november newsletter 2002

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November in the Vineyard

I would like to thank all the visitors at our farm this fall season. It has been a very different year - quickly selling out of many varieties due to the short crop caused by spring frosts. We were not been able to press as much juice for winemakers as we usually do. It has also been a very rewarding year, talking to many interesting customers and making plans for the future. We have decided to plant some more vines, such as concord, vignoles and also a new vine called Frontenac, a red wine for winemakers.


In mid October a series of hard frosts hit the vineyard and within a few week all the leaves are gone and the vineyard looks just like it did last spring.

It is now clean up time in the vineyard. All the bird scaring devices such the audible alarms & balloons come down and the bird netting gets removed and rolled up on to tubes. All the honey and material in the sales stand gets packed away. Now if you want honey and candles you can still get them from our on line candle shop.


This row is in the process of being converted - the top wire is still in the center.	This Geneva Double Curtain row had some vines trained to it last year - notice two wires 54 inches apart on top.

We are also converting many of the rows on the east end of the vineyard to Geneva Double Curtain trellises. This system allows us to train the vines differently.

The rows that are planted in the west half of the vineyard (the older section) are spaced 9.5 ft apart (the vines are 8 ft apart in all the rows). The rows in the east end (newer) are 13.5 ft apart. This allows room for a 54 inch crossarm on all the posts. Then 2 (54 inches apart) parallel wires are installed. Each vine is alternated, one on each side, giving the vine 16 ft to grow on compared to 8 ft in the older section. This allows better air drainage, leaf exposure, better fungus & insect control and larger crops. This area is all planted in wine grapes.

November Grape Recipe - Grape Upside Down Cake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 x 12 inch baking pan. Wash grapes and pinch stems off. Cook in heavy sauce pan until pulp is soft; run through a sieve or cheesecloth to remove seeds, if necessary. Place grape pulp into saucepan, add skins and ¾ cup sugar; cook until skins are tender (about 15 minutes). You should have about 2 cups of pulp.

Sift dry ingredients into mixing bowl. Add shortening, ½ cup milk, eggs and vanilla; beat 2 minutes. Add remaining milk; beat 30 seconds. Pour into prepared pan. Spread grape mixture over top of batter. NOTE: Grape layer will sink to the bottom during baking. Bake 45 minutes. Serve warm with whipped cream, if desired. Makes 12 servings.
From Sandy Pruden, Michigan

2 lbs. red grapes, seeded or seedless

2 ½ tsp. baking powder

½ cup shortening 1 cup milk

Do you have a great grape recipe - please send it to me and we will put it in our newsletter.

November with the honeybees. The Harvest is under way! In September we start to take part of the honey crop off. Usually I am busy just keeping up with honey sales at our roadside sales stand and our wholesale outlets. After the vineyard closes in mid October I return to the bee yards to take the rest of the crop off. The honey is removed much like we harvest comb honey, with a bee blower and my trailer. See comb honey harvest pictures ......

In October/November it is very challenging removing the honey crop and getting it extracted. The size

of our honey operation (about 150 colonies) is usually termed a sideline (or part time) operation versus a full time commercial business (1000 colonies or more). This means that I also have another job. (I work at Detroit Edison, a local utility company), and getting all our honey off & into barrels before the holidays is a lot of work. We usually produce between 10,000 & 15,000 pounds of honey a year. (800 - 1300 gallons) I have someone extracting honey in our barn while I am visiting all of our 12 beeyards on the coming weekends. This is one reason that when a hard freeze hits and the vineyard closes we must immediately close our retail farm and jump right in to harvesting the honey crop. More pictures ....... Our Honey & Beekeeping Pictorial is complete. See Pictures of how honey is made and harvested.

November Honey Recipe - Oriental Chicken Salad (Shirley Gregway, Melbourne, FL) This recipe is adapted from a salad that is made at Applebee's Restaurant. You will love the Oriental dressing with the unique, nutty flavor of roasted sesame oil. This type of oil is becoming quite popular today and can be found in the supermarket near the the oils or where the Asian food is displayed.

The Salad recipe is for one serving and may be modified to any size you desire.

The Oriental Dressing recipe is very usefull with many other salads and the recipe is for about 6 servings.

Salad:

2 to 4 cups vegetable oil for frying

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup all pourpose flour

1/2 cup cornflake crumbs

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 boneless, skinless chicken breast half

3 cups chopped romaine lettuce

1 cup chopped red cabbage

1 cup chopped napa cabbage

1/2 carrot, julienned or shredded

1 green onion, sliced

1 Tablespoon sliced almonds

1/3 cup chow mein noodles

Oriental Dressing:

1-1/2 cups honey

3/4 cup white vinegar

2/3 cup Miracle Whip

6 Tablespoons Grey Poupon Dijon mustard

3/4 teaspoon sesame oil

Using an electric mixer, blend together all the ingredients for the dressing in a small bowl. Put the dressing in the refrigerator to chill while you prepare the salad.

Preheat the oil in a deep fryer or frying pan over medium heat. You want the temperature of the oil to be around 350 degrees F. If using a frying pan, the oil should be around 1/2 inch deep. More oil can be used in a deep fryer so that the chicken is immersed.

In a small shallow, bowl beat the egg, add the milk, and mix well.

In another bowl, combine the flour with the cornflake crumbs, salt, and pepper.

Cut the chicken breast into 4 or 5 long strips. Dip each strip of chicken first into the egg micture then into the flour mixture, coating each piece completely.

Fry each chicken finger for 5 minutes or until the coating has darkened to brown.

Prepare the salad by tossing the romaine with the red cabbage, napa cabbage, and carrot.

Sprinkle the green onion on top of the lettuce mixture.

Sprinkle the almonds over the salad, then the chow mein noodles.

Cut the chicken into bite size chunks. Place the chicken on the salad, forming a pile in the middle. Serve with the salad dressing on the side.

Do you have a great honey recipe - please send it to me and we will put it in our newsletter.

New Candles for the Holidays!

The holiday candle season is just around the corner and we are working on some new things this year. We have a new 11 piece beeswax nativity set that can be ordered as one complete set, individually or in groups. Picture is at top of page. Click here for details....

We also will have some new honey and candle gift boxes that can be mailed directly to your Christmas list if you desire along with a custom printed card. Just send us your gift list & we do all the rest. Details ......

Our Baby Bear candle (above) is an ideal stocking stuffer .........

Our Embossed Forest Scene Pillar is also a new and popular item. Click for details .....

This is a new section for Comments/Questions/Recipes from our readers. Please read the comments & feel free to put your 2 cents worth in. We had some questions on wine & honey vinegar - are there any vinegar makers reading this? Click here to send me a message.

Interested in grape farm, scented beeswax, white beeswax, October candle winner, green grape jelly didn't thicken, I can't believe that we missed your season, I am looking for a place to get married, canadice wine problem, beeswax for making skin moisturizing cremes, heat source using beeswax?

Click here to visit our "From our Readers" Page

Congratulations! November candle winner is, ythigpen1@comcast.net.
Please send us your address so that I can ship your candles.

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Honeyflow Farm
www.honeyflowfarm.com
4939 Mill Rd. PO Box 275
Dryden, Michigan 48428
(810) 796-2344 (Phone & Fax)

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The Salad recipe is for one serving and may be modified to any size you desire.	The Oriental Dressing recipe is very usefull with many other salads and the recipe is for about 6 servings.
Salad: 2 to 4 cups vegetable oil for frying 1 egg 1/2 cup milk 1/2 cup all pourpose flour 1/2 cup cornflake crumbs 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon pepper 1 boneless, skinless chicken breast half 3 cups chopped romaine lettuce 1 cup chopped red cabbage 1 cup chopped napa cabbage 1/2 carrot, julienned or shredded 1 green onion, sliced 1 Tablespoon sliced almonds 1/3 cup chow mein noodles	Oriental Dressing: 1-1/2 cups honey 3/4 cup white vinegar 2/3 cup Miracle Whip 6 Tablespoons Grey Poupon Dijon mustard 3/4 teaspoon sesame oil
Using an electric mixer, blend together all the ingredients for the dressing in a small bowl. Put the dressing in the refrigerator to chill while you prepare the salad. Preheat the oil in a deep fryer or frying pan over medium heat. You want the temperature of the oil to be around 350 degrees F. If using a frying pan, the oil should be around 1/2 inch deep. More oil can be used in a deep fryer so that the chicken is immersed. In a small shallow, bowl beat the egg, add the milk, and mix well. In another bowl, combine the flour with the cornflake crumbs, salt, and pepper. Cut the chicken breast into 4 or 5 long strips. Dip each strip of chicken first into the egg micture then into the flour mixture, coating each piece completely. Fry each chicken finger for 5 minutes or until the coating has darkened to brown. Prepare the salad by tossing the romaine with the red cabbage, napa cabbage, and carrot. Sprinkle the green onion on top of the lettuce mixture. Sprinkle the almonds over the salad, then the chow mein noodles. Cut the chicken into bite size chunks. Place the chicken on the salad, forming a pile in the middle. Serve with the salad dressing on the side.