Adventure 44: Slide Ridge Farm
This adventure is a honey farm tour! We go to Slide Ridge Farm of Cache Valley, in the farming community Mendon, UT.
This post is dedicated in gratitude to my friend Garrett, who luckily snapped a few pictures that I was able to use. Unfortunately my phone was stolen later this day, so all my shots were lost. But don't you worry, that didn't stop this blogger from giving the readers what they want!
We started out at Deseret Hive Supply, who provided this tour of the farm. There were about 8 of us who met at the shop in Ogden, before caravaning the 1 hour drive to the farm. When we got there, there were about 20 people already there, and the tour had just gotten underway. So we ran up to catch up, dodging bees on the way.
These crates were everywhere, outside and inside the barn!
I found out later the first few minutes of the tour I missed were 'Martin's Mom' (as they called her) introducing herself as the owner's mother. Apparently Martin and his sister who run the farm were both sick, and forgot about the tour, so she was taking the reins this evening. She was a good sport, and answered the questions as best she could.
This honey farm's main product is honey wine vinegar. We were brought into rooms showing the process of extracting the honey, making the vinegar, distilling of the wine, and the feeding of the bees.
The side rooms were filled with the smell of vinegar. It was quite pungent. My nose hairs felt a little singed.
This little machine bottles the vinegar.
They do sell a bit of honeycomb as well, though I believe it's mostly just in the area. The berries they use to make the wine with are a Canadian import called Haskap berries.
These stacked crates would have been an amazing playground for me as a kid!
This sweet little dog was dodging through our feet as we walked around. Every time I tried to pet her she darted away.
That's Martin's mom in the center of the picture with her hand behind her back. The crowd was mostly composed of local hive owners, customers of Deseret Hive Supply.
Slide Ridge Farm sits near a mountain that has a noticeable run off, hence the name, 'Slide Ridge.' When the founder, Martin was a kid, playing with his friends on that mountain, they decided whoever started their business first got to use the name 'Slide Ridge.' Well, it seems Martin won the race. Martin James, and his sister Carla Bingham have been doing this for 8 years.
The owners of Deseret Hive Supply are Nate Hall, and Victor Bachman. Nice guys, they'll answer any questions you have, no matter how small. They've been in business from what I gathered just a couple of years, but have customers from all over Utah, and even Idaho coming to buy supplies from them.
They offer a free class on how to start a hive of your own. If you're interested in finding out more, check out their calendar.
After the tour, we were offered an exclusive sampling of their newest product they're working on, a soda from the vinegar and berry. It wasn't half bad, has a bit of a bite to it.
They even handed out free small bottles of the honey vinegar, which Garrett took advantage of.
I just can't get enough of this sweet dog.
Time spent on adventure: 4 hours (including travel time)
Money spent: $0
Recommendation: 7 out of 10 adventure points!
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