This Week On The Farm - February 16th

What is this week on the farm?

When people ask us what is going on these days, our eyes gloss over and we can’t even begin to explain all the things we are doing. So, if you spy any blog with “This Week On The Farm” in the title then you have stumbled upon our weekly update for those who care…we love you!

The temperatures have been up and we’ve been diggin’ it! The ice on the pond is melting and the boys have been more willing to be outside since we aren’t freezing our butts off. Here are some of the major tasks we took on this week.

Task 1: Did the bees survive the winter?

One of the things that intimidated me the most about moving to this property was the potential of not living up to the hype of all this farm has to offer. One example of this is the bees. I have never been a bee keeper or even taken a full tour of a bee hive. I cannot even begin to explain just how novice I am in the beekeeping world. So, just like everything we are doing, I am learning one step and one season at a time.

Winter poses a risk to bees for a few reasons. First, the actual temperatures can freeze the bees if they are not protected. Second, if the bees did not produce enough honey or if the beekeeper takes too much honey, then the bees will not have enough food to survive the winter. I’m sure there are plenty of other reasons, but I haven’t learned them yet. To try to help them through the winter, I put insulated lids that were lined with a candy board on the tops of the two living hives. I figured this would address both issues and crossed my fingers. I think it worked! Take a peek at this video of the happy bees buzzing away when I checked on them for the first time since early December…

Task 2: Deep Clean the chicken coop.

We have kept chickens for about six years now and every single year is completely different. This year we have more chickens than ever (I think 28, but who knows where fluufy is) and they stink. I mean the coop literally smells and my deep litter method that I have used every winter for the bedding just isn’t doing well. So, instead of letting them breathe in that nastiness, I took time to scoop out all 8” of bedding and take it to the compost pile while the boys dug for worms in the ditch. Thank goodness for warmer weather! I added a light layer of a new type of bedding and I will let you all know how it works out.

Side note, never waste time spreading out bedding for chickens. They will always do that for you. They will also kick it all out if you leave the door open…thanks.

Task 3: Don’t kill the seedlings.

We are growing 250 Supersweet 100 Cherry Tomatoes for our spring hanging basket sale! In order to provide you with amazing plants that are ready to fruit in May, we have started our tomatoes in our microgreen towers in our basement. As of now, they are thriving and I am excited to see their growth!

The 600 snapdragons that we sowed have not faired as well. Lets just say it may take a round two on those bad boys.

Task 4: Practice the March Littles Magic Seed Lab

We will be hosting our first homeschooling class in March! Join us by signing up here! I am so excited for this chance to grow our community and teach about the magical world of seeds. One of the things the kiddos will get to take home is their very own bowl ready to grow a living easter basket. In order to do that, we had to practice with our boys. As always, there were different levels of both excitement and success. We will have it nailed down by class time.

Until Next week, keep learning new things!

Our mission is to steward the land well by growing flowers and food with patience, integrity, and intention — prioritizing long-term soil health, sustainability, and thoughtful practices over speed or scale, while creating something honest, useful, and rooted in real life.