Why do they say the third time is the charm? We don’t know, but we’re hoping it’s true: we’re putting our third queen into our apiary this year, and we’ve got all available green thumbs and fingers crossed that this time, she takes.  The first queen was a bust, the second queen (curiously deliveried at night in a paper bag)  failed to win over the drone-laying workers–so we’ve got high hopes for this lady, a beautiful Georgian girl.  Hopefully, her commanding hormones will spread through the hive quickly and clearly, supressing the egg-laying hormones of the virgin laying workers (who can only lay male bees, or drones). This hive in particular (of our three, including one top bar hive) has been directionless since its spring colony introduction.  The bees haven’t built much comb, and we’re still at one super after a rich nectar flow this spring.  Beekeeper Meg Paska told us sometimes a rejected queen will be killed by the colony.  When we put this third queen cage in, Meg helped us look for immediate signs of acceptance.  When the queen cage is introducd and the bees begin to bite at the cage with their mandibles, that’s no good.  But looking closely, yes, we saw the little reddish tongues of the workers sticking into the cage, trying to feed the new Queen.  A peace offering!  A sign of the worker-bee-kowtow to a new royal!  All right: good luck, girls–we’re counting on you!

Let’s just say this Sunday is for all those dads who love to eat fresh vegetables!

As June gives way to summer temperatures and the peppers, cukes and other fruits begin to appear, we transition from the spring to the summer-into-fall apprenticeship staff at the Eagle Street Rooftop Farm.  Our heartiest congrats and thanks to the greenthumbs that have gotten us this far into the season: Audrey, newly indoctrinated Corienne, Miriam, Kate, Susan and (not pictured) Jennie!  A beautiful season has unfolded and great food has been grown with their care and attention.

Adventures await for Susan (she’ll be traveling from the East Coast to Colorado to work on an agriculturally focused documentary film) and Miriam (this go-getter is riding with Bike & Build across the entire country!)  We’ll keep you posted on how to follow their journeys.

Sunday, June 12th: our two o’clock FREE workshop combines two things every farmer needs–organic produce and a great soap to use in washing up real good after a long day of hot farming.  Led by Tara of  Brooklyn’s own www.MeowMeowTweet.com.   Not much is better than the delicious joy of seeing carrot juice turn into farmhand-washing bars of soap while the chickens take a dust bath after getting to munch on the leftover carrot pulp.

Join us this Sunday for our market 10am-4pm

The greens are up, the herbs are fantastic, the springtime kale as sweet as can be.  We’ve got radish-leaf pesto (whoa!) and dried hot peppers just perfect for topping that kale-leaf-pizza you’ve been dying to make since you saw it on the menu at Paulie Gee’s.

Join us at 2pm for a workshop with Brooklyn Honey scoping out the ins and outs of beekeeping, on and off a roof.  The queen is laying thousands of eggs and we can answer thousands of questions about how, why, what? and more.

Here’s a photograph from this morning (Wednesday, June 1st) showing off our lovely kale.  Did we mention kale has more calcium per serving than milk? We’d love to have rooftop cows too, but until we have the space they need, we’re growing this excellent cole crop staple. 

The days are getting longer, the salad’s getting sweeter..  Come join us for a nightharvest!  Our market is open–pick your own or we’ll pick fresh for you.  Come on up! Our favorite photo from this event, here on Scott Nyerges’ page!

This Sunday from 10am-4pm we are joined by organic growers McEnroe Farm.  Apartment gardeners and urban farmers-to-be can come on up for excellent deals, advice from our green thumbs, and the rare opportunity to buy locally grown transplants from McEnroe.  The Farm is also known for its incredible potting soil, made on-site with organic compost mixed in–bags will be available at the Rooftop Farm.

We have a lot of ladies at our farm: the mama honeybee that holds our hive together, our lady chickens who lay us eggs each day, and our mother rabbit, whose babies have raised our animal manure production as well as (cuteness factor) our facebook hits.

We love our mothers, and we’re glad to wish them a happy mother’s day.  Thanks, moms, for raising us right!