Beehives and Donkey Pooh?

The Bible Says:

make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, ¹² so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.

1 Thessalonians Chapter 4 Verse 11 & 12


Sometimes it seems that manual labor is a lost art. 

This is the day that I choose what to plant in my garden this year.  The possibilities are endless so I must curb my enthusiasm and be realistic. But what fun it would be to grow enough for Beck and I and still have enough to give away to the family and friends.

According to the Farmers Almanac these are my choices: 

February  14th-15th   Fine For Planting Beans, Tomatoes, Corn, Cotton, Cucumbers, Peppers, Melons And Other Above ground Crops. Plant Seedbeds And Flower Gardens.

 My dilemma:  Snow could still be on the ground.  We will have gone from below freezing temperatures to almost 70 degrees in less than a week.  More research is required or I can just ask someone.  But if I ask several people then I will get conflicting information because everyone has a different answer.  Shoot, shoot, shoot!  O.K. dummy, your planting in containers so this should not be a problem. Glad I thought that one through.   However, I will still be wearing rubber boots in the slush to plant a garden.  Anyone besides me thinks this is nuts?

Next on my list is buying a few tools to work with because mine look like this:

 

 Then there is the correct soil to plant my stuff in.  Wonder if I can use David's ( my big brother)  miniature donkey's pooh for fertilizer?   It's cheap (free) and plentiful.  I asked several friends (Charlie R. and Willis) who always have a bumper veggie crop and they said I could plant tomatoes in 100% donkey pooh and for other vegetables I could do a 25% soil and 75% donkey pooh mixture.  David will be glad to hear his pooh has a home but the bad news is: he will have to bring it to me.

O.K. There is suppose to be a photo here of David and his little donkeys but it didn't arrive.  So instead of donkeys here is a picture of what they produce that my garden needs:

                                           

 I don't know why I can't just stick a plant in the ground ,water it, talk to it and watch it grow.  Oh, yeah.  That's what I've done in the past and it doesn't work very well.  O.K. it doesn't work at all.  Maybe I was not saying the right things to my plants.  Is there proper conversation etiquette for talking to a plant?  Or would they prefer music?  Country? Jazz?  Classical?  So many decisions!

More good news for my garden!  The beehive in the tree in the front yard has survived the harsh winter and the bees are out today in full force. Again, growing my own self sustaining pollination system makes my little green heart happy. Bad news is: I'm highly allergic to bee stings.  However; in all the years we've lived here, I've never been stung by bees.  Wasp, yes.  Bees, no.  Wasp did not get the memo regarding do no harm.

To Summarize:  

1. buy plants
2. have David give me a load of crap (wouldn't be the first time)
3. buy a few garden tools at Flea Market
4. learn a chant or meditation so I can bond with bees

Raising a garden is an art so I must admit I am a novice, a rookie, a know nothing beginner but I shall not be defeated!

Ode To Spring

Ode To Spring

It snowed today
Again
Like yesterday
And once more
Snow tomorrow

A harsh winter
That's what they say
Colder than it's ever been
Snow like we've never seen
Spring... it will be late

But I will wait, for like fate
Spring always follows
Spring always comes
Spring has never failed me

Sonya Florentino

I refuse to let the howling wind and blowing snow outside dampen my enthusiasm because I know Spring is just around the next blizzard.  Speaking of Spring, who knew the beginning was in question?  My wall calendar indicates it starts on March 20th but other sources (including my countdown gadget) insists it is March 21st.  I will check the 2011 Old Farmers' Almanac to get to the truth of the matter. 

I am so excited about this Spring because it will be my first serious attempt to grow and preserve our own food. I have been researching the various methods of building a root cellar and cool pantry.  It will have to be inexpensive and hopefully using simple materials easily available. 

But in the meantime Beck, the animals and I are taking it easy and doing the smart thing in this weather:  staying home.  It's now nap time and everyone goes to their own space and their own blankies (no one likes to share personal items). Pushka has to be separated from the others just in case she has something contagious.  As soon as the weather breaks, we will take her to see Stacy for tests.

Grey Kittie (Pushka) is incarcerated until she can go to the Vet.  No, she is not going to live inside! When the temperature is above freezing, she is going back out and that is that.

Gigi just wants to wrap up in her puppy blankie.

Noah just wants a hug and a biscuit.

A human can't hardly find a place to sit around here.

How many times have you heard it said "what goes around comes around"?  It's an old fashioned way of saying "Karma". We are continuously polluting Mother Earth in 2011 as we were in 1937 (only much worse).  Will we (the human species) ever learn?  When we look to the past, have we made any positive changes or are we continuing to abuse the beautiful earth that God gave us?  We are his stewards and we need to start acting like it.

The nation that destroys its soil destroys itself. 
 (Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945), U.S. Democratic politician, president. Letter, February 26, 1937, to state governors, urging uniform soil conservation laws.)