The sunflower (Helianthus annuus)

CARING FOR SUNFLOWERS
When the plant is at the early stages, water around the roots 3 inches away from the plant.
Once the sunflower is grown, water once a week deeply to improve deep rooting
Feed them just enough nutrients. Excess fertilizer can cause sudden plant growth with a poor root system.
Tall sunflowers need support as they grow, perhaps support from stakes to support the stems.
As they grow, pests and diseases will start showing interest in the seeds. Spray the plants with a garden fungicide when fungal diseases are spotted.

REAPING SUNFLOWERS / STORAGE
Harvesting sunflowers for bouquets, cut the stem just before the flower bud opens to allow side blooms.
Stems need to be cut early in the morning, when harvested in the afternoon or evening, it can lead to the flower wilting.
Sunflowers should be handled with care for them to last at least a week in water at room temperature. Make sure the containers used to store them provide great support to their heavy heads.
To keep them fresh, change the water daily.

The main reason Honey Hill Organic Farm and the University of Wisconsin-Platteville planted 15 acres of sunflowers was to press the seeds for oil to be sold for cooking purposes.

Honey Hill Organic Farm is a part of a fair share community-supported agriculture coalition that benefits partner share programs great for low-class individuals to shop for fresh produce weekly. Due to the community-supported agriculture offered by Honey Hill in fall and summer, producers are connected to consumers, allowing them to shop at local markets, farmers’ markets, or even directly with Honey Hill farmers. There are advantages of CSA such as; Consumers get to experience and experiment with all types of products offered, it boosts vegetable and fruit consumption, as well as supporting local agricultural producers. Honey Hill Farm offers CSA to Madison, Platteville, Hazel Green, Galena, East Dubuque, Potosi, and Dubuque in case you want to shop a variety of produce.…

Peaches and Blooms

Saturn – These types of peaches may not look like your image of a peach, they are neither round nor fizzy but are white-fleshed. Their taste will blow your mind. The mouth-watering fruit is easier to eat out of hand simply because you can pop it out with your thumb. Because of its unusual shape, it is sometimes called the “Doughnut” peach. This variety can work in both high and low climates.

Peaches are rich in nutrients and can be beneficial to humans in allergy relief, digestion, and also smoothing skin. Also, they are filled with antioxidants that protect the skin from aging and diseases. All in all, a peach is a fruit you will want to consider adding to your diet.

Sunflowers

Honey Hill organic farm joined forces with the University of Wisconsin-Platteville and ARS Account Resolution in 2015 planting 15 acres of sunflowers for pressing the oil. The sunflower (Helianthus annuus) is a year-long plant with a daisy-like flower face. The flowers may be of different colors (yellow, red, maroon, orange, brown) but mostly they are bright yellow with brown centers that come to maturity into heads filled with seeds. Sunflowers are heliotropic meaning they turn especially their flowers to follow the direction of the sun from morning to sunset.

Heliotropism mostly occurs during the earlier stages just before the flower gets heavy with seeds. Sunflower seeds can be pressed for oil that can be used for cooking. Today, there are different types of sunflowers to pick from that suit your garden. Those with single stems or branched stems, the ones that are best for bouquets which mostly are pollen-free, and those with ample pollen for pollination, those that give rise to edible seeds, and those that stay small or soar above the rest of the garden. A normal growing sunflower starts to mature from 80 to 94 days depending on the variety, some grow to over 16 feet in height while others rarely grow to a foot tall! Most flower heads within the large-seeded type grow up to over 11 inches in thickness.

PLANTING

Honey Hill Organic Farm suggests the following best practices when it comes to sunflowers.

GROWING SUNFLOWERS

Look for a sunny field area! Sunflowers thrive best in environments with enough sunlight — approximately 6 to 8 hours a day — this ensures the flowers blossom well.

Make sure it is an area with well-draining soil. Proper drainage ensures that the soil does not get too dense and wet, altering the plant’s growth. Water-logged and saturated soils make the roots oxygen-deprived, and unable to take up water to the other parts of the plant.

When preparing a bed to plant, dig up to 2 feet in depth and about 4 feet across, this is because sunflowers have long taproots which stretch out as the plant grows. This means that the soil can’t be too compact.

They are not particular when it comes to the soil pH. This is the measure of acidity and the basicity of how a solution is. Sunflowers flourish in moderately acidic to rather alkaline soil (pH 6.0 to 7.5).

They are known to be heavy feeders, this means the soil must be nutritious with manure and organic matter. One can also use granular fertilizer but it is best if it’s 6 to 8 inches deep into the soil. Fertilizer helps replenish the nutrients in the soil.

It is important to plant sunflowers in a well-sheltered place to prevent them from strong winds. Strong winds make sunflowers blow over, to avoid this, plant them perhaps near a wall, a building, or along a fence.

Birds can be a problem when flowering starts and birds start scratching around the seeds. There are methods to keep them away, for example, using nets or bird busters which make a screeching sound scaring away birds.…

Honey Hill Organic Farm

Background on Honey Hill Organic Farm

This bonafide biotic farm is located in the unglaciated region of Potosi, Wisconsin five miles from the National Brewery Museum on the scenic Highway 133. The farm offers an array of products grown at home, including cucumbers, radishes, snap peas, broccoli, kale, napa cabbage, different types of onions such as sweet, yellow, and red onions, pumpkins, win-win Choi and much more. To ensure a constant supply of produce, they have greenhouses and high tunnels which favor the farm deep into the season.

Honey Hill also provides a fall and summer community-supported agriculture(CSA) which creates an environment where people support agriculture by shopping at local markets, farmers’ markets, or shopping directly with nearby farmers. But because of the busy lives, people are living, they have become accustomed to food being shopped for them and delivered at their doorstep.

Apiary
Honey Hill organic farm has an Apiary where they raise bees for two main purposes:

Cross-pollination – Bees are fascinating and beautiful insects that are environmentally friendly but what makes them so special is they are perfectly adapted to cross-pollinate. Cross-pollination is the transfer of pollen grains from one flowering plant to another. The majority of plants in this farm rely on pollination, especially by bees. They have special features to collect pollen, like hairs known as “scopae” or bristle combs called pollen baskets on their legs. When visiting a plant seeking food, pollen catches their bodies which is then passed from plant to plant fertilizing them. Loss of pollinators could lead to lower availability of crops that are a source of essential micronutrients for human diets that may impact health increasing the risk of people suffering from iron and vitamin A deficiency.

Honey – To offer delicious honey to their members. Bees create honey by visiting flowers collecting a sweet liquid substance known as nectar. They then store it in a part of their stomach that’s different from where they store food. When they’ve collected enough, they return to their hive where they transfer it onto the worker bees who chew it for approximately thirty minutes. For the nectar to turn into honey, it is gradually passed from one bee to another. Then it is stored in tiny-like jars made of wax called honeycomb cells. There the honey is wet, so they dry it with their wings acting like fans. When it’s dry and sticky, they seal the cell with wax acting as a cover to keep the honey clean. That’s how bees make honey and one of the reasons why Honey Hill Farm keeps bees.

Peaches
Honey Hill Organic Farm boosted its farm business by planting 175 peach trees harvesting them for the first time in the summer of 2015. The two types of peaches planted were Redhaven and Saturn

Redhaven – Also known as Prunus Persica, this is a fast-growing peach tree with pink flowers in spring. The blossoms are followed by yellow fruits blushed with red in mid-summer. The flesh is yellow and firm, fine-grained and delicious. It can be used for baking, canning, and eating. A peach tree grows up to 13 to 15 feet tall and 350 to 460 centimeters wide. It grows best in direct sunlight, soils with good drainage, and are moist.…