Tim Cowen is a local urban beekeeper and crafty wood turner - you'll find his delicious Hackney honey at the farmers’ market. And this festive season he'll also be selling some of his beautiful hand crafted wooden creations too.
Did you know only 10% of the honey consumed in the UK is produced here? Mass produced honey you find in supermarkets is often a blend of EU and non EU honey and has travelled thousands of miles.
What’s more, Tim’s honey is raw, which means it’s not been heat-treated or interfered with in any way - it's "just as it comes out of the hive". This ensures all the goodness is intact. Pasteurization removes the beneficial enzymes, vitamins and pollen that can strengthen your immune system, improve your digestive health and reduce pollen allergy symptoms
Tim's bees fly over the Hackney Marshes where they find lots of wildflowers, in Millfields where they get nectar and pollen from the lime and sycamore trees, and in local gardens.
"Just as the flowers vary through the season, so does the honey. We still have some spring honey which is light and fragrant, with a hint of citrus from the lime." says Tim. "The summer and early autumn honey is darker in colour and stronger and more complex in taste. We will have both on sale and you will be able to taste both to see which you like best."
By buying local honey you’re also helping beekeepers to save and manage bees, which are important for pollination, and are in decline and under threat.
When Tim’s not corralling his colonies, he’s foraging for wood to make exquisite bowls, boards, ornaments, and boxes. Tim says, "All my turned objects are made from recycled or waste wood: sycamore from our neighbour’s garden when they had to have a tree felled; cherry from an old, partly rotten tree in Stoke Newington which I was asked to dispose of; apple from a dying tree in a friend’s garden; magnolia from branches removed from a tree in my brother’s garden"
From these trees, each piece becomes a unique and individual expression of the wood’s hidden treasures of grain and colour.
They will be available to buy at the market during December. You can also get your hands on his handmade Beeswax furniture polish and beeswax candles.
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