A long overdue post from Honeyrun Farm!

So I took a few months off after having a baby on August 4th, but I think that is a reasonable excuse, right? Markets are tapering off and the fall weather is upon us. But there is still one month left of great produce, and the honey is always in season. Becky will be at her regular markets through the end of October, and Isaac will be selling honey at the North Market for one more week, with honey and soap available at the farmstand throughout the year.

Here is an update on what Becky has to offer from her fall harvest, as well as storage crops. Greens... greens... greens! Did you know one of her customers actually refers to her as the "lettuce angel"? Pictured below is bronze arrow heirloom lettuce. This is available in a mix with black seeded simpson, red deer tongue, and the beautiful bright red ruffled "lolla rossa" (my personal favorite). I was so excited when I finally got to eat my first BLT with a homegrown tomato and homegrown lettuce. Next year we will have to raise some pigs to complete the local meal.
And this is another favorite at the markets; Arugula. It adds a nice spicy component to any salad, on top of pizza, in a stew, or with your favorite pasta dish.
Other greens that are growing at Honeyrun Farm include Tatsoi and Mizuna, which are asian greens that are great in salad, stir-fry, and soup. Swiss chard and Red Russian Kale round out the greens selection. Other crops available are brussel sprouts, beets, turnips, carrots, sweet potatoes (as big as your head), pie pumpkins, scorzonera (get to the market early for this... it's going quickly!), and parsnips. For those of you that have never visited the farm, pictured below you can see the layout of the crops, taken from the top of a grain bin in early July. If you would like to visit the farm in person, just send us an email and we can arrange a visit.

Finally it has rained on Honeyrun Farm!  We have had a pretty dry summer, and luckily on Saturday we finally received about 2 inches.  We've been so busy we haven't had much time to publish to the blog.  Here is Becky's field... showing the sweet potatoes, onions, hot peppers, and basil and eggplant under the blanket of white floating row cover, which keeps the bugs out, but lets light and rain in.  The sweet corn has also begun to mature, along with a handful of red tomatoes.  We need some of that traditional hot July weather to help them turn bright red!  Becky has recently joined a new market in Dublin on Wednesdays from 4:00-8:00.  Today she will be selling some delicious Ambrosia sweet corn, along with an assortment of purple and green bell peppers, zucchini, onions, carrots... she has such a wide assortment she can hardly find room for everything on the table!  
Gretel from Sunny Meadows Flower Farm came to help make soap last week, and toured the farm with Becky to talk about new ideas and the progress of the crops.   The lack of rain has made the Sunflowers shorter than normal, but they are still blooming beautifully!
On another note, Isaac has started to prepare the ground for the building of our new 'honey house.'  This will be a new location for us to extract and bottle honey, as well as make soap and other honey products.  We have been planning this for quite some time, and it is hard to believe that we are actually beginning to break ground.
A Columbus photographer, Catherine Murray, visited the farm this week to take some photos.  Here is a beautiful shot she took of a frame of honeybees, including the queen near the bottom edge of the picture.  It is often hard to find the queen, so we were really glad she was able to shoot this photo!  Notice the queen's enlarged abdomen, as compared to the rest of the bees.  This allows her to lay the 1,000-1,500 eggs she produces each day during this time of year.
And finally... our son Mason as he enjoys the Spring Black Locust Honey.  It is such a light, delicate flavor... our family's favorite of all the honey we produce.  We are currently selling it at the North Market on Saturdays, but plan to keep one bucket reserved for our customers at the Lithopolis Honeyfest, which will be on Sept. 12th.  Hopefully Mason can restrain himself from eating too much of it before the festival.
photo credit:  Courtney Hergesheimer

Apple Tree Swarm

The bees are still swarming!  Here is a video of a swarm that landed in our apple tree yesterday.  I was out in the garden, picking the Calendula flowers that we use to make our soap, when I heard a lot of buzzing in the air.  Sure enough.... thousands of bees were abuzz in the air... just starting to land on the tree branch.  You can hear the buzzing in the video if you listen closely.  

The Baby Goats are here!

The baby goats have finally arrived! Our goat Gilly had two baby boys 2 weeks ago. They are doing great, and love running around, chasing each other. Our goat Honey is still pregnant, but we think she might go into labor today. It is a great time to come to visit the farm to see the babies, the bees, and Becky's produce as it is really beginning to take off. This past weekend she had beautiful greens for sale at Worthington and Clintonville... Arugula, Tatsoi, Red Choi, and a varietal Lettuce Mix. This coming weekend we will be back at the North Market as well. Hope to see you at a market this week!


Here is a short clip of the baby goats as they are hanging out on their "playground." Their names are Oscar (black) and Oliver (brown).

Spring Planting and Swarm Season

Swarm season is upon us!  We have caught 6 swarms so far this year, and hope for many more.  Here is a picture of one of our hives as it is getting ready to swarm.  Usually when a hive is ready to swarm they will cluster on the front of their box, and soon you will start to notice hundreds... maybe thousands of bees buzzing through the air in an excited frenzy.  This hive came to us last year as a swarm... they had made their home in this duck box.  Since it was late in the season, we decided not to transfer them to a new hive, but to let them stay in the duck box, which Isaac fixed up on this tree next to our shop.  Obviously they are a bit crowded in such small quarters, and are throwing out a swarm to try to make room for themselves.

The sweet corn has been planted!  Justin, Adam, and Wesley Barnes helped get everything set up, and Justin did the planting.  It is a great help that we have family so willing to loan equipment, time, and expertise on big jobs such as this.  

From working in the greenhouse, to keeping the plants healthy and watered, selling plants on the weekends, trying to get seeds and transplants into the ground as the weather allows... I can't believe we're almost half way through May!  Below is a picture from our Greenhouse Open House a few weeks ago.  

Becky has been very busy planting, although the weather has not always been cooperative.  Here is a picture of her carharts and shoes after she planted onions in the rain.  Upon first glance I couldn't really tell that those were her shoes, but under the layer of muck, they really are there.

Fellow friend and farmer Kristen Baughman came to help plant potatoes, asparagus, and berries.  Here is a picture of her driving the tractor, while Becky prepares the potato planter.  Adam from Wayward Seed Farm loaned us this implement, which was extremely helpful and made planting potatoes so much quicker.  It was really fun to watch.  Becky fed the potatoes into the hopper while Kristen drove.  Now the only overwhelming thought is digging the potatoes when they are ready!  I'm sure they make a machine for that, but not sure if we know anyone who wants to loan it out.  

If you are headed out in the Columbus area this weekend, come check out our markets!  I will be selling honey, beeswax candles, plants, flowers, and more at the first ever Eco Chic Craftacular, located at the Whetstone Community Center in Clintonville on Saturday and Sunday.  Becky will be up in Worthington for the farmer's market, and she has some beautiful Easter Egg radishes, French Breakfast Radishes, and possibly some Arugula (maybe for those first few lucky customers).  We hope to see you there!  

Upcoming Markets: Where to Find Us this Spring

We have a very busy Spring market schedule!  This is where you can find us and our plants, honey, soaps, spring greens, etc over the next 5 weeks:

Saturday, April 25: Worthington Winter Market, 10-1, Griswold Sr.Center 

Saturday, May 2:  Clintonville Sprout Market, The North Market

Sunday, May 3:  Powell Street Fair (9-5), Greenhouse Open House on our farm (12-dusk)

Saturday, May 9: Plant Fest (Worthington Historic District 9-4), The North Market

Saturday, May 16:  Columbus Craftacular 10-6 (3923 N. High, Whetstone Comm.Center), Clintonville Urban Farmer's Market (1934 N.4th St), Worthington Farmer's Market

Sunday, May 17:  Columbus Craftacular 12-5 (www.columbuscraftacular.com) 

Tuesday, May 19:  Pearl Market, downtown Columbus 

We hope to see you at one of these markets!

Springtime at Honeyrun Farm

Well, it's definitely springtime in Ohio!  Rain.. rain... and more rain... with a few beautiful days in between.  Becky has planted a lot of root vegetables, lettuce, greens, and peas, and I have gotten some potatoes and onions in the ground.  It is exciting to see the freshly tilled soil (weed free at the moment), and to think of the possibilities to come.  Blackberries, raspberries, black raspberries, and asparagus will be planted within the next week (weather permitting).  Although we won't be able to harvest any of those until next year, it gives us a lot to look forward to.

Our 13 month old Mason has been keeping busy, helping out in the greenhouse and wandering into the nearby wheat field while I work on seeding and transplanting.  His favorite chore is filling pots with soil, although he is not the most efficient worker as he prefers to do this one fistful at a time.  In the greenhouse, we have onion transplants that are ready to be put out in the field... as soon as it gets dry enough to plant.  This year we be selling a wide variety of potted plants from the greenhouse: heirloom tomatoes, culinary and medicinal herbs, perennials, annual bedding plants, hanging baskets, mixed herb planters, and even some "living" wreaths.  We will be posting market dates and locations for April and May soon, and you are always welcome to stop by the farm and check out what is growing!
I decided to include a picture of the bees, so they would not feel left out.  We heard them out buzzing when the Willow trees were putting out pollen.  It is an amazing sound to walk out of the house and hear thousands of honeybees going to work, gathering tiny little grains of pollen to carry back to the hive.. trip after trip... all day long.  We all could learn a little about work ethic from watching the bees.  
On another note, we have some new Golden Buff chickens that are amazing layers!  We are getting about 18 eggs a day, and have plenty to sell at the farmstand to our friends and neighbors.  We will be getting 15 Plymouth Rock chickens at the beginning of the summer, and will be selling the eggs at the North Market on Saturdays.  Here is a picture of the chicken coop that Isaac built last fall.  He used the windows from his Grandmother Barnes' old brick house that was destroyed in a fire years back.  I don't know of any other chickens who have it this nice... what a view.
Our goats, Gilly and Honey are both pregnant and due in about 2 months.  Honey, who has always looked pregnant, appears that she may be having twins or triplets.  Gilly, who tries her best to compete with Honey for food, is actually putting on some weight and developing an udder.  We cannot wait for the baby goats to arrive... I believe they are the cutest farm animal around.  Here is a picture of Gilly from last fall.  She's always looking for someone to pick on.  
Bottom Three Photo credits:  Kenneth Lilly