Chris Saad of Honey Trails and I spent 2 and 1/2 hours today with the folks behind Pushing the Envelope Farm. Essentially what they have is 13 to 14 acres of property that is adjacent to the Continental Envelope factory in Geneva, IL. Actually, the owners of Continental Envelope, and their family members, decided to build a non-profit farm on what had been conventionally farmed as corn. Fred and Trisha hired Libby as the farm manager and in the past 12-18 months they have started the process of converting from a mono-culture crop to a true diversified farm.
The property looks idyllic to me, but I’m a new beekeeper. Chris and I are going to ask our mentor (40 years beekeeping experience) to take a look at the property and give us his second opinion.
Fred, Trisha and Libby showed a true interest in beekeeping and Fred especially peppered Chris and I about every aspect of bees. Fred went so far as to offer to plant whatever flowers and trees Chris and I thought the bees would be most interested in. He even mentioned that they may have goats and chickens in the future and wanted to make sure bees would be okay with them. And showed us where a new hoop house was planned. Wow! Big plans.
I’m excited for the potential opportunity to work with Fred, Trisha and Libby. Now it’s just a mater of a second opinion and logistics. I’m ready!
That is so exciting! I look forward to reading more about Pushing the Envelope Farm!
that’s great. ask them to plant red clover along the sides of the fields. it may already be there. bees pull pollen and nectar from many places, i imagine the area near the farm already has some sources for them.
you might also consider some perennials that flower early in the year, as that’s when bees start to build up their hives.
eric