The Harvest Bee Blog

This posting comes at the end of a beautiful, early Fall day, following a long (by SWFL standards) bout of rainy, cloudy days. The plants definitely were dancing in the rays today, as I am sure all of you were. Now, as we turn the page into October, truly the farm season has begun and we undoubtedly, we welcome some cooler weather, too! First, a special token of gratitude needs to be extended to so many of you who have shown support and enthusiasm for all things Harvest Bee, from our new logo to the CSA to providing human hair cuttings as a means of organically keeping out rabbits who find a way under our fence. All of these expressions are humbling and truly sustain our energy, especially on those dismal rainy days that just passed us by. We farmers always hope for a healthy balance of sun and rain, but too much of either can be a real downer. When people send us photos of tote bags displaying images of bees or vacation to Italy and send us pictures of art work that include bee structures, just the mere notion of knowing that you have us in our mind is amazing. We can only hope that through our growing and providing of great tasting and highly nourishing food we can return these fabulous favors to all of you. As for the field itself…seeds are being sown both in trays and in the field and transplants from early season starters are making their way into the ground. With strong, healthy beginning to the plants it seems as though we are starting to enjoy the rewards of having diligently focused on boosting the soil throughout the summer with composting, cover cropping, and mulching and we hope that means great tasting food for all of you in a very short time. We hope to make it to the first weekend at the Shoppes at Vanderbilt Market, which is Oct. 17th. Despite the plants and seedlings having lost some valuable sun hours the past week or so we still think we are on pace to make that happen, if not surely by the end of the month. While we have endured lots of rain lately, it has not been problematic from a flooding perspective. So, crops such as cucumbers, radishes, and beans that typically prefer being sown directly into the ground rather than starting in trays are moving along nicely. Those crops, along with some different varieties of kale, mustards, collards, Asian greens and possibly some other goodies are expected to be on display come market time to start the season off. Furthermore, with the cooler weather, root crops such as carrots, beets, and turnips will be sown soon and brassicas (cabbages, broccoli, and cauliflower) and lettuces will be started, as well. We have actually been just as busy off the farm as we have been on the farm. New connections are being formed, including a relationship having been established with Juicelation, a local and organic cold-pressed juice bar (you will find them all over town at various farmers market, as well as at their new shop in Liberty Plaza) and we are really, really excited to be forming a partnership with Banyan and Bean Roasting company and will hopefully, be offering some great selections of Fair Trade, Organic coffee bean roasted by a totally local roaster. We, of course, will keep you updated as these relationships develop. We hope you all have had a wonderful Summer and look forward to seeing you real soon. It is time, indeed, to set aside Social Media as a means of contact in favor for some face-to-face interaction. Here’s to what we hope will be an exciting and safe farm season! "Onen," The Bees