Yet another month since we have "graced" our pages...I shipped my first queen bee. Although I have sold some in this, my first year of experimenting with raising queen bees, I had not shipped any yet. I have received queen bees via both the U.S. Post office and United Parcel Service. I received one dead out of four from the post office and the seller promptly filed the claim although I had to purchase another queen and wait for my money from the post office (six weeks). The rules have changed now apparently. I shipped a queen bee priority mail (avg. two day delivery, but as they pointed out, NOT guaranteed) from Lancaster, Ohio to Hiram, Ohio. If I was driving, it would have been about a 2 1/2 hour drive... I shipped at 11:00 am on a Thursday. Big mistake. Weekend is coming. Nobody cares whether a queen makes it or not. The truck was scheduled to leave at 2:30pm that day. I assume my queen was on her way to her new home...I figured well, its in Ohio, it should make it by Saturday. NOPE! It did arrive Monday morning however but wherever she spent the weekend, I reckon it was hot. She and her attendants arrived dead...Being a good guy and therefore probably a bad businessman, I refunded the customer's money (maybe that'll give me points in the end?) even though I stipulated that the customer would be responsible for filing the claim in the event of any unlikely tragedies...
So I went to the post office, picked up the required forms, collected my receipts for evidence of mailing, printed a copy of the invoice as evidence of the value of the insured item, and then presented them to the postal clerk (the one clerk who handles the insurance claims). I thought well, that's alright, she'll know what she's doing. Flashing back, it seems when I was about to ship the queen, there was also one person who knew about that. Hmmmmnnnn. What does this say about the postmaster here?
By the way, my father is a retired postmaster. But he is from the era of devout responsibility to your job and the accomplishment of the mission at hand. Just to digress a bit, I recall a time from my youth when my father had to leave work in a hurry. He drove fast to Columbus, Ohio from Sandusky, getting pulled over on the way. He explained the situation to the State Patrolman who then escorted him the rest of the way. Somehow, the package he was taking to Columbus had missed its connection in Sandusky. My dad wasn't at fault, but he, in his position, would be responsible, but it was just one of those things. In the package was an organ, packed in dry ice, needed for an operation in Columbus. In this day and age, I'm not sure the operation would have happened. I know there are some people left with a sense of duty and responsibility to their positions, but not as many as there once was. And I do not mean a blind devotion of duty to hard and fast rules written in stone. I mean like my Dad, and the patrolman. They looked at what needed to be done, decided to do it, figured out the most practical way to get it done, and not let unnecessary rules get in the way. They were not the type to let something sit, waiting for things to go strictly by the book.
Anyway, I think my queen bee sat somewhere. And nobody cared. You would think that they would have watched the news and heard of the demise of the honey bee and its impact on food production. But of course, that was last months news. Its no longer real since its no longer in the headlines. The weather was nice Thursday, Friday, and part of Saturday. It should have went without a hitch. It turned hot Saturday afternoon and Sunday. By then it was too late. She was gone. What did the post office say as I presented my information to process a claim for damaged goods in shipment? First, the lady "who is the one to talk to about insurance claims" as I started explaining the situation, interrupts me, and calls the Postmaster over saying "you'll have to hear this". When I said the queen was dead and it took four days to get to post office 2 1/2 hours away, all they could say was: Priority mail is not guaranteed....two day delivery is just an average...When I asked about insurance and the dead queen (that's damaged goods in my book) they said IT'S NOT INSURED TO ARRIVE ALIVE, JUST TO ARRIVE. He said that was covered by the insurance and then scribbled the number for customer relations on my papers. I notice now that he had that number in his head, maybe he uses that a few too many times for my taste.
Anyway, I am really disheartened by this experience. I think it stems from the fact that now the post office has to run in the black and compete with "Brown" et al and has ceased to be the government run, but sometimes in the red, SERVICE organization. In the past, this was a service worthy of my tax dollars. Now, well, I think a letter to anywhere in the U.S., even at the new .41 rate is still the best deal in the nation, but that's because of the automation of the whole process. The human factor of the past was what provided the SERVICE, while in my particular experience, the human factors involved were the DISSERVICE.
I also wanted to mention the marking of queen bees...I always wondered how the dealers justified charging $1.00 or $1.50 to mark queens prior to shipping. Marking is an excellent way to let the beekeeper know if a supercedure has occurred or the original queen was replaced etc. It's not always crucial information, but nice to know when trying to decipher a bee "puzzle". I found out why they charge. I'm sure I'll get better with practice but I lost two queens to my marking...They must be held right so as not to damage their abdomen and using paint pens can sometimes be sporadic and result in a queen with her entire head yellow...not that that has happened to me...I am refining my technique and it works better, but the $1.5o is well spent if you don't want to mark them yourself. But give it a try! You'll see!
Thursday, August 09, 2007
Monday, July 09, 2007
Honey Lament
Yet another month has passed since I addressed these pages. I have often thought of posting. Ideas pop in on interesting topics or things stir my emotions eliciting strings of prose unrecorded because I was too busy with something else. I think it is like poetry; you have to drop everything, find a pen and paper, and get it down then! I especially wanted to post (read that vent) when I was disturbed by our honey situation. I thought last year was bad and no way could there be two years in a row like that. This year is far worse. Last year, we at least had enough honey to wholesale some and still sell at the market for the season, finally running out in October.
Although there seems to be a small nectar flow now and the bees are very active and not just hanging out in the heat (like beekeepers!), the harvest so far is significantly less than last year at this time. And as I said, last year was bad. Meanwhile, everything around us is going up, up, up in price. I won't even mention gas. Food is up. Car parts are up. Printer ink is up. Plastic containers are up. Glass containers are up. Shipping is up. But please, no, don't tell me your honey price is up!
Sometimes I just can't believe it. Why do people want local, unprocessed, unheated, raw honey? Because it tastes unbelievably better. Since it was not heated, all the enzymes in honey are still intact. What does heating do? First of all, there is no honey in any large chain grocery store that is not heated. Heating gives shelf-life to the stores by increasing the time it takes for honey to crystallize. Heating saves processing time for the honey packer/producer because thin honey flows quickly through the micro-fine pressure filters which strip everything else good for you out of honey that isn't destroyed by heating. Here I am, lightly filtering honey that is about 16% moisture content, which flows very slow, and it takes hours for one 5 gallon bucket to finally finish. Maybe I shouldn't go to the trouble.
When one old time regular customer balked at my new prices, I decided to do a survey of prices at the local grocery stores. I compared the best honey in the stores with mine. Although cheaper "honey" can be found in the stores, the origin is most likely China no matter what it says on the label. I saw a 2lb jar of imported honey for $4.00! TWO pounds. Eat that at your own risk. Even when Chinese honey importation was banned because of the presence of the broad spectrum anti-biotic chloramphenacol, trans-shipment via several other countries let it find it's way into American products. Call General Mills and see if they will tell you where the honey comes from in Honey Nut Cheerios. Or Sara Lee's honey ham...I'm not stating facts, but see if they will tell you. That's really another topic. All I can say is support firm, real, Country of Origin labeling laws. Tell your representatives and don't let China win this new type of warfare by poisoning us through the food chain!
Back to prices. One pound of decent honey, usually a varietal honey like orange blossom, buckwheat, or clover was $5.59/lb. Although varietal, it is still processed honey. My new price is $5.50/lb. I noticed a sincere lack of what I will call decent honey in the larger containers. Why? Probably because there is not that much decent honey out there. I offer my honey in larger containers because that's how some customers like it. This year, my discount for larger quantities is less than in the past. Large quantity discounts benefit both the beekeeper and the consumer WHEN there is a surplus of honey. My prices will be based on the supply available, just like everything else is. When I have a good crop, my prices will come adjust accordingly. I suppose everyone thinks I'm getting rich and the bees do all the work. If I had time, I would like to calculate my hourly rate! There is no minimum wage rules in beekeeping.
I'm sure I've reflected a somewhat bitter tone which is contrary to our title lines about reflecting good back for the enrichment of others, so I guess I should step up to higher level. To whine a bit, I still maintain a low paying, full-time job with health insurance for my family. I take care of the bees in my '85 pickup at 10 - 12 miles a gallon. Our newest vehicle is a 1992 and the combined mileage on all our vehicles is well over half a million.
With all the publicity bees are getting now with Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), you would think that people would actually be concerned enough to put two and two together (if they still teach that in public school) and say, "Hey! Dude! I need to do what I can to make sure bees and beekeepers stick around so I can have some food!" It seems like most are saying, "I'll just get the cheap stuff from China..."
Although there seems to be a small nectar flow now and the bees are very active and not just hanging out in the heat (like beekeepers!), the harvest so far is significantly less than last year at this time. And as I said, last year was bad. Meanwhile, everything around us is going up, up, up in price. I won't even mention gas. Food is up. Car parts are up. Printer ink is up. Plastic containers are up. Glass containers are up. Shipping is up. But please, no, don't tell me your honey price is up!
Sometimes I just can't believe it. Why do people want local, unprocessed, unheated, raw honey? Because it tastes unbelievably better. Since it was not heated, all the enzymes in honey are still intact. What does heating do? First of all, there is no honey in any large chain grocery store that is not heated. Heating gives shelf-life to the stores by increasing the time it takes for honey to crystallize. Heating saves processing time for the honey packer/producer because thin honey flows quickly through the micro-fine pressure filters which strip everything else good for you out of honey that isn't destroyed by heating. Here I am, lightly filtering honey that is about 16% moisture content, which flows very slow, and it takes hours for one 5 gallon bucket to finally finish. Maybe I shouldn't go to the trouble.
When one old time regular customer balked at my new prices, I decided to do a survey of prices at the local grocery stores. I compared the best honey in the stores with mine. Although cheaper "honey" can be found in the stores, the origin is most likely China no matter what it says on the label. I saw a 2lb jar of imported honey for $4.00! TWO pounds. Eat that at your own risk. Even when Chinese honey importation was banned because of the presence of the broad spectrum anti-biotic chloramphenacol, trans-shipment via several other countries let it find it's way into American products. Call General Mills and see if they will tell you where the honey comes from in Honey Nut Cheerios. Or Sara Lee's honey ham...I'm not stating facts, but see if they will tell you. That's really another topic. All I can say is support firm, real, Country of Origin labeling laws. Tell your representatives and don't let China win this new type of warfare by poisoning us through the food chain!
Back to prices. One pound of decent honey, usually a varietal honey like orange blossom, buckwheat, or clover was $5.59/lb. Although varietal, it is still processed honey. My new price is $5.50/lb. I noticed a sincere lack of what I will call decent honey in the larger containers. Why? Probably because there is not that much decent honey out there. I offer my honey in larger containers because that's how some customers like it. This year, my discount for larger quantities is less than in the past. Large quantity discounts benefit both the beekeeper and the consumer WHEN there is a surplus of honey. My prices will be based on the supply available, just like everything else is. When I have a good crop, my prices will come adjust accordingly. I suppose everyone thinks I'm getting rich and the bees do all the work. If I had time, I would like to calculate my hourly rate! There is no minimum wage rules in beekeeping.
I'm sure I've reflected a somewhat bitter tone which is contrary to our title lines about reflecting good back for the enrichment of others, so I guess I should step up to higher level. To whine a bit, I still maintain a low paying, full-time job with health insurance for my family. I take care of the bees in my '85 pickup at 10 - 12 miles a gallon. Our newest vehicle is a 1992 and the combined mileage on all our vehicles is well over half a million.
With all the publicity bees are getting now with Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), you would think that people would actually be concerned enough to put two and two together (if they still teach that in public school) and say, "Hey! Dude! I need to do what I can to make sure bees and beekeepers stick around so I can have some food!" It seems like most are saying, "I'll just get the cheap stuff from China..."
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Reconnecting With Roots
We are also reconnecting with our blog! Yes, it has been quite some time since we have been here but there are reasons... We had a busy market season last year which literally left very little time for blogging. Between part-time jobs, gardens, 50 or so hives of bees, vehicles and the house to maintain etc. combined with being officers in the farmers market, we just got burned out...very burned out.
What we learned from this is that when the focus leaves the spirituality behind the life you want to live, although on the surface it seems like you are doing what you love to do, it somehow becomes detached. It was a great experience and I won't say that we will never do it again, but for this year, we will not be members of our local farmers market.
We still have the garden and the bees, but the dynamics have changed. Before, I dared not grow sweet corn. With our limited space, it was not cost/space/time efficient. We do not have the space to grow a large quantity to maintain a customer base with it but could not grow some "just for ourselves" since we needed the room to grow other, more space efficient things for market. Time from last year spent updating the website for the market, preparing ads for the market, and paying bills for the market is now time spent on weeding, planning, and other things that in the past have gone by the wayside. I actually was looking around the yard the other day and began to have this strange feeling that I was almost caught up! It has been a long time since that happened. So, this year I have planted sweet corn...two crops...for us, and probably the coons.
Of course, there are things missed. The camaraderie with other vendors and your regular customers becomes an intimate part of life and I hope those who counted on us for certain things when they came to market will understand we are searchers always for the "way" to be and that means change. The changes that have occurred for us our now working a full-time job in order to have health insurance. Is this right? We are not sure yet. We are grandparents for the first time. What a joy which would be lost if too busy. Other things are happening which are transforming our way of life, hopefully for the better.
This morning I posed two questions to Trendle: What are we doing? and Where are we going? As we go on from here, we hope to answer these questions and provide guidance, education, entertainment, and inspiration for those who may read here.
What we learned from this is that when the focus leaves the spirituality behind the life you want to live, although on the surface it seems like you are doing what you love to do, it somehow becomes detached. It was a great experience and I won't say that we will never do it again, but for this year, we will not be members of our local farmers market.
We still have the garden and the bees, but the dynamics have changed. Before, I dared not grow sweet corn. With our limited space, it was not cost/space/time efficient. We do not have the space to grow a large quantity to maintain a customer base with it but could not grow some "just for ourselves" since we needed the room to grow other, more space efficient things for market. Time from last year spent updating the website for the market, preparing ads for the market, and paying bills for the market is now time spent on weeding, planning, and other things that in the past have gone by the wayside. I actually was looking around the yard the other day and began to have this strange feeling that I was almost caught up! It has been a long time since that happened. So, this year I have planted sweet corn...two crops...for us, and probably the coons.
Of course, there are things missed. The camaraderie with other vendors and your regular customers becomes an intimate part of life and I hope those who counted on us for certain things when they came to market will understand we are searchers always for the "way" to be and that means change. The changes that have occurred for us our now working a full-time job in order to have health insurance. Is this right? We are not sure yet. We are grandparents for the first time. What a joy which would be lost if too busy. Other things are happening which are transforming our way of life, hopefully for the better.
This morning I posed two questions to Trendle: What are we doing? and Where are we going? As we go on from here, we hope to answer these questions and provide guidance, education, entertainment, and inspiration for those who may read here.
Friday, June 23, 2006
We Walk His Hallowed Ground
As I set my feet outside my door.
I enter hallowed ground.
All I have to do is look,
To see that God has been around.
He left his touch on each wet leaf,
He blooms in every flower.
He shines his love, warm from the sun.
And he laughs in summer hours.
His song rings forth from every tree,
Where birdsong flushes down to me,
He sighs within the very wind.
Storms bring the mighty wrath of him.
There’s not one day that I forget
He made the dry, the day, the night, the wet
He made it all, for you and me.
I enter hallowed ground.
All I have to do is look,
To see that God has been around.
He left his touch on each wet leaf,
He blooms in every flower.
He shines his love, warm from the sun.
And he laughs in summer hours.
His song rings forth from every tree,
Where birdsong flushes down to me,
He sighs within the very wind.
Storms bring the mighty wrath of him.
There’s not one day that I forget
He made the dry, the day, the night, the wet
He made it all, for you and me.
How could we doubt that he could be?
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
From the Early June Garden
The radishes are so pretty, red, purple and white! Rose and I have been plucking them from the ground, washing and bundling them up for market where we sell them for 1.00 a bunch. We have new ones coming on so we will be able to keep up with the demand a while longer.
The spinach patch has kept us and the market supplied for a good couple of months but it is bolting now and I have done my last picking of it. I tried to start some more but they like it cool to sprout and the weather was not inclined.
The romaine lettuce is still wonderful we will be able to pick green beans for Saturday’s market.We weeded the garlic, the onions, the radishes and the cutting flower bed this week. Alas! There are always new weeds to take their place.
But I am thankful for a ground that is wet and yielding from the recent rains so that the weeds slip out of the ground without much struggle. I am keeping my eye out for some organic material to mulch with to help with the weeds and to hold down moisture if the weather turns dry as it usually does come July.
We planted the tomatoes and peppers in black plastic mulch this year. It is the lazy way, but it works to keep out the weeds. Had some keeper apples in the fridge in the basement that I needed to use up so I made two batches of apple pie jam. Yum, I love the cinnamon. I put together fresh strawberries and rhubarb with some blackberries, red and gold raspberries and blueberries that I had in the freezer and made some bumbleberry jam. So I had jam to take to market this week. They have been asking for it so I made two batches of apple and one of bumble. The bumble is sold out already so I hope to make more of it this week.
Big Jim from market tells us that the black raspberries are almost ripe so I might be making a trip down to the pit ( A wild berry patch that is I won’t tell where!) to check things this week.Today I beat the brown thrasher to the biggest percentage of the cherries and I made some cherry jam.
The phone calls coming in about swarms have ceased. No longer is my husband running off at a moments notice to chase run-away bees. He told me that there is a little window of season in the spring when it is good for the bees to swarm. In order for them to swarm they have to be a big healthy hive that is strong enough to put away enough substance to sustain the mother hive after they leave. Plus they have to have enough honey for them to gorge on before they swarm so that they will have the energy needed to get out and find their new home. If this window of time passes and summer settles in before they can swarm then they make a change of plans. They change their focus to staying where they are and gathering enough to get them all through another winter. In other words they put aside their dreams of starting new colonies as they realize that it is best for them to prepare the hive that they are in for another winter. I think that there is something there for us humans to think about.
Last week my beekeeper went out to all of his beehives and collected the combs that were filled with heavy golden liquid. After Meeting on Sunday we came home and he extracted from the combs our first honey of the season. It is very light and the sweetest that we can ever remember tasting.
The spinach patch has kept us and the market supplied for a good couple of months but it is bolting now and I have done my last picking of it. I tried to start some more but they like it cool to sprout and the weather was not inclined.
The romaine lettuce is still wonderful we will be able to pick green beans for Saturday’s market.We weeded the garlic, the onions, the radishes and the cutting flower bed this week. Alas! There are always new weeds to take their place.
But I am thankful for a ground that is wet and yielding from the recent rains so that the weeds slip out of the ground without much struggle. I am keeping my eye out for some organic material to mulch with to help with the weeds and to hold down moisture if the weather turns dry as it usually does come July.
We planted the tomatoes and peppers in black plastic mulch this year. It is the lazy way, but it works to keep out the weeds. Had some keeper apples in the fridge in the basement that I needed to use up so I made two batches of apple pie jam. Yum, I love the cinnamon. I put together fresh strawberries and rhubarb with some blackberries, red and gold raspberries and blueberries that I had in the freezer and made some bumbleberry jam. So I had jam to take to market this week. They have been asking for it so I made two batches of apple and one of bumble. The bumble is sold out already so I hope to make more of it this week.
Big Jim from market tells us that the black raspberries are almost ripe so I might be making a trip down to the pit ( A wild berry patch that is I won’t tell where!) to check things this week.Today I beat the brown thrasher to the biggest percentage of the cherries and I made some cherry jam.
The phone calls coming in about swarms have ceased. No longer is my husband running off at a moments notice to chase run-away bees. He told me that there is a little window of season in the spring when it is good for the bees to swarm. In order for them to swarm they have to be a big healthy hive that is strong enough to put away enough substance to sustain the mother hive after they leave. Plus they have to have enough honey for them to gorge on before they swarm so that they will have the energy needed to get out and find their new home. If this window of time passes and summer settles in before they can swarm then they make a change of plans. They change their focus to staying where they are and gathering enough to get them all through another winter. In other words they put aside their dreams of starting new colonies as they realize that it is best for them to prepare the hive that they are in for another winter. I think that there is something there for us humans to think about.
Last week my beekeeper went out to all of his beehives and collected the combs that were filled with heavy golden liquid. After Meeting on Sunday we came home and he extracted from the combs our first honey of the season. It is very light and the sweetest that we can ever remember tasting.
Sunday, June 18, 2006
Brambling On
It started the other day. I was out by the chicken coop and noticed our volunteer wild black raspberries were glowing red in the sun. I then spied a few darker ones up high and out of reach. I said to myself, "I'll have to get the ladder over here to get up there." The next morning I did. There were a few more ripe as well. I think strawberries really wake up the farmers' market. It's the first fruit that people will really come out for, but I think the all-time favorite is the black raspberry. They rarely last past 9 or ten in the morning at a Saturday market. We will likely bring some Wednesday this week unless we eat them...
Although they are tops in taste, they stir other emotions as well. Now begins the quest. Not too long ago I asked my wife what really makes her feel alive, what inspires her utmost curiosity and she answered, " Crop circles!" I was a bit surprised but I can see her fascination. But I also saw signs of yet another source of awakening today. I had mentioned to her that I had eaten a few black raspberries the other day and it caused no great stirring. She was much too busy with cherries and strawberries to wonder why I mentioned it. She might have just acknowledged that I said something, as she sometimes does when she's busy, without even knowing what I said. But today it was different. I checked our patch this afternoon and ended up small pile overflowing my hand held close to my shirt to form my basket. It's just like the grocery store, when you need a cart, you never get one...Anyway, I put these little dark treasures in a bowl. (Some managed to escape into my mouth) and I sought out my wife Trendle. We have a few patches of wild black raspberries we pick and they tend to be a bit earlier than the domestic cultivated black raspberries. When she saw the slightly heaping bowl of black jewels her eyes glowed with fire kindled long ago within her. She said, "We gotta check the patches!" Of course these are top secret! Especially for my wife. The glow in her eyes told me bramble fever is starting. Although she finished her strawberry work for the night and has more ahead, she will reconnect with the lives of her past, the sequence held deep within her DNA that makes her a berry picker. She gets a feverish wild look about her in bramble season. Whether it's the wild black raspberries or the wild blackberries, she's out there in the sweltering heat of summer with ticks, snakes, and sometimes bulls, all the while arguing with the catbird whose afraid her feverish picking will leave him none.
Now I've picked with her before. She will out pick me 2 to 1 all the time. We planted thornless blackberries in the garden to ease our pain, but these do not tempt her away from the wild thorns scraping her arms, tangling her hair, and tearing her clothes. When she's in the patch, you had better watch out! And don't you dare be what she calls a "surface picker"! She noticed someone had been in a patch before her but had left many large, ripe berries behind because they were deep within the tangle of brambles where only Trendle dare tread! So when you see her at the market, wish her well on her quest for berries this year. But I would advise you not to question why she charges what she charges for these treasures she collects with such fervor! It's not an unfair price for the work involved and understandably, people do remember picking the fields as a youngster for 25 cents a gallon. I remember gas at 19 cents a gallon myself! There is something deep within my wife which sends her on this quest. Something primal and excercised as if survival was at risk, but mostly I think she considers these brambles a gift from God. Sometimes God's gifts are painful to acquire, but they should never be ignored nor wasted. Yes, I think that's it.
Akin to my title, I am brambling on. If you would like to hear more of Trendle's outlook on life and her love of nature, I highly recommend her book, available online as a download or printed via http://www.lulu.com/content/107285 We also have a few copies at market. We should have green beans Wednesday. The early plantings are just about ready. I harvested some elephant garlic and regular garlic and put in under shelter to cure so that it stores well. I should have it at market in a week or two.
Although they are tops in taste, they stir other emotions as well. Now begins the quest. Not too long ago I asked my wife what really makes her feel alive, what inspires her utmost curiosity and she answered, " Crop circles!" I was a bit surprised but I can see her fascination. But I also saw signs of yet another source of awakening today. I had mentioned to her that I had eaten a few black raspberries the other day and it caused no great stirring. She was much too busy with cherries and strawberries to wonder why I mentioned it. She might have just acknowledged that I said something, as she sometimes does when she's busy, without even knowing what I said. But today it was different. I checked our patch this afternoon and ended up small pile overflowing my hand held close to my shirt to form my basket. It's just like the grocery store, when you need a cart, you never get one...Anyway, I put these little dark treasures in a bowl. (Some managed to escape into my mouth) and I sought out my wife Trendle. We have a few patches of wild black raspberries we pick and they tend to be a bit earlier than the domestic cultivated black raspberries. When she saw the slightly heaping bowl of black jewels her eyes glowed with fire kindled long ago within her. She said, "We gotta check the patches!" Of course these are top secret! Especially for my wife. The glow in her eyes told me bramble fever is starting. Although she finished her strawberry work for the night and has more ahead, she will reconnect with the lives of her past, the sequence held deep within her DNA that makes her a berry picker. She gets a feverish wild look about her in bramble season. Whether it's the wild black raspberries or the wild blackberries, she's out there in the sweltering heat of summer with ticks, snakes, and sometimes bulls, all the while arguing with the catbird whose afraid her feverish picking will leave him none.
Now I've picked with her before. She will out pick me 2 to 1 all the time. We planted thornless blackberries in the garden to ease our pain, but these do not tempt her away from the wild thorns scraping her arms, tangling her hair, and tearing her clothes. When she's in the patch, you had better watch out! And don't you dare be what she calls a "surface picker"! She noticed someone had been in a patch before her but had left many large, ripe berries behind because they were deep within the tangle of brambles where only Trendle dare tread! So when you see her at the market, wish her well on her quest for berries this year. But I would advise you not to question why she charges what she charges for these treasures she collects with such fervor! It's not an unfair price for the work involved and understandably, people do remember picking the fields as a youngster for 25 cents a gallon. I remember gas at 19 cents a gallon myself! There is something deep within my wife which sends her on this quest. Something primal and excercised as if survival was at risk, but mostly I think she considers these brambles a gift from God. Sometimes God's gifts are painful to acquire, but they should never be ignored nor wasted. Yes, I think that's it.
Akin to my title, I am brambling on. If you would like to hear more of Trendle's outlook on life and her love of nature, I highly recommend her book, available online as a download or printed via http://www.lulu.com/content/107285 We also have a few copies at market. We should have green beans Wednesday. The early plantings are just about ready. I harvested some elephant garlic and regular garlic and put in under shelter to cure so that it stores well. I should have it at market in a week or two.
Sunday, June 11, 2006
The Many Faces of Rain
The life of the market gardener has many two(or three)-edged swords. In our case, rain is the sharpest and swiftest. Of course rain is necessary for life, in and out of the garden. Without it, we are all dust. So rain is welcome in the garden. Most "How-to" books say an inch of rain a week is necessary for proper growth. Sometimes too much rain early in the year prevents the gardener from tilling or planting. Once planted, rain keeps the seeds moist until they can germinate, but too much moisture may cause the seed to rot before it can sprout.
Rain continues to be required throughout the growing season but it can also ruin crops if it occurs at the wrong time. Strawberries, (now at the market) are a good example. The fruit is set and needs to ripen. Rain keeps things fresh and juicy, but too much may harm the fruit, making it moldy in the field or not survive a day in the basket. It must be used quickly or be lost to rot.
Even if the grace of God blesses the farmer with the proper amount of rain at the right time in the garden, the possibility still exists for rain on market day. Our market is open. No protection from the elements except for the canopies we erect from which to sell our wares. These are like thin tissue between blacktop and sky when a storm arrives. When it rains on market day, many things happen, just like in the garden. The produce so carefully picked and gathered can be left to sit unsold because customers did not venture out in the weather. Vendors also stay away from stormy market days which can also keep customers away. The long steady rains eventually penetrate clothing, signs, product labels, and everything is tossed in soggy mess in the back of the truck to be tended to later that day. You can see how it has the potential to spiral downward! Rain, no customers, no farmers, no customers, ..... : )
The life of the market gardener is effected by many things in many ways as we all are. We hope to reflect some of this in our journal pages as time goes on to present the trials and tribulations of our lives, not as a complaint about our life,(we must love it) but to enable the readers to understand some of what we go through and through this understanding, we get to know each other better. I believe many of the world's problems today are caused by a severe lack of understanding of others' ways, cultures, and lives and only by taking the time required to learn about each other can we bring people together for the common good of all.
Just an additional note and a very helpful garden hint I have to pass on. Always have a regular influx of company come by to talk, discuss and check out the garden. When you stroll about, you are always sure to come upon the part of the garden that needs weeding the most! It never fails!
Rain continues to be required throughout the growing season but it can also ruin crops if it occurs at the wrong time. Strawberries, (now at the market) are a good example. The fruit is set and needs to ripen. Rain keeps things fresh and juicy, but too much may harm the fruit, making it moldy in the field or not survive a day in the basket. It must be used quickly or be lost to rot.
Even if the grace of God blesses the farmer with the proper amount of rain at the right time in the garden, the possibility still exists for rain on market day. Our market is open. No protection from the elements except for the canopies we erect from which to sell our wares. These are like thin tissue between blacktop and sky when a storm arrives. When it rains on market day, many things happen, just like in the garden. The produce so carefully picked and gathered can be left to sit unsold because customers did not venture out in the weather. Vendors also stay away from stormy market days which can also keep customers away. The long steady rains eventually penetrate clothing, signs, product labels, and everything is tossed in soggy mess in the back of the truck to be tended to later that day. You can see how it has the potential to spiral downward! Rain, no customers, no farmers, no customers, ..... : )
The life of the market gardener is effected by many things in many ways as we all are. We hope to reflect some of this in our journal pages as time goes on to present the trials and tribulations of our lives, not as a complaint about our life,(we must love it) but to enable the readers to understand some of what we go through and through this understanding, we get to know each other better. I believe many of the world's problems today are caused by a severe lack of understanding of others' ways, cultures, and lives and only by taking the time required to learn about each other can we bring people together for the common good of all.
Just an additional note and a very helpful garden hint I have to pass on. Always have a regular influx of company come by to talk, discuss and check out the garden. When you stroll about, you are always sure to come upon the part of the garden that needs weeding the most! It never fails!
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