Celebrate Honey, Monday August 4th

Come enjoy our 3rd annual Celebrate Honey day on the farm.  Learn more about bees and the honey they make, and the beekeepers who manage it all.  Sample a selection of our honey, you can taste the difference.

We will have wagon rides available on Monday to our Fairy Tale Lane and Discovery Forest walk.  Visit the animals, play in the Barnyard Adventure area.  Relax, enjoy the view and the breeze.  It's cooler in the country.

Pick your own beans are available as well as fresh picked in our market.

Our farm is open this weekend Saturday, Sunday and Monday from 9-5.
Admission for activities
Saturday and Sunday $3.00/person 2 years plus
Monday $5.50 + HST/person 2 years plus (includes wagon ride and trail walk)

Cold Enough?

As with many of you we have felt the frost quakes, had difficulty starting cars and tractors and generally griped about the cold.  We've been working diligently in the market trying to keep the apples and the water pipes from freezing.
Our moving has been hampered with the cold weather as most things are frozen into the ground.  Let's hope for an extensive January thaw.

One benefit of this cold is the possible reduction in some of our non-native invasive insects.  Maybe this may be the temperature that will kill many overwintering in the soils and trees.

Thank you to everyone for your support, fond memories shared of time spent on the farm and your willingness to visit us in Greenbank.  I will soon be sending out our first e newsletter for all who have signed up.

You are welcome to drop into the market while we are packing up.  We will keep some apples including our honey crisp apples, on hand and our boxed cider along with our preserves and honey.  Please call ahead with any special orders for pies as we will only bake them upon request.  Variety is becoming limited as I am not renewing my inventory until after our move.  We will be answering the phone and checking messages, please call the market number at 905-887-1087.

We will also continue our school tour program in Greenbank.  To book a tour call 905-887-1086

Stay safe and warm.

Ginger Gold Apples are Here

I love the start of apple season.  There are many early apples, my favorite is Ginger Gold; it is crunchy and sweet.  For all you tart apple lovers we have a small amount of Paula Red apples, they are just starting to be harvested.

Time flies and before you know it September will be here, Macintosh apples will have started and we'll be well into a multitude of apple varieties.  We are sourcing our apples from the same grower as last year.  John Hordyk is located in Port Burwell.  Jim developed a good relationship with him last year during the apple shortage.  Liking his quality he will support him once again this year.

John grows amazing pears as well and we will be sourcing our Flemish and Bosc pears from him.  Something to look forward to.

Tomatoes Have Begun
Depending on the day you can look out the back door of our market and see an expanse of tomatoes in bushels along with staff trying to wash, sort and basket them.  Our crop is looking fantastic so far and Jim is working hard at keeping it that way.  Check out the abundance we have of cherry tomatoes, round and even roma varieties.  We will soon be into canning season.

Sweet Peas
Who would have thought they'd be sweet and plentiful in August especially since they got fried in July.  These past two weeks of beautiful, cooler weather has allowed a late crop of peas to flourish and we're enjoying them immensely.  Get them before they are gone.  You can even pick your own.

Celebrate Honey
Another successful day on the farm.  Attendees had the opportunity to learn more about bees and honey in a fun and tasty way.  Mark your next years calendar for the civic holiday Monday Celebrate Honey on the farm day.   Here is Rebecca with the beekeeping equipment.

Celebrate Honey Monday August 5th

Anytime is a good time to celebrate honey and in a sense we do that each day.  It has become an annual tradition for us here at the farm to really focus on honey bees and the work they do each year on the August holiday Monday.

Use your senses to learn more about bees and the honey they produce.  Sample the different types we offer.  We still have a limited supply of our Spring Blossom honey.  Our beekeeper is preparing to harvest the first of our Wild Flower honey this week and may have it delivered by the 5th if all goes well.

Come and join us Monday August 5th for a sweet experience!

 

Celebrate Honey Monday August 6th

Our Spring Blossom Honey is now available. Come Monday August 6th, the Civic Holiday, to celebrate all the hard work the bees do to give us honey. Enjoy the farm and all our weekend activities. Learn more about bees and the honey making process with extra activities throughout the day. Best yet sample the different honeys we have to offer. This is the last weekend in August our Enchanted Forest is open. We use the time this month to freshen it up, getting it ready for the fall. So, enjoy a walk in our woods this weekend. The Enchanted Forest reopens Labour Day weekend. Wagon rides around the farm are still available. Check out our website for details.

SWEET CORN IS HERE!!!!!!!!

It is Awesome in name and flavour. Awesome is a gourmet sweet, peaches and cream corn that is a nice combination of sweetness and corn flavour. With proper refridgeration it should stay sweet for a few days. For optimal flavour it is still best to only get what you can eat that day. Currently the corn is from Tillsonburg (southwest Ontario) and as the season progresses in a couple of weeks it will be from our area. PEACHES should also be headlined. With the hot weather I am finding they are sweeeeeeter than usual. This is turning out to be a very sweet posting. I love this time of year for eating as there is a nice selection of berries (yes we still have a few raspberries, don't delay) and tree fruits such as peaches and plums, nectarines and apricots should be in soon. The potatoes are sweet, the carrots, FIELD TOMATOES HAVE STARTED,and they're sweet. The list goes on. Pick your own beans from the field here in Markham, looks like some peas may be ready in the field soon. OUR SPRING BLOSSOM HONEY IS ARRIVING TODAY. Eagerly anticipated and not to be missed the first harvest of the season from our bee hives is coming into the market today. Relish the season - There is an abundance of cucumbers and zucchinis from our fields right now and NOW is the time to make your relish. Don't wait till you feel like it because these crops are fickle and may not be available when you want them. ACT NOW and you'll be glad this winter as you enjoy the taste of the summer harvest in a jar. With the cooler weather here for a few days come on out to the farm. ENJOY THE SWEETNESS OF SUMMER AND THE FUN. Who knows how long before the next heat alert.

August on the Farm - More Enchanting than ever...

We had a great day with our Celebrate Honey Festival this past Monday. Thanks to all who came out and participated. The staff had a great time presenting activities about bees and bee keeping and the honey sampling was popular. We still have honey available to sample for the next week or so, check it out next time you're in the market.
James took a bunch of pictures and will be posting them on facebook.

Our honey from our Markham Farm hives has not been harvested yet, the spring was so cool and wet that early production was down. All who are on our honey list will be called once we get our honey harvested and into the market.
Spring Blossom honey from our Greenbank Farm hives is now available in the market in a limited supply.

The farm is transforming for August. The characters from our Enchanted Forest have escaped from the woods and are scattered about the farm. Come on out and see. Your visit will be all that more enchanting.

Bee Pictures from the Workshop

Chech out the C shaped larvae.

Getting stung and removing the stinger properly. Here's a drone, hold gently by the thorax. Opening and checking the hiveMelanie showing us a brood frame

These are some photos I took at the workshop

Introduction to Bees Workshop

We've had beehives producing honey on our farm for over 20 years and in this time I've managed to pick up a lot of info from our beekeeper David. Yesterday I had the opportunity to attend an Introduction to Beekeeping workshop held at Dancing Bee Apiaries and led by the Ontario Beekeepers Association Tech Transfer Team.
It was a fascinating day. They covered most of the information necessary to start up your own hives and I gleaned lots of details to fill in my knowledge gaps.
Some of the session was hands on and I say hats off (better keep that hats on) to Tammy, Les and Melanie as they opened up hives for us to find the queen, see the brood, pollen and honey. Melanie showed us how to be stung and properly remove the stinger with venom pump from your skin.
It must have been premonition but I bought a better veil hat before the workshop started. Glad I did as the bees were not too happy to be disturbed on a rainy morning. Nothing more distracting than trying to listen and have bees crawling across the screen of your veil hat. A bee got inside and as I tried not to panic outwardly in getting it out I still managed to get stung. Can't complain when I hear Melanie tell us how she gets stung on a regular basis, I guess you get used to it.
Here are some interesting tidbits I learned.

• All beehives in Ontario are registered and beekeepers have an amazing backup team of researchers, tech support and regulations to keep our honey source safe and flowing.



• Honey bees are not considered aggressive, they are defensive and will not sting you unless you are threatening their home or them personally. If you are stung without any provocation it won't be from a honey bee.



• I see the honey bees clustered around the rabbits water dish and now know they collect water to cool their hive by placing droplets around the inside and fanning for ventilation. Heat is absorbed with the evaporation. They don't drink the water, they get all the moisture they need from the nectar they collect.



• Honey bees are a social insect with a structured hierarchy and specific roles for the workers, drones and queen. The whole colony overwinters (except for the drones) so they produce a lot of honey, some of which we can have. Other honey producers such as the bumblebee only produce small amounts of honey as only the queen overwinters.



• There are many threats to the bees - disease, mites, insect infestation, predators such as mice or bears, climate change. You have to be passionate about beekeeping to work against the odds to keep healthy, thriving and productive hives.
  
  All in all it was a really interesting and informative day. I've always had respect for the efforts of the beekeepers and a fascination with the bees. Not sure if I have the courage yet to start my own.
  Next time you have a spoonful of honey thank the bees and the beekeeper!

STRAWBERRIES ARE LOOKING GOOD.

What goes better with honey than some strawberries. There are tiny fruit on some of the varieties and lots of blossoms. I could be a good year if the weather behaves. It won't be long before they're ready for picking - approx 1 - 2 weeks for the market, no more than 3 weeks for pick your own. Check around the 10th of June for fresh picked berries.

SPRING IS HERE

Winter didn't seem to take too long this year, it was a busy one. Check out our website for some new stuff. We are currently developing our birthday party program and there is a page for that. You can email us an inquiry and we'll send you out the information as soon as it is ready. CELEBRATE SPRING NEWSLETTER is on our website as well filled with lot's of information on our farm. Print it off and keep it handy for our produce availability guide and our events calendar. Try the yummy recipe. There is a link to our newsletter on the home page. JAMES IS JOINING US Our son James is now working on the farm with us. He is in charge of our social media and keeping us up to date on twitter and facebook. Are you our friend yet? As well he is persuing some independant enterprises raising some pastured poultry and a couple acres of crops including tomatoes. These will all be available when ready in our Markham market. James is also planning 2 events this season - Celebrate Spring on Victoria Day weekend with kite flying and more as well as Celebrate Honey Monday August 1st. We'll keep you posted about exact details. WE'RE OFF TO ENGLAND Farmer Jim will be holding down things here on the farm while I and the boys are off on a market tour in England. It will be exciting to see how the Brits do things and we hope to come home with loads of ideas. See you soon. We're opening Saturday April 30th.