Field Notes

To get to the honey, sometimes you have to "take one for the team." And, I've taken more than one for the team in harvesting honey. But it's worth it. According to a recent paper published by the National Library of Medicine, honeybees' venom shows "strong anti-cancer potential [from] crude bee venom and its main constituent, melittin...." Benefits also include "anti-arthricit, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial or neuroprotective properties."

Honey is more than just something sweet to bake with or put in your coffee, though that's why I brought bees to the farm last year. Though ancient civilizations applied honey to wound care, new research shows why it has healing properties. Part of why honey can be so effective in wound care, is its antibacterial properties, including resistent strains of bacteria such as Straphylococus aureus. These antimicrobial impacts are partly due to honey's hydrogen pyroxide, phenolic acid, and flavonoid content.

Happy bees make healthy honey, and there's little more that makes bees happy than living their own community of colors. July and August are usually what we beekeepers call the "Dearth" because it's of the lack of rain, which can supress flower populations for bees' nectar and pollen.

Not this field.

In its second year, our pollinator playground is now yielding Black-eyed Susans (native) and Deptford pinks (not native but not invasive either), shown here, and spotted knapweed, Indian blanket, and others provide a feast for our flying friends.

Rachael Smedberg of Tulip Tree Gardens in Illinois nailed it when she told the Chicago Tribune, "This is our purpose...to raise up our kids and teach them that we need to protect the Earth." Just how to teach them that -- and remind the rest of us to do the same -- is the challenge, though, because achieving this is a moving target.

We went into this week ready to harvest and had to delay because the blueberries just weren't out yet. We had wonderful clusters of white berries but the drought in May and June seemed to stop them from developing further. Then something magical happened: the strong rains that battered the west side of Lake Michigan on Wednesday moved across the water and soaked the fields. By Thursday morning, George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" could have been playing as a soundtrack as we started harvesting with a vengeance. July 29 will be even better!

The blueberries are on their way. Normally, that wouldn't be big news, but this year's spring drought has been brutal. According to the NOAA, last month was the 5th driest May on record in 129 years here in Allegan County. That's enough to make any battle-hardened farmer almost cry. Especially if they don't irrigate their crops. But North Sky's blueberries are also battle-hardened: because they've never been irrigated, they've been through this before and are doing just fine. I took this picture Monday, showing their progression from green to white, pink, and soon purple.

Talk about growing fruit in Michigan's Fruit Belt with other farmers and the conversation almost always turns to pests. This bug. That blight. Moths. You name it. I hear a lot about "you know, you can't grow fruit, especially apples, without spraying." Well you can. But your "yield" may take a hit. I guess we're about to find out with our first run of apples just now planted.

Spring is tied for first place among all four seasons at the Farm. Sandhill cranes chuckle in the distance along the Black River as they migrate north. That earthy scent before a rain sends you back in time. And the pink and white of the majestic magnolia in the yard, backgrounded by the chartreuse turning to a new verdant tone every day, reminds you that change is coming. And it is good.

The Environmental Working Group has released its 2023 Shoppers Guide to Pesticides in Produce, with its Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen fruits and vegetables most and least likely to be contaminated with pesticides. Some conventionally grown blueberries have made it back onto the list for the first time in a while. We're proud at North Sky Farm to produce "true blues." That is, we don't use any pesticides, insecticides, fungicides -- no "cides" at all.

It's surprisingly hard to find real organic blueberries. You can find some that are chemical free like ours, but even then, they're probably grown hydroponically (not in real soil). You have a chance to harvest real organic blueberries on Saturday, July 29, 2023, at the farm. Harvested blueberries will benefit the Wild Onion Market food co-op in Chicago. This is your chance to be a farmer for a day. To RSVP or ask questions, click here to Contact Us.