Bales

Hay for mulch and feed. One of the first crops this year.

In the fields and orchards

Bill's veggies are coming up strong even through the weeds, which he says are helping with the pests. The white houses are to protect pollinating plants from cross pollinating. He is working on a seed-saving endeavor.

kale

tomato

and my little peach tree still has peaches. Although in order to ripen some of the fruit I should select just a few peaches to keep on the tree. A difficult job for me.

A daily harvest donated by by Bill.

for the nights supper.

Honey Bees Arrive

Although we tried to tape these boxes, there were still honey bees flying around the car on the almost 3 hour trip with these bees. Some times 20-30 bees at a time came out of the boxes to scout. We blasted the air conditioner and hoped for the best. They never bothered with us.

But as soon as they arrived they came out to explore.

And just a few hours later they had stained the entrance bringing in pollen.

We had placed them where we would set their hives in the evening so they could get used to their location.

We could see the pollen on their legs when we came back to move the frames to the hives. We think they were foraging on the Multiflora wild roses that grow all along the edge of the field.

New beekeepers suit up

to transfer the bees to their new home.

7 days later they were working on the wine berries.

Along side the bumblebees.

Daily Harvest 6/12/14 blossoms

Looking on line for current bee forage and finding that black locust trees were blossoming was how I found out about the edibility of locust blossoms. But we couldnt see any blossoms on our trees.

Our trees are so tall. I kept telling Ed that the blossoms on the ground were from the black locust trees but he wouldnt believe me. So we got out the binoculars and sure enough there were the flowers.

So I picked up some of these blossoms

and added some sage flowers from our garden

for a tasty spring salad. They taste slightly like peas.

Unlike their family member the pea, the only edible part of the black locust tree are the blossoms. A the rest are toxic including the pods and seeds.

Daily Harvest 6/5/14 Rhubarb

When I first moved to Vermont from Philly at 7 years old I had never heard of Rhubarb.

My friends would talk about strawberry rhubarb this and that and I couldn't even imagine it.

Now I wait all year

For strawberry rhubarb crisp!

Wildlife on Ivory Silo Farm

Snapper in the north east corner of the onion field.

Daily Harvest 6/2/14 Red Clover

Red Clover contains coumarin which is a blood thinner. For this reason I have not harvested red clover for several years. However, at the farm we plant it as a cover crop for nitrogen fixing. "Green Manure." I have seen how much it resembles manure as it rots.

It also contains isoflavones that are phytoestrogens-plant based estrogens-that science cant agree on whether these are good for conditions that involve "too much" estrogen in the body or contribute to them.

These little petals are very sweet and I used to eat them as a child in the pastures of Vermont where it is the state flower. And now I just want to know if its safe to enjoy a cup of tea made with the dried flowers. So this is where I wish there was more experimentation besides breaking things down into their chemical compounds. How does the whole plant eaten or taken as tea effect individuals with various conditions?