Hickory Grove is the place we call home. Nestled in rural Frederick County, Virginia, it is a place of beauty and tranquility. With just over 11.5 acres of wood and meadow, it the perfect location for a hobby farm. Add a fishing pond and gazebo and it’s a little piece of heaven on earth!
My husband, Neil, is an avid gardener and beekeeper, and Hickory Grove provides space for both. In 2022, we began with a single honeybee hive. We added three more hives that same year, including two wild hives that were captured from nearby swarms. Over the next few years, we’ve had to start over multiple times. We lost hives to extreme cold temperatures, invasive insects, and even bears. These challenges taught Neil valuable lessons in beekeeping, and he also compares notes with fellow local beekeepers through BONS (Beekeepers of the Northern Shenandoah) . Our honeybees not only pollinate the garden and fruit trees, but also native wildflowers and plants. When we tasted Hickory Grove’s first raw honey, it was amazing! Our first harvest yielded over 8 lbs. of raw honey which we put up in pint jars for personal use. We also save the honeycomb from each harvest, and I have begun experimenting with beeswax. It is yet another wonderful gift from our honeybees!
Victory Garden
Early on during Neil’s cancer battle, we knew that gardening was going to be an important part of his healing. As soon as the ground was soft enough to work, six raised garden beds were built in the field and Neil’s Victory Garden was born. Between chemotherapy treatments in New York and Baltimore, Neil and Kevin planted vegetable seedlings. Kevin tended the garden while we were away, and before long we were harvesting tomatoes, cucumbers and beans. Later in the season we harvested red and white potatoes, Swiss chard, and zucchini. Our sweet corn was almost entirely devoured by deer, rabbits or ground hogs — perhaps all three. That first year, we salvaged about a dozen corn stalks and enjoyed a luscious early autumn crop, along with Delicata squash.
Many lessons were learned during our first year of gardening at Hickory Grove. Three years later, we are rebuilding our raised beds using cinder blocks, and we have also added an electric fence. This will keep deer away from the veggies, and bears away from our honey!
Chickens!
In 2023 we welcomed three laying hens to Hickory Grove. None of us had any experience with chickens, so this was all new territory. Again, we had to learn some lessons the hard way as we lost and replaced chickens due to predators that first year. (No more free-ranging for the girls!) Our coop was replaced with a larger one and moved closer to the house. The yard was rebuilt, expanded and completely enclosed with hardware cloth planted 12 inches deep into the soil. We also added a game camera to see what might be lurking in the dark, looking for a quick chicken dinner. Our little flock has grown to four happy hens, and they supply us with fresh eggs every day.
Be sure to follow along to see what’s happening on the farm.