Ally's Blog Post

Hello. I live with Mommy, Daddy and my brother. Today my brother's friend is playing over at our house. They are playing computer games, board games, hide-and-seek with me, and other things.

I am a big girl. I am in second grade and I am learning to do subtraction and telling time. I like Christmas and the Christmas tree. It is very beautiful.

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas too! Happy Birthday Jesus!

"Twas three days after Christmas....

'Twas three days after Christmas and all through the house
All the children were stirring as if they had louse
Itchy with boredom; wiggly with sight
How could they survive this week, this day, and this night?

There's mom in a frantic, a frenzy and a fury.
Clean up your room, pick up your clothes,
Wash the laundry, use your new game
And please, please, please, why do I feel so lame?

There's snow in the field and a chill in the air
The wind whips around houses with a cold wintry flare.
How come the Season has ended this way?
How can I help and repair the day's sleigh?

I'd liked to be playing, resting, or reading
But the trappings of Christmas require some weeding
The papers pile high, the boxes as well
Why in the world do I clean with a yell?

But sitting down resting, taking a spell
I practice what I know can ring those Christmas bells
Focus on the King, the Savior, the Child
And then I will find joy in the midst of this wild.

Wintery Reflections

The snow falls quietly. Drifting through the skeletonized branches of resting trees. Slowly settling on fence posts, beehives, roofs, and fields. While inside the colored lights flicker on the Christmas tree, the presents pile in their brilliant colors, and the cacophony of sight, sounds, and smells overtake the underlying reality of disorder, disarray, and disorganization.

I sat in church yesterday marveling at the beauty and wonder of the Season. The sanctuary was decorated in golds, reds, and greens while yellow-white lights glimmered and shone around wreaths and trees decorated with chains of red and gold. Every detail seemed in its perfect place. The music was traditional and memory making. And my heart was warmed and calmed.

Order, beauty, peace and hope.

That is what Jesus brings to all who would come.

But just as snow gently falling can turn to a dangerous howling blowing blizzard, so too can the Season.

Look at the manger. Tired and amazed Mary. Protective and adoring Joseph. And the Baby. He came and changed the world.

May you find order, beauty, peace and hope today from the Savior who became a Baby.

Today's Journey Joy: The Baby

Cleaned through the Fire

Cold and windy. Blustery and gray. Dry crackling leaves. Crunchy remains of trees. Coals warm and red. The dance of the flame. The laughter of those dancing around the heat.

Winter begins.

And so starts the cold. The branches gathered throughout the summer and into the autumn chill are stacked skyscraper-ish and lit with glowing embers of wooden coals. "Snap!" "Pop!" "Crack!" "Whoosh!" sing the flames. And the heat radiates and warms our faces.

In the cold and beginning of winter I am reminded that there is One who always warms us. When my heart is cold and wind tossed the Artist creates a palate of warmth and love. Remember the warmth my friends. Remember the love.

When the cold winds blow in this season of rest remember it is He Who keeps us.

Journey Joy - warmth

Let the shelling begin

This past weekend was a busy one. Tucking the gardens in, burning brush piles, moving soil, grading landscape in preparation for fencing.... and shelling popcorn. My son's friend came over and lent us a helping hand.

They took the dried cobs and twisted them in the manual popcorn de-sheller. Basically just a lot of muscling, twisting wrists, and flying popcorn.... After about 45 minutes (the boys gave up after 5), I had almost ten pounds. It still needs to be sifted of the debris but it it almost ready for packaging. But of course we had to try it to ensure its organaleptic properties. Does it look good? Smell good? Texture? Does it pop well? And most important, does it taste good? "Yes" to all of the above. Wonderful white kernels.... yum.

My daughter decided that she would be the ultimate taste tester. Did the popcorn pass? Definitely. There was not even a kernel left. I guess that's a hit!

Today's Journey Joy - Popped white and delicious corn

Popcorn

It started as a dream. A fantasy if you will. Books were read. Websites browsed. Information gleaned. Could we make our little farm profitable? Could we grow and aid in the nourishment and management of the earth? Could we?

The year started with the planting and preparation of 1200 blueberry plants. Then it was on to the fields. Well.... field. We have only one relatively flat area on our property. The blueberry field took up two of the five acres. So three acres of roughly flat untilled soil awaited us. The field had been in hay / grass for as long as folks around here can remember. Last year the yield was more grass than alfalfa. It would have been time to replant either way.

The spring rains came. And came. And came. More rain than the soil could use. More rain followed by more rain. It rained almost every other day for a couple of months. We are now over 13 inches of rainfall above our average for the year. That's more than one third of our total average. But I digress.

The rain made it very difficult to till the soil and get the crops in. And then the machinery troubles began. Well, only one machine. Our trusty, handy dandy, wonderful John Deere 2210 with the JD 450 rototiller... the machine that we use to till the soil.... the tractor broke. And it wasn't a little break. It broke bad. It would cost more to repair it than the tractor was worth.

Time delay. Tractor hunting and researching. Finally settling on a JD 3720 with a nifty JD 672 rototiller (a full six feet of tilling power!). But we had to wait three weeks. More delay. Spring was fast escaping. Our wonderful neighbors to the rescue. They let me borrow their tractor to till. It was time to plant. Finally.

The popcorn went in last. (I was waiting for the seeds). I measured, marked, and dug for the little seeds. 20 rows. 20 long rows. They came up fast. So did the grass. Which would succeed?

Remember this? I was weeding and weeding in July. Hoping to keep up and ahead of the weeds. Hoping to give the popcorn a fighting chance. I was close to giving up that day. The weeds were so plentiful.


It survived! It thrived. The weeding followed by some grass mulch left the soil between the green stalks clear. They tasseled and grew. And corn developed.

I harvested this past weekend. The stalks were brown, bent and the ears listed toward the earth. The local raccoons and other critters took their share out of the middle. That's to be expected when one doesn't put up the electric fence. But there was plenty for us. I took buckets and buckets of popcorn ears down to the basement for drying. In a few weeks the beautiful hard, but not quite dry, kernels will be stripped off and tested in a pan. Then to packaging and labeling for Christmas presents and spring markets. Hand sown, hand weeded, hand picked and harvested, hand dekernelled (what do you call the process of getting the kernels off the cob?) and hand packaged. Lots of love in these little kernels.

"Pop! Pop! Pop!" I can hardly wait. Perhaps this year we will string popcorn for our Christmas tree. Our popcorn. Sigh.... and Smile.

Today's Journey Joy: a fine harvest of golden kernels

The Market is Finished

Today was the final day of our Great Pumpkin Sale. Yesterday, was the final day of the Farmer's market. Our first year is finished. Strange.... how when I was packing up the tables, canopy, baskets, buckets, signs, table cloths, and left over produce.... strange...odd... and amazing...were my thoughts. So glad to be done. I am tired and am looking forward to one day a week sleeping until 7:00. But I will miss my many new friends. Friends from the market. Vendors as well as customers.

There's Ray, next to me on my left. He sells hand made birdhouse, feeders, tables, and other wooden crafts. He told me he was 84. He is the nicest gentleman. Always encouraging. Always helpful. And always kind. He even brought me coffee!

Sara was on my right. She too is very nice. She sells beef, pork and lamb. She and her daughter would pull right up, put their table out, don some beautifully made aprons and enjoy the day. They would always man my table when I had to be away (you know, nature calls sometimes! Especially if you are drinking coffee).

I can't tell you enough about the people I met. There's Nancy, Ann, the tomato man, the lady whom I introduced to summer squash and garlic and who would come every week, the young lady with her beautiful daughter who would buy from me because I didn't spray artificial stuff on my vegetables. So many. Wonderful faces. Wonderful smiles. Wonderful people.

The pumpkin sale at the farm was a great success. Not just because we sold about 200 pumpkins. More importantly we met our neighbors. Sure, we know our immediate neighbors. But those down or up the road? No. We see them drive by. Now, when they drive by they smile and wave. I have thoroughly enjoyed meeting these folks. One couple in particular have touched my heart. Mark and Gina. They live down the road. They are special people with special hearts. Warm, open, loving. Neat people. I hope to get to know them more.

I am still thinking about the lessons I have learned this year. Perhaps I will share it. But mostly I am left with a gladness and thankfulness. It was a lot of work, a lot of joy, a lot of time. But it was good.

I still need to harvest the rest of the popcorn and sunflowers. Then it's time to clean the gardens, mow the weeds, and till the leaves in. I will plant 500 cloves of garlic and mulch them. So the work isn't over yet. But there is an end in sight.

Today's Journey Joy: Completion

The Great Pumpkin Sale

I am so thankful for computers and laser color printers. You see, my artistic ability is limited to stick figures and painting houses... whole houses, not pictures of them. I think the sign turned out pretty. I glued it on a 22 x 28 inch foam board and laminated it with clear contact paper to protect it from the elements. "Pumpkin Sale... Sundays 1 - 4". My resourceful husband got some 20 foot rebar and cut it into ten foot sections and bent it into a frame. He then drilled holes in the sign and attached it to the bar with zip ties. It worked well. Looks very professional!

The question was whether people would come to the sale or not. It's not like we did a ton of advertising. We put three signs up and placed the sale on the local free classifieds for our area.

The day turned out to be a lovely day. It was about 65 degrees with patchy clouds and a breeze. We had washed a trailer load of pumpkins and gourds the afternoon before the first sale. And we set up my Farmer's Market canopy and tables. To the pumpkin sale we added berries, squash, gourds and tomatoes and peppers. We also had a table of our Beacon Woods Honey (just harvested!).

We had many people stop. Most of them were neighbors that we hadn't met yet. That was special. Most of them said that they had seen us working all summer and were curious to see what was going on. And most of them purchased at least 2 pumpkins. One nice gentleman and and his beautiful wife also bought one of my biggest jars (1/2 gallon) of honey.

We spoke of our dreams of the farm, of planting the orchard in the spring, of picking blueberries in July and of maybe setting up a farm stand once a week next summer. Most of our new friends were very enthusiastic about the whole idea. "This will be so good for the neighborhood." was a comment often mentioned.

We have about 500 pumpkins left. Yikes! Good thing I'm still going to the Farmer's Market on Saturdays. Hopefully, over the next three weeks we can sell them. But I must admit I'm a little discouraged. We maybe had about 15 cars stop. I was hoping for more like 50 (you know me... always dreaming!). But next week might be better. We asked many of the nice folks who stopped to spread the word and they said they would. But I am also a little discouraged because the local Walmart and local food stores are selling pumpkins either at the same price or slightly cheaper. Do we reduce our price? I believe it is a fair one. It is awful hard to compete with those megastores. But we have more variety... and are certainly more friendly! ☺ And are chemical free.

Seas of orange with brown leaves rustling. Windy breezes with gusts of chill. Canadian honkers soaring in V - shapes. Daylight shortening. Flowers fading. And pumpkins harvested. All sure signs that autumn is here with the rest and quiet of winter to quickly follow. I am thankful for the pumpkins and the signs of autumn. I am looking forward to resting.

Today's Journey Joy: pumpkins at the market

Honey Harvest Time

I love honey harvest. The aroma, the beauty, the wonder, the amazing sweetness of it all. How could a bug make something so sweet from flowers? Absolutely amazing.

We harvested honey a week later than usual. Typically, "honey harvest" is Labor Day weekend. But the weather has been so wet and cool that the flowers are still blooming. The golden rod had been blooming only 2 weeks when we harvested.

I started by putting "Bee Quick" on my fume board. Smoked the hive gently and placed it above the supers that I wanted to get off. The weather was around 80 degrees and so we had to wait about 5 minutes before most of the bees were out of the supers.

But some bees usually remain. So my wonderful husband gets the leaf blower out and "gently" coaxes them out of the frames. It's a very effective technique and usually does not harm the bees.

After the bees are essentially out, we quickly place a clean, unused black plastic bag around the super. This keeps the super warm and keeps the bees out of the supers. Caution must be taken when removing honey supers from a hive in the fall. The bees are very energetic about keeping their honey or finding "free" honey. If one does not cover the supers the bees may begin robbing. An that is not fun.


We got all the supers off the hives and drove them to the house. There were supers in the front, back and in the cargo area of the gator. It worked great having the gator. Easy to maneuver and get the supers in and out.


We then brought them down to the basement to our honey house set-up. Two deeps and seven medium supers full of golden and delicious honey.


My husband and our friend Jim (who came over for the harvest) took turns using the uncapping knife.


The extractor was filled (several times!) and we were ready for the honey to come pouring out. The extractor fits 20 frames and spins very quickly. And because the frames are not always equally filled with honey sometimes the extractor wobbles a bit. So my amazing and resourceful husband attached it to a pallet and then three adults stand on it (with the help of two young children). And then the honey comes pouring out!


After a day or two (or a week in this case) of settling to let the air bubbles come out) it was time for some honey bears.... Mama, Papa,and Baby bears.


We have three more containers yet to fill....

We put the supers back on the hives in hopes of getting just a few more frames filled. The golden rod and asters are still blooming and the temperatures are in the upper 70s.

It was our best honey harvest ever!

Today's Journey Joy - yummy honey

Farmer's Market

Last weekend was the best Farmer's Market I have had all year. I was so excited! I felt like a little girl.... looking and longing to experience everything. I couldn't stop smiling! My friend Stacy (and her family) came by and thankfully captured some of the beauty with her camera.

It was a lovely 85 degrees day... sunny with a slight breeze. I brought the most variety I have ever brought. I felt like a real farmer. The colors were so beautiful. Yellows, reds, greens, purples, white. Oh the splendor!

Stonehead cabbage, red cabbage, cauliflower, cheddar cauliflower, and broccoli spears.... Organically grown. Because they were so fresh, I enjoyed their fragrant aroma every time I walked near.

Acorn squash, sugar pie pumpkins, goofy gourds and Mirai sweet corn.... The sweet corn permeated the area with images and aromas of the most delicious corn on the cob. I kept finding myself taking deeps breaths by the corn. There is something about fresh picked corn.

The spread also included pickling cucumbers, burpless cucumbers, rocambole garlic, purple (red) onions and yellow storage onions, green sweet peppers, snack 'em peppers, Yukon gold potatoes along with a couple of Kennebec potatoes. Chiogga beets (the ones that look like a target when sliced) and regular purple beets (called "red cloud") packed in gallon bags. Green and purple string beans, spaghetti squash, yellow and zucchini summer squash, and a few tomatoes finished out my table.

I spread out my plaid bed sheet, put up my sign, and marveled at the assortment and quantity of the garden's bounty. "Beacon Woods"... our dream of a fruit and vegetable farm (and wood working shop).... the glimpse of a fantasy coming true. It was as I imagined it. Abundant, full, beautiful....

Often my dreams or visions of reality do not come to fruition (please, no pun intended). I often can close my eyes and "see" what I envision. But then, I open them and the view of reality is quite different. Sometimes I am defeated. Usually not. I keep pressing on. Knowing that dreams take time, energy, passion.... and vision.

I wish I were a poet.... Able to pen thoughts and feelings in a creative and artistic way. I feel a song brewing....

Rejoice with me today. God has blessed the work of our hands. Thank You Lord!

Today's Journey Joy - Glimpses of a dream

Ponderings

But I will hope continually,

and will praise you yet the more.

My mouth will tell of your righteous acts,

of your deeds of salvation all day long,

though their number is past my knowledge.

I will come praising the mighty deeds of the Lord God,

I will praise your righteousness, yours alone.

O God, from my youth you have taught me,

and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.

So even to old age and gray hairs,

O God, do not forsake me,

until I proclaim your might to all the generations to come.

Your power and your righteousness, O God,

reach the high heavens.

You who have done great things,

O God, who is like you?

(Psalm 71: 14-19)

"You who have done great things, O God, who is like you?" Good question. During today's journey I will joy in the wondrous things that the Lord has made and taught me.

Today's journey joy: God's incomparable Person

The garden grows

The tomato cages continue to be made and installed (thanks my honey!). And they are beginning to ripen. I can hardly wait to taste that first red, juicy, and sweet tomato. Others have already had their tomatoes ripen. But I got them in late, didn't weed them well, didn't fertilize until recently (who knew that a previous hay field wouldn't have enough magnesium and calcium?). But out of the 77 plants all but 7 are beginning to produce fruit and start to ripen. Within the next month I should have tomatoes coming out of my ears! Early girls, beefsteaks, super beefsteaks (delicious is their name), and Amish paste tomatoes. I hope to put enough ingredients together to make "salsa kits" at the market. The jalapenos are ripening, the garlic is harvested, the onions are available. I just need a little cilantro. That might be a problem. They are buried under weeds.

Cinderella squash.... just something a little different. Not the best for eating but they do make good decorations. These where planted from leftover seeds (2 years ago!)

The pole beans are going crazy! I love pole beans. I think they are just a bit tastier than their bush cousins. But the best thing is that they are much easier to pick. After this photo I picked about 10 pounds of delicious green pole beans (Blue Lake, of course).

This Connecticut pumpkin is fast turning orange. Wow. It looks like it weighs about 15-20 pounds. Should be pretty. There are dozens more where that comes from.

The broccoli, cauliflower, and red cabbage are nearing their end. I will harvest much this weekend. The cabbage is "red" but frankly, I think it should be called purple! It has been a joy learning how to grow these organically. I'm not always successful with the broccoli though. Last weekend I found 5 of those little worms in one head! Yikes! Glad I got them before my customer did.

Journey joys are found everywhere. One only needs to look. Pause. Contemplate. Reflect.

Today's Journey Joy: The harvest is nearing

It's canning time!

The wonderful thing about string beans is that they never seem to stop. Once they start producing they keep going and growing, and going and growing. So much so that those that are ready throughout the week must be picked and preserved.

This year I have grown both the purple beans and my favorite "Blue Lake" pole beans. Both are very tasty and very pretty. At the market I often get asked, "What's that?" as the individual points to the quart of purple beans. Then I go into this repeated story of how they are just like the green beans but have a little more vitamin A and (I think) a little more bean flavor (especially the little ones). I then explain that the purple color disappears with extremes of temperature (both very cold and hot). So that when the beans are steamed or cooked the purple beans look just like a green bean. Kids love 'em because they are different and fun to watch change color.

Sometimes it is a hard sell but lately more people at the market are adventurous and trying new and unfamiliar items. Good for me since I will have a few "blue potatoes" in a week or so. They stay blue even when they are heated. That might be a little weird.... eating blue potatoes. Don't we throw them out usually when they look like that? Ah, the new and unusual. Isn't that what experiencing life is about? Dare. Dream. Experience. Embrace.

Today's Journey Joy: Trying new things

Endlessly...

Endless.

I sigh and take a deep breath. "Am I making any progress?" "Am I ever going to catch up?"

The long rows lined up perfectly. Three foot spaces. Tilled down the middle. Long green grasses choking growth. Yet the stalks grow.

I can imagine the warm crunchy corn as the white kernels pop. The aroma. The taste. The miracle of change. Changing a plain dry kernel of popcorn into a fluffy white morsel.

But the rows need cleaning.

Hand pulling. Hoe raking. Stooping. Bending. Kneeling. Deep breaths. Breaks while standing. Gazing down the row. Endless.... And overwhelmed. I am left with tears. I have failed. The muscles of my bottom ache. The lower back longs to stretch. Stiffness enters into my hands. I will not finish today.

But I persevere. One more weed. One more plant. One more row. And the grasses which have been competing for nutrients and space with the corn are left rooted up. To die without hydration. Baked in the late July sun.

Eight more rows to go. Forty five minutes each row. But they will wait. Left to fend by themselves for another day. To struggle against that which grows so readily. While I, the weary farmer, rest.


"May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy. Those who go out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, carrying their sheaves." (Ps 126:5-6)

Today's Journey Joy: Persevering

Cool as a Cucumber

This morning, as I was walking around the gardens, I saw several beautiful cucumbers growing. The bees were busy pollinating all the squash, melon and cucumber blossoms. And this little guy was patiently growing. There is nothing as refreshing as a cool cucumber. I will probably pick this one on Wednesday. And then again on Friday afternoon, I will pick for the Market.
The produce is finally getting ripe. The summer squash is in full production; the tomatoes are trying to turn red; the corn is tasseling; the beans are beaning; the broccoli is broccolitizing. (OK, so that's not a real word.... a little neologism never hurt).

It's time to start thinking about planting again. That's rather hard to do. I am so tired of weeding and the harvest is just beginning.... but the cool crops can yet again grow. It is great having spinach, lettuce, radishes, and other spring vegetables in September. So perhaps later this week I will till the earth and sow again.

"The point is this: he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully." -- A biblical verse pertaining to giving cheerfully. Isn't it interesting how many agricultural metaphors there are in the Bible? There is something so common and simple in growing things. Common sense. Shared experience. One cannot reap what he or she has not sown.

Time to get those seeds in the ground. Are there other seeds (cheerful giving, spontaneous praise, or a thankful heart) that need sowing today?

Today's Journey Joy: cucumbers

Weeds don't look quite so bad

Buried behind our garage and growing faithfully in front of the (now harvested) garlic is a smattering of perennials.... purple cone flowers, black eye Susan's, Shasta daisies, chamomile....

Normally I weed this patch of flowers often. This year I haven't touched it. But it surprised me nonetheless with splashes of color, fragrance and beauty. You can hear the rumble-bumble buzzing sounds of the bumble bee lazily swooping from bloom to bloom. What a pleasant surprise. Even in the midst of weeds these flowers bloom faithful.

"Bloom where you are planted" the saying goes. It might be more difficult. It might seem impossible. It might even feel like you're choking.... gasping for air.... frustrated in the thick of things pushing for attention, sun and nutrients. But "bloom where you are planted."

It may not be the exact words, but the Bible says something quite similar. "Be content", "Be thankful" "Be joyful". Sounds like an excellent way to travel in the journey....

Today's journey joy: Blooming

Garlic, garlic and more garlic

Rocombole garlic... it is a stiffneck variety that has a brilliant and full taste. The cloves are very large and the bulb is beautiful. This year I planted two different varieties of stiffneck garlic. Well actually, I planted them last fall. "Music" and "German Whites"..... which are supposed to grow well here in the Midwest. And they did grow well.


Yesterday, I harvested the 400 garlic cloves I planted. Previously during the summer, I had mulched, weeded, and cut off these cool looking twisty flower stems called scapes. Now it was time to dig up the bulbs and see how well the cloves had turned into bulbs.




By nature I tend to be a tad impatient. Waiting 2-4 weeks for the paper thin peels to dry seems soooo long. And the work of twisting the stems and hanging the garlic bundles from rafter may sound romantic and fun.... But basically it is just a lot like work. That's where my wonderful husband comes into the picture. I had mentioned to him that the "Deliberate Agrarian" had made some sort of garlic dryer... "Could you make one for me, please?" So he looked at the picture that Herrick Kimball posted on his blog and figured, "I can do that." (Thanks H.K. for sharing your ideas!) So off to work my industrious husband went.




He made five big boxes of 1 x 6 material, reinforced with triangular corners, stapled 1/2 inch hardware cloth and glued it on to the boxes and further secured them with small wooden strips. In this picture the wood glue is drying.





I dug up the stiffneck garlic (took about 2 hours), snipped off the stems about 4 inches above the bulb, shook off the excess soil, and gentle "stabbed" the stems through the 1/2 inch hardware cloth. (Some stems were too big and these garlic had to be laid on their side).





I stacked up four of the drying boxes on top of the base which has a special compartment perfectly made to hold a 20 x 20 inch box fan. The fan gently moves air through the drying rack allowing the garlic to dry in a steady and quick way.





Here's the garlic drying rack in operation. In just one week's time the garlic will be dry enough to handle... and sell at the Market. The garlic that does not sell will go either into the ground for next year's crop or I will attempt to make garlic powder (another H.K. idea).

Today's Journey Joy: Drying garlic in a drying rack made with love.

Directionally challenged

In yesterday's post I stated that my beautiful bees were flying south. In fact, they were travelling due east, not south. I think they were gathering from an early blooming soybean field. That's exciting. Soy bean honey is very sweet.

Good thing they don't ask me for directions!

Makin' Honey

I really enjoy watching the bees coming and going from their hive. It is amazing to me that a worker bee can go from flower to flower collecting pollen and nectar. Then, fly home, find the right hive, and drop off the "goods" just to go as quickly as she can to the next flower. Every bee has a role. The worker... well she does all the collecting. The house bee.... she maintains and cleans the house. She learns to take care of the young, clean the rooms and maintain a healthy environment. The guard bee... she makes sure that only the right bee gains entrance. If you are a bee from another hive, you will be rejected... probably stung. Drone bee... he inseminates the queen during a mating flight and then dies. He neither collects food or cleans house. And... the Queen bee... well there's only one of her. She really is royalty. Every bee in the hive is her daughter. And without her the hive would die.


By this time of year we have usually harvested the spring honey. But the bees did not cooperate this year. We had so many rainy days. And they don't like that. So they swarmed. Hard to make extra honey if half your working force goes elsewhere. So no spring honey.

But now the bees have settled down to business. They scurry the countryside looking for what is in bloom. Currently, the bees are flying in a south direction. All of them. From every hive the "bee line" is southerly. I wonder what is flowering that much. It would take a lot of blooms to satisfy 13 hives. But what is most important is how those blooms flavor the honey. In a week we will take what we can from the hives. Then we will put the supers back on the hives to get ready for the summer and fall honey for Labor Day weekend harvest. I can hardly wait for some honey.


Today's Journey Joy - watching bees

Farmer's Market

On Monday - weed. On Tuesday - weed. On Wednesday - weed and pick berries. On Thursday - weed. On Friday - weed and pick berries and produce for Farmer's Market. On Saturday.... the Farmer's Market.

I've had some interesting experiences at the Farmer's Market this year. I don't bring much (yet). At first, just a flat of strawberries. Then a little more strawberries. And then some strawberries and black and red raspberries and apple wood chips (for smoking). Today some red and black raspberries and some German Giant radishes. Not much to take but... I am learning:

1. People are very interesting. I enjoy interacting, laughing, and discussing the products around the market.

2. The weather is unpredictable and determinative. On my first market day, it was beautiful.. The second market day was sunny for the first hour and then tons of rain. The third market was another sunny, hot beautiful day. I said to my son, "We are definitely bringing our canopy next week." And today.... ccccoooollllld and wet and cloudy. The first three weeks there were many people at the market. So many that I sold out in usually one hour. Today... there may have been 50-60 people there all morning. I came home with two pints of black raspberries.

3. The Farmer's Market is business. Vendors are constantly checking to see what your prices are, what your products are, and how they look. Today, a new vendor (to me) stated quite boldly that my prices were much too low and that I needed to raise them. That was strange to me. I did raise them somewhat but not to the level he wanted. I will have to think harder about changing (what I consider a fair market value) at the market. I know why he wanted the price higher.... and I'm all for making a profit.... but it seemed high. (But it was not the reason I went home with fruit though.)

4. I need to get my produce into the soil earlier so that I can get them to market earlier. Those who bring the "first" to the market sell the best.

5. I need help weeding. Time to invest in a commercial grade rototiller.


The cabbages are growing.... and so are the weeds. But it is a joy to see them mature. Remember when they were just tiny shoots? In a week or so I will harvest. That's exciting.

Today's Journey Joy - learning at the Farmer's Market

Cats, Cats, and more Cats

We love cats. They are affectionate, independent, entertaining, and very effective at eliminating mice, moles and voles, and bunnies from around the farm. I have only seen two bunny rabbits all spring and summer (and who knows? Maybe it was the same bunny). I haven't seen any of those nasty telltale signs of moles. Our cats are wonderful.

Recently, our mama cat had kittens. Five of them. They are so fun to watch. Their curiosity and playfulness makes me smile. They embrace life. They enjoy it. They explore it. Oh, so good for my heart and soul. If only I would be more like a kitten.

Today, a friend of my husband is bringing us more cats from the city. Apparently her family has "adopted" every stray cat in the neighborhood. And then they had kittens too. "Enough is enough," she said (or at least that is what I imagine she said). So the crew of cats is coming to the farm. When I asked my husband how many she was bringing... well, apparently "a lot" was the response. "This could be interesting," I said. My son will have to expand his naming business.

I'm glad we have a place for cats to run and play.

A farm cat's life may be shorter than a city cat living in a home. But, the farm cat enjoys life in a cat's sense. Chasing, hunting, and interacting in nature and each other. Our cats and kittens are a blessing to us. They love us and are affectionate toward us. We smile and laugh when they do their funny antics. And we are sad, very sad, when they succumb to the life cycle of farm life. I am grateful for their life and their service on our fruit and vegetable farm.

Today's Journey Joy: Laughing with the kittens

Ponderings

I am tired today. Physically. Some of it has to do with the very warm temperatures. Better than yesterday, it is only 86 degrees today (so far). I have been trying to find my corn among the mass of grass surrounding them. I am succeeding but the process is long (and so are the rows!). Another reason I am tired is that I am a little overwhelmed. So much to do. And only so much time and energy to do it all in. (I am currently taking a break from being outside...very pleasant).

Laundry, folding, ironing, dishes, scrubbing, floors, bee boxes, priming & painting, supering and checking the hives, weeding, weeding, and weeding, picking berries, teaching, parenting, supervising, morning & evening chores of chickens, kittens, puppies, and baby cockerels. Bills, paperwork, marketing, sign building and painting, web designing, business cards, dinner, showers, grocery shopping, piano lessons, library day, chatting, summer schooling, Farmer's Market and more....

I remind myself: how does one accomplish a great task? One step at a time. So I persevere and press on. Enjoying the quiet time of birds singing, bees buzzing, flies whizzing and butterflies drifting lazily as I weed. Enjoying and rejoicing in my son who gently and lovingly teaches his sister with Down Syndrome about reading and games. Enjoying watching and interacting with the "things of nature". How amazing the process of life is.

Yesterday, I threw some of the last of the strawberries to the new chickens. Earlier this year the third grade class borrowed our 42 egg incubator and Mrs. Schafer brought eggs from her sister's farm. The eggs were an assortment of brown, white, and green eggs. And we certainly got an assortment of chickens from them. I think about 75% hatched. About a 50/50 ratio between boys and girls. The little hens are with the older hens in the "big house" while the cockerels are still in a smaller pen in the garage. I do not want to mix them. I am hoping to try caponizing again this weekend. Hopefully it will go better than the last time. In the meantime, it is fun seeing the new colors to our flock.

Today's Journey Joy: Growing

Peek-a-boo

It is toasty warm today... 90 degrees as I write. The humidity must be up there as well. Sticky hot. King Two-Toes, our kind and faithful Buff Orpington Rooster is staying cool in the Virginia Creeper vine. He is a good rooster. He has never threatened anyone. Calls his girls home in a timely manner. Hops to their aid when they need him.

We had thought about replacing King Two-Toes. (Although I keep calling him, "Mr. Two-Toes".) We even purchased some baby cockerels. But I've changed my mind. He doesn't seem to be suffering in his condition (two toes on one foot and the other foot can't bear much weight...hence the hopping). He is alert, active and friendly. My kind of rooster. He won't quite let us pet him, but he is still kind.

Sometimes a disability is an asset. Sometimes.... events or "problems" or concerns have a way of teaching... or helping to grow... grow in a way that is new, unforeseen, even unwanted. A kind of pruning. Lord, help me to embrace life's new adventures.... even when they are not my will. Help me to see and experience life in Your plan.

Today's Journey Joy: Embracing Rooster different - ability

Life is full. Life is good. God has blessed. And I am truly thankful.

~Garden vegetables surviving the storm.
~Strawberries selling well. And tasting great!
~Raspberries starting to ripen.
~Becoming more comfortable as a vendor at the Farmer's Market.
~A husband that serves and serves and loves and loves. He is remarkable.
~Lawn tractors mowing 2 acres of grass. New tractors with a replaced slip clutch mowing 5 foot high grass.
~Bees making honey.
~Potatoes flowering.
~Alpha birthing two kittens. And they look just like her. Right down to the gray spot on her white head. Alpha-1 and Alpha-2?
~Baby hens adapting to their new home with the big hens.
~King Two-toes hopping much better.
~Warm and long showers with lots of soap and suds.
~Weeds, weeds, weeds, weeds...did I mention weeds? I really can grow something! ☺
~Making Gator trails and fun rides with the family.
~Company coming over. My house is a mess. I am learning to embrace it and have people over anyway. Strange... they are coming over tomorrow and I spend the day mowing... "so that it will look nice". But my kitchen floor still needs mopping (scrubbing?) and supper hasn't even started. But home is for sharing. And I am looking forward to their visit (all dozen-or-so of them!)

Life is full. Life is good. God has blessed.

Thank You, God!

Today's Journey Joy - The Journey

Strawberries

Yum! It's strawberry time. Well, actually it has been strawberry pickin' time for the past two weeks. First, the Cavendish strawberries became ripe, then the Cabots, and now the Jewel strawberries. I've been selling them (once) at the Farmer's Market and to friends and colleagues of my husband. My small little patch has made enough to almost cover the insurance for the Farmer's Market. Next year we will have four more rows of Cavendish. I am wishing that I planted Jewel instead of the Canvendish. But I'll plant more of that variety next year. The reason I wish I had planted differently is that the Cavendish, although tasty, big, and early, tends to get the gray mold very easily. The Jewel variety keeps its fruit off the ground for the most part and doesn't seem to be as susceptible to the fungus that causes the mold. In addition, Jewel is very tasty and sweet.

This morning my wonderful husband took six quarts to work to sell. (For those interested, we sell our strawberries at $4/quart and they are always less than 24 hours old.) I still had seven pints from yesterday picked. And before the rains came mid morning Ben and I picked the Jewel row again. We (well, more like I) picked four more quarts. What to do with that many strawberries? I could freeze them for future strawberry desserts or make jam out of them or squish them up and top ice cream with them ( a very scrumptious thing to do!). But recently while I was slicing some for my breakfast cereal I remembered that I purchased a super food dehydrator last year. So I've been dehydrating my extra strawberries.

At first I was slicing them individually by hand. Painstakingly slow. Sort of fun, but when there are a couple of gallons of strawberries to slice that gets a little tedious. My resourceful husband to the rescue again. He suggested trying the egg slicer. It has very thin metal wires that perfectly slices a hard boiled egg into picturesque egg slices. Why not try it on the strawberries? At first I was reluctant. I figured it would just make mush out of my beautiful strawberries. But after two or so strawberries sliced perfectly I realized that the job of slicing would be a cinch. And with Ben helping me, we sliced up those strawberries, placed them on the racks, and set them in the dehydrator in no time at all.



Now the house is filled with the yummy sweet aroma of strawberries. In about 10 hours of dehydrating time the strawberries will dry down into crunchy, sort of leathery, strawberries that I will place in canning quart jars and seal tightly. They should be good for several months. I can see them on top of cereal, granola, in salads and the like. Yum!

Today's Journey Joy: strawberries