Three years ago Tribble Farms in Cumming was invited to be part of the annual Roswell Lavender Festival. Dianna Tribble and her husband Kelley keep bees in four locations on their own mountain properties which allows them to offer a variety of honeys.
But to be part of the festival, the Tribbles wanted to have something lavender-flavored or scented. “We called all over the world to source lavender honey. Kelley has many global contacts in manufacturing and beekeeping. Most lavender nectar honey is produced in Spain, France and Turkey. In the northern hemisphere, lavender honey is harvested in August and quickly sells out due to global demand, so none was available. And that’s when we realized we could create it ourselves,” said Dianna.
To make her lavender honey, she mixes lavender blossoms and honey and lets the mixture infuse for about three weeks. “We put it in the honey drum and as the drum turns, the honey absorbs the oils from the lavender flowers and when it comes out of the drum, the honey tastes like lavender smells and provides all the benefits of lavender,” Dianna Tribble said. “We’ve had a great response to it. We sell it like crazy.”
She packages the lavender honey in Muth jars, a classic square honey jar that dates from the 1800s. “It’s gourmet honey sold in a gourmet jar.” The honey is sold by weight and is available in four-ounce, eight-ounce and one pound sizes.
Although she’s grown lavender, she’s found like many others that lavender is a tough crop for Georgia. “Lavender requires arid conditions with a well-drained and sandy soil. It’s happier in the eastern Cascade mountains, in Spain, France, Turkey and Australia.” So now they purchase the lavender they use.
Her customers say one of the ways they enjoy the honey is in baking scones. They use the honey in the batter for the scones and then drizzle the baked scones with a little more honey and add a sprinkle of lavender blossoms. Tribble has an even easier way to use the honey — as a hot tea. She puts a little lavender honey in a cup of warm water and that’s it. “No tea bag. Nothing else. It’s just delicious.”
Tribble Farms is now in its third year of participating in Roswell Lavender Festival. You’ll find them there with the more than 70 vendors of soap, lotions, lavender pound cake, lavender lemonade and most anything else you can think of that could be made of or decorated with lavender, including lavender plants for you to try growing at home.
The 7th annual Roswell Lavender Festival will be held on Saturday, June 10, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Barrington Hall in Roswell. Call 770-640-3855 for more information.
For sale at local farmers markets
Vegetables, fruits and nuts: arugula, Asian greens, beets, broccolini, cabbage, cardoon, carrots, chard, collards, cornmeal, cutting celery, dandelion, English peas, escarole, fava beans, fennel, frisee, green beans, green garlic, green onions, grits, herbs, kale, kohlrabi, leeks, lettuce, microgreens, microherbs, morels, mushrooms, mustard greens, parsnips, peaches, polenta, radicchio, radishes, spinach, strawberries, sugar snap peas, summer squash, tomatoes, turnips
From local reports
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