Bees & Trees Ramps Up "Sarah's Garden" And Partners with Shamrock Acres, LLC
In 2018, we created Sarah’s Garden, a commercial, cut-flower garden we named for Teresa’s mother. Although Sarah passed the next year, she was able to enjoy the blossoms on many of the 90 peonies and hundreds of spring bulbs we had planted in her honor that year. Sarah loved flowers of any kind--particularly peonies--and had even been president of her garden club in Winchester, Va. Sarah's Garden remains a living reminder of someone who so deeply touched our soul.
Our original vision for Sarah's Garden called for us to continue planting and expanding our operation each year for the next five--then the pandemic hit and on top of that, Teresa was ill for a couple of years and so we had to put the completion of Sarah’s Garden on hold.
Now, however, we are back in expansion mode! We are excited to announce that we have just partnered with local professional cut-flower gardener, Sandi Lance, of Shamrock Acres!
Shamrock Acres is a one-woman-flower-operator that gets ongoing support from her husband and children! Sandi's been growing cut flowers since 2019--you may have seen her at either the Remington or the Warrenton Farmer's Market. Sandi has also partnered with other local flower growers to provide Virginia grown blooms to an even larger community.
Like Bees & Trees, Shamrock Acres cares about the environment and is very careful not to use pesticides or herbicides that harm the environment or our kill our native pollinators. Partnering with Bees & Trees Sandi will be adding more perennials and bulbs to her existing line up which includes dahlias, peonies, sea holly, daffodils, tulips and hydrangeas just to name a few.
So look for cut flowers in The Farm Store each weekend during the growing season as Sandi will be providing her farm-grown bouquets and arrangements for sale! And, as we start offering weddings on the farm, Sandi will be our provider for farm-fresh local flowers!
The Farm Store Is Now FULLY Restocked With Local Beef!
The Farm Store freezer's full of B&T's own Black Angus beef. For those of you who can taste the difference between Black Angus and, well, the other stuff, your taste buds will be delighted to learn we are full up and have another steer being processed in just a few weeks.
Whether your favorite cut is bone-in rib eye, Delmonico, filet, NY strip or any of our other cuts, it's all here and it won't last long!
Come enjoy our regular ground beef on sale now for only $5.25/lb. If you're not sure how good a price that is, we encourage you to check with your local grocery store! Be sure to compare apples to apples---ours is locally raised, Black Angus AND tastier!
Lake of the Woods Day Draws Great Crowd
Held as an appreciation day for one of our largest customer bases, we offered the entire LOW community a free wine tasting of six locally grown and produced wines, followed up by hourly free drawings, pulled pork platters and sandwiches (cooked right here by Chef Jeff at the farm) and we followed it up with a 10% off all purchases in The Farm Store that day!
The weather held--barely--and the crowd finished off two huge pork butts without hesitation! We thank all those who joined in on the fun and look forward to repeating this event next year!
Below are pictures of our drawing winners who received all sorts of goodies from The Farm Store. Congratulations to all!
Chuck Roast = Pot Roast (Have we got a recipe for you!)
Our sale on chuck roasts has grown even BIGGER! A full 20% off while supplies last!
This wonderfully flavorful piece of meat is best cooked low and slow which makes it perfect for the crock pot and creates a mouth-watering pot roast that even freezes well!
Wanna try a new recipe? We'll give you a copy of our Mom's favorite (and easy) pot roast recipe so you can try it out on your family. The gravy is so good in this recipe you'll want to drink it with a straw!
The Garden View Suite Earns Airbnb Superhost Status Again!
Bees & Trees is pleased to announce that, for the second time in a row, their Airbnb property--The Garden View Suite--has earned the coveted Superhost status from Airbnb!
This status comes directly from guests' ranking on value, cleanliness and communication with the property's host. In addition, a minimum number of 12 guest stays must have occurred at the property during the four-month period being reviewed with little to no cancellations and the host must have secured an overall rating of 4.8 or higher out of 5.0 from their guests.
The Garden View Suite maintains an overall ranking of 4.92 and has had no cancellations!
"We are so grateful to our guests for this distinction," said Teresa Gregson who with her husband, Jeff, manages the property. "We have enjoyed getting to know our guests and are honored by their ranking of our accommodations."
Raising Better Beef
Jeff Gregson, co-owner of Bees & Trees Farm has learned there are steer and then there are steer.
Having raised and commercially sold black Angus steer to the public for nearly seven years, Gregson has learned a thing or two about what works and what doesn't when it comes to selling a healthy and tasty beef product.
It might surprise you to learn, there's more to it then just raising a herd of cows on a grassy field! Turns out it's also very much about genetics!
Where that steer comes from--the quality of the stock from which it was bred--is as important to overall quality and taste as how it was raised!
"We know there's a difference--we've tasted the difference--and we want to give our customers the very best black Angus quality we can by only purchasing calves that have very strong genetics--that is certified black Angus," said Gregson.
The black Angus breed has long been recognized for its high genetic quality. And it is that high quality which has made Angus beef a top seller on the beef shelf in stores everywhere.
Good genetics coupled with being raised in a careful and responsible manner--on grass and finished with grain--will deliver a high quality beef cut with the proper fat content and good marbling.
"Those qualities give our beef the flavor and tenderness our customers have come to expect," said Gregson. "It's hard to find that kind of balance in other breeds."
Bees & Trees Farm now procures their certified black Angus cattle from Audley Farms in Clarke County, VA.
Audley Farms takes pride in raising black Angus cattle of the highest standards and genetics. Their beef follows a "slow food” production model. Similar to Bees & Trees, their cattle roam freely on acres of open pasture, and are never given steroids, growth hormones, antibiotics, or grain from unnatural feed sources.
The black angus breed has long been recognized for its high genetic quality. And it is that high quality which has made Angus beef a top seller on the beef shelf in stores everywhere.