2012 Announcements

          November 4, 2012 - Fall

Since so many of you have been so consistently interested in the goings-on out here and have so kindly asked about the lavender and our bees, the lavender update is that we are still dealing with a fungal disease. The good news is that it is not soil-borne, and we hope to have a mild enough Autumn into Winter to continue working out in the fields on the problem. It mostly involves providing more air circulation around the plants. The bees are doing well but we did have to start feeding them early this year. The weather was so unusual and by Fall there just wasn't enough for them to forage. Steve luckily got out before the storm and placed bricks on the hives, so none of them were disturbed by the high winds. He also put mouse guards on them, and it appears that the hives are basically set for Winter now. The chickens are all well except that we lost Louise, a newcomer, who passed in her sleep.  Bon Jovi and Henry are fine so far, but if Henry ever realizes his own strength and size, I'm not sure what will happen!

 With our farmers' market season over and only one more event in December, we are finally winding down a little. It was so hard to say goodbye to our many customers because it has been such a joy getting to know you all. Talking with you at the markets has been amazing. I don't even know many of your names, but please know that I really looked forward to seeing you each week! Hoping that you all fared well during the recent hurricane, we would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support and encouragement for all that we do at Busy Bee Farm. As we move into the Thanksgiving season, please know that you are a huge part of our lives-not just our business. We are truly thankful for all of you and you will be in our thoughts all winter long.

July 28, 2012 - Summer

   Our lavender harvest was really good this year and our Cut Your Own season was terrific! We were so pleased to have met so many new friends, and several of them came twice! Thank you so much for coming to the farm to share the beauty of the lavender bloom with us. Be sure to check out Quan Nguyen's beautiful photos on this site. Thanks again for allowing us to share them, Quan.

   The still arrived today, on loan from Rutgers. We are very excited about the possibilities for distillation of our own Busy Bee Farm lavender essential oil! We'll post some pictures as Steve begins to work on the equipment. 

   New pictures of the chickens will be posted in the future too. The "chicks" are now 18 weeks old, so we're excited to see when they will lay their first eggs! We've also adopted 2 adult hens, Thelma and Louise, who are keeping everyone on their toes. Their owner was not able to keep them, so we were delighted to have them.

   Our herbal teas should be available in August-the herbs are still drying. We also have some new crocheted lavender filled sachets and holiday ornaments that we'll be bringing to our markets soon. The bees are doing very well despite the crazy weather, so we'll have plenty of honey. We'll be back at our markets more often in August, so we look forward to seeing everyone there.

June 18, 2012 - Due to a forecast in the high 90's for this Thursday June 21st, our Plants for Pollinators talk at JERSEY MADE is CANCELLED.

June 8, 2012 - Early Lavender Bloom

Due to an early lavender bloom, Busy Bee Farm will be open to Artists and Photographers from 9am-noon or 6-8pm on the following dates:

     June 11, 12, and 13 in the mornings (9am - noon) only

     June 15, 16, and 17 in the evenings (6pm - 8pm) only

We have also added some dates for Cut Your Own Lavender from 9am-noon and 6-8pm: 

     June 18,19, 20, and 22 in the mornings (9am - noon) and evenings (6pm - 8pm)

     June 23 from 6-8pm only

                June 27, 28, and 29  from 9am-noon

                Not open on June 30, July 1, or July 2                                

                July 3, 4, 5, and 6 from 9am-noon and 6-8pm  

It's difficult to predict, but we suggest coming in June because even later blooming varieties will probably not be available past the first week in July. Please email lavender[dot]toni[at]gmail[dot]com if you have any questions.

March 18, 2012 - Spring Season

The mild winter season has enabled us to get a lot done on the farm. With grateful assistance from an NRCS grant, Steve has put up a 2 1/2 acre deer fence. This will enable us to grow another crop here, and our explorations in this area are pointing towards a wonderful, healthful niche product. We hope to organically enrich the soil in this new field, so it won't be ready for planting until next Spring. Steve has also been researching distillation equipment so that we can provide organic lavender essential oils and hydrosols, and has partnered with Rutgers University for use of their equipment. So stay tuned-we may be offering on-site distillation days for the public to watch right here at Busy Bee Farm.

Toward this end and to enrich some of our culinary lavender products, Toni is currently transplanting about about 600 new lavender plants in the greenhouse to be put outside in May. The varieties include Royal Purple, Betty's Blue, Purple Bouquet, and Imperial Gem and we are excited about adding them to our Grosso, Provence, and Hidcote varieties. With the wonderful success of our lavender based herbal loose leaf teas last season, Toni has tripled the number of herb plants in the field that are also being started in the greenhouse now. The off season has also been used to make lots of lavender honey soap and many dried lavender products, and we have some delicious lavender cookies and pound cakes in the freezer. Toni has also been able to get outdoors to plant several outstanding additions to our pollinator habitat area, so the bees should have more forage here this year. At this point we have only lost one hive. All of the others seem to be doing very well, and we'll have 10 new ones arriving in April or so.

Much time was spent trying to arrange a better Cut Your Own Lavender schedule this year.  As you can see from our Events Schedule below, we've decided to invite the public here, so please check back often for the most current dates and times. 

 We look forward to seeing everyone again at our farmer's markets and here at Busy Bee Farm!

January 1, 2012 - Thank you for making 2011 another wonderful season for Busy Bee Farm.  We sincerely appreciate all of your continued interest and support, and we truly value the opportunities we've been given to educate about environmental topics dear to our hearts and to make wonderful friendships in the process.

For 2012 we are already moving forward.  We've ordered 10 additional beehives as well as about 600 new lavender plants.  We are trying some new varieties in our fields to meet the demand for our culinary products as well as possible distillation for lavender essential oil.  Thanks to the popularity of our lavender based loose leaf herbal teas, we'll be planting more this year.  And of course I'll be crafting more lavender honey soaps all winter.  

This year we are also working towards scheduling more cut your own lavender dates with the hope that the weather will cooperate.  Dates will be posted here, on Facebook, and Twitter.  During that period, roughly between mid-June and most of July, we'll also be open for group visits.  In addition to Cut Your Own, we can provide educational talks and walks here at the farm on Honeybees, Plants for Pollinators, Lavender, etc.  Plan your group visits early, though - the group visits are already being scheduled.  E-mail lavender (dot) toni (at) gmail (dot) com for details. 

Thanks again for a great 2011 season, and best wishes to everyone for a happy and healthy 2012!