became an herbalist. And so like I was working with like salves and stuff like that, and then the beekeeping kind of just obviously naturally worked its way with it.
SPEAKER_01Oh, that's so amazing! Yeah, I love, I mean, I'm obsessed with your products, you know. I've been waiting for my rose toner. I'm so excited.
SPEAKER_02Thank you.
SPEAKER_01I brought you I brought you some products. Oh, I'm so excited. I am like such a fan of the chapstick, it's amazing. Thank you. Stays on your lips so long.
SPEAKER_02Well, it has the honey, it has my honey in it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so like I can put it on at night, and when I wake up in the morning, it's still on. That's wild. It's the shea butter too.
SPEAKER_02It's all wholesome good ingredients, so and it lasts forever. Yeah, it lasts forever. That one I'm not pumping chemicals in it, and it's not typically chapstick. The way the companies make it is
Swarms, Queen Cells, And Catching Colonies
SPEAKER_02to make your body need it more.
SPEAKER_01It's petroleum-based too. So which, yeah. Yeah, I mean, I'm a big fan of like knowing what I'm putting on my body. That's why I also love your face cream and your eye serum. Thanks so much.
SPEAKER_02The eye serum is I I label it eye serum, but it's really like an anti-aging, like all around good serum.
SPEAKER_01Well, I love that, and it's perfect because I just had an episode with my friend Kat, who is a face yoga teacher, and we are obviously very anti any kind of injection. So it's perfect because it gives you something wholesome to put on your skin that actually works.
SPEAKER_02Casta oil base, castor oil, it's magic. Yep. It's so regular old a row tip in there to take the red out, tighten it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's all that's so good. It's so good. And the the little metal ball at the top like stays cold. So you're and you could put it in the fridge too, probably. Pro trick putting it in the fridge, having a nice little roller. I need to do that, and then put some of my Mare eye Gels over it. So good. Little guy is gonna burp now. Yes, he is. My little spit-up man. How has it been? So, like you're transitioning into mama of three and then also coming back from your maternity leave. What's that been like?
SPEAKER_02It's been great, honestly. I'm returning back from maternity leave, and what that really just means is like I I I typically make my product made to order, but I mean I will make batches and just like keep it in storage and yada yada. So I was really out of all of my product. I I I didn't make more. And so coming back from maternity leave, what that really just meant was me starting to make more product and have it available for everyone else. But then like me coming out, it's the nice weather, that's bee season. So like I had to like I have to get into my hives, and because I do have I have two new hives, those take a lot of work. So like the bees are like my main focus.
SPEAKER_01So how many hives and like how much honey does that produce?
SPEAKER_02Oh gosh, there's no there's no strict answer to that. It's about like health of the bees. Yeah, but also if you're looking at a hive, right? You typically have two boxes, one on top of the other. The bottom one, let's say that's all brood, which is babies, and then the top one is the frames. There's all it's all honey, and they need that top box to be filled with honey to get through the winter. So you really shouldn't be touching any honey within that. So then you put honey supers on top of that, which means those are boxes that have frames in it that are made for honey for you to extract. So it kind of depends on when you get the honey super on there and how much you can take off. So, like I have two hives, I'm not putting a honey super on it because I'm letting the bill the bees build themselves up. So, I mean, I don't know, but I have I have three hives doing really good. So I think I'm gonna have a lot of honey. Oh, that's exciting. I think I'm gonna have a lot of honey. I love your honey. Yeah. Well, this one, it's also going to be super light spring honey. I live, I have a field behind my yard and it has black locust
Herbalism And Clean Skincare Products
SPEAKER_02trees around it. So in the bee world, that is like superior bee honey food. Like, oh, that's so interesting. So, I mean, call me bias, knock on marble, not wood. But I'm like, why is wood? Okay, I'm like, why is my honey so good? Right. And like I've had a million people's honey, like I'm I'm just saying facts. Like, why is my honey so good? So then I took a picture of around my hive, and on the iPhone, like there was this new feature where it says what the plant is around it. So it said what the it the plant was around it, it was black locusts, and then it that's what says it creates the most. I forgot what the word it used, but it creates the most like superior like flavor-wise, yeah. So it's yeah, I think maybe just like the sweetness, the pure, like I I mean I don't really know the answer to that, but it said it just makes it a high quality honey.
SPEAKER_01It's funny, I didn't know about the honey color in correlation to the season until you told me that last year.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so this honey that my next batch will probably be super light because it's spring honey.
SPEAKER_01And I had your fall honey last and it was super dark, yeah, like amber.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, because the plant was so good. It was so the dark one. That was, I mean, it's hard for me to say that was the best. I was just about to say that was the best, but then I think about my super light spring honey, which it changes, right? So the dark fall one, your body craves like deeper, richer things. That's how it tastes. It tastes deeper, like you you can tell it's like an amber color. Then you have the spring honey, which is super light and it almost has like a tiny bit of floral hint, and it's super sweet. So, like it it changes with your body and really what you're craving, where this the spring is light because in the summer you want all the light food, like you're feeling mobile, you want to live.
SPEAKER_01It is like a more floral time, and it's funny because like uh there's a lot of people who use honey for like natural allergy relief, and it makes sense that honey would be seasonal, so you're getting those kind of that pollen and nutrients, yeah, from around the season, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Um I heard I saw someone actually say that that was a myth the other day on Facebook, but from my understanding, the bees pull all of the pollen from your surroundings and they put that into the honey. So having a teaspoon or whatever tablespoon a day will give you almost like a small amount of the pollen that you are around.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I uh that makes so much sense. We actually did it for my dog because he has really bad allergies, he's like a typical pit bull, he's got itchy ears and itchy belly. Michaela was on, she is a pet herbalist, and um so we have him on some burdock now, so we'll see
Maternity Leave Then Back To Bee Season
SPEAKER_01if that works. Uh he just had like a bad flare-up, but we were doing the honey bee pollen for a little while. Oh, we were doing great local bee pollen, and we did notice a difference. He's ready to rock now.
SPEAKER_02My son is just laughing at Gianna right now.
SPEAKER_01He's like, What are these ladies doing? Hi so taking care of the bees and making your products and raising three kids, like how do you balance it all?
SPEAKER_02Um, I don't know. You just uh you just gotta figure it out. You don't like I mean you just you make it look so easy. Oh, thank you. I appreciate that, but I mean it's not always easy, and I practice, I try to practice being a calmer, better mom every day. That's the goal, and just like try not to lose it.
SPEAKER_01I think we're all trying not to lose it. That's why this that's why this podcast was born. It's like finding the tools that work for you, and I know for you too, you're also a yoga teacher. Yes, and leaning on those tools is always helpful.
SPEAKER_02Super sad. I mean, yoga has just taken the backseat. It is something I love and something that I probably need more of in my life.
SPEAKER_01But it's like the physical practice that takes a back seat. I feel like we still practice the other.
SPEAKER_02I've actually been neglecting that part also in being my calmer yogi, but that also should be stepping up into my practices.
SPEAKER_01No, you're you're perfect, you're exactly where you're supposed to be.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, no, I'm not that bad. I'm trying to figure it out, handle it. I mean, I'm handling it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's what it is. We're doing the best we can with what we have at this time.
SPEAKER_02And that's I mean, look at my kids. So I mean so happy and like the
Honey Color, Seasons, And Allergy Talk
SPEAKER_02I'm doing a pretty good job.
SPEAKER_01So running around in your backyard with your garden. It's like such a magical way to grow. Have you seen my cherry trees? No, if you follow me on Instagram, I've been posting all about my cherry trees. Where can people find you if they're looking to find you? Because you should go watch that video of the swarm. It was honestly one of the coolest things I've ever seen.
SPEAKER_00Wild.
SPEAKER_02I'm pretty sure my Instagram name is just my name, Kelly K-E-L-L-Y underscore McMeneman, M-C-M-E-N-A-M-I-N. Or you can just search forest farms and it's just a picture of me. It's my personal account. I chose not to do a business and then do my own account because my business is me, right? So, like if I'm posting my kids and stuff, like I'm also like posting forest, obviously of forest farms. So, like my business is me. So I never made a personal. So, yeah, forest farms or a Kelly McMediman. And what was I saying?
SPEAKER_01Just that you share like all of the oh yeah, all my cherry trees.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. So I I was been posting on my story of my cherry trees. My son picks them, my daughter picks them. Like these were sticks that my husband planted in the front yard, and now they're full tall cherry trees. It's unbelievable.
SPEAKER_01It's amazing. We we have a peach tree like that, and it's about to like pop off.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01My dad was a farmer, he grew up in Italy on a fig, olive, and almond bar. Oh amazing. So they they're like very Americanized now, but we do like fruit trees. We've always had a bar yard. Yeah, every house. One day I I want a pear tree. Oh, yeah, so delicious. Yeah, for sure. And it's like growing your own food, it literally tastes different.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. My husband, he does he does the gardening. I mean, I mean, he is the heart behind my pickles and all of the dill, all of the cucumber. Like he does all of that. All I do is pick and pick and cook it. But he does it like everything is organic, like the dirt that like he moved all that dirt, brought that in, like organic seeds, everything.
SPEAKER_01And and that's so important when it talks about like the quality of food. Like we were talking about this. Actually, this is an episode that hasn't come out yet. It might come out before or after this, but it's an episode with D. She's been on a bunch, and she lives on a farm in Panama, and she works heavily with the soil. And we talk about it all the time about like how soil health is so important for the health of everyone.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. And then even just like maintaining everything, like you can't be spraying it with stuff and all the chemicals, like I'm just and I'm not worried about like when my kids run on the lawn barefoot and like when they lay down or if Sunny eats grass or something.
SPEAKER_01That's a peace of mind that you can't put a price on, true.
SPEAKER_02And like, I don't care when she goes in my room and rips out my chapstick, and I'm just like, hell yeah, girl, get it. Like that has all the honey in it. I'm like, and you know where the ingredients are from. Yeah, so like I'm not worried when my when she does stuff like that.
SPEAKER_01That's like I I fell in love with your products instantly, and I I just love knowing what's in what I'm using, and I've used like all of the natural stuff out there, and it's still like not you're still making compromises for things that aren't like super healthy.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, thank you. I appreciate that.
SPEAKER_01We gotta get some colors now, some chapstick like tints.
SPEAKER_02Tinted, honestly. I've I I thought about doing that right, and I just didn't know how well it was sell, but I have I'm gonna use I I wanted to do it, and I have rose colored clay to make like a rose tinted. Oh, yeah, I would love that. I would purchase that in a heartbeat. Yeah, yeah. I
Balancing Kids, Business, And Yoga Tools
SPEAKER_02thought about it.
SPEAKER_01You just need like a little a little something, yeah.
SPEAKER_02I thought about it, but one thing that is gonna come back. I wasn't gonna make it, but a lot of people have been asking, so I am I know the ticks are bad. So I'm coming back with a tick splash repellent spray.
SPEAKER_01Oh, need that. So I just had an event in Jamestown, it was a sound bath and meditation. Oh, I saw that. Yeah, it was awesome. But I came home and I had a tick on me, and I was like, ew, it just give me. I guess it's pretty bad right now. Yeah, and it's funny because we've had three events in the past there, and that's never happened to me before. Oh, yeah. It's crazy, it's not something. So when I was living out west, it's like not something we even think about there. It's like nothing I had to worry about. I mean, I think they might have like like mild, but it's not like it is here. It's really crazy. I feel uncomfortable. It sucks because I feel like uncomfortable hiking here because they're they just give me the ick so bad. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02My daughter had one on her ear the other day. Oh and I I didn't like seeing it. It was right in the back and I got it right off.
SPEAKER_01And they're gross, and they like you can't the only way to kill them is like burn them. Yeah, yeah. They're so resilient, it's so crazy. I will be purchasing that, so let me know when it's really I will, I'll post it. I have two more events coming up in Jamestown. So I want to, yeah. So I want to make sure I get that because that like really grossed me out. Yeah, no thanks. Luckily, I was wearing green, so it's like I could see it, but it was it was there, yeah. And it's funny, it sends your nervous system. You like you talk about practicing like what you preach, like sent my nervous system into a pizzy. Yeah, and I was like, I gotta breathe down. Yeah, I need to calm down, I need to reel it in. But it's like part of that that practice and like ebbing and flowing and not being perfect and being a student and just watching yourself when it happens perpetually, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, trying to bring yourself down.
SPEAKER_01What else can we look forward to? I don't know, pickle season, baby. I know. Like do you ship those or no? That's local only.
SPEAKER_02Local only.
SPEAKER_01Rhode Islanders get on it, follow her, find her.
SPEAKER_02How are you having how are you having a cookout without pickles?
SPEAKER_01Good pickles.
SPEAKER_02And like, do I dare say if you're having a cookout without my pickles, your cookout sucks. Like my pickles are fresh, organic. Like, I don't know why you wouldn't. And it's sandwich season. Bring it to the beach, stuff a little pickle in.
SPEAKER_01Definitely. I love and some of your products. That I just like absolutely cannot live without would be like the face cream, the eye serum. I do love the honey too. I love your honey. Honestly, all of your products. The rose toner. We're big fans of it here at Soul Sanctuary. Thank you so much.
SPEAKER_02It's funny. My like joke of when I'm at farmers markets, my go-to joke is my pickles are by far my best seller. And I'm just like, I do like I get
Organic Gardens, Soil Health, And Homegrown Food
SPEAKER_02I do all this work for my bees, right? And like I I do the hand lotion bars with the wax, I do the chapstick with the wax, and like my bees are work itself. I'm just like, I have all these products that I do work in, and I'm like, just to have my pickles be my best seller.
SPEAKER_01I mean, the case does speak for itself, and I'll tell a story. So we had an event here at Soul Sanctuary, and you had a table here. And a woman drove from like crazy lengths. Remember that? Yeah, it was like she drove like an hour just to get pickles.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. And then she was supposed to come to my farmer's market two weeks ago and she couldn't make it. And she was wondering if she was like, Well, she wanted five of them. And I'm just like, I don't have she asked for them, and I I sold, I sold out within probably about like an hour being there. And she asked for them, and I'm just like, no, I'm sorry, you have to get them for the next farmer's market. So she is driving to Bristol. I'm pretty sure she is, I'm pretty sure she's in South County. Or I don't actually, I don't really know.
SPEAKER_01I don't know, but I know she drove like an hour here to Coventry. So I was coming to my next dedication. That speaks to the quality of the city.
SPEAKER_02Shout out, Tracy. I love, I love the loyalty.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. I mean, like you said, the taste and the quality speak for itself. And when you're creating something, I think that's the other thing about these products. It's like these are very healing down to the sound that they make, down to the shapes that they create. What they can inject. And I think that it's it speaks to the quality of the product too. It's like you're creating it with such intention because your intention is to feed and put things on your kids that are like the best healthiest it could be. Yeah. So, like, obviously, like you feel that intention in the products that you use. My son loves the rose toner.
SPEAKER_02Oh my gosh, like it is cute. It is obnoxious. No, it's cute until it's like mama spraying me with the rose toner, rose gold, baby. And I'm like, come on. But my husband started that. My husband uses so much of it, and
Tick Repellent And Summer Market Plans
SPEAKER_02then he sees him do it, so he wants to do it. And I mean, it's all great ingredients, so I don't really care. But yeah, my son is definitely my biggest fan. That's he walks around, it's really cute. He walks around, like they don't let they don't let my pickles go, but they walk around doing it. Like today we were picking all the cherries, and he straight up said to me, He was like, Mama, why don't you take these cherries to your farmer's market? And I'm just like, that's cute, boy. Like, I don't have enough. I mean, I have enough for us to eat, but it's not like a selling thing that I would ever do. But it was so cute that he just he's got a little entrepreneurial brain.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, he walks around telling people I'm a beekeeper too. Oh my gosh, that's it's really cute. I mean, it's important work, like if people like it's something that could be a lost art very easily because we're so detached from like where our food comes from and how it gets on our plates. Like, we think we just go to the grocery store and buy honey, but like that stuff is probably not even honey, it's probably corn syrup. That's probably awful or honey. So, like actually knowing where it comes from and like knowing how to do it, it's it's important work. Yeah, do you think he'll learn for us? Yeah, he'll be the next beekeeper. You'll have generations of beekeepers.
SPEAKER_02I honestly I think he I think he will, yeah. He always wants to be near them. My husband and I would love to get him a B suit so he can, but I don't know. I think he's not scared of them by any means. Like he goes to my backyard and like looks at my hives and stuff.
SPEAKER_01And it's not for the faint of heart that one time you came here, you were like you got 20 stunk stings, you were pregnant.
SPEAKER_02That was that was wild. Bees got into my suit that time, and I got I think I had like 25 stings on me. That was wild. Yeah, I mean, people think that just because you're wearing a suit, like I still get my ass beat. Yeah, I mean like I get get rushed off.
SPEAKER_01Right, it's hard work, yeah. It's hard work, but like you But I go in with a plan, like just like anything else.
SPEAKER_02I don't like going in, I don't go in without like having a plan. I mean, bees allowed. It's when you're in there, you're in there, and like I I want to make sure I know what I'm doing. Like I have a plan and like my tools are all there, everything is lined up, I have space to work on.
Why Pickles Outsell Everything
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And how important is it to like also honor the bees and like kind of like this gift that they're giving us?
SPEAKER_02You have to because they will smell fear. They like if you're scared, they pick up on it for sure. So like I try to I try to chill out. I'm not saying I'm scared, but I mean it's like they start getting angry when you get when then you see them get angry, like my my heart's pounding a little bit more.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02They'll fly, they fly around more, they get more aggressive. So it's yeah, it's it's wild. It's great, but yeah.
SPEAKER_01What is the cycle like? Like when so, like how does it work? When do you take honey? So does it like take a certain number of weeks, or it kind of depends?
SPEAKER_02It kind of depends. It like I put on some honey supers, I don't know when they're gonna be filled, I don't know how long it's gonna take them to draw comb. They need to draw comb on a frame in order to make honey. But I do have some honey supers that definitely have capped honey on it, which means completed honey. So I mean there's no set answer for that. And then once the honey is ready, you can pull it, you spin it, it's a whole process. I have like an electric light knife, so it's capped honey. So you have to think on the end of it, it's capped with wax. So I have an electric knife where it's heated and I so like melts the wax. Yeah, so I kind of slice it down, but you have to be careful because you don't want to slice too much honey. So I'll slice down all of the wax, and I have a bowl that collects all the wax, and then I take the honey and I put it in my centrifuge and I spin it, and I do like three frames at a time, spin it, flip them. I'll I film all of this when I do it. You know, you guys know it's coming when I do it because I post like preparing, like I'll wash all my jars, and it's the most fascinating content because it's like I said, it's like important to be connected to where these things come from, and like it's the bees are doing this literally amazing work creating it's legitimate medicine.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I mean, it never goes bad. The the properties of it are insane.
SPEAKER_02About two weeks ago, so I have two hives, one that swarmed, and then the one next to it, I never got into it because you gotta imagine. I said that I didn't get into it because, and that's why it's swarmed. So then finally I was like, all right, I need to get into the other one, and I got into the other one, and I had a separate box on top of this hive, which had nothing in it to give them some feed and stuff for the winter. Anyway, so that was all gone, but they had in that empty space, they had built comb. So I had literal like honey comb, which is different because I sell honey. Honeycomb is having like the drawn out wax with the separate, and that and I wasn't prepared for that. I was in the hive, I was covered up, and I wasn't prepared to have that, but that's like a huge selling thing, and it was just like unbelievable. It was literal like white honey, almost like clear.
SPEAKER_01Well, you told me what what's the name of that, like kind of like white foamy stuff. If you ever get that at the top of your honey.
SPEAKER_02Oh god, I don't I don't know the name of that. You were telling me about oh yeah, it's like on my honey sometimes. It depends on like the batch, but like there's like a thin layer of like almost like crystals on top, and like it can almost like the grit, not even grit, like that's a strong word. Like you can kind of like get the small little grain, and it's really like crystals. It's like I don't know if it's the a little of pollen, I don't know if it's a little of like the crystals,
Generational Beekeeping And Getting Stung
SPEAKER_02but it's decadent.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's unable. I had it at the top of the fall honey, which was like really incredible. Some people scoop it out, they think it's like bad, and I'm like, oh my god, don't. I'm like, that's like the big thing. I used that honey so sparingly. It's because I wanted to like savor every drop that was.
SPEAKER_02I mean, I've had two super, super good honey crops, and that dark honey was absolutely one of them.
SPEAKER_01What are so if people are listening and they aren't from Rhode Island, where can they what products can they order online? Do you still are you still shipping online?
SPEAKER_02Yep, I do have a website, it does take a percentage of what I put out. So if you're listening, just message me, we can do a Venmo deal. But everything online you can really get. I have my honey sometimes on there, but message me because I have it, it's it's marked as sold out right now. And but I do have it in stock. And I sometimes, I mean, mom of three running business, sometimes I just forget to just put it up. So you can always just message me. But majority of my things are shippable. I will not ship pickles, but I do I will ship my honey, my lotions, my toners, candles, yeah, everything's available.
SPEAKER_01Yes, and the candles are so good. I swear the coffee scented candle is the only thing that takes like the food. Like, I hate when my house smells like food. Like after you cook, that like that just like yeah, not like while it's cooking. While it's cooking, it's great, it smells great. But after dinner, when it like lingers, that drives me insane. And your coffee candle is the only thing I swear that like makes that scent go away.
SPEAKER_02And it's it's pretty wild because I there's only three ingredients in that, but also being careful of what you burn because I mean you have to be careful of what you're inhaling, yeah, and what your children are inhaling.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and most of those candles, like like Yankee Candle, Bath and Body Works, they're like fragrance, endocrine disruptors, yeah.
SPEAKER_02The fragrance, the fragrance in itself, when when it's written fragrance on a label, it has a million ingredients in it. Yeah, I know. And candles parfume when people say that.
SPEAKER_01Yep, candles and like that kind of thing were something that I gave up for a long time. So I was like happy to have your your coffee candles and feel good about it.
SPEAKER_02Thank you. I have coffee and then I have lemon with rose petals on it in stock right now.
SPEAKER_01Oh, very pretty. Oh, nice and light and summary. I had one classic all the time coffee. I do find that's my one of my best seller scents. I'm telling you, the way that it just
Honey Harvest Process And Honeycomb Surprise
SPEAKER_01like like when you need a scent change in your house and it's not overpowering.
SPEAKER_02Or at least I always want my coffee.
SPEAKER_01It's funny, I didn't drink coffee for like over 10 years.
SPEAKER_02Wild. I just a wild choice.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I know. I couldn't, it made me like jittery and awful. And then I found like one brand of coffee that doesn't bother me. Yeah, and I've like tried to test it out, and I'm like, no, it's literally the only coffee I can drink. I didn't start drinking coffee until I was pregnant with my second.
SPEAKER_02It's like I just I just like wanted a crave, I just wanted a coffee one time and then it just never went back.
SPEAKER_01Oh my gosh, that's so funny. Yeah, I was always a coffee drinker because I feel like in Italian culture, it's like part of it's like you have to. Yeah, it's like part of how you I'll I won't do hot.
SPEAKER_02It's something about hot that I just can't see.
SPEAKER_01I'm a true I like I love a cappuccino, that's like how I start my day. Yeah, I love the frothing and like warming of the milk, and that's another thing that I'm super picky about where it comes from. Yeah, and like I know where it comes from. It comes from a farm here in Connecticut. I travel 42 to 48 minutes each way because you can't buy raw milk in Rhode Island. So I literally travel to Connecticut at least once a week to get raw milk. That's fine. And it's fresh. Like when I go pick it up, it was milked from the cow that morning and put on the shelf. Wow. So I'm super picky about where I come from, where my coffee comes from. It's funny, I met somebody out here to discuss. We met at one of the local coffee shops, and I literally brought my milk with me. And I was like, I'm sorry to be this girl. I was like, I'm sorry to be this girl, but I am the girl. Yeah, like I can find. You know, like I I like I'm not low maintenance. I I'm gonna drink, I need to drink the filtered water. I need organic produce. I need to know like where my ingredients come from, and like this is something that I'm not willing to compromise to put in your body. So I will drive 48 minutes each way to get my milk, and I will bring it to the local coffee shop. Unapologetically, unapologetically, exactly. Maybe next time I need to just buy a bunch of like honey sticks and just keep those with me.
SPEAKER_02I'm not using your junk honey.
SPEAKER_01Honestly, it doesn't sound horrible.
SPEAKER_02Whoops, dude, because you don't know what like coffee shops are definitely not using local honey, they're using honey and it has all the stuff in it.
SPEAKER_01Some of them around here, though, I will give it to them. Like, I know like anything, there's a few. I don't, yeah, and I don't know about like sweeteners that they're using, but I know that like Nitro Bar uses Wright's Farm dairy milk, which is awesome. That is awesome. There's Lighthouse in Lighthouse in North Kingstown and they use Monroe Dairy Milk. Oh, that's good. Like, so I have to give places like that big props because that's awesome. Like we're we're starting to see we're starting to see people who get it, and I love that and quality ingredients.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, it's important. It is.
SPEAKER_01I mean, that's why, yeah.
SPEAKER_02I would I would go somewhere specifically for that reason, right?
SPEAKER_01Like go out of my way for that. Same, same. I mean, yeah, I drive like almost an hour each way to get milk. And like I would do it for a lot of things. Like, we just recently started getting meat from uh a friend's bobby hobby farm. Okay. And like I love knowing I love knowing that he uh is doing it in a regenerative way that it's it's truly pasture raised. I know where it's getting butchered and packaged. Yeah, like there you can't put a price on that on that peace of mind. And the quality of meat tastes different. It's crazy, just like everything else. I mean, it's funny, like
Ordering Online Plus Clean Candles
SPEAKER_01the the steaks that we got were almost like they almost had like a lamb tasting quality to them because they were truly out in the pasture, raised the way that they were intended instead of pumped with genetically modified grains. Oh yeah. Oh my gosh. Yeah, it's a story for another podcast. I know that yeah. Maybe I need to get my brother, he plays hockey with my brother, so like he would be a fun podcast guest. Yeah, for sure. I love people who are like doing things to make the in a way that's intentional. Yes. Yeah, yes, and I truly believe you're doing that with forest farms. I appreciate that. Yeah. I mean, you are even the way you're raising your kids, like having kids raised in a garden, like you can't put a price on that time.
SPEAKER_02I don't really I don't really like think of it that way. I I just which is like nice to hear because the way I think about it, like I'm just doing like trying, I'm just trying to do like what I think is best.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Like I I just I'm trying to do what I think is like best with my kids, like when I give them that food and stuff. So I I I didn't like I didn't really look at it in that point of view.
SPEAKER_01No, it's like a big deal, and I think I think I see it that way because I kind of grew up that way. We always grew up with the garden, and like we knew. Like, I think it's important to know how to grow things. Like I can't just ask you.
SPEAKER_02I can't say that I know how to grow things because my husband does it all.
SPEAKER_01Honestly, I mean your plants are insane, even your indoor plants. Oh my god, he is wild.
SPEAKER_02I will not take any credit for that.
SPEAKER_01He is the green thumb, he is like I took his advice in the studio. You have to take a peek before you leave, but the plants are now popping off. He's really good at he's good at what he does.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and then this is like just like a passion of his. Like he just likes planting and growing things. Like we've had we have unbelievable plants.
SPEAKER_01I mean, you're an awesome team. That's he's he plants and does it all.
SPEAKER_02I'll cook it and process it. Process everything. Yeah, that's awesome. I love that. It's almost homemade tomato pasta sauce season.
SPEAKER_01Oh my gosh, yes. And as an Italian, I appreciate and love that.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I watch my Instagram stories. I'll sh I show I'll make I'll make a sauce probably every other day with the amount of tomatoes that we get.
SPEAKER_01When is your next farmer's market if you're local to Rhode Island? So that you can come find Kelly.
SPEAKER_02My next farmer's market will be June 27th from 9 to 12:30 at Mount Hope Farm. That's gonna be the first time I have my merch. I will be very excited. I will have pickles. I spent five hours yesterday getting my pickles. Get there earlier, you might not get them. It's true. Samples will be out. All my products will be there. I'll be there with my rose toner. I'll have coffee and lemon-scented candles, and I'm working on trying to get body butter made for this week, next weekend, because you guys are all gonna get dry and dry in the sun and then get replenished. So I'll get whipped body butter ready for that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Be ready, June 27th, Mount Hope Farm. If you're local to Rhode Island, and if you're not, you can reach out to Kelly on her Instagram. I'll link that in the show notes too. You can just send me all the links that you want to put there, and then you can also order online if you're not local to the area and you want something shipped to you, it's absolutely worth it. I promise you'll love it. Is there anything else you want to add before we close up?
SPEAKER_02I don't, but thank you always for having me. Oh my gosh, thank you for being here.
SPEAKER_01Of course. Fantastic job. Oh my gosh, thank you. And thank you so much for tuning into today's episode of the Nearly Enlightened podcast. If this conversation resonated with you, I would love it if you shared it, left a review, or you can reach out to me directly and let me know your thoughts. And if you're looking for more ways to deepen your connection to body, mind, and spirit, check out my Meditate to Elevate Guided Meditation portal or
Sourcing Raw Milk And Better Ingredients
SPEAKER_01visit nearlyenlightened.com for more resources. Until next time, stay curious, stay connected, and remember the answers are already within you.
