What Started for the Bees
If the pollinators benefit, we do too
Watching ideas take shape and become tangible incredible. Like a bud opening to a flower, many aspects of this business were once only dreams. After spending years observing native and non-native pollinators, we have found their companionship to be immensely valuable.
In an attempt to spread pollinator habit last year, we started thousands of native perennials. These crops have coevolved with pollinators indigenous to this land. Our hope is by propagating them we can share them with gardeners and spread their impact over a landscape sadly dominated by lawns.
Echinacea, penstemon, daisy, goldenrod, columbine, gaillardia, and Maximilian sunflower are just a few of these plants that have been growing now for nearly a year. Summer and fall are the perfect time to plant these in gardens as the will develop strong roots before winter and grace next year with ample flowers.
We have come to love non-native pollinator friendly crops as well. Tulsi Basil stands alone in flavor but makes an amazing garden companion. Ocimum tenuiflorum or Holy Basil is mainly cultivated in Southeast Asia particularly in Thailand and India where it is used as a culinary, ayurvedic, and medicinal herb.
Unlike the shiny leaves of Italian basil, Tulsi has almost a furry texture. It is a short plant with a spreading habit rather than the upright nature of other basils. The flowers and leaves are desirable and luckily so because it starts blooming early and keeps going throughout the season.
I was first introduced to this squat and fragrant herb during my time at McCauley Family Farm in Boulder, Colorado. I remember its smell to be a mixture of sweetness and undeniable complexity. It was easily one of the most popular flowers with the bees and had a near constant buzz. The plants we grow now are direct descendants of this original line with seeds saved consistently over the past 10 years.
For me, Tulsi is an herb of love. I often will pull a branch and keep it behind an ear or front pocket as a reminder to take things in stride and recognize beauty. Brewed into a tea it has a sweet calming effect. Known to reduce anxiety, stress, and fatigue it is a reliable plant to keep around. Currently the crop is in its peak which makes sense because anxiety, stress, and fatigue can also run high this time of year.
Along with the mental benefits Tulsi has been shown to have antioxidant benefits reducing inflammation, improving blood pressure, and lowering blood sugar. It can be a very helpful herb for people with diabetes, arthritis, fibromyalgia, and obesity.
I grew it for years without a clear market or purpose, simply for the company. Selling the herb on a farmers market table never made sense as it couldn’t keep up with other product sales. That never kept my wife from cutting a drying some for our personal benefit. Once she started her herbal body care business, Rey Atelier, Tulsi made and immediate appearance. She uses it as one of a few ingredients in lip balm, a product which quickly became one of her most popular.
We continue to grow the herb, interplanted with tomatoes. It is remarkable to have plants around that have become old friends. Whose smells take you back in time. I love growing plants and Tulsi helps keep the reminder of diversity alive. A shining example that sometimes we do things because we are pulled to do them without a clear goal or end game.
Farm News
Summer crops are officially here. Tomatoes are ripe on the vine, summer squash is coming, and the first round of pickling cucumbers was just harvested as I write this.
This will be the last week of cherries and apricots, but peaches will continue to be in full swing.
We are making the swing int fall plantings of roots and greens. This is a reminder fresh, local produce of this caliber is fleeting and you do not want to miss out.
Farm Stand Hours: 10-6pm Wed-Friday, 10-4pm Saturday and Sunday
Hopefully stocked this week:
Colorado Fruit: Organic Sweet Red Cherries, Rainier Cherries, Organic Apricots, Organic Peaches
Greens: Hearts and Souls Salad Mix, gem lettuce heads, summer head lettuce kale, chard, collards
Roots: Grilling onions, beets, carrots!
Veggies: Cherry Tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes, summer squash, cucumbers
Herbs: Oregano, mint, thyme, sage, parsley, basil
Plant Starts: Annual flowers now $4 each. We also have a full rack of herbs ready for the garden or kitchen counter.
Perennials: Gallons are now $10 each. We currently have: columbine, foxglove, sedum, elderberry, elecampane, daisy, goldenrod, gallardia, lavender, mint, thyme, sage, mountain mint, lemon balm, and echinacea. We also have 4.5” perennials for $5 each! Now is truly the perfect time to plant.
Lehi Ranch, High Point Bison, KREAM Kimchi, Jodar Farms Eggs, Rey Atelier Home Goods, Bread Chic Sourdough, Fox Den Coffee, Owl Tree Farm Worm Compost, Bee Squared Apiaries Honey, Abuelita’s Hot Sauce, Christie Leighton Jewelry, Life’s A Buch Kombucha