Monarch Are Ready for Saturday Oct. 1 for Tagging

Come on , let's tag some butterflies.  Sat. Oct. 1 is going to be great day for tagging.
See you here

2016 Monarch Tagging Saturday Oct. 1

Monarch Tag and Release 

This year our monarch tag and release is scheduled for Saturday Oct. 1 at 1 pm.  This has always been a fun event for the whole family and is free with donations to help our monarch activities whole heartily accepted.  

All of the participants can bring their own butterfly nets or use some of ours to capture the butterflies so we can tag them before we release them back on their journey to Mexico.  We have a large zinnia field where we do the capturing process.

Be sure to call us before you schedule coming out to check with the status of the monarchs, or just come on out and enjoy the sights at the farm and of our butterfly house.  Check out our web site at hopnblueberryfarm.com.

The Weather And It's Effect

It has been a while since we have seen some rain here.  Every since a devastating hail storm wiped out all of my blueberry blooms and wrecked my hops,  I haven't had much of a desire to write about all of the negatives of farming.  But, it's been a pretty poor year so far.

Here is a link to WLOS TV that did a interview with me earlier this week, and says a lot.
http://wlos.com/news/local/severe-drought-dries-up-local-blueberries

One good think, at least for now is that we will have plenty of Monarch butterflies in the butterfly house in about 3 more weeks.

And another thing is that drought doesn't affect milkweed!

Common milkweed in bloom

It isn't good for the hops though, and that hail storm around May 1 did some damage that I just couldn't seem to recover from.  So, there may be no Hop Harvest Tour this year due to a limited harvest.

Hail piled up

Assorted tree leaves that were ripped off the trees

Our goal is to make it through the year and try and come to some kind of restructuring of the farm that will make it profitable again and save it from development.

Big Changes Coming

There are a couple of changes coming this year to the farm.   First of all there will be a new tour schedule beginning in May through October.  General tours will be open to the public this year by reservation only at least four days prior to the tour day of Saturday at 12 noon.  Tickets must be purchased in advance on the Hopnblueberryfarm.com farm store page.  

Finally, I am looking for someone to manage, share crop, or lease the farm this year.  All equipment at the farm is for use and some expanded land can be used for new crops.  Call us for more info at 828-664-1166.