Busy as a Bee *Honey Giveaway***

Last fall we made our annual trip to our favorite local PICK YOUR OWN Fruit farm:) Owned and Family run by A nicer older couple , HARD working farm type, who just love to chit chat your ear off if they get the chance.. Upon "check out" (with almost 4 bushels of fruit!) my husband who happened to notice a couple of old hives on the farm. of course this started a lengthy discussion on bees, beekeeping, fruit production, honey etc... as robb and the man talked i tried to keep norah from touching the fruit, throwing the fruit, running off into the hundreds of fruit treeS,,,etc,,,heheee.. I wasnt in on the discussion MUCH that day , but that man said something, so simple, yet so profound, i probably wont ever forget it..
" If we all worked half as hard as a honey bee does in its lifetime, what a better place this world would be"So how does that Liquid gold end up in jars and then onto your toast?
First, worker bees( the ladies heheee) fly out from the hive in search of nectar-rich flowers. Using its straw-like proboscis, a worker bees drinks the liquid nectar and stores it in a special stomach called the honey stomach. The bee continues to forage, visiting hundreds of flowers, until its honey stomach is full.

Within the honey stomach( bees have 2 stomachs), enzymes break down the complex sugars of the nectar into simpler sugars, which are less prone to crystallization. This process is called inversion.

the worker bee heads back to the hive and regurgitates the modified nectar for a hive(home) bee. The hive bee ingests it and further breaks down the sugars. It is then regurgitated into the honeycomb!!Now, the hive bees beat their wings furiously, fanning the nectar to evaporate its remaining water content. As the water evaporates, the sugars thicken into honey. Once the honey is finished, the hive bee caps the beeswax cell, sealing the honey into the honeycomb for later consumption.

Did you know a single worker bee produces only 1/12th of a teaspoon of honey in its lifetime!!!! Working cooperatively, thousands of worker bees can produce over 200 pounds of honey for the colony within a year.

SO next time indulge in some ( LOCAL, RAW, ORGANIC) Honey.. remember how hard they worked<3

NOW FOR THE GIVEAWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A Chance to win some YUMMY RAW HONEY From our farm;)
You May enter up to 5 times. In order to be eligible for the drawing The first entry is mandatory. You must COMMENT ON THIS POST:) For Additional Enteries you can
*"LIKE" the BEE KIND FAMILY FARM page on FB & be sure and comment to let me know you did this
* Post this giveaway on your FACEBOOK page and comment to let me know you did this
*FOLLOW my Blog and comment to let me know!
*Refer a friend to our BEE KIND FAMILY FARM page on FB

That is a total of 5 CHANCES TO WIN!!!!!
PLEASE BE SURE AND COMMENT AFTER EACH ENTRY! I WILL BE PICKING THE WINNER THE OLD FASHIONED WAY,,LOL( TOTALLY FAIR I ***PROMISE*****) , OUT OF A HAT:)





The Contest will End February 6th**************

A winter *warm me up* kinda meal

A Fantastic winter meal....to warm you up and fill your belly. a great way to use your Butternut squash too .
if you are learning to self sustain, this is a perfect meal to add to you meal plan, most if not ALL ingredients should be readily available in your cupboard:) ( see previous post with meal plan and grocery list)


Rosemary Sage Bread
3 cups warm waster
1 Tbsp Yeast
1/2 tsp sugar
1 Tbsp yeast
6-8 C Flour
2 Tbsp dried rosemary
2 Tbsp Dried sage

Dissolve sugar in water, add yeast, let sit until foamy
add salt and 4 Cups flour, beat until smooth, add sage and rosemary
add additional flour until you have a stuff dough, throw onto floured surface and knead until smooth,
Grease bowl and let double in size(about one hour)
punch down, form into 2 football shaped loaves and place in greased bread pans, let rise and additional 40 minutes
scour with knife and mist Bake at 450 for 25-35 minutes



Butternut Squash Soup
2-3 lbs Butter nut Squash
2 Tbsp Butter
1 Medium Onion
2 Medium carrots
6 C chicken stock( alhtough if yo uwant a thicker soup i would say about 4-5 cups)
nutmeg, salt and pepper, curry powder(if desired)

Cut butternut squash in halves, place face down on a cookie sheet with water( add water to cookie sheet as needed) cook squash at about 350 for 20-25 minutes or until soft
In the meantime, dice carrots and onion, sautee in butter in pot, add the 4-6 cups chicken( or vegetable) stock, simmer 15 minutes,,
Remove carrots and onions from stock wtih slotted smooth and place in blender, scoop out butternut squash and place in blender, add about 1 cup chicken stock to blender also,, and blend,, return to pot and simmer for additional 20 minutes, serve hot, garnish with sourcream is desired.


Enjoy***

Ditch the Dryer

You dont need it folks.. i promise!!!
go to you local ___mart and pick yourself up a drying rack. you can use this indoors next to your cookstove or woodstove or under a heater vent if you dont have a clotheline. But if you have the space, build a clothesline, you will be happy you did.. there aint Nothing like bedding off the line:)
Despise cruncy towels? a little vinegar in place of fabric softner will do the trick!
do this for a month, and then check your electric bill ;)