A little inspiration on a dull March day without snow:
A photo of Juniper, pond side in the chook food forest, July 2015
I really do love living in a place that has real seasons.
As a kid I found the seasons change very exciting and interesting. It's just not something G had experienced on such a grand scale growing up on the West Coast.
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| oats, sunflower, turnip, radish, forage kale, clover, buckwheat. |
My beekeeping mentor and supplier was a little skeptical when I told him I saw a drone when I had hive 2 open the other day. I sent him this photo for proof. Look how big that guy is! All drones are killed or evicted from the hives before winter, so this guy must be a new hatch. That means my queen was laying eggs over three weeks ago, in the beginning of February. I was told that drones wouldn't be produced unless there was natural pollen coming into the hive (as opposed to the pollen substitute I just gave them the other day). But I don't understand, yet again. Because the bees store pollen in the cells throughout the summer and fall, and I just assumed they'd be using that in February when the time came for raising brood??
I don't know. I have much to learn. I haven't actually read a beekeeping book cover to cover. I just flip through the important chapters of the ones I have. I think I need to get a cold or something, so I can actually stay in bed for hours and get some important reading done.
I've got cabin fever pretty badly this year. In past years I'd been able to go away for a few days for a photography workshop, and get a break from the farm. But not this year.
I guess working on my wool projects is helping keep me somewhat sane, but there have been more days than usual where I would rather not go outside in the cold, or do night checks. I can't be skimping on responsibilities like that--especially night checks. I know the balance I need, and with the addition of Zane the balance has been put off even more. Zane is still dealing with some health issues, so we need to make a plan and get this resolved for the poor guy.
This morning I caught Gander, one of our drakes to check out why he's been lame and a little depressed. As I feared he's got bumblefoot--one pad is cracked, warm and huge, and there are other lesions under a few toe joints. Poor guy...I did the best I could to treat it for now. The easiest way to catch drakes is wait until they try to mate with a duck. They are plenty distracted and you can just walk right up and grab them. I came a bit too close to getting whacked in the face by one of his wings. They are so incredibly strong. A bloody nose or split lip would not have been a great start to the day.
I put in seed orders today, finally. Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, Territorial Seeds, and Seed Savers Exchange. I have a feeling that I will be fighting G for space, not only out on the property but on the racks under our amazing new grow lights.
We're expecting snow and rain tomorrow, and this has me thinking of past spring rain events around here. The flooding can be pretty bad. We have some more ideas as to where to put more swales and strategic plantings to help these things. Also, if the pastures are wet and they don't dry out fast, we can still keep the animals off of them and not worry much, we still have plenty of hay.
But I can tell they have winter boredom issues too. At least the days are finally lengthening noticeably, and I can spend more time with them.
October 2015:
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