Naked honey is the best

I love naked honey, fresh from the hive comb still intact. There is nothing like it in the world!  That first sticky bite, honey dripping from the comb, the delicate play of wild flavors upon your tongue, nothing can compare.

I bring this up because so many people buy honey in the store having no idea that much of it is laced with or in some cases is nothing but colored corn syrup.  In the rare instance that it might be honey, it has been heat treated with the thought of making it safer. Some honey is known to contain the botulism toxin and on many store-bought bottles, it says not to be given to children under the age of one.  while some honey does contain this toxin, I would argue that it is also found in dirt and well dirt is everywhere. 

When you heat honey to kill the toxin you also kill the good enzymes and even change the chemical structure.

No one want's to intentionally eat dead food but that could well be what you are doing if you are eating heat treated honey.

Now on to the down-falls of filtered honey, once again you remove parts of the honey that has made it one of the most eaten foods on the planet. Filtering removes pollen thought to help us to better cope with allergies, it removes tiny particles of Propolis that helps our bodies to heal and in general converts the complex sugars making it less effect for diabetics to eat and the very worst part, less tasty. 

Buy your honey from the hive and with the comb whenever possible, make sure they do not treat their bees with antibiotics because it will be in the honey.  Make sure they do not feed their bees corn syrup or white sugar, both are known to come from GMO sources and may help to cause colony collapse.

Be blessed from all of us on the mountian...

Storms and honey and the importance of sharing what you know with others

We had a bad storm roll though last night, so I kept the boys in the strongest room of the house with quick access to the basement. The power went off many times, so I got out our pre-civil war oil lamp which now burns white paraffin instead of bear grease and shared history with them. I explained how it worked and how to set the wick as well as what wicking meant and why and how the word is used. I light it and we watched cartoons on the tv when the power was one and enjoyed the warmth of the tiny dancing flame. I told them it was likely that others had sat before this same lamp for over a hundred years just as we were at that moment and I was over joyed to see how they liked the lamp and the history. I am blessed to have such great kids!

In other news we have harvested the first honey of the season and are so glad to see the amazing quality of the bees work and we are equally as pleased with their ability to share it with us. As many of our loyal readers may remember last year we harvested too late and had not honey, it was not only sad but had we depended on that honey and not had a back up well we would have been in a bad place. It is wise to keep back in reserve an extra years worth of honey when ever possible.

We do not use antibiotics with our bees, or other nasty stuff, for the most part they eat their own honey with the exception of harvest day when the hive is sprayed down with organic sugar water. We do not smoke our bees as we feel the sugar water helps them to be calm with out threat. Many people do not know what the smoke really does to the poor little bees. When bees smell smoke they think fire and they start to eat their honey in fear of losing the hive, way to traumatic, I would not want some one doing that me, so we do not do it to them. The sugar water makes them a bit drunk and a bit calmer with out threat of hive loss.

We feel as though we are in partner ship with the bees, they allow us the honey in designated levels of the hive, the rest belongs to them and we never touch it. We plant things for them to gather nectar from and make sure they have cool water, shade in the summer and a warm place to winter. It is a good deal for both them and the farm. Plus we reap the benefits of some of the best pollinators in the world.

Babies under a year old should not eat raw honey!


Other than that raw-unprocessed-unfiltered honey is one of the best foods on the plant.

Downfalls of raising your own honey:

• Desire to eat more honey
• Sticky kids on harvest day
• Loving your bees to much spending hours watching them work
• Giving back to the earth
• Living a longer better quality life
• Realizing that there are no drawbacks to raising your own honey!

Our honey is available for sale for $10 per pint before shipping. I can ship anywhere in the USA, yes even to Alaska! Just email me at raziel133@yahoo.com for more details, make sure to put raw honey in the subject line. Only a limited amount is available, it is raw with the comb.


Back to more farm stuff, the boys got a lesson in farm first aid yesterday as Michael their dad dropped a gate on his foot while trying to fix the horse pen at the barn. It has a small gash, it did not require stitches, but his foot did require tending too. We got him a bucket of nice hot water added Epsom salt, rosemary extract, lavender extract, and tea tree oil, it took quit a bit of the swelling down and the boys learned why we use each thing and about amounts as well as what adverse reaction to look for and how long to treat the injury. I am not saying that one should not seek medical care for an injury, only that we can treat some things here on the farm and it is good to always be prepared. There are many times every year that we are stuck on the mountain and it is good to know how to deal with issues like this. Had this been a life threatening emergency we would have taken him to the hospital, so please do not worry he is fine. Farm safety is a huge issue for us and no matter how you try to limit your exposure to danger, you can be that sooner rather than latter you will find it. Mistakes happen and one of the first things I try to explain to people is not to panic and have a plan both for small emergencies and the big ones.

From all of us on the mountain Be Blessed and be good to each other....
Shekhinah, Michael, all the kids and critters on Mahanaim Farm

http://www.mahanaimfarm.com/

A few days of news from the mountian

So the apricot tree bore fruit after only 9 or so years.

We got about 90 or so pieces of fruit that we shared with the insects and our pigs.

                       Big, meaty and beautiful, maybe next year we will have some to share.
                      I processed it all yesterday, except for this handful posted for your delight.

These are the fish the boys caught during the fishing tournament in Mammoth Spring, near dam 3.  I would personally like to thank everyone who volunteered and worked so hard to give all the kids of our community a fantastic day fishing.  A special thanks to Tommy Garner  who helped to put a hook on Elijah's pole for us. Our boys had a great time and are learning to love fishing, we could not be any happier! 

This is Michael, teaching the boys how to clean their fish.

Other than this we have been getting the gardens planted.  We have planted the last of the peppers, still have some black tomatoes to get into the ground and some more beans.

We got a new electric canner that should help with the canning and the heat it puts off.  However if you are getting one, I can tell you not to buy the Power Pressure Cooker XL.  This company sells this item as a canner/cooker however they do not have all the parts with it to make it work as a canner out of the box.  When you call their number you will get a call center in India whose workers are less than helpful.  I was told to go to their website and buy the rack, I asked the man who would buy a canner without a rack and to my demise he said I did.  Hmmm, well ok, so I will make the part, which I did, not buying anything else for the canner. He did feel the need to tell me about the great free gift they put in the box with the canner, a chopper.  I said you can keep the chopper I would have welcomed the rack for the canner.  Oh well...you live you learn! 

In the end, I made my own rack using a slicing disk from a dead food processor and a stainless steel triviot.  I had to have Michael break the black plastic off of it, but that's cool.  I am removing the slicing knife on it, as it is curved and serrated and will make a great knife once I make a handle for it.

My van decided today that it needs  repaired and very soon and it gave me the sound...clunk, clunk, bang, the rear universal, again and the rear transmission seal is leaking and of course that means replacing the transmission mount, over $150 bucks worth of parts and I am broke, the joy continues. 

On the side of happy I did score some great meat at the store and have a full freezer and meat to can with the new canner.  I got three black Angus new york strips, 6 pounds of ground chuck, 2 pounds of ground veal, 2 pounds of lamb chops, 3-three pound black Angus Roasts, three one and a half pounds packages of stew meat also black Angus, cost 50 bucks.  It was a good day to have popped in the store. 

That is all I have to report at the moment, I send a blessing to you all from our hearts to yours...be blessed from Shekhinah, Michael, and all the kids and critters on the mountain.

A lesson learned

In driving my son back from his job at Wal-Mart around 7:30 am this morning, I was witness to just how quickly life can change as well as to why it is also so important to be a vigilant driver. As we were headed toward Salem, Arkansas on Hwy 62-412 I saw a deer crossing the road, nothing out of the ordinary there happens almost every day here. However how the next few seconds played out is what is important. Unknown to me at the time it was not a lone deer but a small herd, I saw three quite clearly, the one that passed in front of us and then two more.

This left little time for anyone to react and when I saw a motorcyclist driving from the other direction hit one of the deer. Upon impact the deer exploded and for a brief second it was much like watching an explosion on a movie screen, parts of deer whizzed past us and simultaneously the motorcycle rider went down as the bike spun and slide in the dead center of the road. The bike still in a spin when he pulled himself free stood straight up and busied himself to the ditch that was on the side of the road that I was on, he laid down in the ditch face down, head facing the road in what I can only imagine was kissing the earth or a prayer of gratitude to have walked away.

I think the other deer maybe have been hit as well; it is hard to say as I was so focused on the event playing out in front of me and sometimes your mind tries to fill in the blanks, so I would rather not say if I really saw the third one get killed. One has to understand how traumatic it was at the moment. The whole event took place in seconds.

Since there were so many people on screen I left and continued onward towards home, traumatized and shaken up but happy to have been alive and no more involved then I had already been. The police and ambulance rushed passed us I can only offer my prayers for all those who were involved and a sublime word of warning if you think you can look away from the road even for a split second you are wrong. It only took a split second for all this to happen and had I not already been engaged in stopping for the one deer, I would have most likely been a part of the mess.

After the event, I was glad that I had already been slowing to a stop. I was glad that I had not been distracted by a cell phone or the radio and that we were safe. Upon arriving home I found blood splatter on the chrome of the bumper and one small spot of the deer on my windshield a reminder of how dangerous life can truly be.

Shekhinah Raziel Golden-Dove Davis

Rock climbing by force and lots of garden greens

Yummy, boc choy from the garden and red romaine.  First time in days I have been able to get out there, the ground is still really wet.  By tomorrow, I should be able to get back out and weed the gardens, and start to drain the pool and move the tadpoles to the hydroponic system so that they can grow to be nice strong healthy frogs.  so far I have lost 4 Okra plants and one celery for sure, might lose the other two...I may have to harvest them early, which for me would be truly heart-breaking as it has taken me two years to get the to go to seed.

I am getting an electric pressure canner delivered on the 13th, and if I can keep them going to then, I will cut up some potatoes, the celery, and some carrots and make a few batches of mixed vegetables.  At least it would not go to waste.

The gardens are in a constant state of replanting due to the weather, but we are pushing forward and restarting seeds.  I have the organic black tomato seeds started, still have to start other things, but I guess it is progress.

In regards to finances, well they are not so well, we are doing our best to hold our heads above water and my attempt to acquire a job failed before it even started, I feel like it was a wasted effort.  I still have school of course and two courses that I had to take this summer so that I could return to regular classes in Aug.  All of it is a bit overwhelming, but it is what it is.

Today we rock climbed in a 1992 Chevy van not out of fun mind you, but out of necessity, the road is gone, it is the worst it has been in 11 years.  It features large unpassable areas of deep trenches and huge rocks.  I am glad I have new tires, the old ones who have never made it. My tires are all 6 ply light truck tires.  Anyway if any of you tv people with your fancy rigs what to give It a try I will challenge you.  I was thinking about it today when I moved here and we had ruts in the road I would do my best not to hit them if I bottomed out  the car I would cry.  Now I am a real trooper, except with ice, I just power through. Like today.

So that is about all I have to report, broke, tired, but it still beats living in the city!

From all of us on the mountain
Be Blessed
Shekhinah, Mike and all the kids and critters