Category: Latest from the Farm

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Opening Day and “The King”

Well, it looks like we will be opening this week!  We have had some warmer weather and everything is ripening up nicely.  We do just want to make sure you are able to get the amount of berries you want and have the best experience possible, so please call before you come out.  If we have a busy morning with 20-30 customers, all the ripe berries will get picked and we will close early for the day.  We will open again once enough ripen up.  Our plan is to be open Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from 8-8.  Our prices will be the same as last year.    U-Pick price is $4.00/lb. and Pre-picked are $6.00/lb.

And now on to the King….Elvis is in the building….or I guess in the field!  As the black raspberry plants ripen, the berry in the center of the cluster ripens first and is the largest.  It is called the king berry.  You can see the progression in the pictures.  Once all hint of red is gone, that berry is ready to pick.  And ooohh, it is so good and juicy!  But don’t forget about the others…they will ripen soon after the king and they taste good and sweet too!

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It’s Almost Berry Time!

We have been getting lots of calls about berries, and we are working to get the field ready for  picking!  We have had such a beautiful spring, and weather like we are supposed to have, not like the last few years where it has been so hot.  The past two years, we have been open the second or third week in June, but this year will be more like what it typically should be, the end of June to the beginning of July for the first ripe berries.  We are planning to be open this year on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.  To stay updated, you can visit our website, check our Facebook page or call our phone number to hear a recorded message.  We will keep everything updated to let you know when you can come and get berries!  403373_482317861784852_283417671_n

Here are some spring pictures from the farm:

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Honey Bees on the Farm

Over the winter, I took classes to become a bee keeper.  Having bees to pollinate our  black raspberries is supposed to tremendously help our yield.   It was all fine and good until this week.  As I walked into the bee supplier’s barn that held hundreds of packages of bees, I froze…I felt sick…I wanted to cry, but I  didn’t want this sweet old man to have to call the psych ward at the hospital!  It was one thing to take classes and talk about it all, but another thing to see hundreds and thousands of bees and hear the strong, steady buzzing.  I got my composure and brought the bees to my car and drove home with them.

 

 

A family friend came to help me "install the bees" into their new hive.
A family friend came to help me “install the bees” into their new hive.

 

 

This is how the bees come from the supplier. They have a can of sugar water inside the closed box and a queen in its own special cage inside.
This is how the bees come from the supplier. They have a can of sugar-water inside the closed box and a queen in its own special cage inside.
First, we took the top off the box, pulled the can of sugar water and the queen out. We hang the queen's cage in the hive, and she will eat her way out of a small hole plugged with candy.
First, we took the top off the box, then pulled the can of sugar-water and the queen out. We hung the queen’s cage in the hive where she would eat through a candy plug and crawl out of her cage.

 

Then it seems crazy, but we just tapped the box hard and shook the bees into the hive.
Then it seems crazy, but we just tapped the box hard and shook the bees into the hive.

 

Then I brushed the bees away from the edge so they wouldn't get squished as the next layer of the hive is placed on top, the feeder.
Then I brushed the bees away from the edge so they wouldn’t get squished as the next layer of the hive is placed on top, the feeder.
The feeder was placed on top. There center is open to below, so the bees can come up and drink the sugar water that is poured into the feeder.
The feeder was placed on top. The center is open to below, so the bees can come up and drink the sugar-water that is poured into the feeder.
We put the covers on the hives and then put a heavy rock so skunks or raccoons won’t get in. The bees have a place on the bottom of the hive to enter and exit.
The next day, they looked great and were coming and going getting to know their new neighborhood.
The next day, they looked great and were coming and going getting to know their new neighborhood.

 

Raising honey bees has been an amazing thing to learn about, and the bees are fun to watch while they work.  The bees we got are really calm and  have been nice to me so far!  Stay tuned for more posts about my new hobby!

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Spring Work on the Farm

When we started this venture with farming, John told me that you just plant the berry plants and they grow!  “How easy!”  I thought, and I jumped on board.   He still says that, but he adds…”You plant them, and they grow, then you weed, spray, prune in the winter, mulch, weed, rake, water…and…”   Love that guy of mine…he always has a project and the motivation to do it.  So, John has been doing the bulk of the work  all the work over the winter.  But today, I went out and helped in the field.  It was a beautiful spring day.

This is what the field looks like now. It is amazing to think these little red sticks will fill out and grow into big, full black raspberry bushes.
This is what the field looks like now. It is amazing to think these little red sticks will fill out and grow into big, full black raspberry bushes.

 

John and Chuck are using the tractor to bring the mulch to each row of berry plants.
John and Chuck are using the tractor to bring the mulch to each row of berry plants.

 

This is the mountain of mulch they have to move!
This is the mountain of mulch they have to move!

 

IMG_8134I worked in the rows ahead of the guys and raked out all the old canes that John cut out.  We have to put them in piles and burn the old canes to prevent the spread of disease if there is any in the plants.  I found these Killdeer eggs in one of the rows.   They were hard to miss since the Momma was having such a fit at me being even several rows over. Killdeer are so funny.  ThIMG_8133picmonkey squawk and spread their wings out like they are injured a good distance away from the eggs to try to get you to be distracted and not harm their eggs.  No worries…the eggs are still there.

 

 

 

 Here are a few more pictures from the farm today!

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