WHAT’S THE BUZZ­— A bee hovers over blueberry flowers on a farm in Moorpark on Feb. 7. IRIS SMOOT/Acorn Newspapers Camarillo beekeeper Wayne Scott believes his locally made honey makes the perfect Valentine’s Day gift.

“It’s sweet for your sweetie and it never spoils,” Scott said.

Valentine’s Day colors may be red and pink, but Scott’s golden honey is one of many alternative and eco-friendly gifts that make it possible for romantics to go green on Tuesday.

According to the American Greetings Corporation, about 1 billion Valentine’s Day cards are sent out each year and 36 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolate are purchased.

Ventura County businesses see green as the new red and are stocking the shelves with organic and locally made products.

‘A gear in the wheel of agriculture’

Scott has been making honey for more than 30 years and said bees are an integral part of a healthy environment. When bees don’t pollinate flowers, he said, new plant growth suffers and affects local crops.

A HONEY OF A JOB—JC Honeybees beekeepers Wayne Scott, left, and David Reel display the beehives they maintain and harvest for honey on a farm in Moorpark on Feb. 7. IRIS SMOOT/Acorn Newspapers “Honey bees are intertwined with almost everything in agriculture,” said Scott, who is in the process of applying for his organic grower certification. “They’re a gear in the wheel of the agriculture machine, and we have to treat them with care.”

Scott is beekeeper of Moorpark based JC Honeybees, and his hives line the foothills between Santa Rosa Valley and Moorpark. The honey-making process is done by hand, he said, including extracting the honey, filtering, bottling and labeling.

Depending on weather conditions, Scott’s honey comes in flavors such as wildflower, sage, blueberry, raspberry and eucalyptus. He sells the honey wholesale to locally owned shops such as Homespun Treasures in Camarillo and Somis General Store.

‘Without pesticides’

Honey isn’t the only gift that’s sweet for the environment. The organic chocolate at Thousand Oaks shop Chocolatine shoots an arrow through the most iconic of all Valentine’s Day desserts.

Owner Hugo Barthe opened the French-inspired chocolate and lunch shop seven years ago. He grew up in the Brittany countryside of France on a farm where his parents grew nearly everything the family ate.

The healthy roots of his childhood stayed with him, and he only uses organic chocolate from Africa for his desserts. He said pesticides are not only harmful to the environment, they aren’t very tasty either.

“ Chocolate is like wine,” Barthe said. “Without pesticides, the vine digs deep in the soil to find nutrients and brings those flavors to the chocolate so it tastes better.”

On his lunch menu Barthe uses only organic vegetables and freerange meat. He said the customers taste the difference in chemicalfree food.

Freshly picked

Red roses and blue violets may stir feelings of Valentine’s Day, but farmers encourage couples to purchase in-season, local and organic flowers.

Popular flowers such as carnations, roses and chrysanthemums aren’t in season in Southern California right now and must be imported from South America, said Tom Goldberg, vice president and grower with Skyline Flowers in Camarillo.

Buying local means the flowers will be fresher because they don’t need to be shipped, he said. Goldberg suggests buying sunflowers, tulips, irises, asters, snapdragons or ranunculus be- cause they’re all in season in Ventura County.

Getting flowers at the local farmers market will also boost the economy, said Robbie Benny, farmers market manager at Underwood Farms in Moorpark and Somis.

“We should support our agriculture here in the United States and in Ventura County,” Benny said.

Flowers grown in the United States also have more regulations so “you know exactly what you’re getting,” Benny said.

Some flowers may be labeled organic, but other countries have different rules for agriculture.

The McGrath Family Farm in Camarillo has been certified organic since 1995 but has been practicing organic farming since the late 1980s. Owner Havilah McGrath said it’s more expensive to grow without pesticides because more crops are lost to weather conditions and bugs, and flowers have a shorter shelf life.

“Anything you bring into your home with pesticides will contaminate your home,” McGrath said. “It may not be as damaging as nonorganic food, but the pesticides on flowers can still bring allergies and other chemicals (and) you don’t even know how they can affect you.”

Green love

Valentine’s Day can focus on a message of love for a significant other as well as the environment.

Other eco-friendly options in Ventura County: Attend the local farmers market for an outdoor picnic date, buy vintage jewelry at Aubergine Emporium in Simi Valley, or go wine tasting at local wineries.

A gift donation can also be made to county groups and charities, such as Casa Pacifica, which helps abused and neglected children, or Surfrider Foundation, which promotes keeping the oceans clean.