Nature is our biggest ally and greatest inspiration - David Attenborough
It's been a busy month at the barn; blackberry picking and jam making and another extraction of honey, with our friends still buzzing with busyness. And to round it all off - our Abundance Day.
Below is what's called the super. It's a box containing 10 frames where the bees store the processed nectar in honeycombs and when each honeycomb is full they cap them with beeswax. This super weighed about 25 pounds!
The frames are removed and the wax is scraped off and the frames are then put into the honey extractor.
What's left after the extractor has spun the honey out of the frames is the wax, leaving the purified honey in the settling bucket.
After that it's just a matter of filling the jars. And it's interesting to find the flavour is of course different than last time because the bees have had different flowers to forage on. And they're still foraging.
Meanwhile the volunteers have been enjoying lettuce, tomatoes, peas, cucumbers, beans and courgettes with pumpkins, peppers and sweetcorn on the way!
Not to mention a nice crop of Charlotte potatoes.
So we wanted to share our feelings of abundance with some visitors and our Abundance Day on the 26th August was attended by folks who attend the Wellbeing Centres, PSS staff, Maria Eagle MP, a local Councillor and curate and some of our lovely neighbours. And thanks to the skills of two of our volunteers, they were treated to a scrumptious vegetarian or vegan risotto and rhubarb, blackberry and apple crumble made with veg and fruit from the site.
More treats too with Mersey Wylie leading our singers and tunes from our resident ukulele group, The Strumbrellas - and best of all our very own Dutch Farm Honey and Blackberry and Honey Jam for sale! What's that - you missed out? Oh dear, better luck next time!
Stayed tuned for more news soon!