Today is Blog Action Day 2010, and this year’s theme is Water (because apparently almost a billion people on the planet don’t have access to clean, safe drinking water).

And as anyone who’s lived in the West for any extended period of time knows, Water is a hot topic around here. More specifically, water comes up very often in conversations about our honeys, because one of our honey varieties is Tamarisk Honey. And Tamarisk is a bad word in the West.

Tamarisk Tree in the West

Tamarisk Tree

The plant genus Tamarix is comprised of about 54 species native to North Africa, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East. Popularly called “tamarisk” or “saltcedar,” it usually grows as a woody shrub or small tree in areas where water is at or near the surface. (Source)

Starting in the 1850s, several species of tamarisk were imported to the United States as ornamentals and for use in erosion control. Since its introduction, tamarisk has quickly spread into natural wetlands, where it tends to form dense thickets along streams and springs, displacing native trees such as cottonwood, willow and mesquite. Tamarisk has invaded almost all watercourses and other wetland habitats throughout the Southwest, taking over more than one million acres of wetland.

Tamarisk is distinguished by its feathery, needle-like leaves and numerous small, pink flowers at the ends of the branches. Up to 500,000 small, windblown seeds can be produced per plant

Tamarisk can usually out-compete native plants for water. A single, large tamarisk can transpire up to 300 gallons of water per day. In many areas where watercourses are small or intermittent and tamarisk has taken hold, it can severely limit the available water, or even dry up a water source.

Tamarisk can grow in salty soil because it can eliminate excess salt from the tips of its leaves. When the leaves are shed, this salt increases the salinity of the soil, further reducing the ability of native plants to compete. Because of its ability to spread, its hardiness, its high water consumption, and its tendency to increase the salinity of the soil around it, the tamarisk has often completely displaced native plants in wetland areas.

Tamarisk vs Water Links:

• A tamer view of tamarisk The Durango Telegraph
• Tamarisk removal no boost for water supply The Pueblo Chieftain
• Tamarisk’s bad rap may not be earned The Durango Herald
• Killing tamarisk frees water High Country News
• The De-Monstering Of Tamarisk Chance of Rain Blog
• Tamarisk Removal Helps Restore a Western River The Nature Conservancy
• Feds nix bugs for tamarisk control on Colorado River Summit County Citizens Voice
• Of Water And the River and Collaboration WEAD

As complicated as the issue is, one thing is for sure – Tamarisk flowers make a delicious honey!

Clover Honey

Clover is one of the mildest honeys we produce. Our Clover Honey comes from yellow and white sweet clover found in the high altitude of the San Luis Valley in Southern Colorado and Northern New Mexico.

Unlike our other honeys, we are able to produce clover honey fairly consistently, although some color variation is normal from year to year.

Tamarisk Honey

Tamarisk, also know as Salt Cedar is a pine like tree that grows all along the Rio Grande river from Northern New Mexico to the Gulf of Mexico. The tree has gained a reputation as a large water user and New Mexico currently has a program  to try to eradicate this tree through removal. As a result, we have been making less and less honey every year. This is my favorite honey; it is the Irish Stout of the honey world, dark, strong and very unusual. If you are a fan of buckwheat or Tupelo honey this is right up your alley!

White Honey

White Honey (sometimes called whipped, spun, or creamed) is honey that is naturally granulated under controlled circumstances. We use Mesquite honey to start the process and give it a nice smooth consistency. This white honey will stay soft in the jar forever and won’t run off of your toast! Keep it in a cool place, as if you warm it it will turn into regular liquid honey.

“Seasonal” New Mexico Wild Flower Honey

We call this honey “Seasonal” because it is produced in very limited quantities, and it has the most variation in terms of pollen source. This honey is from around Rodeo, NM where the bees freely roam the beautiful desert and have their choice of wild flowers (cactus flowers, star-thistle, etc).