Birds and Bees

This week the population of Taproot Farm has increased by 20,018! 

18 chickens and 2 bee hives.

The Hens

Laura called us from the Post Office on March 9 saying our peeps had arrived from Texas. What a way to celebrate our one year anniversary in Capon Bridge!

Our brooder is made of a cardboard box, newspaper bedding and a 250-watt heat bulb suspended from a floor lamp. Allen and Tim picked "the girls" up and brought them home with their coats wrapped around the shipping box to keep out drafts. Jenny drove up the next day to meet the little fluff balls and do a photo shoot.

We have 4 Leghorns, 8 Barrd Plymouth Rocks and 8 Americaunas which should yield white, brown , and blue/green eggs, respectively, in 4-5 months. Like babies they spent the first few days eating, sleeping and pooping. But after only a week, they are practicing grown-up chicken behavior- scratching and pecking.  They are developing distinct personalities. Supposedly chickens, like other animals, become attached to their owners and will follow you around if you are out in the yard with them.

Today was a big day for the girls- a field trip to the garden! Since the temperature was in the 60's, the chicks spent a few hours in a fenced "playpen" in the garden while Beth planted spring crops. They hit the lottery every time Beth turned up a worm and threw it in to them. It took a while to venture out of their box, but once they did, they had a ball pecking at the grass and soil.
After such a big day, they collapsed and we don't expect a peep from them until morning.

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Busy Bees

While Tim was building the hives, we got an unexpected call that our 3 lb. bee packages were ready for pickup in Wardensville- 2 days early! So he kicked it into high gear to be ready to receive the queens in high fashion.
A bee package consists of one queen, 300 drones (males) and 10,000 workers (females). These Italian Honey Bees were raised in Georgia and trucked overnight.

As the sun set, we first released the queen into the brooder box, then "poured" 10,000  bees in with her. The workers will feed, clean and protect the hive- they got to work immediately.

Tim was fearless in his white beekeeper jumpsuit, gloves, and netted hat.  It kept 99.9% of the bees out except for the one that snuck in and stung him in the back of the head. Nothing Benedryll and bourban can't cure!

Man, after a long, snowy winter, these past two spring days have been full of Life!!

More birds and bees photos- thanks to daughter Jenny's wonderful photo eye ...birds and bees 3-2010.  (the lambs in these photos belong to a friend :-)

Inspiration from the WV Small Farm Conference

Tim and I just returned from two days at the West Virginia Small Farm Conference in Morgantown. http://smallfarmcenter.ext.wvu.edu/events/conference
My head is full of new ideas as I stare out at our dormant fields and garden beds. Everything looks a little different to me now- my lens is wider. The land is pulsing with potential.

It was inspiring to be in the company of hundreds of small farmers dedicated to the same things- healthy living, healthy eating and a sustainable worklife. Our friend, Steve Martin of Church View Farm http://churchviewfarm.info/, says his farm life is his vocation, recreation and avocation all wrapped up in one. I understand that now. I wondered why I've had no desire to leave our farm even to drive to Winchester to shop. But it is true- everything I want is right here on our new farm- healthy food, exercise, creative adventure, spiritual sustenance, relaxation, connection to the living. A farm is a multi-dimensional life- one-stop shopping :-)

The farmers we met ranged in age from early twenties to their eighties. Everyone of them seemed to care about each others' success. Their backgrounds were as varied as one can imagine- those who are preserving a family farm tradition, those who have left the city life to try a life of farming, young people with college and masters degrees wanting to innovate and improve farming techniques while working outside in the fresh air and sunshine, and everyone caring about a healthier life for their families and community. At first, I was shy about admitting that ours is now a Hobby Farm (for pleasure first, production second) and that we are novices in our fifties. But the spirit of the workshops and keynote talks focused on our shared predicament- helping each other support the art and science of small farms. We are all in it together, no matter the size of the role we play.

Tim and I went to workshops together and separately... we have a lot of notes to share! He got very excited about the raising fish for local markets, small egg production and solar/wind classes. I was inspired learning about growing crops in high and low tunnels to extend the season. I learned alot about drip irrigation (that will save hours of hand watering!)

We both loved hearing farmers share their first-hand lessons on farming and marketing their crops in more sustainable, profitable, wiser ways. They smiled and shook their heads telling tales of "first year lessons". Ha! That's us. We are still in our first year. Everything is new learning. We don't even know what we don't know.
But like a toddler taking those first steps, we are pulled to keep experimenting. We are curious about what waits around the corner. We expect to "fall down" a lot :-) and we know there is a large and generous community of fellow farmers looking out for us.

Time to go check on the melting garden...