Category Archives: Field Trip

The Way To Be GMO-free

Just as we (humans) are what we eat, so are the animals that we raise here on Vernal Vibe Rise. As a result, we believe that it is truly worthwhile to go to great lengths to make sure that our animals have access to the cleanest, most nutrient-rich foods available to us.

GMO-free feed in truckEvery few weeks, we make the trip to neighboring Virginia to purchase GMO-free feed for our animals. It involves an entire day, significant expense, and intense physical effort, but what is farming if not comprised of those things already?

GMO-free feed on truck

Much of the GMO-free swine feed is contained in this one-ton tote, which needs to be secured carefully before the two-hour drive on the highway back to VVR.

GMO-free feed in/on truck

Here is the (rented) truck of the week, all loaded up for the drive back to Renick. My dear truck, the Dumpin’ Doggie, is a 1969 F100 and isn’t well-suited for this type of trip, so she stays at the farm during feed runs.

GMO-free corn

The GMO-free whole corn, which serves as a supplemental feed for VVR poultry, and as a snack for swine and sheep. The clean feed that we offer the animals here on VVR makes them healthier, which in turn ensures that their meat and eggs are tastier and safer to eat. We thank all of our customers for caring enough about the health of our environment to make the choice to purchase VVR’s GMO-free products.

 

Field Trip: Honeybee Inspection at Dilly Dally Farm

This Monday morning, with current uncharacteristic sunshine, offered the perfect weather for a field trip to Dilly Dally Farm in Crawley, West Virginia. My mother, Sarah Voorhees, requested an extra set of eyes during this week’s Hive Inspection, and I was glad to volunteer. The inaugural VVR Top Bar Hive has yet to be installed, and our resident bees still live–very comfortably–in a tree near our driveway.IMG_0911

As a result, I am living my Top Bar experience vicariously through my mother, until ours is up-and-buzzing next spring. After the mandatory donning of the full garb, we began to open up the hive.

DDF Top Bar Removal

The newest section of comb has a great number of bees hanging from it–and one another–in their usual string of activity.
DDF Bee Chain on Top Bar

Another bar, with completed comb, includes brood–and bees–but no honey yet.DDF Brood on Top Bar

The result of the inspection is that the bees are healthy, happy, and right on target (75 days) with the worker, drone brood, larvae, and newborn bees we witnessed. The hope is that the next inspection will yield yet more reproductive activity AND some honey stores for the coming cold season.

DDF SMV Inspecting Top Bar