Tulips, Rain, and Trouble-shooting

Spring is here and we are busier than ever! It seems to be the same story all over Ohio... rain, rain, rain. I'll try not to complain because without it we wouldn't be seeing these gorgeous double tulips that I planted last fall. I think it is safe to say my obsession with tulips is just beginning...The bees like them, too! It has been so much fun watching them work on the sunny days when they can leave the hives. We recently took 60 hives to several apple farms in Ohio for pollination. This is a first for Honeyrun Farm, so we'll see how that goes. It is nice to know we can help them out, because many apple farmers are having difficulty finding beekeepers who do pollination work. But it is a lot of work... loading up the hives late at night when the little ladies are all back home, then taking off early in the morning before they have time to get out and get back to work. Imagine what it would be like to wake up in the same house, but when you walked outside... you had a completely different neighborhood! I think this is exactly what the bees feel like when they get moved!
On the only really nice sunny day last week, Mason and I worked at cleaning out the leftover garden plants from last year. This is Mason as he strenuously pulls out an old zinnia plant, all while holding on to a tulip. It slowed him down a bit, but he was relentless.
And did I mention that our greenhouse has about a foot of standing water in it? For the past 4 years we have only used the greenhouse to grow potted plants. This year, we took 2 of the tables out and decided to plant some things in the ground. This year, it flooded. We also dealt with a broken heater, a broken water table (we have hot water running through pipes in our table), and a broken tiller. None of these things are surprising. Farming is a lot more about fixing machinery and troubleshooting than it is about planting seeds in the warm sun. It's just the warm sun that we remember and focus on. I'll let you know when we get one of those days. :)

Cheers-

Jayne

Check out the Worthington Winter Market

Even though it is officially Spring in Ohio, you can still enjoy the Worthington Winter Farmer's Market through the end of April. My last post provided a recipe about eating locally in the winter, and I promised pictures of what is offered at the winter market. So here's a sampling...

Delicious green leaf lettuce from Van Scoy farms. Grown in their greenhouse all winter long!
Check out their website here. They are good, honest farmers who bring a quality product to market.
And here we have the samplings of jams from Sweet Thing Gourmet. Created in small batches from their kitchen, they have 32 flavors ranging from Lavender Peach to Raspberry Jalapeno...Balsamic Strawberry to Scotch Bonnet Blueberry. It's amazing! They also offer delicious brownies (seen below) and biscotti. Check out their website.
Meadow Maid cheese always has a great sampling of their grassfed organic milk cheeses. Grassfed cows produce milk that is high in Omega-3 and Omega-6, as well as vitamin E.
I will be at this market again this Saturday from 10:00 am-1:00 pm, in the Griswold Senior Center at 777 N. High Street. Come out and say hi, and if you tell me you read this blog post, you can get 5 free honey sticks, plus $1.00 of any (and every) item you buy at our booth!

Eating Locally in the Winter

Eating local foods in the winter in Ohio can be challenging... but not too hard if you plan ahead and know where to find the farmers. This week I wanted to post a recipe from a meal I prepared using mostly local ingredients. I love eating Italian Wedding Soup when I go to restaurants. I had never made it before because it seemed like it would be difficult to make... and I didn't really think I could do a good job because it seemed like a "fancy" kind of dish. But I figured, hey... it can't hurt to try.

I have been buying fresh spinach every other week when we're at the Worthington Winter Farmer's market (in the Griswold Senior Center on N. High Street) from Gretel and Steve Adams from Sunny Meadows Flower Farm. They have been growing it in their unheated greenhouse all winter long, along with the most tasty carrots you will ever try. Both these items happen to be ingredients in Wedding Soup! Here is a picture of the finished product, accompanied with some locally made sourdough bread from Lucky Cat Bakery in Pataskala, Ohio. Of course, not the best food photography seeing as how it was already dark when we were eating it, and I put it in a dark bowl so you can't really see anything. Oh well... you get the idea.

Here is the recipe, which I got from www.food.com.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb lean ground beef

1 egg, slightly beaten

2 tablespoons breadcrumbs

1 tablespoon parmesan cheese

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

5 3/4 cups chicken broth

2 cups chopped escarole or 2 cups chopped spinach

1/2 cup orzo pasta, uncooked

1/3 cup finely chopped carrot

grated parmesan cheese

1 In medium bowl combine, meat, egg,bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, basil& onion powder; shape into 3/4" balls.

2 In large sauce pan, heat broth to boiling; stir in spinach, orzo, carrot& meatballs.

3 Return to boil;reduce heat to medium.

4 Cook at slow boil for 10 minutes or until orzo is tender.

5 Stir frequently to avoid sticking.

6 Serve with additional Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.

I used turkey broth that I had made and frozen after Thanksgiving. I also used local hamburger from my parent's farm. Here is a picture of the beautiful baby carrots from Steve and Gretel:

And here is their gorgeous Spinach. It is so flavorful and fresh!
Stop by the Worthington Winter Market tomorrow if you want a chance to pick up some great local food. I will take my camera to take some pictures of the other offerings of this great little farmer's market and post them next week. There's always a lot of meat (beef, pork, chicken), vegetarian burgers (Luna burgers), organic local baby food, goat cheese as well as traditional cheese, apples, baked goods (gluten-free, too), fudge, eggs, handmade soap, and lots of great bread. Oh, and I almost forgot... HONEY!

A sampling of what is to come..

This week I finally put my seed order together and am getting excited for Spring. I thought I would fill you in on what you may expect at the North Market this season. That is, if I am diligent enough to follow through on these ideas....

I always try to pick a few crops to work on each year, and this year I chose miniature head lettuce and carrots. Both are things I love to eat, and need more practice growing. It is hard to get a lettuce to form a complete head around here, because I always end up harvesting the tips before it gets big enough to harvest as a head! I chose several varieties to try, both red, green, and mottled... so we'll see what happens.

Blue Jade sweet corn... just for fun. Don't expect to see this as market except in 4" pots sold as individual plants in the Spring. This is one sweet corn that can actually be planted in large containers, and used as an ornamental. I plan to do a small row in the garden just for our family (I'm awful when it comes to weeding large plots like sweet corn.) I'll put a few seeds in large whiskey barrels around our property for decoration.
I chose two varieties of carrots to grow this year. This variety below is called Dragon, and features a purple exterior with orange inside. I need Becky to teach me how to weed carrots. Or maybe just a little more ambition when it counts... like early May when the weeds begin to Sprout.
The other variety I chose is called Paris Market. I thought these would be easier because they are small, take less time to mature, and thus, there would be less time for the weeds to take it over. Right?
I also am planting a lot of potatoes this year. I like potatoes because you can get them in the ground early, and also harvest them earlier than crops like tomatoes and peppers. They are gratifying because they grow pretty quickly, and the kids can help me dig them out of the dirt and throw them into buckets. I chose some old favorites like Red Norlands, Kennebecs, Katahdins, as well as some fancy new varieties like Purple Viking and Purple Majesty. They are purple inside and out!
These photos were all taken from seed catalogs... but hopefully this summer I will have some pictures of the real thing, taken right here on our farm.

We're currently bottling lavender infused honey for the Weekly Fresh Market Bag at the Greener Grocer right now. We received about 5" of snow last night so this is a fun activity to do while being snowed in!

If you enjoy this farm blog, head on over to Curly Girl Farm blog, where our farmer friend Kristen blogs about all sorts of old-fashioned farm activities. If you need advice on jelly making, sauerkraut making (the real, "stinky crock sitting in your kitchen for weeks" way), raising chickens, making maple syrup, growing heirloom produce, sewing, and pretty much any other old-fashioned craft or trade... Kristen is your girl!

Many ways to shop Honeyrun Farm this Holiday season...

We have been busy working on building online stores... please take a look and tell us what you think!

Our store on Etsy: 30% off everything until Dec. 1st

Our store on Foodzie: 25% off on Black Friday, 15% off for the remainder of the week

Our store on local harvest

And of course, you can always purchase soap directly through our website.

We will also be participating in the annual Holiday Show at the North Market on Dec. 4 and 5, where you will find the following products, plus all our regular items.

A new honey gift package featuring Spring, Summer, and Fall honey.
One of our newest best-selling soaps: Peppermint & Tea Tree - invigorating and uplifting!
Pure beeswax candles with natural honey/beeswax scent.
Cinnamon soap... a favorite during this time of year.
Pure raw chunk honey - pair it with cheese for your holiday entertaining.

Thanks for stopping by, hope you are enjoying your Thanksgiving!