Honey- Plant Sales.

 Currently, we only sell Honey in 1lb glass jars. they sell for $ 18.00 per Jar with a $ 2 per jar deposit

the deposit will be returned when the empty jar is returned or exchanged for another jar of Honey.

I also deliver to Local Communities for free. these areas include Port Orchard and Surronding area,

Bethel/Burly area, Purdy and Gig Harbor. You may text me at 510-556-9306 to see if I can deliver to

you. in some cases, I will deliver to other areas for a small fee.

Currently I sell Native Plants and Trees by appointment only. 

Here is a current List of Trees and Plants I sell, I will update this list as necessary.

American Chestnut Trees (from Local seed trees)

Cedar Trees

Hawthorn Trees

European Holly Tree

Big Leaf Maple Trees

Douglas Fir Trees

Plants:

Native Daisy

ferns

Hardhard Hack plant

New Hours

 Due to my schedule change at my full time Job, the Times I will be avaliabe for Honey Pickup

will be Mon-Thrs 3:30 to 4:30,  Friday 4:00 Pm 5:30 Saturday 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. We are closed 

on Sunday. Thank You for your understanding

Maple Syrup Experiment

I have toyed with the idea of tapping my Big Leaf Maple Trees on my property ever since I saw this YouTube video UW YouTube Video several years ago. this year I'm getting more serious and am going to try it for the first time. 

I read this NPR article a few days ago that really inspired me.

 NPR Big leaf Maple Syrup Flows As Profits Drip

I have tapped 6 trees so far, as of 12/27/2021 we’re still waiting for the sap to flow but things are looking promising as we’re supposed to literally in 20’s at night and in the low 30 during the day. I’ll up date this page as the season progresses.

On the first Week of Feb  2022 I tapped 20 additional trees, by the end of the flow, I had collected 30 gallons of Raw Sap and boiled this raw sap down to 5 gallons of sap. it is currently in my freezer waiting for the final boil down to syurp. 

We're Live on Hipcamp !!

We're Live on Hipcamp !!

 

Well, we finally took the plunge and listed Part of our Farm in Packwood on Hipcamp.

 

If you don't know about Hipcamp find more here.

 

We Listed the Parcel that is 1 acre in size and are starting with 7 Primitive sites that people can pitch a tent. as time goes on we'll add more amenities like composting toilets, Running water etc.

7 site Plan.


 

Our Long term plan is to develop it into a 20-30 site with spots for RV back-in's with a main cabin with a retail store on the bottom and a rentable upper second level. We want to dedicate one spot for  campground Host./ Farm Assistant
The idea is also to provide places for people to stay while we conduct Permaculture/sustainable
Farming Seminars



Our grandiose plan ends up having 35 tent sites anywhere from 12' X 25' to 30' X 50' multi family sites. 7 RV Sites and 5 Yurts. To check out our Listing click on the "book on HIPCAMP LOGO BELOW. THANKS.

 NOTE ALL OF OUR HIPCAMP RESEVERASIONS ARE ON HOLD UNTIL WE CAN GET ADEQUETE INFRASTRUCTURE/ STAFFING.

This is our grandiose plan

.

Honeybee Conservation Program

the USDA has a program to provide finiciancial asstance to set aside land for honeybee protection it's called :


Honey Bee Habitat | Agricultural Productivity | Wildlife Habitat

In other news,


Actor Morgan Freeman declared that he has created a " Bee Sanctuary" to save the bees.
ok, well I have to admire anyone wanting to do their part for the honey bee but come on Morgan, 25 hives Really??  I also read that he is not going to do any intervention for mites, diseases etc.  I would like to see his records on how many of those 25 hives survived the first winter of 2015, 2016 etc ect. What do I really think, well it's just a publicity stunt. now Morgan, if you were really serious about the plight of the Honeybee how about donating say, 100K to a university doing research on CCD.

Getting Ready for the Bees.

Two years ago, i decided to get bees, but at the time, it was going to be a part time hobby, to produce a little honey for ourselves and family.
However due to changing circumstances,  I have decided to make it a more prominent endeavor on the farm.  Unfortunately,  the hive that i had died last winter. I may have been partly my fault due to my inexperience in beekeeping.  I was going off the presumption that I knew enough from raising bees with my Father 35 years ago, but many things have changed since then. The rampent use of pesticides,  new diseases,  and new pests., most notably,  the Varroa Destructor.

That being said i decided it was time to get more knowledgeable about modern beekeeping.
I found out  at the February meeting pf the West Sound Beekeeping club that they were going to be offering a 6 week course in beginning beekeeping.  I decided that if I was serious about beekeeping that I needed to get my butt in that class.  It's been 5 weeks now and WOW, have I learned a lot.  Two more weeks to go, and several weeks after that, I'll be getting tow new bee hive packages, from improved bloodlines from California.

STARTING OVER

Well, as you can maybe surmise by my previous posts is the pig project mostly failed. but not for trying.
After spending time reflecting on just went wrong I have distilled it down to 3 conditions

1. Expensive feed: I was not able to procure enough cheap feed like many other pork producers do.

2. Got in to Pig Breeding/ Rasing instead of starting slow and just rasing feeders.

3. Transportation. After the Truck broke down, I was spending so much money on feed that I could never get enough money to get the truck fixed... Everything spiraled down from there.

On the upside, the pigs did a fabioulous job of clearing the land so there's that.

I have now decided to get started (slowly) into the garden market business.
I just started learning the strategies from Curtis Stone, you can find out more about Curtis on
YouTube https://youtu.be/1MNhtcagNO0.
I am currently taking his online course and hope to replicate what he has done but on a smaller scale
his plan is based on a 1/4 acre..... more to come

UPDATE: After much pondering i have decided to get back into the bee business.
With the continued detorating health of my wife, and the limitations of still having a full time job, i believe that raising bees for pollination and honey, it is the best option for me at this time.....