Comb Honey Is In!

Saturday was comb honey harvest day! The first step was for the beekeepers to switch out the comb honey frames with some empty frames. This was a two person job so the frames of honey could quickly be removed without the bees getting too mad!!!

The bees are gently brushed off each frame so we do not bring any into the house with us!

Once inside the comb needs to be carefully cut away from the wood frame. A cookie sheet and a cooling rack makes a good base for this.

Next the large piece of comb is cut into four smaller squares for packaging.

They are then weighed and recorded and the cover placed on. This is one of the heavier slices weighing in at almost 15oz.

If you would like to try any of our delicious comb honey you can check out our for sale page for more info.

Harvest and Canning Update

We are thrilled to be harvesting lots of veggies! Our cucumber plants are producing lots of delicious cukes for eating and pickling. We have made LOTS of jars of pickles so far as our goal is to provide all we will need for the whole year. It's looking like we even have more than we need and hope to have a stand out for selling soon.

Here are some dills almost ready to be sealed. Most of the recipes have been passed down through Joan's family. We can't wait to open one of these up and give them a try!

Beans have also been coming in by the basket full! We canned 18 jars the other night!!

We had some tomatoes with blossom end rot that we decided to pick off while still green and let the good ones continue to grow. Since it was hard for us to throw all those tomatoes away we turned them into Green Tomato Mincemeat!

Stay tuned for our recipes which we will be posting soon!

Old... But New to Us!

We need a sign! And what could be better than the original Grand View Farm Sign which hung on the barn when it housed the working dairy.

The sign is in need of some repair as you can see. The letters are old and need to be painted as does the sign itself. We will post more photo's when it's done!

Next is our new (to us) farm wagon/trailer/soon to be rolling farm stand. We are envisioning a canopy over the top and baskets around the sides to hold produce. Stay tuned for more photos as the wagon gets a makeover.

This fine (but rusty and a little squeaky) hay rake was freed from the brush at the edge of the field. We are in need of one to more efficiently gather mowed grass and hay from the fields to use as compost. We need A LOT of compost and as we do not have any animals for manure this seems to be the be our choice of material for now.

We even hooked it up to the tractor and gave it a whirl! After sitting at the edge of the field for ?? years it actually worked! Except for a few issues with one wheel being very bent.

More Veggie Updates 7/23/11

Our outside veggies are growing nicely and some are loving this heat wave we've had the past few days more than others. The broccoli was planted later than hoped for and is just starting to produce heads. It is doing well considering it is a cool weather crop and has some cabbage looper issues.

Here you can see some cabbage looper damage. The little green worms love the brassica family (broccoli, cabbage, brussel sprouts, cauliflower) of plants and eat the leaves. Once full, they form a cocoon and turn into a little white moth who then lays lots of eggs on the plants and the cycle starts again. We have been picking these off by hand but have not been able to keep up!

We harvested lots of peas on Saturday! Snap peas and shell peas. They have been enjoyed by all and are loved by the kids who pluck them off the vine and eat them raw for a garden snack!

The pumpkins are loaded with blossoms and bees and some nice fruits are forming.

Green peppers are coming along nicely! There are not a lot right now but they are loaded with buds and the plants look really nice.

Our eggplants are blossoming and are starting to form tiny veggies. Unfortunately we also noticed the were seriounsly infested with aphids. We hope to control them before loosing the plants.

We also harvested LOTS of green beans, cucumbers, zucchini, and summer squash on Saturday. It was a full day of harvesting! We will be canning beans this week and enjoying all sorts of fresh ones at meals!

Inspection Day 7/20/11

Today was inspection day, two representatives from NRCS came to inspect the high tunnels and sign the necessary paperwork so our grant can be completed.

We are all so happy to move on from the "rush" of needing to have them completed! Now let the harvesting begin!!