I just spent 2 1/2 Hours in Saturday morning picking tops in low garden. Ony got 3/4 dehydrator full first time and ran them til partially dry….emptied them into brandy. Then, put in the ones I finished picking for 3 hrs Saturday evening…which was a full dehydrator…(which I have let run all nite on lowest setting.) Won’t pick again now for a wee or so…then there will be more stems with tops…some at ground level…they seem to form the top really quick.

Forgot to remind you that you need to take the tops of each stem of the fava plant…the little unopened flower top ball protected by leaves is what will draw ants and aphids/ earwigs also and leaf hoppers. This makes the plant send out stems from the bottom ..which gives you more tops (the part I dry for tincture…which seems to be the strongest l-dopa on the plant) Remove the leaves surrounding the top ball & eat..or can eat the whole thing if you don’t want to tincture, but it needs to come off even if past the ball stage and has tiny leaves on the top…plant will be healthier if pinched back

Was blessed yesterday with a Bee Hive. We have had only one or two honey bees here on the farm …even our sunflowers did not have polinators last year. Wasps have been the biggest source of polination.A neighbor found a hive in a building nearby last year and destroyed them…have hardly seen any bees since…….perhaps we will have better crop polination this year. God is good to provide our needs.

Have a blessed day (Aunt Bean)