Background on Honey Hill Organic Farm
This bonafide biotic farm is located in the unglaciated region of Potosi, Wisconsin five miles from the National Brewery Museum on the scenic Highway 133. The farm offers an array of products grown at home, including cucumbers, radishes, snap peas, broccoli, kale, napa cabbage, different types of onions such as sweet, yellow, and red onions, pumpkins, win-win Choi and much more. To ensure a constant supply of produce, they have greenhouses and high tunnels which favor the farm deep into the season.
Honey Hill also provides a fall and summer community-supported agriculture(CSA) which creates an environment where people support agriculture by shopping at local markets, farmers’ markets, or shopping directly with nearby farmers. But because of the busy lives, people are living, they have become accustomed to food being shopped for them and delivered at their doorstep.
Apiary
Honey Hill organic farm has an Apiary where they raise bees for two main purposes:
Cross-pollination – Bees are fascinating and beautiful insects that are environmentally friendly but what makes them so special is they are perfectly adapted to cross-pollinate. Cross-pollination is the transfer of pollen grains from one flowering plant to another. The majority of plants in this farm rely on pollination, especially by bees. They have special features to collect pollen, like hairs known as “scopae” or bristle combs called pollen baskets on their legs. When visiting a plant seeking food, pollen catches their bodies which is then passed from plant to plant fertilizing them. Loss of pollinators could lead to lower availability of crops that are a source of essential micronutrients for human diets that may impact health increasing the risk of people suffering from iron and vitamin A deficiency.
Honey – To offer delicious honey to their members. Bees create honey by visiting flowers collecting a sweet liquid substance known as nectar. They then store it in a part of their stomach that’s different from where they store food. When they’ve collected enough, they return to their hive where they transfer it onto the worker bees who chew it for approximately thirty minutes. For the nectar to turn into honey, it is gradually passed from one bee to another. Then it is stored in tiny-like jars made of wax called honeycomb cells. There the honey is wet, so they dry it with their wings acting like fans. When it’s dry and sticky, they seal the cell with wax acting as a cover to keep the honey clean. That’s how bees make honey and one of the reasons why Honey Hill Farm keeps bees.
Peaches
Honey Hill Organic Farm boosted its farm business by planting 175 peach trees harvesting them for the first time in the summer of 2015. The two types of peaches planted were Redhaven and Saturn
Redhaven – Also known as Prunus Persica, this is a fast-growing peach tree with pink flowers in spring. The blossoms are followed by yellow fruits blushed with red in mid-summer. The flesh is yellow and firm, fine-grained and delicious. It can be used for baking, canning, and eating. A peach tree grows up to 13 to 15 feet tall and 350 to 460 centimeters wide. It grows best in direct sunlight, soils with good drainage, and are moist.