Bee Keeper & Family Man Craig Morgan

In 2011, not long after rushing into a burning building in Dickson to save two young kids, country music star Craig Morgan did something else to make this world a better place: he started keeping honeybees. “I felt they would be important for my garden,” the honey-voiced country crooner says. “So, I just did it on my own, taking an online course to learn how.”

The lessons took hold. The Nashville native now has fourteen hives on his Dickson farm from which he and his wife Karen harvest about thirty gallons of honey each year. But it’s not just any honey. It is blackberry and hardwood honey and, according to Craig, “some-of-the-best-tasting-from-anywhere-around” honey. “I haven’t entered it in a contest,” he adds with a boyish grin, “because I don’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings.”

Well, maybe it hasn’t won a formal award, but the Morgan’s honey sure has basted plenty of wild game. Craig is an avid hunter, and, in our neck of the woods, that means lots of wild turkey and venison. “I make a fantastic sauce for wild game,” Craig says, “and don’t mind sharing the recipe!”

When not hunting or caring for his bees or catching swarms – “last year I caught four or five,” he says – Craig keeps busy with his music, his woodworking, and his family business venture that he and Karen operate, The Gallery at Morgan Farms. It is housed in a downtown Dickson storefront and sells items that Craig and his family produce, everything from charcuterie boards from old barn wood to organic lip balm to guitar picks made from the myriad hotel keys of Craig’s many gigs on the road. “Everything we sell is art,” Craig says proudly. It also benefits charity. Craig and Karen’s store supports veterans – Craig himself served for a decade and a half – as well as Billy’s Place, a home for temporarily displaced children in Dickson County.

To experience this for yourself, visit The Gallery at Morgan Farms at 123 N. Main St. in downtown Dickson, Tennessee. The store is open Tuesday though Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. It’s a sweet way to spend a day. And check out Morgan Family Strong, a new docuseries on the Morgan family that premiered Thursday, March 1 on UP TV.

Craig’s Honey Baste

½ cup soy sauce

2 tablespoons Morgan Farms Honey

1. Combine soy sauce and honey in a blender. Pulse until blended. Combine with venison, beef, or pork and marinate 2-4 hours.