Home Grown - News

Growing the Group

The first meeting was publicised via 4 A4 posters and 200 leaflets pushed through letterboxes (or handed out at the Otley Farmers Market). There are still thousands of people in the Otley/Wharfedale area who have never heard of us!

Members Area

To get into this area you will need a password (contact me about this). Here we can vote on coming events and also keep track of such things as the money in the kitty and where/when it might be spent.

Forum

I have put together a very simple forum for us to ask questions, discuss topics, etc. It is in the members area. Feel free to put forward your thoughts.

Want to Join us?

The group is open to everyone. Our current age range is fomr 7 to 70+. Whether you have just a windowsill or an allotment (and anything in between) I am sure you will find there is lots to learn and share in the group. Contact us here for more information.

Home Grown News

Visit to Braythorne Bees

This fantastic evening visit was thoroughly enjoyed by all. The good poeple of Braythorne Bees (near Stainburn)were kind enough to show us round their business operation. The weather was fine and a good turn out ensured really lively and interesting demonstrations.

Braythorne Fold Farm is in a beautiful location just a couple of miles from the centre of Otley.

There is a lot more to bee-keeping than it seems. Despite this at least one of the group was inspired to get their own hive and have a go at producing their own Otley Honey.

Here the construction of the hive is explained to our willing members. At this point lots of wasps were buzzing round trying to get a look in too.

Sarah patiently explained the use for each different type of frame and how busy bees really are in the summer months, constantly building up new cells for honey and brood production.

An observation hive lets you get up close to see a live hive in action.

We were set to work making some frames (for holding the honey and brood cells) under careful supervision.

You can see that it takes at least 4 gardeners to make each frame - 1 worker and 3 supervisors!

A frame of completed honey cells is de-capped prior to honey extraction.

Finally the de-capped comb is spun in the centrifuge to extract the honey. The room is kept nice and warm to keep the honey flowing and has a tremendous aroma (no it was not us).

At the end of the visit we had a well deserved cup of coffee and some delicious home-made scones too. Braythorne Bees have lots of honey related products for sale too in their own farm shop - it really is worth a visit. You can see them too at Otley Farmers Market (last sunday of each month).

On Air

Radio Leeds have interviewed us about our 10 mile Challenge. There is an article on their website here.

You can also listen to the show again - the piece is about 85 minutes into the broadcast (Andrew Edwards & Georgey Spanswick 6-9am show).