Ahoy! I’m still here, but life on the farm has ramped up into overdrive with the fecund bounty of spring. We’re spending a lot of time harvesting and weeding—harvest in the morning, weeding in the afternoon. Afternoons also see bed preparation and transplanting, though that’s dependent on the cooperation of the weather. We had a stretch of wet, gray weather that had me pretty pathetic—I’m solar powered, after all.
Ben and Patricia worked overtime to help me move from the trailer into the barn room. I’m officially a crazy cat lady who lives in a century-old barn. I get to watch the sun come up across the lawn and the swallows outside my window raise a nest of ugly naked babies. It’s pretty sweet.
(It’s a fully finished room, by the way. I am not sleeping in a stall, though the way I smell at the end of the day, that might be more appropriate.)
Patricia and I went to pick up my three pounds of bees—one pound per hive—on May 6th. Transporting them happened without incident, though the rain delayed hiving them until the next day. I was pretty anxious about the whole process, even though I’d read and reread everything I could get my hands on. But the bees were hived, and they’ve been doing bee things since then. I’ll check on them from outside the hive this Sunday, and open the boxes up after they’ve had 10 days to settle in to make sure the queen is doing her job.
It was such a relief to get the bees into their homes, and now I smile thinking about them zipping around the fields, gathering honey and pollen. Another reason to be grateful for sunshine.
Last and least, my flowers and herbs are merrily on their way. Right now I’m picking edible flowers (nasturtium and viola), mint, and catnip. The poppies and calendula are just opening up, and the sunflowers, zinnias, bee’s friend, and everything else are racing towards blooming. Ben and Patricia are so generous to allow me to raise flowers and bees here, so I’m incredibly grateful to them for this opportunity.
Hopefully someday these entries will become more meaningful; At the moment, the structure of our work day just doesn’t leave me the time or brainpower to write the content I’d like to. I have a sad feeling this will always be the little blog that wishes it could, but I will just have to be satisfied with that for now!
Anneliese Marvel 