2014 Announcements

November 13, 2014

We had a wonderful summer weather-wise, but we are still struggling to build up our lavender plant supply. We field trialed some broom corn with the help of Dr. Sam Moyer that turned out to be beautiful and a lot of fun. Our bees are going into winter well supplied with food, and Steve wrapped the hives this year so they should stay warm and snug.

Mr. Bon Jovi , our Polish rooster, has recovered nicely from his summer beat-down from Henry, our Delaware rooster. It took Henry two years to realize that he was nearly twice Bon Jovi' size and strength, and it wasn't pretty when he did. But Bon Jovi seems very content living in his own safe quarters. It wasn't the simplest solution but they are both sweet pets and I couldn't part with either of them!

This market season has been extended, so please check the dates below for our upcoming events. Hope to see you there!

May 25, 2014

Due to a major lavender crop failure, we are sorry to announce that we will not have Cut Your Own Lavender here this year. We will have enough to make all of our products - just not our usual surplus for cutting. We're working hard to try new growing techniques and hope to see our "purple pickers" next year. Thank you for your continued support and encouragement.

April 16, 2014

It has not been a kind winter here at Busy Bee Farm, and we won't know the full extent of our losses for several more weeks. Our plans for on-farm essential oil distillation will have to wait because we've lost so many lavender plants. We will be changing some of our growing techniques and adding a new lavender variety when we put out 200 newplants next month. We hope our farm visitors will be patient as we strive to improve our appearance and make up for losses-it's going to take some time.

Our bees are bringing in lots of pollen right now but we've also lost some hives. Steve just set up 5 new ones and has re-queened where necessary. Toni is working hard to get more late season blooms in our Pollinator Habitat and hopes to establish a Monarch Waystation on the farm as well.

We'll also be planting some new trial crops. Sorghum for broom corn will go in this Spring, and then garlic, shallots, and aronia in the Fall. All of our herb starts in the greenhouse are doing well so we should have plenty of our herbal teas and herbes de Provence available by mid-summer. Hopefully the crazy weather patterns will settle down and everyone will have a good growing season. We look forward to seeing everyone soon at the BCCAC farmer's market, some terrific events, and for Cut Your Own Lavender here at Busy Bee Farm.

January 2014 - Season’s Greetings to All and Best Wishes for a Healthy, Happy 2014!

We would like to express our sincere thanks to all of our regular and new customers.  We really appreciate your business and kind support of all that we are trying to accomplish here at Busy Bee Farm.  Your interest and encouragement are what have made us so grateful to now call so many of you “friend.”

As we move into 2014, our 8th year as official farmers and beekeepers, we continue to learn new things.  Some of these years have been beautifully uncomplicated, while others have brought many challenges.  This year we hope to modify some of our growing practices to help avoid fungus issues with our beloved lavender. We’ll plant more herbs to accommodate the demand for our lavender based herbal teas and Herbes De Provence, and we will continue to explore better user of our greenhouse.  We still hope to produce enough lavender in the future to distill for our own locally grown, organic lavender essential oil.  Busy Bee Farm is researching small plantings of additional, unique crops as well, but we are mostly looking forward to May 2014 when we will see you all again!

Please check our products section for availability in the off-season, and look for Spring posts about our upcoming season and cut your own lavender.