It's Countdown Time!

Two weeks, my dears, two weeks and I am a free woman for three months. Well, sort of. I still teach two online classes. But that is no big deal. What are 50 students compared with the usual 165 or more? I'll take it!

Shelly and I have laid our plans for our planting. We are using the moon signs for success. Shelly is the master at this so I am thrilled to have her guidance. First into the dirt are potatoes, peas, onions, and cabbage. Then, we will slowly begin to add other cole crops. We won't do any tender plants until mid-to-late May. Our last "official" freeze date is May 16, I believe, but I don't trust anything tender in the ground until the 20th at the earliest. One year I planted tomatoes five times. I am a slow learner or very optimistic. The jury is still out!

Many bars of soap are made and ready for the farmer's market. I am experimenting with different blends and textures. I have made some farmer's soap and something delicious that I am calling "Jamica Me Crazy." What fun I am having! Don picked up a beeswax book while at the State Beekeeper's Annual Meeting. We have so much scrap beeswax that I'd love to do something with it. Candles... maybe?? Furniture polish... perhaps?

I'd like to knit some little things for the market as well. Shelly is working on some lovely washcloths and I feel that I should follow suit. They knit up quickly and are so very nice to use! Have you ever used a knitted dish cloth? Fantastic! When my Sissie's boys were quite small they hated having their faces washed....until Aunt Cissie knit them both a "special, magic wash cloth" that wouldn't hurt! Sold! They bought into it and never fought again! And let's not forget I have my Santa Train to catch up! Where does time go??

My loom is standing at ready for weaving some tea towels as well. I am passionately in love with huck lace and think this will be the next project on the Dorothy loom. My Nilus is going to be busy with a runner for the floors. We have these lovely chestnut floors that I am perishing to weave some rag rugs for. My office needs something new, too. So, it seems that I have plenty of weaving to do, don't you think?

Here is what is on the mid-size loom. We call it "Roanoke" because that is where it was bought:

When it grows up, it will be a full-size tea towel in a pattern called, fittingly enough, honeycomb. I love it!

Right now we have the most delicious, gentle rain falling. Thank you, God, for the rain. It is clearing out the pollen and settling the dust in the road and gardens.

What are you doing this summer?

Where is my Heathcliff?

The past few days have been very foggy here at Lazy Bee Farm. As the temperature begins to slide downward, the New River has yet to cool off as much and so a dense fog develops along the hollows. It is a lovely fog. Thick, grey, cool, it brings to mind the lovely stories of the darling Bronte sisters. I watch for Heathcliff to emerge from the fog, coming to find 'his Catherine.' Sigh. Don't we all want our own Heathcliff?? Dark, brooding, energetic... But I digress.

While I find it highly romantic, it does call to mind the old wive's tale that the number of fogs in August indicate the number of snows in the coming winter. Should this be true, I will not be out of the hollow again until May. We have been swamped in more days than not this past August. Nearly every day has been foggy until mid-morning. Lovely for me; terrible for everything else.

Our tomatoes failed us terribly; even the things that are supposed to love love love the cool weather, such as cabbage, have failed to thrive. In short, we have potatoes and apples and little more on the farm this year. I am putting in a fall garden and plan to try the Eliot Coleman four season plan this year. It is the goal to avoid that over-the-top manner I usually try. Believe me, I am the person who plants every space on the farm and then whines that I can't keep up. Getting older means that maybe I am getting smarter. This time, the plan is to have a small space, in the potato bed by the old chicken coop, with just a few things -- greens, parsnips, and cabbage. We'll see how it goes.

It is nearly time to add more blueberries as well. Have you ever browsed the Ison's website? Their orchard and berry plants are the best I have ever seen. Twenty-five years ago we planted an orchard (750 nectarines) and 10 acres of blueberries at the family farm (Happy Hollow Farm) in Mt. Airy. I think we lost two plants. Last year, I made the commitment to add U-Pick berries here at Lazy Bee Farm. I planted 60 blueberry bushes and only lost two plants. This year, I will add another 60 plants. It is a three year plan, so there will be 180 total plants, or about three acres, of berries here. We are planting an orchard as well. We add 12 trees a year, with the final goal being a small U-Pick orchard of three acres as well. While the market may not ever rebound, I can have confidence that God will nurish my little Eden here on earth!

In the meantime, I will make another cup of tea, build my garden in the air, and try to remember where I put my snow shoes!