Tomato Staking

Our 1st tomatoes before the staking & stringing

James with the end posts

Drivin' em in! (sisters...notice my sun protection!)

Action photos

Getting my string on. Handy box ties right around the waist for ease!

On a side note, you might have noticed a wardrobe change (ie, hat & shirt) from the 1st picture and the last. This was due in part to an injury James sustained while driving in the stakes. We were staking the 2nd row, when I heard James yell my name really loud. I turned to see him with blood all over his head and hands. I proceeded to, within seconds, take off my shirt and press it against his head. It was a sight. Me without a shirt on in the middle of the field and a bloodied James. All ended up fine-the stake driver had got hung up on the stake and hit him on top of his head. It wasn't as bad of a cut as I thought and 30 minutes later we were back to work-me with a new shirt and James taking it easy with the stringing! :)

Fields of Plenty

Spring Kale

Crimson Clover & Poppies

Honey Bees

Package of bees

Putting the queen cage between frames. The queen comes in the package of bees in a small wooden screened cage. The cage has a fondant cork that the worker bees eat, in order to release the queen. We will check in one week to see if they have accepted and released the queen.

Bumping the package to get the bees to drop before shaking. Prior to smartly bumping the package on the ground, we sprayed the bees with sugar syrup to keep them calm.

Shaking the bees. We literally shook the package over the queen to get the bees out. You don't have to worry about them flying off because they want to be around the queen.
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Bees around the queen
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Putting the additional frames in

Laying a pollen patty on top. This helps when installing the package as it can be stressful on the bees. By feeding them pollen and sugar syrup right there, they won't have to spend as much time finding food and more time drawing comb for the queen to lay eggs.

Inspecting the install. Note the white disc still in the package. After removing it, we realized it was comb made from the sugar syrup in the package. We think there was another queen in the package (not in a queen cage) and she had already laid some eggs. We might have 2 queens in our hive, but they will duke it out and there will only be one queen in the end.

Success!!

Whisper Hill Farm Website

It's live folks. That's right, I finally got around to putting up a website for the farm. After about a month of messing with it, I have decided I am done! :) Check it out!

www.whisperhillfarm.com

Farmers Market

Our first lettuce planting
James & I in the greenhouse (which is almost empty due to a whole week of crazy planting!)

Me at the end of Warrenton Farmers Market

Help...I Need Somebody

Things are getting pretty downright serious on the farm. James & I are working from 7 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. most days. We are thinking we might need to hire somebody or have some friends and family out for a bit. It's just a crazy time of year-we have to get almost all our summer stuff (peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, corn, beans, etc.) planted within a few weeks. Just to give you an idea-we are planting over 1,700 tomato plants and 2,000 pepper plants. Oh...and planting is just the beginning of all the work! The life of a farmer...you might have to be a little insane to be one (and I am counting myself in that category) We are still loving it, but just feel like there just isn't enough time in the day to do regular things-like cooking, laundry, cleaning, enjoying a book, friends, etc.
Anyway, enough Debbie Downer for the day. I will be posting some pictures real soon. Our first lettuce planting will be ready to harvest for this weekend's upcoming farmers markets..and our perennial herb bed is coming together. Our first tomatoes and squash are in the field. And our irrigation should be done soon?! (That's a whole different post!)
Sending love from our fields to your home..love and miss you all. G'night :)