To Bee or Not To Bee . . .

   

    (What is the question?)
     I laugh to think that when I began this little
farm journey, what I pictured was nothing to compare with the reality I live today.
    Going back to my very first blog of a year and a half ago, I spoke of Waldon and quoted Thoreau. "Holing up" was key to the equation. My journals, were to be but keepsakes of lessons learned with a few experiential notes to grace the liner pages of my next cookbook.
     In my mental "Farmville" mornings were to be spent writing, with grazing goats and waggy-tailed dogs for backdrop. The air would be fresh. The crops would make great photo ops for the cookbooks that are my livelihood. Otherwise, solitude and silence reigned supreme. (OK, so 4 out of 5 ain't bad.)
     Now that I'm living it, my biggest misconceptions were these:
    1) I had no idea one could fall in love with a way of life, the way most people look for it in a lover.
    2) The work is never done, but there's something very spiritual about the process...(I will go as far to say there is GOD in the process.) It is hard work, but it is joyful work, and fulfilling work.
    3) Don't EVEN think you can do this alone. (#3 being the biggest misconception I've had to overcome.)
     As I enter my 4th season, I feel just as much (if not more) the novice, though the experiences grown richer, and the lessons come faster. Though I've completed the Master Gardener's course, I am not, nor do I ever feel I will be a master gardener. I am, however a master student, and shall be until the day I die.
     Today's experiences reiterate that notion, as does everyday lived here on the farm.

    Two wonderful things happened today--both involving women I admire greatly.

    1) I started this year's garden (today's planting sign was in the breasts, which is nurturing for both above and below ground plants).
    2) The pups, the cat, the kids and I welcomed the newest addition to our family: namely, bees! (And what a welcoming it was!)

    Starting with the former, may I just say here, neighbors don't get any better than Miss Duff! As her precious name suggests, Miss Duff is as country as the lane we live on and has been pretty much gardening all her life. It warms my heart to hear stories of when my uncle last lived here, knowing his penchant for running a place known for country cooking was enhanced by his regular meals shared around Miss Duff's kitchen table.

    First call of the morning was to Miss Duff, asking if she'd come walk me through the potato planting process one more time. While a little late in the season (like last year, we didn't have a spring), I had 5 lbs of Kennybacs in need of cutting "just so" and while I've done this ritual before, I always like going over the steps with someone who can do this in her sleep...Quick as a flash (as the insurance ad states)  Miss Duff was there.
     For the record, you need a couple of good eyes and a quadrant of the tater to put in the soil. Because they are below ground crops, you aren't going to know if you did it right until it's too late and given I had done it incorrectly before, I wanted one last lesson before pulling the dirt back over things.  (Last year was too late to get potatoes in, and the year before they didn't grow properly; Thurman says it's because I planted on the wrong sign.)
     Never one to pass up an opportunity to ask a question, I ran another 100 past her about other crops as well, including, but not limited to: okra, peas, squash, cucumbers, watermelon, strawberries and a litany of others (many new to me this season).
     With several rows underway, I next get the call I've been waiting for~ My bee authority Miss Margaret was on her way, toting 4 crates of bees (at roughly 10,000 per crate). Kind of her to bring me a bonnet, and for safety's sake I did go for long sleeves which I tucked in gloves, but honestly, the bees (disoriented though they were) seemed delighted in their girly painted hives :) (Didn't know it at the time, but there are thousands of girls to about a dozen "drones" (i.e. male bees), so the feminine energy around the place was palpable, despite the fact that we had several guys here helping hoist, haul and host.  Having walked the land previously, staking out the best possible path so my new family members can pollinate both flowers and food ...we welcomed the girls to their new homes.
 

 For the next few hours,  I watched in awe as this amazing woman transferred one screen after another, after another, carefully, placing them within their new homes. My questions were endless...Her answers, pure wisdom. In short, the live cycle of bees and how they make honey is  as fascinating a proposition as it gets...Suffice it to say I'll be writing on this much more in the days to come.
     All in all, a good and productive day ...the kind of day that has you plopping head to pillow and leaving it there until the sun wakes you up.
    Little did I know when I started out that Green Acres really IS the place to be...And farm living, the life for me.
     To the ladies who made this day buzz with life, my heartfelt thanks...And to you guys here helping, never forget, you're outnumbered.  :)