Cast Your Vote on Turkeys!
This year in addition to whole turkeys, we plan to offer turkey pieces and possibly ground turkey. Please cast your vote to let us know which products you would be interested in purchasing!
This is also your LAST chance to order a whole bird. We have four whole turkeys remaining that will range from 17-20 pounds and are $7 per pound.
Honey from Jako Farm
We are THRILLED to once again have honey from the pastures of Jako Farm. I had been the beekeeper at Jako for the past 7 seasons, but this year I had to hang up my bee suit. As in all things in life, I cannot do it all and it takes a community. This year our friend Darren is managing his bees on our farm and we are SO grateful for all of his hard work. Here’s a glimpse into what honey harvest looks like.
This is a beehive. The larger two boxes on the bottom are called “brood boxes”. This is where the bees live during the winter. The queen lays her eggs in the honeycomb found in these boxes. Worker bees feed the developing bees from the nectar, pollen and honey stored in the brood box honeycomb. In early spring beekeepers start adding the smaller boxes called “honey supers” on top of the brood boxes. During the spring and summer, the queen continues laying eggs in the bottom two boxes and the worker bees start packing honey away in the top boxes.
Once there is an abundance of honey in the supers, the beekeeper brushes the bees off the frames in the honey supers and takes theses frames away from the hive. (I always felt slightly guilty doing this as I know how hard these girls have worked to produce the honey!)
2 million flowers = 1 pound of honey
The bees flew about 55,000 miles to make that ONE pound.
The bees cap each cell of honey with beeswax once the honey has reached the right moisture content. For a beekeeper to retrieve the honey, the wax is melted off with a hot knife.
The uncapped frames are then placed in a centrifuge. The frames spin around and the honey falls to the bottom of the barrel.
We then drain the honey out of the barrel into buckets. We use a strainer to ensure beeswax or the occasional fallen bee does not make it into your honey.
I often hear, “The honey from your pastures is the best honey I have ever had!” Like the other animals on our farm, the bees have access to a wide variety of blooming flowers throughout the season which gives it a delightful, complex flavor. Jako Farm honey is now available in the farm store!
From all of us at Jako Farm,
Robyn
