Category Archives: farm life

2024 Honey Harvest, pricing, & other pertinent farm news.

HONEY. It has begun: today we pulled honey from approximately half the hives. We sterilized jars tonight and will begin extracting/bottling tomorrow (6 June, 2024). Local, raw, unpasurturized honey will be available this Friday–FINALLY! PRICING. I must have hidden our pricing in some obscure corner of the website. My apologies–the number one question I getContinue reading “2024 Honey Harvest, pricing, & other pertinent farm news.”

Blueberry U-Pick dates (& other superfluous farm news)

We weren’t sure there would be a season after last year’s drought, but the bushes look great and are loaded with ripening blueberries. Due to the mild winter, Nature is ahead of schedule so we’ll be opening a week early this year, on Tuesday, May 28th. We’ll be open six days a week–Tuesday through SundayContinue reading “Blueberry U-Pick dates (& other superfluous farm news)”

April 17th: Love the Boot Week

This is Love the Boot Week here in Louisiana and people are engaged in beautification and cleanup projects statewide. Big Branch Apiary got to do our part and helped out at the Rivertown Butterfly Garden. We donated about 40 perennial flowers and spent the day weeding, planting, and mulching alongside like-minded volunteers. The LSU AGContinue reading “April 17th: Love the Boot Week”

April 7th: Orchard

Yesterday I put the disc on the tractor to work a patch of ground in preparation to plant a small apple orchard. I’ve been preparing this spot for a year. First there was seeding with clover to break up the clay and add nitrogen. Then I mulched the entire area with cardboard, added 13 yardsContinue reading “April 7th: Orchard”

Weed Control: no One-Size-Fits-All

This article on alternatives to glyphosate-based weed killers was recently shared with me and is a timely follow-up to my recent post on organic weed control. I thought it may be of interest to some of you. Particularly helpful to me were the pros-and-cons given for the different methods. Now, where did I put myContinue reading “Weed Control: no One-Size-Fits-All”

March 16th: “Lilly Pulitzer” themed sauerkraut

For me, gardening often inspires me to try new ways to prepare and store the excess of nature. Right now, if you stayed on schedule and listened to Dan Gill and the LSU Ag Center, you likely have cabbage, broccoli, kale and their cruciferous cousins in your garden. And one of my favorite things toContinue reading “March 16th: “Lilly Pulitzer” themed sauerkraut”