The Bee Lovely Farm Story
How It Started
Bee Lovely Farms was founded by Caroline Wetherington in Sarasota Florida with the goal of providing organically grown, healthy food and herbs to her local community. Caroline grew up on a working farm in Southern California. She has been cultivating crops on a not-for-profit basis for 20 years. It has been her goal since 2016 to acquire land to develop a farm and ranch. In 2021, Caroline and her husband, Lee located 30 acres of pristine pastureland for sale in Sarasota. Since the land was historically used for grazing cattle, it was free of chemical pesticides and herbicides making it suitable for small scale organic farming and raising livestock.
Caroline has always viewed food as medicine. She has trained herself in the cultivation, curing and use of medicinal herbs and prefers natural remedies over pharmaceuticals whenever possible. Beekeeping and the use of honey as medicine was one of Caroline’s earliest ventures into natural remedies. She has been a licensed Florida beekeeper since 2016.
About the Farm
We specialize in Moringa, organically grown fruits and vegetables, pastured eggs, heritage turkey and pastured and grass finished lamb.
We also raise registered Suri Llama as both protectors for our sheep flock and show quality stock.
Bee Lovely Farm sits on 30 pristine acres of pastures covered in grasses and old oak trees, wild citrus and oak forest and wetlands. It is surrounded on 3 sides by Indian Creek which provides the nourishment to keep the forest densely wooded and the pastures fed with a generous aquifer.
Our Production Practices
We use pasture rotation to ensure our animals always have high quality grass to graze.
We farm with the benefit of the land in mind, increasing fertility with each animal rotation,
which allows us to raise animals without medications.
Vegetable & Herb Gardens
Our vegetable & herb garden was established using the best of biodynamic farming and permaculture methods to create the healthiest soil and thereby the healthiest produce. To improve the original sandy soil, which is acidic and low in organic matter, a program of composting llama beans (manure), plant material and Hügelkultur created the perfect material for our raised beds. The vegetable and herb farm uses drip irrigation to conserve water and to yield high-quality crops which are packed with flavor.
The vegetable and herb farm produces heirloom lettuces, heirloom red beets, collard greens, butternut squash, watermelon, pumpkin, yellow summer squash, cucumbers, Bloomsdale spinach, pigeon pea, parsley, oregano, thyme, cilantro, basil, African Blue basil, Ashwagandha, comfrey, fever few, lavender, rosemary, sage, yarrow, aloe vera, marigold, lemon balm, catnip and ginger.
Pastured Eggs
Our laying hens work hard to provide eggs for market! They live their days out on the pasture eating bugs, grass and Non-GMO corn-free, soy-free chicken feed. When ready to lay, they head to the nesting coop. At night, they sleep in the roost coop. In the early morning they go out to forage and live their dream life! That's how we get the most delicious eggs ever; happy chickens living their best life!
All-Natural Lamb
Grass-fed, pastured sheep produce tender, mild-tasting lamb. Our sheep live their entire lives in the fields, moving to fresh grass often. They munch down the grass to the perfect height for chickens and help build up the topsoil. Every animal has its job to do on the ranch.
Non-GMO Heritage Turkey
Our Free-Range turkeys are raised on healthful grains and allowed to roam eating grass, weeds, bugs and that’s it. Their high-protein diet provides the optimal amount of nutrients for the turkey to grow into bigger and more flavorful turkeys than typical heritage breed turkeys. They breed naturally as well as run and fly! These extra activities result in larger thigh meat and slightly less breast meat than found on a typical turkey. All of these traits result in a superior tasting turkey that takes less time to cook than a regular turkey!
Grass-fed Wagyu Beef Coming Soon!
