So Happy!

[wayfaringwordhack]

An OS update, which I thought I had installed weeks ago, put an end to my horrid keyboard lag problem, and I can now type freely. Color me happy.

I have other happy news:  My "baby" bee colony (started for and given to me by a kind and generous beekeeping neighbor) is growing splendidly, contrary to the fear that took hold of me when J told me he thought, due to the lack of visible activity,  the hive was dying.  I bought J a bee suit today--as well as two for the kids (I wish I had a pic of Farmer Boy in his, but it is on J's phone)--and we went to check the state of the hive. Thank the Lord, the bees are doing so well that I went ahead and added a super on top of the main hive body to give the bees room to stock honey so that the queen can continue laying...  I pray the workers can gather enough nectar to complete their honey stores for the winter. Since I am just starting out, I don't want to be faced with the moral dilemma of letting my bees starve or feed them sugar. :-/

We now have a duck sitting on a clutch of four Khaki Campbell eggs and eight Indian Runner eggs.  It seemed a pity to let the duck sit on only four eggs, so we went ahead and bought the IR eggs in hopes of getting a flock for slug patrol. 

Now for a bit of grimmer news, we only have one duckling left from the incubator clutch (and she* still doesn't look like a Khaki Campbell); however, the two goslings hatched well and are growing. We named the three after Narnia characters, so we have Lucy (duck), and Polly and Diggory (geese).

Today, we had to kill yet another sick hen. It is so heartbreaking to have to do that.  That was why I was really in a funk until we checked the bees and saw they were OK. It is hard raising life and harvesting death. 

Sometimes, when a series of bad things happen, you really forget to look up and take stock of all the progress you have made.  I have been reminding myself of late how much more my garden is approaching my ideal now than it was when we bought the place. If I can find them, I will post some Then and Now photos.

This year, barring an unforeseen disaster, we should have a very nice eggplant and pepper harvest, and my tomatoes are looking good. I might even get lots of carrots.  We have already pulled up some hefty early potatoes, and I had my first-ever successful garlic harvest.  We're eating cucumbers and have had zucchini since the last week of May.**  Last year it was too hot, and this year is on the cooler side, so other harvests are slow in coming.  I am not sure pumpkins and such will have time to ripen because my plants are barely setting fruit. :-/   The winter was so mild that the garden has a pretty hefty pest load ,and all my first sowings of beans were completely wiped out. My okra was so shocked and stunted--those that have survived the insects--probably aren't going to do anything at all either.  Such is the the growing year.... Better not to put all your eggs--or seeds--in one basket.
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*If Sprout's and my fledgling skills are anything to go by, after vent sexing the goslings, we have a goose and a gander.

**We've eaten plenty of other stuff, too, like peas, beets, salads, rocket and mustard, cabbage, etc. from the cooler days on...

Comments

[asakiyume]

Hurray for the bees! If you have four minutes, read this wonderful flash story, which also has some bees doing well <3

And congratulations on all your veggies! Such bounty! I'm envying you all your eggplants and tomatoes! I'm growing okra this year too... my soil needs some improvement (though I got some chicken manure for that from someone like you, who keeps chickens, only in my town instead of France) ... but the plants look pretty, if smaller than okra plants are supposed to be. I'm hoping I might get a pod or two :-)

[tolcath]

It all sounds so wonderfully farm-ish! :)

[wayfaringwordhack]

There is plenty of wonderful. When it is not-so-wonderful, it can be really heartbreaking.

[wayfaringwordhack]

I will read!

Oh, man. Okra. I am a Southern girl, raised on fried and pickled okra, and here in France (and even in Egypt), I Have. Not. Been. Able to grow it. *Rages*. Even this year I planted two different varieties following different methods (sowing soaked and unsoaked seeds both in pots, in the polytunnel and outdoors) and none of them are taller than a 9 inches, even though they are over two months old. :(

[asakiyume]

When we visited Florida a few years back, we saw okra growing the way it's supposed to--big and tall, like the hollyhocks it's related to! But yeah, mine are only about 9 inches tall too. Maybe 12. Though they be small, let them still flower!

[wayfaringwordhack]

Yeah, my guardians plants were 9 ft tall. Talk about being haunted by my failure. If it is just a question of heat, why isn't it doing well in the high tunnel? :-/ Next year I am going to "direct sow" it in ginormous pots and not try to transplant it at all. I will start it in the high tunnel for heat and then move it out if it gets too tall or if the outside heat is propice to its flourishing. :(

[rimturse]

Ah, country living with its ups and downs. For what it's worth, I think you're doing an amazing job, and your harvest sounds bountiful!

[wayfaringwordhack]

Thanks, pea. I am certainly trying, and that has to count for something. One does see what a learning curve growing food is, especially when you are trying new things all the time. I imagine things would look different if I were only trying for high-producing varieties and following conventional methods, along with fertilizers, etc. However, converting lawn to food takes time.

[wayfaringwordhack]

Ha! I hope my hive is not doing that well, not this summer anyhow because a) I don't have another hive ready, and b) too late for a swarm to get established for winter. :P

[asakiyume]

:D

Success *in moderation*

[tolcath]

I sometimes think we weren't meant to be nothing but happy. The wilderness of ups and downs, griefs and joys, is some kind of journey we all make one way or another.

Oh, great, I'm getting philosophical. Must be bedtime. Take care!