Farm Business

I love to say I live on a farm.  I'm sure some wouldn't consider it a real farm,
but we have acreage, a pasture, gardens and chickens (used to have horses),
so to me it's a farm.  It's a hobby farm and it's a hobby that can take up a lot
of time and energy.  Two precious commodities that fluctuate depending on
other things that are going on in my life.  I can get frustrated when the "to do"
list keeps getting longer and longer and we aren't making progress.
Sometimes I don't know how to do what needs to be done and then I have to
find someone who does and try to enlist their help.  At other times I know
how to do it, but it's more work than I can handle on my own. My husband
works a full time job and isn't interested in filling up every weekend with farm
chores.  I don't blame him.  I dream of having a farm manager who would
oversee the work and help get it done.  You know, like Martha Stewart has.
But that is totally a dream.  So for now, we plug along and do the best we can.
And try to enjoy it in the process.

We've been taking advantage of the mild weather to get some farm chores
accomplished.  At the top of the list was taking care of the bees.  We mixed
up a honey solution to put in the feeders, because bees need a little help in
the cold months.   On a day when the temperature was above 45, we took
it to the hives and pulled the tops off to see how things were going.  What
we saw was disheartening.

 

All the bees had died. There was still plenty of honey on the frames, so
we know it wasn't for lack of food.  We think it was a disease or some type
of mites that killed them.  This was one of the things we feared when we
undertook this beekeeping project.  We've heard the rumblings of how the
bees are under attack and how many hives collapse.  But I really wanted to
give it a try.

I'm going to spend a lot of time the next few months reading up on this and
trying to educate myself a little more.  Then we will decide in the spring if
we want to give it another shot.  I keep thinking of that honey that we robbed
in the summer and how delicious it tasted.  I like having my own honey!
But it's not an inexpensive endeavor, so we will see....

On a happier note, the fall garden has just kept on giving.  I've had spinach,
collard greens, kale and brussel sprouts. The garlic seems to be growing well,
from what I can tell.  I'm dying to see what's going on under the ground, but
I'm patiently waiting.  The greens are starting to slow down a little and I
decided to clean out beds over the weekend.

I cleaned out the lettuce,spinach, cabbage and broccoli beds.  I left a
few brussels sprout plants waiting for the little babies at the top to mature.
I think they will.  We will probably eat the rest of the collards this week.
Anything green that we don't want, I toss into the chickens and they have
a party.  They love green food.

Over in the tilled area, we mixed things up a little.  I've been throwing
chicken manure on top and we wanted to get it tilled in, along with the
green growth.   Now it will lie dormant for a few months, while I continue
to enrich the soil with compost and more manure.  I hope to have some good
soil when it's time to put in beans and tomatoes.  Wouldn't a garden
tomato taste so nice right now?

I had my first lessons in operating our rototiller.  I need to be able to do this
when Mark's not around to help.  It sure is a lot easier when he is though!
Thanks dear for your help this weekend.  You were speaking my love language!

Things "To Do" Around 

the Farm in January

* Move two Contender Peach trees to new location.

* Prune grape vines and complete trellis.

*Prune berries

*Clean out chicken coop.

*Browse seed and nursery catalogues.

*Design vegetable gardens on paper.

*Study bee books.

*MYOF Goals - #5 Learn to prune berries and fruit trees

                             #18  Work on monthly storage and preparedness goals

                             # 34 Start beekeeping

                             #43  Expand my vegetable gardens

                            # 49  Have 50 romantic interludes with my husband ( I think a man behind

                                             a rototiller is totally HOT! :)