Driftwood Honey Harvest Festival at Vista Brewing

Well, Vista Brewing is hosting the Driftwood Honey Harvest Festival coming up on Saturday. Free family friendly event with honey tastings, beekeeping demos and a whole lot more tear new bomb joins us live from there this morning with all the details here. Good morning. Good morning. I'm learning about all things bees this morning and I'm fascinated. I've asked about a million questions and that's what folks get to do this weekend. So the Honey Harvest Fest is going to be here at Vista Brewing. Karen, what's going on? How can our community join in on this and educate and have some fun with y'all? Sure. This Saturday from 11 to 3, we have all things honey celebrating the honeybee with our Honey Harvest Festival. So there's demos, there's kids activities, of course, honey tastings. Lots of experts here to answer all those questions. Absolutely. We have some of the experts here this morning. Texas Natural Beekeepers Association. Whitney, can you tell us about y'all's program and who you guys are and what you're doing in the community? Yeah, thanks. Texas Natural Beekeepers Association is an amazing nonprofit that educates and empowers beekeepers and bee lovers to promote natural treatment-free beekeeping. Our youth scholarship program is one of our community outreach programs and for two years, students ages 12 to 17 get their own hive and a colony of bees and then they learn everything from bee biology and nutrition to advanced beekeeping skills such as splitting a colony or catching a swarm and Molly here is one of our students and she's been in the program for a year and a half and has done some really amazing things. I love it. So Molly, yeah, tell us about your experience and what this has been like for you. It's been really cool. It's a lot about like I get to learn a lot about bees in the community around the bees. What are some of the projects and the things that you guys learn and kind of really get hands on with throughout this program? We get hands-on throughout like pretty much everything almost. We do like a lot of like hive inspections like every month. It's pretty cool. It's incredible and we've got your project over here. I was picking your brain earlier about all that you've been up to and we've got a demo this morning, Karen, so kind of walk us through what we get to see here. Yeah, so yesterday I was out there in my bee suit and I selected some frames that we're gonna use for the demos this weekend and so we have a few of them here and we're gonna cut up some comb honey. Okay, let's check it out. So how long does it take for the frame to become what it is that we're about to see? Is this the one we picked? Okay. In one season, the bees will build this wax and fill it with pollen and nectar. They'll cap it with with wax again and it will cure and so it'll become honey that will last in your pantry for forever, really. So we go in and we select these combs and then we can either crush them and strain out the wax or we can put it in an extractor and we'll do some of those demos on Saturday. So what I'm gonna do here is just cut a little piece and you can see the honey just dripping out. Wow, you can. Oh my gosh, my mouth is watering. It looks so beautiful, too. Okay, so you can just grab a little piece and you can eat this. You can eat this, so you can eat the whole part of it. You can eat the wax. It's actually really good for you. Grab that piece. Yes, please. Wow. Fresh out of the hive. And so we'll have tastings like that this Saturday. Very popular with the kiddos. So you come and learn about all things bees. The most fresh honey I feel like I've ever tasted in my life. It is actually right off of the frame there. How can we protect our bees, Whitney? Well, I think it's really important for people to realize that, you know, there are a lot of chemicals in our environment and adding chemicals to your treatment program for bees is really, it's not safe for the bees. It's not safe for us when we have the honey or use products from the hive like beeswax. And, you know, the best thing that people can do is don't spray your plants. Like, that's a really important thing that I think a lot of people don't realize is that that's affecting everything from the bees to your kids. And so we do have monthly meetups that are free and open to the public and people can come out. We've got a keynote speaker and a pop-up market with local vendors and great community conversation. Amazing. www.tnba.club for more information on all of that. And folks can just show up this weekend, Karen? Just show up. It's free. We have a lot of honey-focused vendors as well. So all the products made from the wax, from the honey, it's gonna be a good time. I'm not over how delicious that was. I'm still getting through the wax part, but the honey, wow, incredible. You guys, we'll send it back to you in the studio. This is a really amazing event. Family-friendly, it's free, a lot going on at Vista Brewing this weekend. So come out and have some fun. And Tara, I know you haven't been feeling well. That honey sounds so good for your throat and local allergies. It's so good. This is nature's medicine. No doubt about it. Knowing how clean and healthy you eat, Tara, I'm almost a little surprised you've never had an occasion to do that before. But yeah, maybe it won't be the last time. Alright, thanks. Thank you. Have fun out there. We'll check in soon. As Tara's been telling us this morning, Vista Brewing is hosting the Driftwood Honey Harvest Festival on Saturday. It's completely free for the entire family. That's right. She's out there right now this morning with more. Hey, Tara. Good morning, you guys. This is such a spectacular spot to bring the family this summer, this fall. But this weekend, it's really the place to be, the Honey Harvest Festival. Karen, what's going on this weekend? Yeah, this Saturday from 11 to 3, we have a free family-friendly event for folks to come and learn about all things honey. So we'll be doing demonstrations on how to extract the honey. I have a lot of experts here to talk about beekeeping and, of course, tasting honey. Which we got to do earlier on the broadcast. I'm like, I can't even tell you guys how fresh and just rich that honey was that we got to taste. And that's what folks get to do this weekend and learn all about bees. You guys are also releasing a new beer and there's some honey in it, Kent. So tell us about that. Well, so yeah, honey harvest is a special time of year and each year we commemorate that by making hive mind. This is our honey ale that we use honey from our hives but then also donated from the Hayes County beekeepers to make what turns into this beautiful light Belgian honey ale. It's almost 8% alcohol but drinks a lot lower. It is really dry, really floral, really honey-driven. Just refreshing, amazing for a July hot afternoon. A lot of folks are gonna be sipping on that this weekend. And chef, we've also continued the theme of honey on the food and the bev. So what do we have here for food this weekend? Yes, so here's one of our big hitters, the southern fried chicken sandwich. This has honey as a huge element in the sauce. It really highlights how just great that flavor is along with some sriracha and other notes that I can't disclose. Our housemates slaw, some chives, some vaquero sauce, chipotle, mayo, adobo thing going on. Over here we have our tostones, which is gonna have the honey that we harvested here on the Vista property. And it's gonna be topped with some whipped goat cheese that's cheved with some epazote lime. Texas Iberico, which is basically the Wagyu of pork. We have their smoked lomo on there, a great flavor, hints of prickly pear and some pea tendril. Wow, both look spectacular, sound amazing. If somebody's not been out to Vista Brewing, you guys are the owners of that, the owners of this. Kind of tell us about the property and what folks can get into here year round. Sure. We're a 21 acre ranch down in Driftwood, so just southwest of Austin. And we have a little something for everyone. We have beer, we have wine, we have non alcoholic beverages, amazing food menu from Chef. And of course, property to explore the hill country, playground, lots of walking trails and our apiary. It is a really special spot. You guys have your kids out here this morning. Kent, what's this meant to you and your family to, you know, bring community together and grow that here on the property? Thank you for bringing that into this. That is one of the inspirations for Karen and I and building Vista was that we had our young family. And so we wanted to be present in raising our family and realize that is a way that we can connect with the community so that young families can come and still feel like adults enjoying a fine meal and a drink while the kids are here and enjoying a beautiful outdoor space that maybe a lot of kids don't get to enjoy these days to be out under big oak trees and climbing the trees and run around in the field. And well, we get to enjoy that together. Absolutely. Really special. Thank you guys so much, Chef. Thank you so much, guys. We'll send it back to you in the studio. Saturday is the day to come out here for Honey Harvest Festival. It'll be a lot of fun for the whole family. Absolutely. Thanks, Tierra. As we've been telling you, Vista Brewing is hosting the Driftwood Honey Harvest Festival. That's also coming up on Saturday. Yeah, and it's free. Family friendly. You have honey tastings, beekeeping demos. Tierra Newbaum joins us live from there this morning with more details. Hey, Tierra. Good morning. Good morning. Yeah, we were seeing some of those demos throughout the morning, checking out the frames of honeycomb and getting to taste that and just so rich and amazing. And you guys are having a big festival, an exciting one that's back again, Karen, on Saturday. How can folks really enjoy the time with you guys on Saturday? When should they come out? What do they need to know before they make their way? Yeah, we have a free honey festival happening Saturday, 11 to 3, full of demos and honey tastings and some really great vendors here that have honey or beeswax in their products. We're excited to check in. We'll start with ice cream because dessert always beans, creams. Yum. Clayton, you're you're enjoying the breakfast of a champion this morning. So Jamie, tell us about beans, creams. So we are a husband and wife run company and we wanted to bring back all of the fun nineties nostalgic treats. But with our gourmet twist and the big one is push pops. Okay, push pops. Let's see some of the ones that you brought this morning and tell us about the special for Saturday. Sure. So these are two most popular flavors are oreo confetti and our strawberry twist sorbet. We want to make sure everybody can enjoy frozen treats. So we have many dairy free and vegan options for people. And then we also have our freezy pops. If you remember otter pops at all. So we make these from scratch as well with real fruit, no artificial colors and anything looks so good. Okay, mango line made it another. How is it Clayton? It's really good. We can tell it's really good. Quite the breakfast. I'm jealous. All right. And then we have some other really great home and body products. So Whitney, we'll start with you. What do we have? Um, so I have a farm blue butterfly farm and I make this healing salve with beeswax from our bees and organic medicinal plants that I grow or wild harvest in nature mixed with organic oils and essential oils and honey. Um, and it's great for all sorts of cuts, burns, bruises, um, blemishes and especially awesome for bug bites. All of the things. Okay, what about my dry hands? I've been washing my hands so much. Is it gonna be helpful for that? Yes. Okay. So you just put a little bit on there. We smell it. Oh yeah. Wow. With all of the oils in there. Um, and you're also with the texas natural beekeepers association. Can you tell us about what you guys are up to in our community? Yes. So texas natural beekeepers is all about empowering and educating beekeepers and be lovers about the importance of treatment free natural beekeeping. Um, and we have monthly meetups that are free and open to the public and they feature a keynote speaker and a pop up market with local artisans such as hunters hive here. Um, and great conversation tmba dot club for details on all of that. And then hunter, let's talk about these candles and smell them. Yeah. So amazing. Okay, what do we have here? Slice of summer. That's a good one. Quintessential summer. So yeah, so hunters hive, it's just scented beeswax candles made with clean ingredients and sustainable materials to create our unique sense like slice of summer and candles that actually last and you can feel good about bringing in your home. Absolutely. Some great ingredients in all of these products and we're smelling good. We're feeling good. We're eating good guys. It's kind of the name of the game out here at Vista Brewing and it will be a fun festive weekend for the honey harvest festival again. It's this saturday. So make your way out, bring the kids, get ready to learn something and learn about our bees in the community and taste some really yummy honey and we want those popsicles. He's getting after it. Yeah, that was not wasting any time and that's how I do it too. So that's all good. He doesn't have a clue. He's on camera. Join us popsicle. Doesn't matter. Thanks to you. He's loving it.