32 | EDIBLE PORTLAND SUMMER 2025 While Jacobsen Salt Co. is known for harvesting pure sea salt from Netarts Bay off the Oregon Coast, there’s another facet of the business that’s worth just as much buzz—the Jacobsen Co. Hive Program. Each year, Portland Riverfront Raw Honey, a Jacobsen company, releases its new batch of honey. The complexly flavored, small-batch honey has earned a coveted reputation, offering a taste of Portland, but along the way, the product has become so much more. It has become a delicious byproduct and conduit for community outreach and education, focusing on sustainability. “To us, sustainable beekeeping means raising awareness about pollinator conservation,” says Emily Schmiedel, a stewardship-based beekeeper and Jacobsen’s lead beekeeper. “Honey bees provide us with a platform to talk about sustainable food systems, and it’s important for people to draw the connections between healthy pollinators, healthy food systems and a healthy planet. It’s all interwoven.” While Jacobsen tended to bees on Sauvie Island previously, the trajectory of what the hive program is today was established in 2021 at Zidell Yards under the Ross Island Bridge. According to Schmiedel, it was the ideal spot to broaden the program and add a deeper meaning and connection to the community. “I chose that spot because in 2015 they did a big planting along that bank of flowering native plants, which have deep root systems that mitigate erosion,” says Schmiedel. “I love that it’s a super urban space. I can use it as a classroom space, there aren’t a lot of barriers to entry, and people can walk there or get there quickly.” As plants in that area have developed, a beautiful mix of native lupine, yarrow, blackberry, Oregon grape, goldenrod and dogwood, among others, has emerged. It has provided an ideal space for both the bees to thrive and for Schmiedel to welcome curious individuals out to learn about bees and so much more. The hive program invites area youth and non-profit organizations to the apiary. “We have a longstanding relationship with Wonderfolk,” says Schmiedel. The non-profit organization dedicated to diverse leadership development visits three times throughout the year, with a clean-up day, a planting day, and then returns to help retrieve the honey during harvest. The Cottonwood School and Emerson School, which focus on project-based learning and creative environments, along with Head Start, Cub Scout troops and the nearby Mirabella retirement community, also visit the interactive space. “I use honey bees as the poster child for all pollinators and to talk about habitat restoration in general,” says Schmiedel. “I like to talk with children about these big ideas, as it’s laying the groundwork to make connections down the road. It’s some of their core beginning interactions with nature, and it’s in a safe environment where they can be curious.” Schmiedel notes that she talks about the queen as a front woman and a way to highlight the importance of taking care of your body. “She’s fed antioxidants and lives longer than any of the other bees,” she says. “What you put in your body matters. If you want to eat healthy food forever, we need to think about how we treat the environment.” Happy Bees and Community Outreach: Sustainably Harvested Honey From Portland’s Waterfront BY MOLLY ALLEN | PHOTOS COURTESY JACOBSEN SALT COMPANY
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