OUR SHED UNVEILING

Last week, we opened the doors of the Shed of Patina Meadow to our community for the first time.

Image by Lisa Romerein

After years of dreaming, designing, constructing, and learning—oh, so much learning—it was an emotional experience for Steve, Leila, and me to see the space filled with friends, both old and new.

The evening began with mingling over two of our favorite local refreshments: Honeytree Meadery Mead and Maypop Sparkling Water.

Instead of a traditional menu of wine and cocktails, we decided to offer mead, also known as honey wine. Since the educational portion of our night featured honey as the main component, it only felt right to showcase the versatility of nature's sweetener!

Upon entering, guests were greeted with a table filled with our Patina Meadow Bloomerie produce and bouquets, as well as this year's harvest of Patina Meadow honey. The sight of the Bloomerie blooms and produce, as well as the jars of golden honey set the tone for a night rooted in the beauty and bounty of nature.

Although we can't ship our produce to you (yet!), we wanted to share a bit of the goodness this table held with those of you who couldn't make it. So, we’ve added some of our Everlasting Bloomerie Bouquets and Patina Meadow Honey to our online shop.

After everyone had trickled in, the educational element of the evening began with Steven Abernathy & Claire Papevies from Greenwood Honey Company. Claire and Steven are our bee department here at Patina Meadow, managing our hives, as well as extracting and bottling our honey when that time comes. We have enjoyed learning from them so much, and we were excited to offer them a setting to share their passion for bees with you.

They brought a frame from one of our hives to uncap for everyone. Watching Steven slice through the wax to reveal the lustrous honey beneath was one of the highlights of the evening. The room filled with a sense of wonder as the honey slowly dripped from the freshly uncapped frame.

In preparation for the event, Claire and Steven prepared three kinds of honey for our guests to try: an unadulterated version from one of our hives, a Patina Meadow basil-infused honey, and rosemary honey. Our chef for the evening, Kerri Meeks, designed a menu of small bites featuring Patina Meadow Bloomerie produce to highlight their selection, and I have to say, oh my goodness—they were all delicious. After each small plate was passed around, the crowd let out a symphony of "yum."

As honey dripped from the freshly uncapped frame, Claire and Steven educated our guests about beekeeping, honey, and the importance of pollinators. It was a moment of connection, not just with the bees but with each other.

The second portion of our evening was hosted by the lovely Chelsea O'Leary of Wiley Canning Company.

Chelsea taught attendees how to substitute honey for sugar in jam and marmalade recipes, diving deep into the biochemistry behind the substitution and the ratio she recommends. Like Claire and Steven, she also whipped up some examples to try using Bloomerie produce. Her selections included Tomato Jam, Jalapeño Honey Jam, and Blackberry Honey Jam. Once again, Kerri hit it out of the park with her pairings!

We are so grateful to Claire, Steven, and Chelsea for the roles they played this evening. We cannot wait to continue learning with them. They will all return to the Shed in September to continue their teacher residencies with us. Chelsea will be going first, teaching "In Depth: Jams and Marmalades" on September 5th, where she will guide us in making some of your favorite preserves and integrating them into your cooking. You can purchase tickets here.

At the beginning of the event, I gave a short speech to set the tone for the night. Standing in the Shed, surrounded by our community, I felt a deep sense of gratitude. This space, which has been a dream for so long, is now a reality—one that we can share with all of you.

I concluded my speech with a quote from one of our favorite authors, Wendell Berry, that I would like to leave you all with too:

"If we are looking for insurance against want and oppression, we will find it only in our neighbors' prosperity and goodwill and, beyond that, in the good health of our worldly places, our homelands. If we were sincerely looking for a place of safety, for real security and success, then we would begin to turn to our communities—not just the communities of our human neighbors but also of the water, earth, and air, the plants and animals, all the creatures with whom our local life is shared."

— Wendell Berry, Racism and the Economy

Thank you for being on this journey with us. We’re looking forward to many more events and classes at the Shed, and we would love to hear your ideas or suggestions for the future. Please let us know in the comments of this post. We are here for you.

xx

Brooke