Time for a change
Since the apiary is moving and not much is happening at the moment, I decided to expand this blog to cover everything on the farm. This is an old picture, I will add some new ones in a bit, but I thought it might be interesting to share what I do in the winter months.
Typically, my "down time" on the farm is from January 1st through March 1st of any given year. During that time, I plan for the next growing season, work on major home improvement projects, prepare and present for groups and organizations and re-stock my farm products.
This year I do have a home improvement project being done, but it isn't something I could do myself or have family members do for me, so I have a contractor at work in the house. That means I have to be around, which for me is a bit confining. I have my prep work for the season to do, however.
This year's projects include:
Preparing presentations for a group of third graders on sustainable farming (February) and two cooking classes for Christian Neighbors - a local food pantry - also in February.
Buying, organizing and planning all my seeds and the garden/CSA for the 2025 season
Making plant protectors for my seedlings
That last one is my latest edition of keeping peace between animals and plants in my world. In 2023 we did a lot of fencing to keep wild critters out of our garden plots. This is to keep peace in the house. We added two house cats (kittens) to our family over the past year. We did not have any animals in the house prior to that time. I start my seeds in flats the beginning of March in the house. My cats have decided that they LOVE to dig any dirt they can find. As a result, I have had to make protectors out of hardware cloth for my plants that come indoors for the winter - namely my lime tree, my lemon tree and my elderly poinsettia. The thought of what they will do with my planting trays of all my vegetable seedlings for my entire garden made me realize I had to come up with a solution. So, I have designed and built one five foot by two foot by one foot high "cage" with a lid, covered with 1/2" hardware cloth to protect my planting trays. I can water through the hardware cloth and can remove the lid to access the trays. The cat tested it by laying on it within five minutes of my placing it on the table. It held him, so I think it will work. I will make a second one, and I think that will cover all the trays I typically start in the house. After I free up some storage space on this site, I will add pictures of my finished projects.
