Hello June!

Is it June already!?

Time has slipped away from me, as it usually does this time of year..

I figured I would stop in and say hello and give ya quick update on whats been going on, on the homestead!
* We welcomed 4 baby chicks into the world
*gardens are growing and we are harvesting all kinds of  beautiful veggies!
 * We pulled our first 2 rounds of honey
* 17 chickens were processed last week and filled up the freezer!, and we have another 20 to do next month
* The Farmers Market has started so we have been quite busy with that as well....

Ill leave you with some eye *candy* of our June happenings....

                                 One of our many gardens, filling in nicely

                                         Norah running the booth at the market

                                             A beautiful frame of Spring honey!

                                                Extracting Honey with Dad

                                      A Freezer full of Chicken

Processing chickens

Until Next time..........................

The Cools

Herbs and Herbal Teas

So, for the past couple weeks I have been busy harvesting and drying Herbs in an effort to blend some Herbal Teas for my shop and for the upcoming Farmers Market.

We have an abundance of Stinging Nettles throughout the Forest! ( if you are not familiar with the benefits you can read my previous HERE post to find out more!)

My first Herbal tea blend : *Cool It** A blend of Nettles, Catnip and Lavender..

Its absolutely delightful! I am so happy with the flavor and aroma. Its good as an iced tea as well as  hot tea.. a wonderful way to decompress after a long day or just to ease those nerves on those stressful days.

and of course I would recommend you pair it up with Bee Kind Family Farms Raw Honey ( which we will have available very very soon!)

Mug is made By Artist Molly Johnson Of Molly Johnson Ceramics ...




Blessings
The Cool Family

A look back

While I could post probably one hundred photos of this past season, Ill leave you with a select few that offer  lots of color from the garden and some farmers market photos. The bees are tucked in for winter and the garden is done :/ time to hibernate  and look at all the seed catalogs that will slowly make their way to my mailbox over the next 2 months.. A good time for reflection .rest, and to  regain the energy to  do it all over again next February..I will miss the color that mother nature has to offer in the garden,but look forward to dreaming about next years gardens........................................

Market Days * Life Lessons

 Market season starts just as Norah gets out of school. And now that she is 7 yrs old, its a lot easier, not having to chase a 3 yr old around the booth! She helps with the signage, selling, setting up, and of course wooing the customers. Really, I think we sell more when she starts talking to them ..hehe
She loves shopping at the market, and was so excited to get her Purple Cauliflower from Zydeco Moon Farm. She also loves the sugar snaps and of COURSE the homemade chocolate chip cookies.

She has been quite a help around  the homestead too! Last week she helped us process 18 chickens, she plucked, carried plucked birds to dad, filled the coolers with ice and water..

I am so proud of her and hope she carries these lessons into adulthood....

This week she has camp, so I guess I am left harvesting, washing and packaging solo.

We love Market days!! A great way to spend the afternoon as a family..

Find your nearest Market and Support your LOCAL farmer!!

To market To market

woahh nelly, its been awhile since Ive posted a single word on here! I do greatly appreciate all of you following my poorly maintained blog! Summer is definetaly in full swing around here! Between the 24 Beehives, Gardens, canning and the Farmers Market its been crazy, in a really good way of course ;)
We have been picking and abundance of greenbeans, squash,, cucumbers, and tomatoes are really starting to ripen now! Plenty of produce for the market and enough for me fill the pantry with canned goods ...
If you are In the mountains of western NC, come see us at the Blowing Rock Farmers Market! We offer Raw Honey, fresh eggs, produce baskets(they make great gifts!) & an assortment of produce. Look for the * Bee Kind Family Farm* Booth! Ill try and post again soon!