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06/24/2007: "The Progression of Time"

So my apologies for having nearly a month of no posts. It's a far cry from the nearly twice a week posting I was doing earlier in the year. But near the solstice there isn't nearly as much time spent inside near the computer. That said, I'd like to catch you up on what's been happening in the last month out at the farm!

First off, a few weeks ago Nate and I finally smoked the bees. Nate was a little tired of being the person to handle the bees and wanted me to feel comfortable with them as well. So I suited up and we lit the smoker. We used a combination of dried fir needs and green grass. Many people use burlap as a fuel for the smoker because it gives a nice even low heat smoke. But we didn't find the burlap Kurt said he had! I was a bit worried about the heat of the smoke injuring the bees, but everyone seemed just fine. I was nervous to start out with, but gained a little confidence when I found that really, no, they can't sting through the bee suit. Still, I have very small hands and the bee gloves are meant for big hands, so I felt as though I was fumbling around. And with bees, it's important to remain calm, cool, and steady. So butter fingers are not an asset. Nate stood nearby, offering support, encouragement and digital recording.


We wanted to see if the bees were producing anything. And they are! There are capped cells of honey, as well as cells of developing bees. That's very good news. We've left them alone for the most part since then. We've been advised by beekeepers Tad and Karen to juggle their frames about so they expand sideways into the hive more (they're only using the first four or five frames), as well as adding a "super" for the summer. So we'll be smoking more bees sometime this week!





Many more pictures and updates....

The corn is growing like weeds, which is a great way to keep weed competition down. Nate does some cultivating in between the rows to keep down weeds, and hoes in around individual plants by hand. This is one of his many morning tasks that he tries to do a little bit of every day. Hoeing is a big, tiring, mundane job. Breaking it up into small sections, like a row or two every day, is what we've found works to keep us from procrastinating a big job.


Nate harvested his small barley crop. He had been suspect that the barley was not the stuff he ordered, and he belives we've confirmed that. He ordered a barley that sets seed late in the summer. It's fairly rare, so he could only order one packet. He had intended to use this packet to produce more seed. He became suspicious when the plants flowered and set seed in early spring and ripened in early summer. This part of Oregon has a very wet spring weather pattern and early seeds can mold before the dry weather hits. Which is what happened with the barley. While Nate produced a large crop, most of the kernels are moldy. UCK.


The potatoes are flowering. Nate mentiones that we could be enjoying new potatoes now, any time we want. But we're letting them sit in the ground, hopefully to concentrate minerals. Potatoes are a fairly starchy and nutrient poor food. But there is an idea that when they are grown dryland, as we have done and are doing, that they concetrate more nutrition that their overwatered, heavy producing cousins. I don't have the slightest shred of data to back that up, but it's a hunch.


This is something you may not have seen before but should know. This fierce looking creature is the larval stage of the LadyBird Beetle, or the LadyBug. It's a mighty predator and here you can see it on the wheat, feasting on aphids. In the passage of time, this scary looking creature will start to shrink, shrivel, and transform into the most commercialized member of order Coleoptera ever. Maybe we could start making little keychains and stuff with this guy on it!


Aura is still, sigh, pregnant. She's bagged up, her vulva is swelling and her sides are broad enough to serve dinner on. But no calf yet. For sure, there'll be a super duper post all on its own just for that little calf. We did feel her calf kicking the other day. It had been a sad day for Nate and I (more below), and we went outside to talk to our environment. As we watched the cow we saw her sides buldge and shift. We put our hands on her side, and sure enough, there were swift kicks and jabs that were more than just a little indigestion. We were ecstatic. We happily breathed in the beautiful evening, and saw a bright rainbow over the horizon. We think that if the calf is a female, we'll name her Rainbow in that day's honor.


Nate's growing me beans. I love to eat "hard" beans before they've fully developed. Tasty.


The block of regular wheat is doing very well. It has finished flowering and sometime in the future we'll be enjoying real homemade sourdough bread!


Thursday we hosted a party. You remember Esther, the super friend that watches the farm, makes amazing bread, and is generally an amazing person? Well, she was offered a job working down on Catalina Island (California), educating Boy Scouts on marine science and conservation, her passion. So we hosted a party for her, and invited a bunch of other people too! The back porch was full of people snacking and chatting. The bonfire was warm and bright, it didn't rain, and the bluegrass band got everyone stomping their feet. It was an excellent party, of the sort that make Nate and I feel very connected and appreciative of our circle of friends. Good luck Esther!



Saturday, Nate and I went to Iron Mountain. It's a bit of a local naturalist/botanist mecca. When people find out that you're interested in the natural world, they point you to Iron Mt in June. And the wild flower display was amazing. It was also the highest I had ever been on my own two feet, so that was a real treat (5500 ft ~ 1.67 km) At one point on the hike, I stopped to look at the blue butterflies flitting about the meadow of delphiniums. And as we paused, a hummingbird zipped by and began feeding right in front of us. The hummingbird paused, and settled on a thin delphinium stalk. He appeared to be looking at us as eagerly as we were looking at him. We stared at each other for a few minutes, then the little bird began preaning himself! Nate and I were amazed to see him so comfortable with our presence. And then another person bumbled down the popular hillside, walked right by the little bird and we heard him zing up the mountain. But it was still very special. Here's a view from about 4000 ft.


So our sad news is that one of our beloved cats died. Shakespeare Bronze was our most outgoing and talkative cat-child. Nate named him Shakespeare because he was so wordy. And one meeting with this cat would be enough to see why. He talked about everything under the sun. And he played fetch, just as a dog would. He loved attention and snuggling and strutting about the house with his ball in his mouth. For several days after his death, the house seemed very empty and lonely. We're starting to adjust now, as are the two remaining kitties. But we'll still miss our Bronze.


So I've started my 50 hr work week cycle, which should last until late July. But I make a promise to you to post as much as I can in the next few weeks because things are rocketing along, and this is here to share the adventure. I belive Kurt has a post in the works about finishing up the battery project (woohoo!) and I know things have grown and changed since I've written about them here.