Wingstem Farm

Wingstem Farm began its beekeeping journey in March 2015 with its first hive, expanding to four hives by winter 2017-18. Their beekeeping approach is inspired by Gunther Hauk of Spikenard Farm & Honeybee Sanctuary, favoring Warre hives for their natural comb-building design and avoiding synthetic substances. The farm also started cultivating mushrooms in 2015, inoculating hundreds of logs annually with certified organic spawn, and growing broom corn and luffas without chemical interventions since 2015. They also started growing hops in 2015. All images and content are copyrighted 2015 Wingstem Farm, indicating the farm was established or at least had an online presence by then. They are participating in a new CSA in 2020 and attending the Grandin Village Farmer's Market. They also sell products through their Etsy shop. The farm is located in Montvale, VA. They also mention that their tea towels are designed in house and sewn on the farm. Their soaps are made in small batches with vegetable oils and farm-grown botanicals, using only essential oils and natural colorants. They are phasing out palm oil. They are also interested in using grass-fed tallow from heritage breed pigs for their soaps. They are also growing hops for brewers. They are also cultivating several varieties of shiitake, lion's mane, comb tooth, maitake, reishi, and oyster mushrooms on sustainably harvested hardwood logs. They use no chemicals in their log yard and gardens, and extremely sparingly elsewhere on the farm. Their chickens are pasture raised, ranged within movable netting that is shifted weekly, not culled unless ill or injured beyond repair, and their pasture is chemical free. They have limited access to scratch grains and consume GMO-free feed. They never receive prophylactic antibiotics and are not exposed to artificial light to increase laying in winter. Their egg production drops off in winter and late summer. They deliver eggs to the Huddleston area and downtown Roanoke. They also se