Mrs Farmer catching a swarm of honeybees while volunteer Sally snaps some great photos.
FINDING BALANCE
We were startled by something in the grass at the end of the cat tunnel this evening. It was brown. Assumed it might be a bunny. Went after it. It was a toad. The biggest toad ever seen on our farm. The same adjective can be used for the garter snake we see in the high tunnel each day sunning himself on the straw mulch. And we spotted lady bugs last week. Real ladybugs, not Asian beetles. They are much more red and have nice big black spots compared to those stinky Asian beetles. It seems that Mother Nature is finally making the connections organic farmers hope for. The predators that will alleviate pest problems like mice, cabbage moths and aphids, just to name a few. These little critters are all good signs of a balanced system.
We had some excitement this week when a friend had a swarm and no one was around except Mrs Farmer to go capture it. Volunteer Sally was more than willing to take a time out from planting and the boys were excited for a road trip as well. The swarm was, luckily, very low on a tree just hanging out. The mass of worker bees surrounds and protects the queen before they leave the area. You have a short window of time to get them inside a box while the scout bees are out looking for a new home. Just line up your container and give them one big shake and – BUZZZZZ – you’ve got ~10,000 bees plus one queen in a box. And no one was stung, not once.
There are two things going on this week at We Grow. First, we are hosting a UW Extension Beekeeper’s Workshop on June 15 from 6-8 pm. Let us know if you need details. Second, we are collecting donations for the children’s museum Huey’s HideAway being built in downtown Medford. We want to encourage the museum board to include gardening in their outdoor exhibits. We feel passionate about teaching children food doesn’t come from a store, it is grown! We Grow’s sales from Tuesday’s market will be donated. We are asking members to join us in contributing and sending this message.
Supporting the community that supports us,
Rebecca & Eric