There is a balance to be found in all of nature including our relationship with it. We’ve convinced honeybees to live in the boxes we made, convinced chickens to lay eggs in the boxes we made and convinced vegetables to grow in the boxes we made. All the while we manipulate some aspects of nature for our own food and enjoyment, the rest continues to do the most miraculous things because we leave it alone. The Summer Tanager couple that nests seasonally in the trees near the bee yard eat a few honeybees every day. More than a few chickens have become raccoon food over the last fifteen years, so we learned how to build better coops. Squash bugs destroyed this year’s zucchini, and a well-hidden tomato worm took out an entire plant. The worms we could find became chicken snacks and the pumpkins got covered in netting before the squash bugs could get in. Dousing everything with chemicals is not an acceptable option. We’re cohabitants of this little spot of land and when you really start to learn about the symbiotic benefits of nature left alone you realize that balance is necessary to keep us all alive into the future.
Chicory growing along the road- A few cicada shells under the willow- Volunteer squash in a flower garden
Bees
The long-awaited moment finally arrived…. honey harvest!
Step One- Cut the cap off the frame
Step Two- Scrape
Step Three- SPIN the honey!!
Step Four- Filter the honey
Step Five- Bottle the honey and finally go to bed!!
Chickens
Our young chickens graduated to the big kid’s yards! There was a little bit of bullying and chaos of course, but then again there always is when you integrate new hens to the flock. Having them in the runner for several months with only chicken wire to separate the two groups does help tremendously with this process. Two Leghorns, one Araucana and one Maran joined our flock. The young hens picked a nice grassy corner as their “safe spot” in the yard. Each morning they poor out of the coop to the corner and slowly as the day goes on, eat and drink with the older hens. There is always at least one young hen with more bravery than the rest, willing to take a few pecks from the grumpy older ladies in order to make her place in the flock. This time it was one of the Leghorns. She was the first to get fully accepted at the water, the first to lay an egg in a nest box and the first to roost up in the top of the coop. The Araucana is right behind her in becoming fully integrated.
A brave little leghorn
Growing
Some things grow best when left alone. I managed to get around five gallons of wild blackberries picked this month. It was a VERY good blackberry year and unfortunately, I was only able to get a small amount from one patch picked. All the more for the hungry birds and forest animals that share the land with us. I only go out picking in the early morning and/or at dusk to avoid the mosquitos but after the first round left me with over a dozen bites, I purchased a Thermacell. This turned out to be one of those rare excellent investments. Jammed into the back pocket of my overalls I was able to pick until the heat got to me and at the most got one bite. My dreams of canning lids did not come true, however I had enough to make a few batches of jam.
Fourteen Acre Wood
Audrey L Elder
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