Whisper Hill Farms

A long Winter”s nap, not hardly

Winter is here at Whisper Hill Farms and it showed up with a vengeance. Well over a foot of snow and access is now by snowshoe as we have no plow yet for the road . We did mange to get the Bee hives wrapped before the cold weather set in .

The guys are talking about one final hunt during muzzle loader season ,we’ll see if they want to do that much walking in deep snow .

You would think that our work is now done ,but hardly . Our Honey has all been extracted ,we still have bottling to do . We also still have lots of wax to process . After the holidays, we will take some time to reflect on how we met our goals ,where we failed and what goals to set for next year . There will be seed to be ordered and plants to grow . Not to mention ,Hickory syrup to make . Plank Road Pantry on Pennsylvania Ave. in Elmira N.Y. is now carrying our syrup in stock . A great place to buy bulk foods and specialty items . Check them out !

As if you didn’t know ,a farmers work is never done .

Just in time

On Friday the 18th ,we got the fence up around the Aronia . We found only one plant had been pulled up by the Deer ,so that plant was stuck back in the ground . It had rained hard the day before we went up ,so the ground was nice and soft ,the posts went in easily . The fence went up easily too and we were done with that project in about 3 hours . That left us time to finish up some other chores ,namely draining the irrigation tank ,adding stabilizer to the gas tanks and running all the small engines to circulate it ,along with some housekeeping that needed to be done on the Bee hives .

The next day was the opening day of Deer season and my two helpers ,Mike and Austin were given permission to hunt the farm . They had a very good day ,harvesting a 7 point ,and a spike Buck, as well as a large Doe . Great job guys!!

A few chores remain ,wrapping the hives ,adding some Winter patties for food as well as emptying the composting outhouse . We still have Honey to extract also ,although that process has begun .

A farmers work is never done

Weather or not

Weather or not ,not a typo, or a spell check error . Our weather has been unseasonably warm and wet .It has not been conducive to getting the few things done on the farm before the Winter sleep sets in . Warm is not such a bad thing but wet has been a hindrance .

Fence still needs to be installed around the Aronia . Bees need to be fed and the hives need to be prepped for Winter . As long as the weather stays warm ,none of these are critical . The critters ( Rabbits and Deer) are still foraging greenery so the Aronia and Blueberries are safe and the Bees are still foraging a bit with late fall dandelions providing the best last hope for nectar and pollen .

Back here at the shop ,we have honey supers to extract ,that I will begin today. Should be approximately 200 lbs ,a good harvest for a drought year .

A farmers work is never done .

Bullet dodged

In the last two days we received over 3 1/4 inches of rain at the farm . With all the flash flooding around our place in Big Flats ,I was worried about how much damage   the farm and our dirt road had incurred,so today I took a trip there .

Just as the weatherman had predicted, it was cold and windy with snow showers . Everything was none the worse for wear . No Aronia washed out . The plugged lower ditch didn’t wash out the road but rather semi cleaned itself out . I had feared the worst but we dodged that bullet . While there we pulled off a honey super and got the escape boards under the last two supers . Despite the cold, the Bees were clustered in the top box of the Warre hive . Bees will be bees and will sometimes do the exact opposite of what they are supposed to do .

We also saw a huge Buck in the Christmas tree plantation on top of the hill . We couldn’t get a count of the points on his rack ,but he was a very big boy .

He needs to stay out of the Aronia .

A farmers work, or worries, are never done .

What’s good for the Aronia ,holds up the Honey

So far ,so good .

When I last checked ,Sunday ,everything in the Aronia field looked good . No deer pulling them up and we have gotten some rain on the farm. In fact the last few days have been wet and unseasonably warm . Great for the plants but the Honey harvest has been put on hold until it cools down .

We did manage to pull off 3 supers over the weekend . We have 5 more to go . When the weather is this warm and the Bees aren’t clustered in the bottom of the hive ,it’s no time to harvest honey . They get a bit pissy .

In any event it was a beautiful weekend at the farm with the fall foliage at peak . The next few days call for rain and cooler temperatures here . Not great for pulling Honey but with any luck we can start getting what we have ready to bottle .

A farmers work is never done .

A time to sow

It has been a busy couple of days .

The Aronia arrived on time from Aronia Unlimited on Thursday the 13th. I was glad I was here when Fedex delivered . In typical Fedex Fashion ,(UPS is no better BTW) some of the boxes were handled quite roughly . 15 plants were out of their cells in the flats ,some( 8) with much of the root balls broken off . I immediately repotted all of these and watered all the flats heavily . Other than being a bit wilted , which is to be expected, the rest of the order looked very good . You will notice in the picture that some of the leaves were red . This is normal as these plants are getting ready for their Winter dormancy.

I sent an e-mail to Matt at Aronia Unlimited to advise him the plants were here and there had been a small amount of damage through no fault of his company . He e-mailed me back within a few minutes telling  me they would ship a replacement flat out on Monday . WOW! I was more than impressed . I did a bunch of research before I chose these guys and they will get my business in the future if and when I expand my Aronia plantings .If you are planning on growing Aronia I highly recommend you work with Aronia Unlimited

After the plants were watered they were loaded in the back of the pick-up to go to the farm Friday .

I left early Friday morning and got to the farm around 8:30 am . By 12:30 pm ,all the plants were in the ground . It went much quicker than I anticipated. I am sore today ,but it is a good sore . My biggest worry now is the Deer will pull them up before we get the fencing up . Sometimes they pull stuff up for no apparent reason (at least to us humans) .

A little later today I will head back to the farm to pull Honey and check on the Aronia . I need to find a day next week to get that fence up .

Before I close ,I need to share some personal reflections on yesterday . I managed to dump a mug of coffee all over some important papers before I left the house . My helper forgot to set his alarm clock and I left without him . I was pretty upset with how things were going the whole ride up . This was going to be a horrible day ,I had made up my mind to it .

Once I got to the farm ,my day changed . The sky was blue ,not a cloud in sight. A hawk soared back and forth over the field ,looking for it’s breakfast .Autumn was in it’s glory ,the formally green forest was ablaze with color and the annoyances of the morning were forgotten and forgiven  Once I carried the first flat out and began planting ,it was like an epiphany . This is where I was meant to be . This is what I am meant to be doing .

A farmers work is never done .

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Coming attractions

Aronia plants are scheduled to arrive Thursday the 13th .342 total . That means planting will begin on the 14th,our 38th wedding anniversary.Seems apropos for a new  adventure to celebrate the one Char and I began almost 4 decades ago.  I hope to get lots of photos to share as we plant. We will also find some time to celebrate

I may start pulling Honey as early as tomorrow . This cool weather tends to cluster the Bees lower in the hive ,making it easier to pull off the supers (boxes full of frames of Honey ) without as many objections from the girls .

We hope to have our products page up shortly . Along with our Honey ,we will have Hickory syrup for sale . What is Hickory syrup ,you ask ? Stay tuned ,that will need a whole post !

A farmers work is never done .

Fabulous Friday

Friday was such a great day to be working at the farm . Clear skies ,temperature about 70 and a light breeze . The leaves are changing and it won’t be long before the Winter sleep sets in .

Our goal was to finish the landscape fabric and we came close ,two rows left to go ,and we ran out . Two more rolls will do it and they will be on the way soon . That will not hold us up in the least as we have more than enough rows covered to plant the Aronia in . That is being shipped Monday ,so it will be all hands on deck until they are planted . I am both apprehensive and excited as this starts a new chapter in our farm life .

After we ran out of fabric ,we hit the woods ,cut and loaded about a face cord of firewood then took some pictures from the raised bed area, part way up the hill,looking down on the soon to be Aronia beds and the  Apiary along with a couple of the raised beds . The large leafed plants in one shot are Elecampane. The dried roots are used to treat lung issues . The Purple flower bed is Echinacea . The leaves ,flower petals and roots are all used to build the immune system .

In the Apiary the hives with flat tops are Langstrohs and the hives with slanted roofs are Warres. The white fence is electric to discourage Bears and Skunks from using our Bees for a meal.

Before planting I still need to mark the fabric with the proper spacing between plants (3 feet),drain the water tank so I can get it on the trailer ,then refill it so as to have water available as we plant .

A farmer’s work is never done

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Getting ready for Fall Aronia planting

I thought I would share some photos of our beds we have prepared in advance for our Fall Aronia planting (as well as Spring Elderberry ) . The beds were laid out 12 ‘ on center for the most part . A couple ended up wider to miss tree stumps and one ended up narrower (human error ).We are planting for hand harvest ,the spacing isn’t critical. We double plowed the rows with the BCS tractor with a rotary plow attachment ,then triple tilled with the BCS tractor with a tiller attachment . We added some wood ashes on the final till to sweeten the soil a bit .

Yesterday we covered the beds with landscape fabric to control weeds . One step we skipped was spraying Round-up before plowing and tilling .Although this is recommended ,we used the more expensive landscape fabric method in order to keep herbicides out of our fields . Our goal is to follow organic practices to produce healthful berries and medicinal herbs, no one wants toxic chemicals in their foods and medicine . However , I refuse to do the government paperwork to certify organic ,as that is toxic to my soul .

The landscape fabric is rolled over the bed then stapled down with 6″ staples . We also use rocks tilled from the field to help hold the fabric down as the staples don’t hold well in tilled ground . We finished 10 rows  yesterday ,5 more to do Friday

A farmers work is never done .

The Aronia field after fabric is laid down.

The Aronia field before fabric.

The Honey Harvest

As I mentioned in my first post ,we will be harvesting Honey from our Bees soon . Unlike most commercial Bee keepers ,we don’t harvest Honey in the Summer . We harvest our Honey in October . I time my harvest to coincide with the last bit of nectar production (Asters). That is coming up soon ,as the Goldenrod is almost spent and the Asters are being worked hard by the Bees.

Unlike most commercial Bee keepers ,we also don’t use Langstroth hives to the exclusion of all others . This year is actually the first year we will harvest from Langstroth hives . For the past 4 years I have used Warre hives . Warre hives don’t produce as much Honey as a Langstroth hive as they are smaller and you harvest the comb as well as the Honey . This has the disadvantage of less Honey but the advantage of a large wax harvest that can be used for candles ,lip balm etc. We have also found we can get a premium price for our Honey from the Warres as it is more robust in flavor ,something our customers appreciate.

This year we have added 4 Langs to the mix and managed them in the same manner as the Warres ,fall harvest only . It will be interesting to see if the Honey will have different flavors coming from the different hive styles  We will soon find out barring any Bear issues .

A farmers work is never done .