Spring has come rushing in like a mad-thing throwing everything into a riot of bloom and activity. We have fruit trees budded and blooming to the point that its nearly obscene. The most exciting to date is the apricot trees, which only bear every 4-6 years.
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| An Apricot Promise |
The bees have been out in the trees in full force, despite the wind and cool temps. To add to the excitement, we added another 12 hives just this week, with an additional 5 to arrive in a few days. As I mentioned on the farm's Facebook page, there is something a little crazy about driving any distance with +/- 144,000 bees in your car. Luckily it was a fairly uneventful trip.
Given the great early-season working conditions, we were able to get the gardens prepped earlier than usual, (mostly due to the fearless new BCS). This was an unexpected plus, given that we are now cold and soggy with 100lbs of potatoes to plant and 6,500 asparagus crowns that have already been postponed twice. Ah spring, you heady tease!
The real topper for the craziness occurred last week as Sean was practicing his "death-defying-ladder-and-electric-saw-dancing trick", while working on the new building. The ladder provided the trick and down they both went. Luckily the saw didn't follow them down, but Sean was rewarded with a nasty banged-up knee and a fancy new piece of hardware (knee immobilizer). So now he is mostly relegated to household duties and hard surface work areas.
Despite the madness we are marching forward and mostly making progress. Thanks to the ever-supportive Blue Gate Parents, we planted nearly 300 row feet of shallots just before the rains started. And just today we hosted
