Happy summer! I know it’s not official, but step outside and it sure feels like it.
What are the beekeepers up to?
I know, we usually start with the bees. We’re not afraid to admit that the bees are way more interesting than we are. But we have a life update, so we figured we’d start there.
We recently accepted the caretaker position at Seabold Farm, on the NW end of Bainbridge Island, only a few miles from where we’ve been living the past four years. We will be managing a small flock of sheep (and their two guard donkeys), a large fruit orchard, the grounds, and a small garden. We’re excited to learn more about animal husbandry and pasture management, and to get to do even more growing (and eating - we love fruit, so get ready).
It’s been a hectic month, downsizing our home, moving to the farm and learning the ins and outs of the systems, but we’re feeling good! The bees and chickens have made the move to the farm as well as us, and of course, Mena the cat. We’ve planted the garden, and we’ve each only unintentionally let the guard donkeys run loose on the farm once (donkeys are harder to herd than sheep, okay?)
What are the bees up to?
The news is a little less cheerful on the bee front. This is always a bit of a tough time of year for the bees: the weather is nice and they’re out and flying, but the maple and other early bloomers have finished, and the blackberries haven’t yet started in earnest, so there’s not a lot of food. That’s manageable though: we can keep them fed.
We have, unfortunately, lost a few of our hives to pesticides. We’ve talked with several other beekeepers on the North end of the island who have had the same experience. It’s very heartbreaking when this happens, and there’s nothing we can do about it. Bees forage for up to three miles from their hive, so it could be anywhere.
We still have a few hives that are doing alright, so we’re keeping our chins up and our fingers crossed that things start looking up from here! (We have, in fact, started seeing the first of the season’s blackberry blossoms, so at least they’ll have food sources soon!)
Mushrooms and Microgreens and More!
Even when everything else is changing around us, some things are staying the same! We’re still selling microgreens at Bay Hay and Feed each week, and of course eating them ourselves (a recent favorite: breakfast burritos).
Sweet potatoes, corn, and beans are in the ground at Suyematsu Farm. These are all long-season crops, so it’s mostly a waiting (and watering and weeding) game now.
We’ve also had some very prolific mushroom harvests recently, which as been fun! One of the perks of the farm we’ve moved to is that there is a roadside farm stand we can use to sell our produce. We decided to start small (perfect is the enemy of done, after all) and opened today with some of our oyster mushrooms. We sold almost all of them! Thank you to everyone who stopped by, we love feeding you. More to come - keep your eye out for microgreens, flowers, fruit, sweet potatoes, and beans as the season progresses.
As always, thanks for following along on our journey, and for your support!