My husband and I have lived in the country for almost a decade. I was chatting with another rural dweller yesterday, and we laughed a bit about how our lifestyles haven’t really changed that much with isolation. We are used to staying home. After all, we moved to the country for the peace and quiet… Continue reading A View From the Farm
Birds, Bees and Wendell Berry
Wendell Berry is the poet of farmer and nature dweller alike. He is my favorite writer, poet, fiction, nonfiction, and I’m excited to say he liked my tweet. For World Poetry Day, I linked to the Mad Farmer Liberation Front: Ask the questions that have no answers. Wendell Berry Mad Farmer Liberation Front https://t.co/JPDN0LOPyP #WorldPoetryDay —… Continue reading Birds, Bees and Wendell Berry
Upgrading the Infrastructure & Adding
Two major “buildings” have been added to the farm since January. The first, a high tunnel, is an unheated greenhouse that allows us to extend the growing season in both the spring and the fall and grow tropicals including ginger and turmeric. We received it as part of a grant program from the National Resources… Continue reading Upgrading the Infrastructure & Adding
The Farm in Transition 2016
As the title suggests, 2016 has been a transition year here at Bottle Tree Farm. We said good-bye to the last of the pigs in 2015. Now, thanks to the wily fox, we are down to a small flock of fowl: three turkeys (two toms and a hen), two chickens, and two ducks. The turkeys… Continue reading The Farm in Transition 2016
Cautiously Optimistic
In my last bee post in June, I mentioned the weak hive. My remedy of putting in a few frames of brood from my other hive did not work. The next time I went into the hive, it had been heavily invaded with wax moths. There evil invaders take advantage of weak hives. Normally, the… Continue reading Cautiously Optimistic
Farmer Bob Featured
A nice article about the local farmer’s market that features Farmer Bob!
Bee Log Plus
I’ve been keeping an eye on the hives, and one of them has been noticeably inactive compared to the one on the left. A few bees coming and going. I haven’t been able to get down to open the boxes: it’s either raining or just too hot. But, today was pretty perfect for putting on the suit and… Continue reading Bee Log Plus
Spring 2016 Update
The azaleas are blooming so we put out the hummingbird feeders yesterday. Saw the first bird today. No photos yet. Bob has been busy in the sun porch and garden. He has lots of tomato, pepper, and eggplant seedlings just waiting for danger of frost to pass. But he also has lots of stuff in… Continue reading Spring 2016 Update
Endings and Beginnings
In early December 2012, we brought four pigs home, not really fully prepared for what it meant to add livestock to the farm. In those three years, I have done things I never imagined I would from being present at the birth and death of a pig to eating an animal I helped raise. Last… Continue reading Endings and Beginnings
Very Overdue Update Plus Angry Bees
Four months? Really? I didn’t do an update all summer? I was busier than ever with workshops this spring and summer. My flower garden was lovely in the late Spring, early Summer and then I started to travel. Newspaper and mulch helped some but eventually the weeds won out. We also decided to add another… Continue reading Very Overdue Update Plus Angry Bees