Artisan Collective

Silver Creek Nursery is proud to collaborate with two beloved local makers—Momma Bear's Quilts and Huckleberry Hives—to celebrate craftsmanship, sustainability, and community.

Rooted in a shared love for the natural world, this collaboration brings together thoughtfully harvested (and local) honey, beautifully handmade quilts, and a desire to grow together!

Being an entrepreneur is a trait that runs deep in my (Steph's) family, including my parents, all my siblings, and nearly all aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents in their time. As 2026 unfolds, we have two new collaborations: one with my mom (Kim of Momma Bear's Quilts) and the other with my sister (Jodi of Huckleberry Hives). Small businesses mutually helping small businesses is something that makes me pretty excited! So without further ado, let me introduce my dear mother and sister, and their respective businesses:

Momma Bear's Quilts adds warmth and artistry through timeless, hand-stitched quilts made with care and intention, while Huckleberry Hives contributes beeswax candles and raw, golden honey that reflects the health of local landscapes and pollinators.

Together with Silver Creek Nursery’s commitment to nurturing trees and supporting pollinator-friendly practices, this partnership highlights the value of slow living, local sourcing, and meaningful connections.

By uniting garden, home, and harvest, this collaboration offers a heartfelt experience that honors tradition, supports small businesses, regenerative land practices and celebrates the richness of our local ecosystem.

Please note that our flat rate shipping will not apply to the artisan collective products we are offering from local makers (Huckleberry Hives and Momma Bear's Quilts); these products ship separately and additional shipping fees will combine with our flat rates when you checkout with items from both us and our artisan collective makers. Due to Shopify constraints, these products are not available for local pickup. Please shop directly from the artisans if you would like to pick up from them.

Aronia Berry Honey

From $10.00

Vanilla Bean Creamed Honey

$10.00

Raw Basswood Honey

$10.00

This honey is pure, unadulterated goodness from my hives. I (Jodi, the beekeeper) harvest honey with care each season when the bees have enough extra to share. Each season the local terroir influences the flavours captured in my jars of liquid gold, although often there are similar flowers and farmers crops, such as alfalfa, clovers, sunflowers, and more that the bees visit every year.

This year I took a small harvest at the end of July and a final harvest at the end of August. The honey from the 2nd harvest had a small amount of basswood honey which I kept separate! Basswood honey has a unique flavour that can be described as waxy, buttery, metallic, and sometimes minty, depending on your palate. I find it to be a bit metallic with buttery/waxy notes that sometimes reminds me of buttery popcorn, and it's one of my absolute favourite Ontario honeys.

The rest of the season's harvest is a delicious summer blossom/wildflower honey.

I harvest my honey with a no-heat process. It is cold extracted and then I bottle it up before it has a chance to crystallize.
When freshly harvested (usually late July or August) this honey is in its liquid state and will slowly crystallize over time.
Depending on the time of year ordered, it may come to you crystallized (my favourite as it's easier to scoop out!), partially crystallized, or liquid. You can always return honey to it's liquid state with a hot water bath, repeating and stirring to help dissolve crystals if needed. I used to re-heat jars to keep them liquid, but I'd rather sell pure raw honey and will only be doing it upon request.
Natural crystallization is sometimes fine-grained and can be quite similar to creamed honey, but without the manual labour (or machine) that is typically used to create creamed honey.

Why does honey crystallize? Honey is made by the bees, who collect nectar from flowers. The nectar is naturally about 80% water and sugars, most of which are sucrose. The bees use their own special enzymes to break down the sucrose into fructose and glucose - the same types of sugars found in apples and other fruits and vegetables. This helps make honey a naturally healthy sweetener because our bodies recognize it quickly and both fructose and glucose are smaller sized molecules of sugar which our bodies can digest easily. But where does the crystallization come in? Right here: Glucose naturally prefers to form a crystalline structure, so over time it separates and builds itself into crystals within your jar of honey!

There is nothing wrong with honey that has gotten crystallized and it is perfectly safe to eat. However, if you prefer it liquid, you can gently heat your honey to cause the glucose' crystalline structure to dissolve back into a liquid state. Over-heating honey can destroy healthy enzymes, so it is recommended to heat no hotter than your hand can stand. My go-to method is to boil water in a kettle or saucepan, remove from heat, and place my jar into it. Allow to cool, stir and repeat if your jar is quite crystallized.