Weekly Update: 7.5.25
The cold, shallow spring water rippled around me as I sat in the creek, relishing the feel of the moment. My sister Grace sat a few feet away, laughing as the dogs ran through the water. My nieces and nephew splashed around us, chattering about the morning. We were all hot and sweaty after berry picking in the sun. Our wild blackberries are just starting to ripen, and we hope to take advantage of this ubiquitous native treat. So Thursday, after we finished our morning gardening, we grabbed our overalls and some bug spray and headed into the brush to forage. It was a sweet hour, full of conversation and laughter. When we couldn't stand the sun anymore, we all tramped down to the spring to cool off. As we sat, soaking in the water and the summer afternoon, I felt grateful. Life has been so hectic and chaotic, I've often struggled to just enjoy our land. The moment reminded me slow down enough to pay attention to the gifts God has piled all around us. In some ways, that feeling was the theme of the week.
We didn't get too many berries the first day -- maybe two quarts. We soaked them in salt water and vinegar water to remove any creepy-crawlies before putting them on cookie sheets to freeze. We plan to transfer them to an airtight container once frozen.
Our primary project this week was the garden. At more than 2000 square-feet, maintaining it has turned into quite the chore. I spent last Saturday researching and then ordering a drip system. After getting advice in some homesteading Facebook groups, I watched a suggested video from Living Traditions Homestead. The folks at Living Traditions live just about an hour and a half from where we are, so I was especially interested to see what irrigation system works best for them. After watching their half-hour video, I was sold. I went over to The Grower's Solution website. After doing some investigating, we opted for their 15-mil 20-Row Master Gardener Kit. We added on some landscaping stakes and tape end closures. The kit came with enough drip tape to water all of our row crops as well as about half our pumpkins. We decided it would be a good starting point. We used the Living Traditions promo code from YouTube to get 10 percent off of our order, which almost completely offset the cost of shipping.
The drip system arrived Thursday afternoon, and we sisters, our sister-in-law, and our nieces all helped set it up right away. Deciding how exactly we wanted to do it took the most time, After that, the kit went together easily. It was as simple as the folks at Living Traditions made it look. As soon as we set it out, we turned the drip kit on. It appeared to be working perfectly. We ran it for three hours that night, and our garden looked quite happy in the morning.
For now, we are watering our squash boxes and the rest of our pumpkins by hand. We purchased some longer hoses and a watering wand, and those have made the task a lot simpler. When we aren't watering, we spend a lot of time weeding, mulching, staking, tying, pruning, and pest-removing on our garden. The effort is paying off, though, as we have been harvesting produce every day. We had to make more pickles one afternoon this week, just because we were being overrun by cucumbers.
Our melons are growing so quickly, we have been spending our free moments weaving macrame melon supports to keep them from falling off the trellised vines.
We spent the rest of the week doing odd jobs. We made a trip to storage to get a load of keepsakes, as we are starting the slow process of finding a place for as much as we can in the bunkhouse. I researched and ordered some one-step red stain for our exterior trim. Grace continued installing mini-blinds around our house. Our dad changed out our showerhead to one with better pressure.
Grace and I did some beekeeping. We checked to make sure the bees still had empty frames to fill. I changed out our beehive beetle traps. Grace brought down our weed trimmer and cut the grass around the hives, as it was getting a bit out of control.
Our brother Jeremiah had some vacation days, so we had some fun with him. We made scones for breakfast one day. Jeremiah got pizza for us one night, and we stayed up too late watching TV. Unfortunately, Jeremiah ended up getting sick -- some nasty flu-like bug that laid him up most of the week.
Having sickness in the house changed our 4th of July plans. We ended up having a more relaxed holiday. Our brother Levi took his family to the Dadeville Independence Day parade and town picnic, which we've loved whenever we have attended. This year, we sisters stayed home to finish up the cooking. We spent the afternoon enjoying the air conditioning and having a movie marathon.
One morning this week, I walked to the garden to find Grace crouching with her camera aimed at a zucchini plant. "Candice!" she cried. "It's our bees! Our bees are here." And she was right. Our honeybees have finally discovered our garden. Joy threatened to bubble over as I hurried over to see. The bees hovered over and zoomed round our summer squash especially, but we saw them flitting around the whole garden. We have been having issues with unpollinated zucchini. I threw away maybe 12 shriveled, half-formed fruit this week. Our apiary isn't far from the garden, and we have wondered why we had seen so few bees on our plants. In hindsight, we wonder if it was our organic pest sprays keeping the bees at bay. Whatever the cause, it appears to be over, as the bees were our morning companions every day this week.
It felt like a miracle watching the bees dance around the squash blossoms -- and in a way, I suppose it was. As humans, we are gifted this abundant creation overflowing with God's glory. Every moment is full of uncountable miracles, as each part -- from the small to the great -- comes together to live out God's words at creation -- "Let there be." And there is. The only true response is giving thanks.
