I am proud to support the "Bees for Development" project monthly. Uganda Husband and wife, Simon Okello and Sharon Apiyo celebrate their first harvest of 10kg honey from one colony. Both are blind, and trained with TUNADO (The Uganda National Apiculture Development Organisation) using disability-specific tools and techniques that make it possible for people with visual impairments to keep bees. They are especially pleased because, as well as selling rapidly, they are enjoying having their neighbours around to chat, when they come to buy honey.Over the past few weeks we have been sharing our Audio Guide for visually impaired beekeepers across the airwaves. The how-to guide is for anyone with a visual impairment to get started keeping bees and has...
Hello weakened warriors! Yes I meant to spell it that way. In many ways the human population has been weakened by many things, the least of which is the Virus. Politics, loss of income, housing, friends, and so many other factors leave us reeling. I want to focus on some of the wonder parts that are stronger than ever and give me hope for a better future. Of course I am talking about chocolate. But this time and for the future I am going to talk about OPC (Other People's Chocolate). Today is OmNom day. As I sit in my almost dingy motel room in Colorado Springs Colorado, the weekend of an expo where I do a decent amount of...
If this past weeks temperature variations are any indication, this summer could be the hottest yet. Which does nothing by spell trouble for chocolate makers. Last, summer because I could not find a solution that works well enough, We suspended all on-line delivers because I could not guarantee that my chocolate would arrive to you in an unmelted manner. This year promises to be different. After hours spent on the phone and on websites looking for solutions to this dilemma. My favorite solution, the mushroom https://mushroompackaging.com/ (mycelium) "shoebox" is my favorite but the shipping of one box is the same as the price of the box! Even when I order a mass quantity. I did break down and order one...
As I sit here, resting for the first time in weeks, the snow is lightly falling, adding to the 4 or so inches on the ground. It's supposed to be a big storm this weekend, Denver taking the brunt of the snow unfortunately. cause I'd rather have it! But a fresh snowstorm is always wonderful to watch. Especially from inside, toasty warm, sipping on a hot drinking chocolate and surrounded by tons of new flavor bars to evaluate and rate. New things on the horizon! I've been experimenting with adding fruit powders to my dark chocolates. Fruit powders I create from the freeze dryer I have access to. Like banana, cherry, strawberry, ginger, raspberry, watermelon, orange, and many more. But...
One of the reasons I wanted to start making chocolate is that I really wanted to be able to help others with their future, whatever that meant. I'm a middle class white male and am naturally imbued, by birth, with the station of privilege that some others do not have which make me responsible to help others. For me, that means educating new beekeepers with making decisions about their newest love, the hive. But that's not all I care about. I also care deeply about the cacao industry as a whole and women's issues, which are really men's issues. I'm finally at a point where I can make small monthly donations to organizations I appreciate. The first is The Heirloom...
