Black Mountain Primary School Summer Camp Visits

It was a cool day for a change here. Temperatures were in the range of what I would call comfortable, average. And what was even more comfortable here was a fantastic visit from the Black Mountain Primary School's After School Care and Summer Camp Program that came out to see and learn about butterflies.

The first group were the first and second graders. Cindy Debrull, the camp director warned me that this group loved to get their pictures taken and it was easy to see.
After a session of butterfly lifestyle with some videos that I have produced in the study area, the kids were eager to get to the butterfly house to see the wonders of the butterflies up close.
We had just missed seeing two monarchs hatch out from their chrysalis and also had just missed a caterpillar changing into a chrysalis. Both of these events are going on now for the next week or so.

Some butterflies landed on our visitors and the kids were awful excited to feel the butterflies on their hands. They didn't want to leave but finally had to because they stayed passed their lunch hour.

In the afternoon the third through fifth graders got to come out and had just as good of time as the earlier group.

I am always amazed at how much these young folk know about butterflies and farms. It makes me glad to see. Maybe there is hope for the small sustainable farms and the insect pollinators that make them work!

Our First Hop Harvest For 2011

Our hop harvest was completed on time Friday in conjuction with Pisgah Brewing Company's beer kettle boil. The fresh hop beer, called Burnette's Brew, will be available in about two weeks.
This is the special brew done by Pisgah for the last three years that features hops that are picked from my farm fresh and put into the beer making process within six hours after the pick. Called a "wet hop" beer, this brewing technique has to take place within 10 hours after hops are picked.
This year I was able to get Blue Ridge Hops, located near Marshall, NC. to bring in an extra 10 pounds of their certified organic hops to add to recipe with my 12 pounds of chemically free hops, making for a nice hoppy aromatic pale ale that taste really good and is probably good for you as well!
Watch the process below from my post on YouTube.

New Sculptures Arrive At The Farm

My friend, Dan Foy, landscaper and lawn care specialist, is also a very unique garden sculpturing master. Today, the 4th of July, he brought a new addition to the farm. A unique red, white, and blue butterfly on a sunflower. Dan's talents are really spectacular when it comes to unusual one-of-a-kind yard and garden art.
We already have one of Dan's replicas of a Native American grain grinders that not only looks like a part of real American history, but also serves as a bird bath/or in our case a butterfly bath!

I pondered a while on where to put Dan's five foot high work of art. Then it came to me as I was looking at my hops that I am going to harvest this week. What a perfect location. High atop my 18 foot trellis pole for the cascade hops!

Here is a shot of the new art on my slanted hop poles down near the Collins flighthouse. I was able to frame Dan's butterfly with one of the many blooming sunflowers on Nectar Lane, the walkway up to the flighthouse.

It is a great time to visit the farm and the butterflies and hops are at their peak right now. There are many, many, native butterflies and flowers in bloom at this time. The start of the most active butterfly season will be this week. Make a date to visit.