Planting Day!

Despite the ridiculous number of commitments and projects we had to deal with this weekend, I managed to scrape up a couple of hours to celebrate the most glorious holiday of the entire year: Planting Day.

Longtime readers of this blog know that while birthdays and anniversaries are generally ignored around here, and Thanksgiving and Christmas can be rescheduled as necessary to fit the demands of work and family, April 15 (or the first weekend thereafter) is sacred, because that’s our first opportunity to put the garden in the ground without serious risk of losing plants to a killing frost.

I was genuinely afraid we might have to delay Planting Day this year, because we had two major commitments yesterday — an all-day Route 66 festival here in Red Fork all morning and afternoon, followed by a Leon Russell concert in the evening — and we had to be in Oklahoma City this afternoon for an Oklahoma Route 66 Association board meeting, but somehow we managed to get back from OKC in time to plant tomatoes, peppers, strawberries, cucumbers, okra, onions, and four different kinds of herbs. The chickens helped by eating all the grubs I found while I was working. At least a dozen cutworms and June bug larvae met their demise at the beaks of our feisty buff Orpingtons.

Bonus: Our beehives smelled terrific this evening. As I’ve mentioned before, nothing in the world smells nicer than a healthy honeybee colony, and our hives are so fragrant that you can smell them halfway across the yard.

I wish my house smelled like bees. They’re lovely.

Emily

Yes, I’m still alive.

Sorry for the extended silence; I’ve been unbelievably busy lately and just haven’t been able to work a hand free for blogging.

The calendar still says winter, but I think it’s officially spring in Red Fork. It’s been gorgeous out for the past couple of weeks, we’ve got a dove nesting on top of the pergola, the front yard is covered in little flowers (henbit, star chickweed, shepherd’s purse, spring beauty, and a few dandelions), the bee yard is busier than O’Hare International Airport, the Webster baseball team had its home opener this evening, and I bought half a flat of strawberries and a couple of Brussels sprout seedlings at Lee’s Feed the other day.

Most telling of all: The baby chicks are in at Lee’s. If somebody hadn’t already reserved all the Araucanas, I would have bought a couple to add to our flock.

It’s spring! Yay, yay, yay, yay!

Emily

Apple presents …

Reality is spiritual, harmonious, immutable, immortal, divine, eternal.
– Mary Baker Eddy 

I never met Steve Jobs, but his work has been a part of my life for many, many years. He was part of my first encounter with journalism — we used an Apple IIe to produce the school paper when I was in fourth grade — and 27 years later, I’m laying out pages on a souped-up 2009 MacBook. It is not an exaggeration to say that the tools he created radically altered the course of my life. Without the Mac, I might never have discovered my fondness for page design — an affinity that ultimately led me into a career as a copy editor, introduced me to my husband, got us to Tulsa, led me to my current job, and introduced me to many dear, dear friends along the way. Indirectly, I can trace most of the good things in my life to this man’s work, and for that, I owe him a debt of gratitude I can never repay. There are those who claim Apple products are too expensive. Given their impact on my life, I’d consider them a bargain at twice the price.

With that in mind, you can imagine my sadness when I picked up my iPad this evening and read of his passing.

In Christian Science, we learn that man is a reflection of God — an expression of divine nature. We define this nature in many ways. God, Mrs. Eddy says in her writings, is divine Life, Truth, Love, Mind, Soul, Spirit, Principle.

I’ve always appreciated Steve Jobs as an expression of Mind. His creativity, intelligence, and refusal to tolerate artificial limits allowed him to turn sci-fi daydreams into everyday realities and show us possibilities we might never have considered. We may no longer see his familiar smile behind wire-rimmed glasses, but we will feel his presence wherever we find imagination, innovation, and practicality.

Travel well, Mr. Jobs — and thanks for the memories.

Emily

P.S.: Steve Jobs’ passing was actually the second tragedy to visit my world today. This afternoon, Ron and I said goodbye to Ms. Pushy Galore, the buff Orpington hen whose outgoing demeanor and insatiable curiosity made her a great favorite in our garden. Ron found her little body next to the feeder in the backyard. We saw no signs of trauma and assume she passed away peacefully. Her antics will be missed.

 

Springtime in Red Fork

This is what our deck looked like a few days ago:

In case you are wondering, wisteria smells heavenly. For a few glorious days, our deck was an utterly gorgeous place to be. (The bumblebees thought so, too, and were rather assertive about guarding the blossoms.)

A closer look at one of the blossoms. They look and smell a lot like the royal paulownias that were blooming all over southern California when we were there last June.

I discovered this little guy in a hanging basket that’s been enveloped in wisteria vines. One of his siblings didn’t make it — I found it on the ground — but Ron found another one the deck a little while later and put it back into the nest. I’d been concerned that the nest was abandoned, but Ron said the mama bird sat nearby, giving him the skunk-eye and yelling at him, when she saw him pick up her baby.

Our front flowerbed was a sea of purple when the grape hyacinths and violas started blooming at the same time. This was a few days ago. The hyacinths have since faded, but the violas are blooming even more profusely now and have been joined by native violets. My great-grandmother would be proud. Purple was her favorite color.

Speaking of purple, here’s an extreme close-up of one of the chive blossoms. I just have them in a smallish container on the deck. They don’t seem to mind; they’ve come back two years in a row.

We planted tomatoes yesterday evening. We bought only seven plants this year — less than half our usual number — but I’m hoping for a record harvest anyway, as we are really babying these plants: The raised beds are full of horse manure and barn litter, and we bought some red plastic mulch to lock in moisture and stimulate growth. I’ll probably treat them with seaweed tea before it’s over, too. Tomatoes love seaweed tea.

I love rugosas. They’re tougher and less temperamental than regular roses, they smell absolutely wonderful, and they produce intensely flavored hips as big around as quarters — wonderful for making Red Zinger tea. (Speaking of which, I need to get some hibiscus and lemongrass for the corner flowerbed in the front yard.)

A closer look at a rugosa blossom.

Last but certainly not least, here’s the bee yard. We planted buckwheat in the garden next year to give the girls a convenient nectar source (and hopefully produce darker, richer honey).

A closer look at the bee yard. The hive in the middle is in its third or fourth year (I’ve lost track) and is populated with golden Italians. The hive on the right is in its second year and is occupied by a colony of feisty Buckfasts. The hive on the left houses a brand-new Buckfast colony.

I’m not sure whether I’ve mentioned this already, but we have a new chicken. A couple of weeks ago, we bought a buff Orpington rooster from a lady in Beggs. We named him Bond, of course. He’s very pretty and has fairly decent manners — not too loud, and not inclined to crow at night. Guess we’ll keep him around for a while.

Hope your spring is as pretty and productive as ours….

Emily

Beekeeping adventures

We went out to Living Kitchen today and picked up our Italian hive. The farm is up for sale and has been for several months, and we wanted to move the girls before somebody bought the property. We’d just put the hive out there on a handshake, and we didn’t want to take a chance on the new owners either destroying it or trying to claim ownership of it, so we waited for the girls to draw down their winter stores (thus making the hive lighter) and then loaded it up in the back of the truck and brought it home.

It’s one of the stronger colonies we’ve had in recent memory.

Speaking of strong colonies, I have high hopes for the Texas-bred Buckfasts we got last year. A lot of beekeepers don’t like the Buckfasts from this particular supplier, because they’re ornery little cusses, but I like a hot hive. Bees that are aggressive about defending themselves are not likely to let wax moths or hive beetles sneak in and take over when I’m not looking.

One of our chickens made the mistake of tunneling her way to freedom and treating the Buckfast hive like a smorgasbord while I was in New Mexico. Ron called one night to report that the bees had actually stung her to death. Poor thing probably went over there in search of a snack, got stung once, and then agitated the colony by flailing around and flapping her wings in a panic.

I feel sorry for the chicken, but I’m kind of glad to know the bees are quick to protect themselves from intruders. It was after dark when we moved the Italian hive into our bee yard here in Red Fork, and several dozen Buckfasts promptly came outside to watch what we were doing and make sure we didn’t try anything stupid.

Emily

Saturday

What a great day. Highlights:

1. Shot the bull with Linda from Hilltop Honey at the Cherry Street Farmers’ Market.
2. Bought a garden rake and three Million Bells plants at a feed store in Cleveland.
3. Had lunch at the Dari-Diner.
4. Bought two rolls of 126 film at my neighbor’s garage sale. (The film expired in 1989, but I’m hoping that just means the colors will be extra trippy.)
4. Helped Dawn move booths around at the Rock Cafe.
5. Saw a rainbow on the way home.
6. Drove Gretchen to the hardware store for fencing and pavers.
7. Built a new flowerbed in the front yard.
8. Made pasta with zucchini and green onions for dinner.

Here’s the new flowerbed:

It doesn’t look terribly impressive now, but it should be gorgeous later this summer, as I am planting morning glories and sweet peas in there tomorrow. The chickens are already impressed, as I fed them about a dozen grubworms I found in the soil while I was spading up the bed….

I’m looking forward to another good day tomorrow: We’re going to Norman to see the B-52′s (CAUTION: NOISY LINK) in concert. I’ve been dying to see them since high school, so I’m really excited about this. We’re going to Van’s Pig Stand for dinner before the show. Should be a great day.

Hope you’re having an awesome weekend, wherever you are.

Emily

Poor little chick

I came in this evening after school and discovered that five of the chicks had ganged up on the sixth one and pulled all the feathers off her back. Poor little thing looked like Steve Carell’s chest in The 40-Year-Old Virgin.

I rustled up an empty gerbil cage and turned it into a makeshift holding pen for the hazing victim. She is not happy about being separated from the flock, but I’m afraid the other chicks will hurt her if I leave her with them. She can go back once her feathers have grown in, but that bald spot is just too easy a target for sharp little beaks right now.

Emily

Chick update

The chicks have figured out the water bottle I attached to their cage yesterday and have become quite adept at using it. This is a very good thing, as they kept knocking over their water dispenser and fouling the water by kicking litter into it. When we switched to a trough, the water really got nasty. The hamster bottle mounted to the outside of the cage solves both problems. I highly recommend it for anyone trying to figure out how to supply clean water to young chickens.

Emily

Busy little things

Princess Wiggly is learning about farms in her class at school, so she came over this afternoon to meet her new chickens:

She got to watch them fight over a worm, which was pretty funny. I think the excitement must have tired them out, because they’re taking a nap in the corner of their cage now.

Emily

Major achievement

I am SO proud of Songdog tonight. We took Song and Riggy for a walk this afternoon when I got home from school. Song had been a handful at the start of his walk yesterday, so I nipped the problem in the bud today by putting his pinch collar on him. It intimidated him just enough to keep him in check without a lot of leash corrections.

In fact, he behaved so well that I took a calculated risk and dropped his leash while he was in a sit-stay. He stayed put while I walked all the way around him. I picked up the leash again, walked about half a block with him at heel, and then dropped the leash and asked him to heel, sit, and then stay. He was a perfect gentleman. We walked several blocks like that, with Song keeping a close eye on my movements and sitting every time I stopped, the way I’ve trained him to do on-leash. He even sat and stayed without flinching when a truck passed within three or four feet of us on the road.

Song was hit by a car shortly before he came to us. Because of that experience, he has always been scared of cars, trucks, bicycles, and anything else with wheels (even fast-moving rollerbladers unnerve him sometimes), but we’ve been working to overcome that fear, and his obedience without leash control this evening really illustrated how far he’s come.

It was maybe the most glorious dog-training moment I’ve had since Scout learned to breakdance.

In other pet news, the chicks have had an exciting night. First I gave them a nightcrawler we bought at a bait shop in Okemah this evening, and then I installed a hamster-type water bottle on the side of their cage. Their reactions to both were absolutely priceless. I’ll try to get video of them playing “Who’s Got the Worm?” next time we give them a nightcrawler, because it’s absolutely hilarious.

Hope your evening was full of laughter and accomplishments, too.

Emily