Bee Engaged Workshop Blog

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A couple of folks from No Limits attended an educational workshop to learn about Honey Bee Farming!   This workshop focused on pollination services and honey making on the beautiful Eastern Shore of VA.
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Thank you so very much to the Farmshed Field School of Future Harvest CASA, the Eastern Shore Resource Conservation & Development Council (ESRCDC), and the Virginia Eastern Shore Apiaries (VESA) for putting together this interesting workshop!
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Learning about how to collect honey!
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The bee keepers looking “very fab” in their beekeeping suits!
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Another shot of the bee keepers at Virginia Eastern Shore Apiaries!
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Some beehives with a “smoking tool” which is used whenever necessary in order to keep the bees calm!
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You can’t see it but this hive is covered with bees AND honey!  They say “don’t mess with our honey!”
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A close up shot of the bee smoking tool, the hives, and the keepers!
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Getting a close up shot of the inside of a hive!
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Honey comb!  This is where the bees store their honey!  Brandon says he “anxiously awaited” this part of the event!  He was very excited to learn about how bees build honey combs!  Thank you again to the Farmshed Field School, the ESRCDC, and VESA for hosting this event!

Friday Blogging

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Amy’s not afraid to get her hands dirty! Make them dog biscuits girl!
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The gang making treats! We made monkey treats for the monkeys at American Primate Haven as well (American Primate Haven is a sanctuary for primates operated by the awesome Peggy Rice).
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Giant strawberries from OUTER SPACE! Just kidding! They’re regular sized strawberries from the No Limits Community Garden! (our first pick of the season too)
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We have some artists in the house! Go people go! Thank you to Donnie and Maryann Brittingham for donating plant stakes for us to decorate/label our Community Garden!
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Look at that focus! Paint on my men, paint on!
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Zel all of the signs turned out beautifully! Good work.
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Jason’s having a great day! He’s all smiles! 🙂
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Thank you Liz Walters for our new, laminated map! It came in handy while we played Jeopardy this week.
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Henrietta says “Happy Memorial Day!” have a fun and safe holiday weekend! Bawk!

Cute Chicken Wednesday

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Brandon giving the young hens some TLC!
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These 2 ladies were very cautious about leaving the coop to see Brandon!
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One of our white Wyandotte hens. Isn’t this a silly picture! We posted this on our Facebook and asked our friends to caption the photo – check out the post here if you would like to add your caption!!!
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This young lady refused to leave the safety of her house!  It looks like the Delaware hen (in the bottom of the pic to the right)  is saying “Come on out!  That guy is nice!  He isn’t going to EAT us he’s going to FEED us!”

Friday Blogging

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Zel the Lawnmower Man! Nice safety gear Zel!
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David and CL gettin’ the grill set up for our cook out!
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Grill on my men, grill on!
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Yummm – serving time! Time to party!
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Chuck Cardoza volunteered to play guitar for us during our cook out this Thursday!!
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Chuck, it was a real treat having you here!  Amy says “You did a great job and we can’t wait to see you again!”
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What a great turn out for our first cook out of the season! Thanks again to Chuck for coming to perform for us, and to CL and David for cooking some delicious food!
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One of our original raised plant boxes started to come apart. Uh oh!  Rachel’s husband, John, came to the rescue!
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He helped us to lower this box to the ground, which saved the squash plants already growing inside!  Sweet!  We think this is a cool “half way done” shot because of the angle!
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John also helped us to lift our other raised plant beds in order to put paving stones under the legs to prevent further sinking! (Can you see how much they had sunk since last year? Wow!)
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Wooo! All of the boxes look so beautiful now! Thank you again John!

Friday Blogging

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Growing our own salad! Thanks Laurice Hohlt for donating the seedlings!  Yummy!
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Our organic catnip has really taken off this year!  Please stay tuned to our blog and Facebook page this spring for organic catnip and hand-made cat toy sales!
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Our beautiful flock! Peep peep – hey Henrietta! (Henrietta is our pastel egg layer pictured right up front!)
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We would like to say “congratulations” to our friend Iesha Warringtonon who recently got married! We are so excited for you and we wish you many, many years of happiness!  Iesha was our very first Kate Award Winner in 2014!
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Today we hand made Mother’s Day cards and thank you cards!
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We think that hand making cards is a creative and special way to show your appreciation for anyone!

Cute Chicken Wednesday!!!

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Welcome to our new feature, Cute Chicken Wednesday! Every week we will highlight some of our adorable flock. Here is a White Wyandotte, flanked by our two Naked Neck Turkens, with a Rhode Island Red and a Buff Orpington bringing up the rear.
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Here’s a close-up of our two Naked Neck Turkens (aren’t they cute?). Keep an eye out for our Turken Naming contest in early summer! We can hardly wait for these fine ladies to start laying eggs!!

Permaculture Profits Workshop/Perennial Roots Farm Blog

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Last Friday, a couple folks from No Limits attended an educational workshop held at Perennial Roots Farm on “Permaculture Profits: Integrating Specialty Crop Production & Livestock Management”.
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Steward Lundy, one of the owners at Perennial Roots, teaching us about specialty crops!  Thank you Stewart for hosting this event! This on-farm workshop was held at Perennial Roots and presented by Future Harvest’s Foodshed Field School, VSU Small Farms Outreach, and the Eastern Shore Resource Conservation & Development Council.
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Amy says “the daddy pig found his crew and his house!” Livestock management for small farms can be fun!
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Brandon chatting to some geese on the farm!
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Baaaaaaa!
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Feed on Brandon, feed on!  The piggies say “Oink oink!  Yum!”
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Movable chicken coops?!  Very cool.  Brandon thought it was interesting to learn that they keep chickens, geese, turkeys, and ducks on this farm!
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Brandon really enjoyed “aerating” or “chopping up” cow poop to make manure!  He says “he was happy to make food to feed the plants on the farm.”
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We think that there was a really good turn out for this event!  Thank you to Perennial Roots Farm for being part of educational events like these on the shore!  A special thank you to the Eastern Shore Resource Conservation & Development Council for sponsoring No Limits’ participation. It was really cool and we hope to see you again for another event soon!
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We also celebrated David’s birthday this week and we didn’t want to forget to include that!  Happy Happy Birthday David, and many more!