What a wildly busy month we have had here at the farm since I last posted. Hard to believe that we managed to fit so much into such a short space of time but perhaps that explains our sore muscles.

First, we finished the construction of the hoop house and got it ‘planted’ with cool season crops despite the lateness of the season but not without some modifications to the overall design first.

What you should know is that although we were pleased with the essential design of the structure we ordered, it arrived with a laughable system to secure it in place. The company provided four small brackets along with 8 measly metal spikes that were intended to secure the whole structure and keep it place. I suppose this hoop house manufacturer had no idea of how a small amount of wind (let alone the type we can get in the Midwest) could blow this whole structure away in an instant.

So Farmer Dave was all over this with a remedy that he was able to source at a nearby company that made heavy duty spikes out of re-bar to his specifications. Here is a comparison of what was supplied on the right and what Dave ordered in re-bar spikes on the left.  What a huge difference!

We happened to have a couple extra helpers to move the metal structure into place one weekend.

Once the hoop house was situated, we hammered the spikes into place… And then added the sunshade cover…a little tricky but 3 people managed to get it into place with a couple of ladders and not too much more effort which bodes well for changing it out to the “winter” cover which will insulate from the freezing cold.Et voilà…with “doors” front and back as well as “windows” along each side, the summer mesh shade cover was in place and the Velcro tabs secured it all to the frame just so. Yay, now we were all set to plant!  We decided to plant the area with a center aisle (east/west) and rows (north/south) on either side of the aisle. The first planting (on the north) was a variety of lettuces, spinaches, Swiss chard and peas. Ten days later, we planted the south side with a similar set of leafy plant seeds using slightly different varieties. With a little time elapse magic, you can see what three weeks of growth looks like in the hoop house now. The same weekend we moved the hoop house into place, we also had some important work going on in the apiary. I decided to split one of the stronger overwintered colonies (making a second colony from it) and also prepared the area for a new future queen as well as two new hives for ‘nucs’ or nucleus colonies to be installed. Spring is such a busy time for beekeepers.  But oh, man, all those bees are hard at work as well. Here is one of our bees laden with pollen (the orange part in the photo) in the “saddle bag” area of her rear legs, and working away on a dandelion to gather more to take back to the hive. This is one of the reasons I don’t mind dandelions! All the while, the new baby chicks have been growing like weeds and although we had prepared for the day when we would have to move them from their 170 gallon aluminum trough, we had to be innovative first.

We ultimately built (from a kit) a “mini coop” just for them inside the larger outdoor coop area to accommodate their needs and help with the future integration of the two flocks. The intention here was to give them a separate place to live within the flock area while remaining separate until they are old enough to share the same space. There are technical issues as to the foods they each eat (protein percentages as well as calcium levels are specifically different between the two ages) which requires their separate living arrangement until a point where they can be integrated. Funny, but I doubt my grandmother had such science behind her flock of chicks and they all did just great! Ha!  Of course this meant they needed to have some initial lighting and heat to make it through the cold nights but they adapted with glee to their palatial digs and the ‘big girls’ as we call the older flock, are adapting well to their little sisters!

The other great benefit of moving to their own coop means that they get to keep their feathers in top notch condition as they are able to dust bathe in the sand.

The leghorns seem to hang close which is fine since there are three of them which keeps them from being picked on.

But one night after they had just moved to the mini coop, I went out to check on them and I COULD NOT FIND the leghorns! What a panic…until I found that they had located to a secondary roost at night…up in the eave of the interior roof line of the new coop! Those rascals! Besides the hoop house, mini coop and the bees, we have also been following the development of the orchard. We were pleased to find that the final winter blast of the year did not wipe out the fruit trees. Whew! There are fruits on the pears, apples, plums, peaches, nectarines and cherries!

Despite the plethora of strawberry and blueberry blossoms promising successful berry season, I decided to try out a couple of new varieties of bush type fruits in the bird netted area. I found a Bush Cherry, ‘Juliet’ at our local nursery and it sounded too good to resist.

I also added two varieties of thorn-less Blackberries, not unlike what we had at the old house. One is called ‘Chester’ and the other is ‘Sweetie Pie’. I was delighted to see that they are still willing to bloom and set on fruit after what would seem like a late planting. Can you hear me rubbing my hands together with glee at this?

We have lots of strawberries and blueberries set on and have started harvesting (and eating!) the strawberries in the last couple of days. Yum!

April showers brought more than rain…it also included Coulter’s three year old birthday which he celebrated in style with some young friends, having helped make and decorate his own birthday cake…

Besides baking, he has also embraced a sewing project at school…But he can’t help dashing about as a super hero when needed…Of course super heros are exactly what we need now that Kate has ended her maternity leave and Nana and Gramps are in charge of both Ward boys for a bit before summer break begins. Willie is at the ready to join in with a one two punch!