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

"Ally's Blog Post"

Today is my first post on my mom's blog. This is a picture of me wearing safety goggles and my pajamas. These are some of the words I know: zoo, dad, sad, happy, cat, mom, dad, Ben. I am learning new words all the time. I will share more another day.

~ Ally

John Deere 3720 Blessings

A few weeks back a tragedy occurred. The JD 2210 that we have had for about six years got broken. Apparently the brush mower that was cutting some of the tall grass struck a stump and the impact sent reverberations up through the PTO and into the drive shaft. $9000 to fix. Yikes! Alas, we needed a new tractor. We can not run our fruit and vegetable farm without the ability to use a PTO. The PTO rototills, chips up wood brush, runs the mower deck and the brush mower. All essential implements for a small farm. So off to the John Deere guys.

After looking over all the options we decided that a 3720 would meet or exceed our needs. We have found in the past few years that we tend to run a machine to its limits. So hopefully this new tractor will be able to run the farm. We got a new (bigger, faster, stronger) rototiller, a broom (to sweep snow and grass) and.... the best part (for my husband who gets a twinkle in his eye just talking about it)... a grapple bucket. Check this out:

The tractor will need more weight in its tires. We are thinking about foaming the back wheels. That should help.

We also had fun seeing how the rototiller worked. It was amazing. It really pulverized the dirt. Even though the soil was pretty wet with 1/2 inch of rain last night. I was pretty impressed. I can hardly wait to till the rest of the popcorn and sweet corn fields so I can plant the last plantings.

The other journey joy is that my resourceful husband believes that he can make the old 2210 work... maybe not like new, but at least functional.

Today's Journey Joy: Tractor blessings

Green and Yellow

It came today! We got the new John Deere Gator. It's a 620i 4x4 XUV series with all sorts of fun stuff on it. I've been wanting one for quite some time. Just imagine what I can do with it. It has an electric dump too. My husband also put a front cargo rack so I can haul even more stuff. Of course I had to try it out as soon as it came. So the whole family jumped in and we went four wheeling. Max, the wonderful sales guy from John Deere, said I could go through anything. So we decided to go through the marsh with grass growing over five feet tall. Pollen and stuff was flying everywhere. Check this video out:

Doesn't that look like fun?

Today's Journey Joy: Journeying joyfully in the Gator

Another swarming day

Yes, it is another. Another swarm. This one was about 10 feet high on a walnut tree just behind the likely suspected hive. It was a good size swarm. Probably about 4-5 pounds of bees.

Because the last one got away while I was preparing their site, I quickly decided that I could get this swarm all by myself. Waiting five hours until my husband got home was not ideal. They could fly away too. I've never gotten a swarm without my husband's assistance (ok, he gets the swarm with my assistance). But today I was determined.

I grabbed a six foot rickety wooden ladder from the garage, my five gallon bucket, the big and little loppers and some honey. When I got to the tree where the swarm was I realized that 10 feet high is a long way up when you only have a six foot ladder. Ah.... a challenge. Isn't that what everyone wants on a Monday afternoon?

Well, I snipped the branches that were in my way, climbed to the next to the top step (yes, the one above the step that says "do not stand or sit on or above this step"), and bonked the majority of the swarm into the bucket. I got about 75% of the swarm. The rest were not pleased with my acrobatics. But while they were buzzing around trying to find the culprit who disrupted their cozy formation, I walked the bucket of bees to their new location (the one I had gotten ready for a previous swarm). I "gently" dumped the bees into their new home, squirted some honey on the hives and watched them line up on both sides of the honey in neat little rows. I wish I had brought my camera.

I went back to the branch several more times. Each time I would get a few more bees. Eventually a double fist-full of bees decided that they would return to the parent hive and abandoned this swarm. That's alright.... the swarm will be big enough.

I checked a few minutes ago and the new bees seem to be reoriented to the new box and are busy bringing pollen and nectar in to make more bees. They will be busy. I had no drawn out comb for these girls. But they will be safe and dry. I wonder if they swarmed yesterday. We had a great big rain and storm last night. No wonder they weren't too happy. But rest assured. All is well now.

Today's Journey Joy: Hiving a swarm all by myself

The one that got away

Well, that didn't work. Plan C that is. Plan A was to reach the swarm and get them in a hive. Unfortunately, Plan A was not to work because the swarm was thirty-something feet high. So, Plan B: Fling a rock up to the branch and suspend a drawn-out frame with honey next to them from a rope or line. Unfortunately, the bees didn't think that was such a good idea. They ate the honey and stayed in their swarm formation. So... Plan C: attach a 5 gallon bucket to a telescoping limb lopper, stand on / in the bucket of the tractor fully extended (14 feet) and cut the branch allowing the swarm to fall neatly into the bucket. Good idea. Unfortunately, easier said than done. The swarm was thirty something feet high. The tractor was 14 feet extended. My adventurous husband was a little over 6 feet high with extended arms. And the telescoping limb lopper... about 12 feet with a five gallon bucket taped to it. Total length: 32 feet. Guess what? The swarm was juuuussssttt out of reach. So jumping (a little) in the tractor bucket to bonk the limb and "catch" a bunch of flying bees became Plan D. Believe it or not he got some. We put them in a hive hoping we got the queen. Well.... next morning.... no bees in the hive.... and a new swarm formed in the trees. Guess they didn't like being bonked out of a tree and dumped into a hive box.

Well the new branch was lower. Yeah! We could get it. So I started making a level area for the new hive and in a different location. It probably took me about 20 minutes. Getting the ground level but slightly inclined forward... About 1 minute before I was done I heard the familiar sound. Yes, you guessed it. The humming and buzzing of thousands of bees flying. My swarm was swarming! Ah!!! Try, as I could, I attempted to chase them. They flew high into the sky and went north. Within 5 minutes they were out of my view. I hope they found a safe, dry place to live. It was the first swarm that got away.

But good news prevails. At the same time as we were retrieving the swarm with the bucket (or at least attempting to retrieve it) another swarm settled next to this swarm. Just out of reach again but somehow the bonking technique got the queen. We got a bunch of bees, put them in the box, closed the lid, and walked away. They are happy and buzzing today.

Four swarms; three caught. Tomorrow, weather permitting, I will put more honey supers on 2 or 3 of the hives. Next weekend (or perhaps the following) we will harvest the spring honey. I can hardly wait. My mouth is watering just thinking of that golden sweetness.

Today's Journey Joy: chasing swarms

Another Swarm...Way Up High

It has been raining for the past two or so days. I've been told that when that happens the bees have little to do but think about swarming. (Just a little anthropomorphism). Well, today is a bright seventy degree day. A gentle breeze and a pleasant change from the previous gray days.

As I was taking a morning stroll around the gardens to monitor the "weed factor" I walked over to the bee yard. The yard is now ten hives strong. Only one hive is a little week coming out of the winter. I looked up and down the trees bordering the yard. Way up high, about 30 feet or so, I noticed the typical "clump" of brown dangling bees from a box elder tree high up on some branches. There was no way the tractor could reach these bees. So time for "Plan B".

I read on the Beesource Forum that sometimes one can lure bees from their temporary branch by either resting a nuc box (a wooden box with 5 frames in my case), or just a frame of drawn out comb, close to their current swarm location. The goal is that the bees will be persuaded to leave their little branch and cluster on the provided frame. The frame would be slowly brought to the ground and then placed in a box. Great idea. So I grabbed my surveyors lime green line and some kind of blue metal bracket and attempted to throw the line above the branch where the bees were located. Unfortunately, I am no swinging mama and the weight went over an adjacent branch quite far from the one which was aimed. Oops. Worse, was the fact that the "weight" got caught up in the tree. Boy, I hope that blue bracket isn't important. It will be sometime before we will be able to get it down.

So then, I cut the line, found a roundish shaped rock (in hopes that "round" wouldn't get caught in branches... just in case my aim wasn't any better). After a couple of pathetic attempts I finally did get the line over the branch that the swarm was resting on. The little rock was removed and then I smothered some old honey on a frame of drawn out comb and hoisted it up the tree. That's what you see in the picture: A swarm to the right and my frame in the left.

I've never attempted a swarm collection in this fashion. I'll have to report again on whether it was successful. In the meantime I set up a nuc with lemongrass oil, drawn out frames, and a little honey near the garage. Maybe the bee scouts (no, not boy scouts) will find it and fly the group to it.

Today's Journey Joy: attempting new swarm collections

Friends

No, she doesn't always have a mint cookie delight ice cream cone from Whitey's in her hand. In fact, this is the first time I've ever seen her with one. (ok, I confess. It's mine... I asked her to hold it while I took the picture.)

But she does have a warm, embracing, accepting and loving way about her. I mean, look at that smile. How can you not smile back? Meet my friend. I am blessed.

I am blessed to have a friend who holds her relationship with Christ, with her husband and with her children in the forefront of life. Her words are thoughtful, encouraging, gentle, and penetrating. Who could ask for a better friend? She is creative in ways that I have not been gifted. She is a strong prayful woman....often reminding me of the impossible woman. You know, the Proverbs 31 lady. She can do it all. And she does it all well. Isn't it great to be able to rub shoulders with someone like her? Indeed, I am a blessed woman to have Stacy as my friend.

Today's Journey Joy: friends

Humming Tree...Bzzzzzzzz

I look forward to it every year. Our humming tree. No, not a humming bird. A humming tree. Every year around this time (late May - early June) the tulip poplar tree breaks out in bloom. Traditionally, this tree is considered one of those "weed trees". Easy to grow, fast growing, and (relatively) short lived. The leaves resemble a combination of a maple and a poplar (at least in my opinion). It provides us with nice shade and a burst of yellow tulip-looking flowers every year.


Some years the tulips are "drowned" in the spring rains. They bloom for about one week and so, if it is the week where there is a lot of rain, the nectar in the flower is washed out or at least diluted.


But this year the rains have yet to ruin the flowers. And hence, the tree is a-buzz. A-buzz with happy, busy, honey-making, beautiful bees. You can stand under the tree and hear the humming. It is a low pitched, constant humming. In fact, my son, standing under the tree yesterday said, "It sounds like a whole hive up there!" Well, he's probably close to right. I would guess there are representatives from all of our ten hives up there.

It is predicted to rain tonight. And rain hard. Storms might even come. I sure hope the bees are working hard. The banquet table will be empty by morning.

Today's Journey Joy: listening to the humming of bees