Swarmbustin' Honey (West Grove, PA) • Rumbleway Farm (Conowingo, MD) • Buck Run Farm (Fallowfield, PA)

Swarmbustin' Honey
Walt Broughton has a pretty sweet life for having come upon it "quite by accident, really," as he describes becoming a beekeeper. Walt's Swarmbustin' Honey is located down a gravel drive in West Grove, Pennsylvania. The stone farmhouse and stock pond isn't even the most picturesque scene in the place. Just past the pond, stacks upon stacks of brightly colored hives surrounded by cornfields steal the show. A bee's life is as peaceful as any person's would be in such a setting.

Walt began as a gardener on the property he now works and lives on as a full-time beekeeper. Working horses came next, but in 1983 he began the hobby that would become his life's passion. By 1988 he had fifty beehives, one hundred a couple years later. At that point Walt began selling honey and in 1997 moved solely to beekeeping as a profession. He now employs five people full-time and ships honey as far away as the west coast. Fortunately for us, his honey and pollen is as local as it gets, which is great for adapting to allergies in this area. He is happy to be part of the increasing trend toward buying locally. Most important goal? More time to homestead. The bees themselves are lovely beyond description. Walt opened a hive while his companion Corrine Poulsen gently smoked the bees to keep them calm. When I mentioned the moving novel The Secret Life of Bees to Corrine, she smiled and told me that was one of the things that inspired her to keep her own hives. These creatures are just amazing. Bees are a model of community. Each member of a hive has a job that it performs for the good of all. While we learned about the hive, the bees were everywhere, and not at all frightening. Their sound was actually incredibly relaxing. Now I know why it's called a "buzz."

Two anecdotes I really enjoyed learning were that bears don't really love honey, it's the larvae they want in a hive, and that wild bees are actually called feral bees because honeybees are not native to this continent. Honeybees, apis mellifera, originated in Africa, Asia, and Europe. A steady diet of royal jelly makes the queen fertile, who is the only female member of the hive who mates. All worker bees are infertile females, and drones, who have no stinger, are around only to fertilize eggs laid by the queen. The system is pretty perfect, actually. A queen bee will lay as many as 2000 eggs per day in individual cells. During the busy nectar gathering season, a bee's life span is generally six to eight weeks. Brood is constantly being raised. Royal jelly is some incredible stuff: Walt tells us that "if you eat two or three queen cells [full of royal jelly], you better have something to do!" We lucky Harvest Market visitors were fortunate enough to see a baby bee breaking through its cell cap, eat a handful of fresh pollen, and take a bite of bee bread, honey mixed with pollen to feed the brood, right from the hive. It was easily one of the most delicious things I've ever tasted.

Walt is a respectful beekeeper. The hives are arranged top to bottom to allow more room for the bees' own space than for honey production. He keeps a few hives at farms for fruit tree pollination, but for the most part the bees' lives are centered around home, where they may be moved through different fields. When I regarded all we have done to capture honey and remarked, "Human beings are so smart," Walt's quick reply was, "Bees are way smarter!" "Swarmbustin'," by the way, refers to the process of providing a new hive for bees who have outgrown their old digs and split into two groups, one of which will "swarm" to a new location.

Recently there have been news reports and television specials about the decline of honeybee populations. Scientists wonder if bees will be able to keep up if earlier flowering times disturb the rhythm bees have been perpetuating for centuries. Walt's take on the situation is that bees are adaptable, so long as humans stay out of the way. In his opinion, big agribusiness- chemical sprays, etc.- is really to blame for colony collapse. The poor practices of commercial beekeepers contribute as well. The more exposed bees are to chemicals, the greater compromise on their immune systems, which means they cannot fend off viruses. Seems like all creatures are subject to those conditions. As long as we support small honey farmers, bees will be supported and stick around to do their jobs.

Rumbleway Farm
When staff photographer Christine and I (April Lea) arrived at Rumbleway Farm for our tour, Robin Way was making breakfast for her family in the farm's commercial kitchen. Eggs, turkey bacon, sausage. Freshly picked carrots and beets lay in the sink, and on the counter were jars of pickled beets and homemade chambord. We gladly devoured eggs over-easy that have never seen a truck. Delicious! The popularity of Rumbleway's offerings speaks volumes for the taste of animal products raised the traditional way, on rotated pastures full of grass and bugs. Many Harvest Market customers already swear by the difference. Having not eaten any meat but fish for six years prior to working at the store, my first cheeseburger experience as an omnivorous adult was at Rumbleway's Farm Day in September, 2008. I had really missed cheeseburgers, and this was probably the only fair at which I'd ever find one that met my standards. That burger was so good that fellow staff member April Snow had to stop me from eating a second one immediately. I've been spoiled by Rumbleway standards ever since.

One of the most enjoyable benefits of local food is having the opportunity to go to the place where the food is produced and enjoy the company of the chickens, laying hens, turkeys, ducks, and cattle that eventually provide our sustenance. Robin is a gracious host and left no part of the farm unturned for our visit. The 62-acre Conowingo, Maryland setting is so idyllic that it's difficult to remember how close the area is to Newark and Baltimore. Robin, Christine, daschund Charley and I, followed by golden retriever Cornelius, bounced around on a quad vehicle while Robin told us all about the farm and its history.

Previously a dairy farm, the property on McCauley Road sat vacant from the 1970's until 1992. Robin and Mark Way met as DuPont employees, married, and decided to pursue a life less ordinary in farming. When they first approached the property, the house was almost completely obscured by overgrowth. Undeterred, they spent several years making it livable and reviving relics such as the ice-house. By 1995, they were selling large freezer cuts of meat, and by 2000 had moved to smaller cuts for individual consumption. They had also begun raising chickens. 1999 brought USDA Organic Certification. Next the Ways put in a commercial kitchen and began serving dinners on the farm. The Farm Store was added three years ago in order to offer a separate place where long-term and new customers could buy their meats and eggs, among other food delights, without the jumble of selling and operating in the same place. Photos of the dairy farming family hang on the walls in the farm store. The Ways have a lot of product to move from the slaughterhouse to the freezer cases in their store and ours. Cattle are sent to a separate processing location due to size. Chickens number around 400-600 on any given day in the summer. Robin estimates 200 chickens are slaughtered every other week. Turkeys are raised all summer for Thanksgiving slaughter, and the heirloom turkeys are bred right on site! All these animals share 26 acres of pastures, plus 10 acres of wooded feedlot for overwintering. Rumbleway of course creates all its own compost, as well as providing compost for plenty of friends and neighbors.

One really exciting development in the steadily growing story of this farm is that, like many farms in more sustainability-focused states such as Maine and Vermont, farming apprenticeships may soon be available at Rumbleway for those who wish to learn how to do the same life's work. The ancient tradition of handing down knowledge may help save family farming yet! I asked Robin what she thinks the greatest challenge is for people considering sustainability in their everyday lives, and she responded, "Most people don't know how easy it really is." That answer resonates strongly for so many of us raised in a modern lifestyle but yearning for simpler ways that make more sense. The Ways have dedicated their lives not only to feeding people, but showing anyone interested how they too can embrace the lifestyle of sustainability. As we know, it begins with our food, our very fuel and building material, and expands into everything else we touch from there. Rumbleway Farm is an excellent example of dedication to a principle realized over years of hard work and uncompromised standards.

Buck Run Farm
On a beautiful farm along the Buck Run in East Fallowfield, Pennsylvania, there is one very content herd of cows. Dr. Bill Elkins and his wife Helen have been raising beef cattle on their 200 acre farm for over thirty years. Dr. Elkins explains a bit of his history, "I grew up on a farm in Pocopson, had a career in medical research, and after that I wanted to get back into farming."

The cattle at Buck Run Farm are raised within a holistic grazing system. There is one large herd moved to fresh grass daily. This practice mimics nature before there were fences, when wolves were the primary predator. The size of the herd is always changing, and the calves get to stay with their mothers, nursing as long as they need, to ensure their health.

Farmhand Dustin Eirdosh, who is also a cheese maker, had this to say, "I've worked in livestock for seven years and this is by far the best operation I've ever worked on. In terms of animal welfare and holistic herd management, this farm excels." Dr. Elkins contends, "They live outdoors year round, so they hardly ever get sick. Out here, an injured cow is more common."

Even though Dr. Elkins has been raising cattle this way for thirty years, he continues to improve the way in which things are done. This year will be the second winter the herd will enjoy un-mowed fields. The herd will harvest and fertilize acres of land set aside for their wintertime feeding. Letting the animals do this work instead of tractors avoids excess petroleum usage.

"Angus cattle are an English breed, imported in the late 1930′s. Before WWII, most beef in this country was grass fed. Post war, agriculture was developed for grain production. Grain then became over-produced and low priced. The theory was if farmers fed it to cattle, they could get money out of their grain crop," Dr. Elkins explains. Pastured beef has returned to the American table, and most people agree that it simply tastes better. Dr. Elkins samples the meat from each animal for quality purposes. Careful records are kept regarding the lineage of every cow, so that the herd is given the opportunity to improve its genetics.

Right now on the farm there are bulls running with the herd, as the first of two breeding seasons is well under way. There are two calf crops per year, which helps spread out the age of the herd. Twice a month, one to three stockers (cows which are at the size and age of being ready for market) are sent out to Smucker's in Mt. Joy, Pennsylvania. This particular slaughterhouse caters to farms who maintain smaller herds. With smaller numbers to process, higher standards of workmanship and quality can be maintained.

At Harvest Market, we are proud to offer our customers this high quality meat. Sold in one pound packets, Dr. Elkins Angusburger Beefsteak can be found in the meat freezer.