Spring on the Farm

chandler strawberries

I thought I would share some images of a few things happening on the farm. We are picking our first delicious strawberries – they are Chandlers and they are coming in beautifully right now.  My daughter (she is 2)  calls them Princess Berries and she plans to grow them when she grows up.   Of course picking and eating strawberries is great fun and the children love it. They are showing up in pancakes and smoothies too and will go into our first CSA shares that we deliver tomorrow.

Last week, these two new hives of bees sat on my mantle for a day. Believe it or not, this has happened enough times that I don’t worry about them escaping in the house, even with young children nearby.  My husband draped some of my sewing fabric over them to keep them sleepy during the day.

And here is another look of them when they were ready to be installed in the beehive at dusk.  We are hoping to do better with bees in the future.  So far, we have not harvested much honey, but have celebrated our bees great work pollinating on the farm over the years!

There is so much to see on the farm this time of year, we have tiny apples and peaches on our trees, asparagus is finishing up and we are harvesting radishes, spring onions and lovely magenta lettuce.    And we are planting our summer crop and planning for a new greenhouse and possibly even a winter season CSA this year.  Lots to look forward too.

farm walk April

 

February Fondant

by Tanya Tolchin

I found my husband standing at the stove today dumping white sugar into a giant canning pot and rooting around for the elusive tiny jar of cream of tartar.  He was making his first fondant, armed with a circa 1921 recipe and a candy thermometer.  Fondant is that smooth white frosting you see on wedding cakes.  You might consider the date, February 14^th and assume he is preparing a wonderful Valentine ’s Day delicacy inspired by the Ace of Cakes.

In fact, he is preparing the fondant for his three beehives.  This late in the winter, many bees have depleted their winter stores of honey and the hive could be weakening just when the bees need to be getting ready for a strong spring.  And if they sense their stores are too low, they might start to die off and/or decide to swarm ( jump ship en masse) leaving you with a sadly empty hive and no hope of honey in July.

How would it change the great white sugar vs. honey debates if people knew that beekeepers regularly help their hives make it through the winter with white sugar?  It shouldn’t really, soon our bees will be foraging for actual pollen from Tulip Poplars and Bradford Pears.  But for now they will have to subside on something less wholesome, a sugary Valentine’s Day treat. Happy Valentine’s Day to all bees and the rest of us!