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Sweet cycle
Beehives in winter are still buzzing with activity By Carrie Meslar
EZE AMOS
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jar of honey seems like a simple thing. One ingredient, most often drizzled or spooned out in those hazy first hours of the day. Yet, to bring that honey to the table is an involved year-long process that offers little rest for those who decide to take up the challenge. For Ryan Williamson of Sourwood Farm, beekeeping is a family affair. With both his father and father-in-law having raised bees, the hobby, in partnership with his wife, has grown into an all-hands-on-deck business that includes even the youngest members of the Williamson clan. As winter approaches, things slow down for area beekeepers, but they certainly don’t stop. From the outside, an apiary appears quiet, but there is important activity taking place within the hive. It’s a common misconception that bees hibernate, when in fact they cluster together around the queen, shivering and moving their wings to generate heat. Outer bees rotate inwards, so the cluster is in constant motion. This process takes quite a bit of energy, and requires the bees to feed on the stores of honey in their hives. Beekeepers often supplement this honey, or in off years, completely rely on the feeding of sugar to the bees to keep them alive. Williamson notes that it is important that this feeding process ends in late winter, ensuring that when spring comes, and bees venture out to start collecting pollen, the chambers of the hive that will be pulled for honey are free from added sweeteners.
The Williamsons’ wildflower honey can be found at various local retailers, including J.M. Stock Provisions, and on tap at Sourwood Farm by appointment.
EA SY AS L O C AL , F RE SH -B AK E D P I E
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ith the holidays fast approaching, bakeries are sifting through 50-pound bags of flour faster than you can open a can of cranberry sauce, and pie is cooling around every corner. Local pie maker and young entrepreneur Megan Adams is facing down another holiday baking season. Adams sells sumptuous apple hand pies, mini pies, and eight-inch pies through Basan, the Korean food truck. She makes everything from scratch, and even in a locally crowded pie market, Adams’ work stands out. Her arrangement with Basan is new, but she says baking has been part of her life since she was a child, recalling fond memories of baking as a toddler with her mother. It was while working for Camille Phillips at Greenhouse Coffee in Crozet, that Adams’ passion caught fire. “Everything came back to me,” she says. “What I had been wanting to learn more of as a child.” She attended a local culinary program through the Jefferson School and PVCC. “I loved baking, garde manger, soups, stocks, and sauces, things that were culinary focused,” she says. Adams
CHRIS MARTIN
November 17 – 23, 2021 c-ville.com
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By Chris Martin
Megan Adams’ popular hand pies are sold at the Basan food truck (@eatbasan).
honed her skills working brunch shifts at L’etoile, picking up catering gigs, baking at Goodwin Creek Farm & Bakery in Afton, and learning from Angelo Vangelopoulos at The Ivy Inn, all while baking at Greenhouse Coffee. A few months ago, she was baking for fun, and wanted to make pie and pass along the technique to her partner’s daughter. “If you look at her tiny hands and how much intention she put behind it, and what I interpret as love, it brought me back to the love of baking,” says Adams. That led to the Basan gig, where she slings noodles and bakes, reconnecting with what cooking is all about for her. With years of making hand pies under her belt, she sources her apples from Henley’s Orchard in Crozet, and has developed a solid knowledge of the volume needed to fulfill Charlottesville’s pie demands. “I found that if I’m going to bake them, freezing them solid allows the crust on the bottom and top to bake evenly,” Adams says. “I put a little vent in them to let the steam escape.” What’s next on her list? “Bourbon pecan,” she says. “I want to find what’s going to be best, and I definitely want to use a local bourbon.”