Foraging For Food in Winter

Oh, the longing to forage some fresh food. Perhaps something from the garden. Maybe the woods or the herb bed.

But it is February and our ancestors chose to settle in Central Illinois. Foraging in mid-winter is restricted by snow, low temperatures and a season of rest.

But we still want to eat fresh foods.

Local foods.

Whole food.

Food that has not been treated with chemicals or grown from some frankinseed that Grandma wouldn’t recognize. Food that is not processed from some combination of ingredients with five syllable names.

Forage In The Freezer

The freezer is full of seasoned tomato sauce, carrots, peppers, onions, garlic bulbils and chive blossoms.

Forage In The Pantry

The pantry holds rows of tomato juice, pickles, jellies, jams, pie fillings, hot pepper sauce and relishes. A basement grow station is providing fresh lettuce, basil and cilantro.

The vegetable part of our diet is now primarily home grown. Then there is the meat issue. We made a conscious decision not to grow, harvest or butcher our own meat, but have no desire to embrace vegetarianism.

Forage Down The Road

Winter foraging also includes checking out local sources for meat and staples. Somewhat like a scavenger hunt but delicious rewards.

Since this kitchen produces a significant quantity of baked goods, flour is a very important staple. We are now sourcing this locally from Hodgson Mill in Effingham, IL. Their grain is purchased as locally as possible, much of it is organic and all flour is milled in Effingham. Thirty miles down the road definitely qualifies as local.

Beef, pork and chicken are the next foods we are looking for locally. But we want more than just local. Pastured, free-range, no hormones and allowed to naturally graze are important features.

Each of these decisions brings us closer to a more healthful way of eating. That is the goal.

Are you making any changes in your approach to food? Post a reply and let us know what you are doing.

While you are thinking about food, check out Hodgson Mill.

And, if you haven’t already downloaded your free copy of The Wisdom of the Bees, it only takes an email address. Just visit our website: Five Feline Farm

Three Fabulous Reasons to Keep Honeybees

There are some very good reasons to host honeybees on your property. Then there are some FABULOUS reasons. Read on to find out why Five Feline Farm started in the honeybee business.

Honey of course. There is only one way to get real honey. From honeybees.

Whether you want honey just for personal use or to sell surplus, the only place to get honey is from honeybees.The worker bees spend the majority of their short lives gathering nectar and pollen from flowers. The nectar is returned to the hive, passed off to a sister bee and mixed with enzymes. This enriched nectar is placed in a cell, combined with the deposits of many other worker bees then fanned to dehydrate into honey. Once the honey has reached the perfect moisture content, the cell is capped off and the process begins again in the next cell. Naturally this doesn’t happen one cell at a time but hundreds of cells at a time by tens of thousands of bees.

2. Pollination. As the bees move from flower to flower they transfer pollen.

This is almost a side effect of the nectar gathering process. Honeybees have sticky hairs on their bodies that capture pollen granules when they visit flowers. As they move to the next flower and land, a bit of pollen falls off and pollinates that flower. Some crops such as almonds are totally dependent on the honeybee for pollination.

Although some of the pollen collection is accidental, there is also some intentional pollen harvesting. Pollen is a protein. It is mixed with honey and enzymes to create the “bee bread” fed to young larvae.

Here on the Farm, we have noticed improved production in the gardens after adding colonies of honeybees.

3. Fun. Honeybees are fascinating to watch.

We placed a bench just a few yards from the hives and off to the side. This creates an excellent place to sit in the evening to watch the bees come in with the fruits of their labor. Close observation reveals varying hues of pollen in the little pollen baskets on the worker’s back legs.

Trying to watch a single bee come out of the hive, take off from the entrance, circle once or twice and head out to the current nectar flow is amazing. I rarely use that word because it is so overused, but sometimes there is simply no other way to describe something. This is one of those times.

Do you agree with these FABULOUS reasons? Do you want to start keeping honeybees? If you do, start here to learn about some of the parts of the hive.

What To Do If You Get Stung

Yes, it does seem unlikely that you will be stung in the winter months. But it can happen as you take advantage of a warm day to quickly check the hive and add a candy board. Whether winter or summer, make sure that you are prepared in the event of a sting.

Go to the bee yard with a plan. Keep something in your tool kit that will remove a stinger from skin. Ideally, this will be an object similar in size to a credit card. Perhaps an old rewards card is lurking about your wallet and can be converted for this use. A tube of antihistamine gel will also offer quick relief. You can add additional treatment as needed when you get back to the house.

If something does go awry and you get stung, don’t panic. This will alarm the other bees and you may end up being stung more than once. Walk slowly away from the hive and remove the the stinger. Your goal is to scrape the stinger out against the direction of the sting. When the bee leaves her stinger in you, there is a small bulb of venom at the end of the stinger. Place the edge of the card (in a pinch you could use the edge of your hive tool) between the venom bulb and the insertion point of the stinger. Scrape toward the bulb end of the stinger with a firm flick of the card. This should remove the stinger from your skin and stop the flow of venom. It is beneficial to do this as quickly as possible after being stung.

It is good to know if you are truly allergic to honey bee stings or merely have an allergic reaction. What’s the difference?

An allergic reaction will cause localized swelling, warmth and itching around the sting. This will last 2 or 3 days and cause relatively minor discomfort. Reactions of this nature can be treated with home remedies.

A true allergic reaction is quite a different matter. This type of immediate systemic reaction will cause a person’s airway to swell and impede the ability to breathe. Anyone who has this type of reaction to a bee sting must carry an Epi-pen (a portable means of injecting epinephrine in an emergency) and use it immediately after a sting. This is a serious medical emergency and should be treated in an emergency room even after the use of an Epi-pen.

Let’s say you are in the majority and only have a localized reaction to honeybee venom. You have removed the stinger. Now what?

Gain some immediate relief with topical antihistamines and ice. You can also take a systemic antihistamine such as Benadryl if necessary. Recently we have discovered that smearing a bit of honey over the area then covering with a bit of gauze is soothing. Honey has antiseptic properties and seems to reduce the itch.

Remember honeybees will rarely sting while foraging away from the hive. They are focused on gathering pollen and nectar with no concern about much else. Foraging bees are not in a position to defend the hive or the queen. Unless aggravated, squeezed or stepped on, they are not likely to sting.

For more ways to avoid being stung in the first place, check out this link: How To Not Get Stung

And if you haven’t already, sign up for our email list and get your free copy of Wisdom of the Bees.

Winter Preppers

Yes we are prepping.

Not the kind of long term stockpiling that most people think of as prepping. Not building bunkers anticipating a nuclear holocaust.

We are prepping for winter.

There are things that you must consider living in the country. Each year we learn another lesson. We may or may not have power. The road to town may be impassable. So, we need to be prepared. That’s what prepping is after all. A state of preparedness for whatever life or the elements may throw at you.

Winter 2015 Prep List

1. Power

At Five Feline Farm we have upgraded a few things to help us through the winter. First and foremost was installing a whole house generator. Winter storms taught us that power is a critical element. It has been frightfully cold when the power has been out for hours or days at a time.

We have no plans to go off grid, but we do now have a back up plan for power outages. Even though the generator and 500 gallon propane tank should keep things fully functional for a week, we will still go into conservation mode. A few lights. The refrigerator and freezers. Water heater. Lower the thermostat. Doing all of this will extend the tank of propane for as long as possible. The supplier states they can get us a refill within two days of calling, but if the road is drifted shut, that may be an optimistic estimate.

2. Food

Summer’s bounty plus a few items from the store are stocked. The pantry is loaded with canned goods. The freezers are packed with meat and vegetables. We may need to get creative with meals, but we could easily manage a month or more of keeping body and soul united.

3. Outside Chores

Set up the Christmas decorations. Yes, you read correctly. It is much nicer to set up the outside decorations in early November before the weather gets brutal. There is no need to turn everything on, but at least it is ready at the flip of a switch. This isn’t rushing the season. It is being planful.

Winterize the camper. Bring in the pond pumps. Drain the water hoses. Mow down the garden. Put the snowplow on the Mule. These are just a few of the outside tasks that need to be completed before a freeze.

At this writing, the first flakes of winter snow are falling. It is good to have the winter prepping completed. We can sit back and enjoy the beauty of winter without worry.

What winter prepping have you done? We’d love to hear from you in the comments section.

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