How To: Start Chicks

Our second YouTube video! This is just a brief intro on how to start new chicks off growing strong. Enjoy the video and please subscribe on YouTube for more videos!

  In honor of June tonight at Wednesday Night On The Farm  we'll talk about "Where have all the wild roses gone?".  We'll show you the simple things we did to save a patch here, my 25th wedding anniversary gift from Les (that I received years ago and has been moved three times),  since its so close to the solstice we'll talk a bit about its celtic meanings as well as others and we'll share one of our favorite tea blend recipes featuring rose petals.  You can even take a start home with you if you have a good place to start one of these very special wild flowers.
  Gather round for questions and answers on topics of your choice.  Sit down and relax or take a little walk.  If your a bird watcher,bring your binoculars - several of the nestlings are just beginning to fly.  

Bee stings and Parkinson's disease

Q. Within a week of having a reaction to a bee sting (the skin was hot, red, swollen and blistered), the tremors in my right hand and jaw disappeared. I’d had them for three years and had just gotten a referral to see a neurologist.
My mother and her mother had Parkinson’s disease, so I suspect that is where I was headed, though I hadn’t been officially diagnosed. Have you heard of this before?
A. There may be scientific support for your response to bee venom. We were somewhat surprised to discover research demonstrating that bee-venom injections have benefit against Parkinson’s disease (Parkinsonism and Related Disorders, September 2012).
The Michael J. Fox Foundation funded a study of bee-venom therapy in a mouse model of Parkinson’s. The results were positive. French researchers are recruiting subjects for a clinical trial (MIREILLE) to assess the value of bee venom in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease.

This from today' St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Maybe that is why providence brought me another bee swarm yesterday??!!

New Bee Swarm!!

Had about 2500 guests showed up about 1 today!  Settled in the deep super we were still pulling some honey out of.  So I picked up the super bare handed and in a short sleeve shirt.  Set it on a set of supers we had ready, and looks like the queen bee approves!!  Left the top cover slightly open as the workers are going in top and bottom yet.

This is a more "blond" hive than the other we already have at the house, but still some darker color on about 20% of the workers.  More drowns than I would like to see, but the price was right!

WELCOME LADIES!!

Specialty corn and squash/pumpkins!

With the wet and cool conditions we are late in putting some of the crop in.  We do have what seed we had carry over of for blue corn, red corn, white corn, and a cleaned up version of the yellow corn planted.  We developed these for home "millers" to buy.  Should produce 30 bushel blue, 200 red, 400 white, and potentially 300 yellow.  We also have the Pumpkin we developed.  2 years ago, the pumpkin we chose for Thanksgiving made 5, that's right five, pies from 1 pumpkin.  We are also the only ones we know to grow a squash that is excellent for "baby food" because of the sugar content, and low fiber/stringiness.  Call and reserve yours now as all these go fast!!  Organic farmers, the yellow and white corns make excellent silage and feed stock.  Unlike most breeders, we test our lines by planting at 60,000 plants per acre.  If the won't stand or produce an ear, the do not get to add their pollen to the mix.

Website Woes!

Well, the past couple weeks have been interesting on the tech side of things. Me, your almost faithful webmaster Danni, has had a host of server issues (ha ha see what I did there . . . host. . .server). Those issues have finally been solved. Now, it's on to getting things up to date and functioning properly.

The web form for CSA memberships is down right now for most users. If it's not working for you please call (920-210-1238) or email (blacksheeppat@gmail.com) directly to sign up for your CSA this year. The form should be fixed by the end of the day. However, we want to get people signed up as quickly as possible before the first week. If you've been procrastinating or debating signing up, I strongly encourage you to call and talk to Pat or Les about the CSA and what it can do for you.

Youtube videos should also be posted tonight.  I'll post a link to our channel on the homepage of our site when we go live. This is our first adventure into a new internet community. Please welcome us there and come watch our videos for tips and updates on how the farm is growing. Let us know in comments what you'd like to see us cover. Better yet, subscribe and tell all your friends to, too!

Update!! 6-2-2013

Well, looks like the rainy period is over.    After the last two years of drought, we are not complaining!!  Will work on getting the next sweet corn and the popcorn in by tomorrow night.  Onions and most potatoes are up, no CPB's yet!  Shallots are coming up, some specialty corn, first sweet corn, and should have some squash, pumpkins, melons, and  cucumbers breaking ground.  Pat has a lot pf the transplants in the ground, and they are starting to take off and go.  Still a lot of weeds to get under control, always something!!

Plan to make grass hay in about a week.  Will be nice to have some put away for next year, and some to sell!!  Need to get pasture program going as well.  The animals have been keeping well fed though as we keep cleaning up.

Plan today to plant pumpkins/squash, popcorn?, to wet to work ground.  Selling fresh harvested greens, spinach, and hope to add chard, kale, and scallions by mid-week.  Customers include CSA members and "River's Edge Market"!

Still have local  openings for CSA members.  First distribution mid June!!