With unseasonably warm weather this week, much work was done around the farm including continued progress on the fencing, final tweaks to stage 1 of our farm irrigation installation, and beginning work on our new hoop house. More chicks also arrived. The brooder shed is filling up. Kenan continues to do a great job caring for the little chicks. Josiah enjoys visiting them as they are just right for his size ๐Ÿ™‚ .

Vegetable seedlings are growing now with more being planted each week. Scheduling out a large volume of plants for optimum production this spring & summer for our families and our wonderful market community, takes much careful planning. Daniel enjoys laying out the detailed plans. Lots of tasty veggies coming.

Joshua checked out the bees last Saturday afternoon & gave them sugar water. All hives are still alive. A couple were especially strong & buzzy ๐Ÿ™‚ and not too thrilled about being checked on. Thankfully Joshua made it out with no stings :-). We feed them a 2:1 ratio sugar water in the winter and then 1:1 as we prepare for spring to encourage the queen bee to start laying eggs.

The fruit trees will need to be pruned here in the next week or two. Proper pruning creates strong, fruitful trees in the years to come. We’re currently planning to graft some more heirloom apple trees so let us know if you are looking for a tasty apple tree from yesteryear.

Nothing like a fresh bale of straw to a herd of goats….do you see the bee hives off in the distance? So far, they have all weathered the cold winter.