It's hard to believe Thanksgiving is just a few days away! Is it just me, or does time go by much quicker these days? It seems I'm so rushed now after work. I tutor most days of the week and don't get home until close to 5pm so I've been going out with a headlamp to take care of feeding and other chores. I do love the time to nest inside but it makes getting anything done a real pain.
The chickens are in nesting mode as well. This time of year, with decreased hours of daylight, the ladies don't lay much at all. I've had 3 eggs this week and will be setting those aside for a Saturday morning breakfast, keeping them all for myself! Their coop is full of fresh straw to keep them warm at night and I look forward to the newer hens laying more in the Spring. I should have plenty of fresh eggs to share. Over the winter I will be researching new breeds to raise. I'd like to get a few funky chickens.. mohawks, fuzzy feet and such and hope to get started on building a new coop soon.
Charlie and Butterbean are enjoying a newly expanded paddock. Their grazing area is now doubled and they seem happy to run into their shed with full bellies every night. This is only after they get their daily treat of "All Stock", which is a molassas covered barley they love. Their winter coats are thick and full to keep them warm at night. I'm still giving thought to expanding the herd soon but don't know that I'm ready to start breeding and milking just yet.
I am beginning to think that my skills as a beekeeper are lacking, seriously. I'm trying not to be discouraged but I am just not having the best luck. I combined my two weaker hives earlier this week and it did not go as smoothly as I'd hoped. I was already stressed because I had to kill a queen for the first time, something I did not want to do. While looking through the weakest hive to find the queen, she managed to fall to the bottom of the hive and a lot of the few remaining bees in the colony followed her. This means they were not on the frames that I needed to move to the other hive. A long and depressing story made short, the few surviving bees from the weakest hive are now combined with the "stronger" of the two and I'm waiting for them to eat through the layer of newspaper that separates them for the time being. For those of you wondering.. when combining two hives one queen must be killed. If not, the two queens will fight and the other worker bees will also attack an unknown queen resulting in more deaths. Therefore, it's best to kill one of the queens. A layer of newspaper is placed between the two boxes. The bees from the two colonies are able to smell one another and eat through the paper over about a week period and are given time to adjust to new bees being in their territory. This lessens the likelihood of an all out bee battle. To add to all of this, I'm having to feed them sugar water still and will probably have to continue through the winter. All I can do is keep my fingers crossed that these are some really tough ladies who will keep each other warm through the winter. If not, I'll be ordering even more in the Spring.
The garden is doing well. I've got tons of greens and have been eating salads as much as possible. I've had a few folks come out to pick their own but haven't had as much business as I'd hoped for. I think it adds to the experience of getting a box of garden fresh goodies if you can pick them yourselves. Busy schedules seem to always get in the way, which is exactly why I haven't been able to deliver boxes during the fall. The short days and busy work make it very difficult to get into "town" to deliver. I'm hoping folks will be up for the drive out to Mill Creek to gather their own sweet potatoes, arugula, lettuce, chard, radishes, chives, cilantro, and collards. I've already started flipping through seed catalogs for Spring and am again in love with the colors and varieties! Every year is something new.
I have been making plans for a hoop house and/or greenhouse and again, as soon as I win the lottery they will be constructed. Until then, I'm saving scraps of wood, windows, and anything else that I might be able to one day use. If you come across old windows or wood put it aside for me and I'll be more than happy to come out and get it from you.
This week, as we celebrate Thanksgiving, enjoy time with family and friends. Be thankful. And take a minute to think about where the food in front of you comes from. Most of America goes to the grocery store for our Thanksgiving meal. Canned pumpkin pie filling, prepackaged Turkey, and green beans in a can.... If you know your farmer, thank them for putting time and love into the food that sits on your plate. And cherish every bite.
Thank you Mike Gerken for this amazing image of Ms. Papa doing her thing!
