Leap of Faith and Bye Bye Power Plant

-Posted by Isaac

I got call from a guy named Noah Toumert a while back. He had a big project due for some kind of film class at OSU. He had found our website off a honey bottle and decided that a day in the life of a beekeeper may prove interesting. Noah had never seen a bee yard, or even a beehive for that matter. Nor had his classmate Emily, who came along to help get things rolling.
The following is the result.

(The project by the way, a semester grade, was due in two days.)



What do you think? Not bad? Maybe a little rough with the audio and some of the visual...
But off camera, an A++ for procrastination, crazy campus life stories and the general hilarity of Emily screaming and running.

Toward the end of the video, I can be seen folding up a "NO POWER PLANT" sign. I told you that we'd keep you updated on that, and I dropped the ball. So here's what happened: We Won!
NTE is moving on, looking for some other rural community to ruin. And it wasn't just Jayne's TV interview that did it.



 Although I'm sure the interview played a major roll in their billion dollar decision. Haha.

It was the general public outcry. An entire community standing up and saying NO!
And throwing things.

My brother Justin and his wife Adrienne need to be given most of the credit. They are the ones who blew the whistle. They ordered the signs. They started the Facebook page. They went door to door.
A couple of weeks ago Justin sent out a kind of congratulatory email. I'll cut and paste some of it here for you to read.

"...and I believe that they would not risk the company's reputation over forcing a site with so much public opposition.
We now have a blueprint for the other energy companies that my come our way. They do not like public awareness and opposition. They do not like the media exposure. And they do not like threats toward their family members."

Justin said he was "just kidding" about that last one.

But I'm not so sure.

NPR + OBX

-Posted by Isaac

Well, reading through Jayne's last post got me all fired up about Bayer.

Again.

The Bayer chemical company, tirelessly promoting pollinator health.

Heil Honeybee!

As she hinted, it's ironic that about the only thing we found concerning bees (among all that lovely agriculture propaganda) came from the very company doing the most to kill them.

I get asked occasionally, what ever became of my bee kill controversy and that whole neonic hubbub?

The controversy continues. Yes, I have put down the megaphone for a while, but the neonic war rages on. I still stand by my original view. The outlandish notion that an insecticide is harmful to insects. Even (gasp) non target insects.
No amount of "bee care" and pollinator health propaganda will negate the fact that Bayer kills a lot of insects.

Coincidentally my vexation with Bayer happened about the same time a friend and blog follower sent us this little report from NPR.



Here's the corresponding article if you care to read.


OBX
Enough of that, lets change directions.
Time to head to the beach.

Last week our family took a fun little trip to the Outer Banks.

And we actually did a decent job of documenting our fun. 

So we'll share some pics with you.

No, it wasn't all fun. Ten hour car rides with little kids can be... well, you know...

And children never seem to reap the same enjoyment from dining out, sampling the local palate.

This place bores me.

Nor do they find the local history quite as interesting or as educational as you do.

But when you set them free on the surf, there's nothing so beautiful as watching a kid race the waves.

Little Snoop had a ball.

"Gonna kick a little something for the G's."

"And make a few friends as I breeze through."

Speaking of breezing through, the wind and sun were constant. We learned why the Outer Banks were such a great spot for testing the first flying machines. Warm winds create big fat fluffy dunes for soft landings.

Wide open spaces, world's biggest sandbox.

It was off to the races.

 

And when we tired of sand, there was mini golf to keep the old skills sharp.

It was a wonderful five days. A nice little respite before the Christmas rush.

Congratulations Maggie! FFA National Champion!

-posted by Jayne

This post is in recognition of our employee Maggie Hovermale, who was recently awarded the FFA National Winner, Agricultural Processing, Entrepreneurship, 2015.  

Yeah, she's sort of a big deal.  :-)

On October 30th we traveled to Louisville, KY to watch Maggie prepare for her final presentation in competition for this national award.  While we were there, we got to walk around the entire FFA convention.  It's huge!   What does one find at an FFA convention, you ask?   T-shirts.  Lots of T-shirts with FFA logos and and agricultural promo items.

Blue jackets for miles and miles....

Blue jackets shopping for FFA T-shirts...

FFA t-shirts pledging love and support for the blue jacket....

Escalators filled with blue jackets from around the United States.  Manly FFA men doing push-ups in the lobby.

Isaac got up close and personal with a live snake from the Sea World exhibit.

Ohio FFA represents with a booth detailing the importance of Ohio agriculture.

Did you know the blue jacket is still manufactured in OHIO?

My favorite booth was the Wisconsin cheese sampling booth (pictured below).  I had the best coffee cheese I ever tasted.  Yes, it was cheese covered with coffee grounds.  Delicious!  I wish I had remembered to write down the brand.

We looked all over for the booth about HONEYBEES.  After all, about one-third of the human diet comes from insect pollinated plants, and the honeybee is responsible for 80 percent of that pollination, according to the USDA.

Ah, yes.  There they were.  At the Bayer Bee Care Center booth.  A bit ironic.  But I won't get into that now.   You can refresh your memory by looking at some of our old blog posts detailing how we feel about Bayer.    

For now, we'll just keep things light and happy.  Because we're proud of Maggie and her public-speaking skills.  We're proud of how she has represented Honeyrun Farm and Westfall FFA.  And she has earned a great honor.

You can catch Maggie this Saturday at the North Market Farmer's Market from 8-2.  Or, you can come see us at our first annual Holiday Open House, here at the farm from 9 am - 5 pm.  We'll have free cookies and hot cider, and lots of gifts available for purchase.  Hope you can come join us!

The Wonderful Invasive Honeysuckle

-Posted by Isaac

I think this is a good time to blog about the honeysuckle.

There are several invasive honeysuckles 'round these parts, but the one that seems most prevalent is the Amur Honeysuckle. We call it bush honeysuckle.

And prevalent it is.

Native to China and southeast Asia, it found its way to the Ohio country in the 1950's. It was first spotted around Oxford in the southwest and seems to be on a tear to take over every woods, ditch and fence line in the state.

Farmers hate it!

This is a good time of year to see just how obnoxious this plant is-- you can pick it out. The bush honeysuckle is the first to green up in the spring and the very last to lose its leaves in the fall.

By mid November, honeysuckle is just about all the green we have left.

How does it take over? How does it so rapidly clog our forests, streams and roadsides?

Birds of course.

yum yum and bon appetit!

 Sightseers hate it!

And it's not only the forests, streams and roadsides.

If you don't watch out, it will sneak into your yard. Hiding behind trees and such.

Homeowners hate it!

There's no getting away from the stuff. What a nuisance!

Within a single season it can block your favorite trails.

Hikers hate it!

And divert your training on the cross country course.

Runners hate it!

Not to mention swallowing up the occasional mulligan ball far worse than any bunker.

Where's your ball, Bridger?

Golfers hate it!

"Don't know?? Must be lost in the honeysuckle!"

It's irritating. It's aggravating. It's annoying, troubling, and quite inconvenient.
Especially if you're trying to cast a line.

Fishermen hate it!

During its springtime bloom, about the middle of May, you've got a truckload of allergy triggering pollen coming your way.

People who breathe hate it!

As I said, around here it's really hard to avoid this awful stuff.

Even working the bees, it surrounds us!

I just can't fathom such a godawful thing having any value to anyone.

(Wink)

I'm with you, I totally agree. We should probably have a full-on eradication effort.

An onslaught aimed at this invasive obnoxious pest. Death to the honeysuckle!

(Wink Wink)

Because we all...

(Wink)

...Hate it!

Pumpkin Honey Pie Recipe

-posted by Jayne

It's that time of year again- time to try out some recipes for pumpkin pie!  Our favorite is loaded with honey, and we return to it each year because it never disappoints.  

Ingredients:  

3 eggs

2 cups pumpkin puree

3/4 cup honey

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1 9" single crust pie

Directions:  Beat eggs slightly in a large bowl.  Blend in pumpkin, milk, cream, honey, spices, and salt.  Pour the filling into the pie shell.  Cover edges of shell with strips of foil.  Bake at 400 degrees F for 35 minutes.  Remove foil, then continue to bake for 15 more minutes.  An inserted knife will come out clean when done.  Cool and serve.

I highly recommend finishing it with some freshly whipped cream!

And since we're on the topic of pumpkins, I'll share a few photos of some pumpkin highlights from the past few weeks.

Circleville Pumpkin Show - Giant pumpkins rolling into town.

Pictured Below:  our annual pumpkin carving ritual.  This year we actually got this done after Halloween.  Better late than never, right?

We had a visit from Portsmouth Brewing Co. who picked up several buckets of our Summer honey for an upcoming Christmas Ale.  They were kind enough to gift us some of the "Circleville Pumpkin Ale" which I had never tried before.  Made with REAL locally grown pumpkins.  

And now- to tell you about an upcoming event.  We'll be participating in the annual "Holiday Fest" which will take place at the Circleville Golf Course (Country Club) this year.  Check out the event webpage here for more details on location, hours, and other participating artists and crafters.