Glendale Farm Products

Category: bees

  • May and June 2022

    May and June 2022

    Spring turns to summer. Flowers bloom and plants grow.

    We are fortunate to have this beautiful retreat to call home. We are hobby farmers, night planters who are fully employed and not forced to depend on the fruits of our labor for sustenance.

    The chickens out for an adventure in the new pasture and orchard.

    As of June 30, 2022, our company consists of 3 humans, 2 dogs, 2 cats, 8 hives, 10 laying hens (chickens), 1 rooster, 6 turkeys (4 broad breasted bronze and 2 royal palm), 3 ducklings, and 114 chicks.

    The chicks are home hatched and from Cackle hatchery in Missouri. To date, in 2022, we have hatched 7 batches of chicken eggs and there are 23 quail eggs in the Nurture 360 incubator. UPDATE 10 hatched on June 23! We rehomed our rooster, Jubal, in May. While protective, his amorous attentions were simply too much for our hens. Good luck Jubal! We’ll miss you (a little). One of him progeny, Wade Hampton, has stepped up to the role – but we’re keeping him away from the hens (for now). Chicken math! Our four broad breasted bronze turkeys are huge at 11 weeks and will be delicious this fall.

    The chickens gathered road a bucket for a cool drink in the hot afternoon.

    The garden has improved vastly over last year. We have harvested new potatoes, squash, and a few beets at the beginning of June. The corn is now waist high and a second crop is ankle high. The centennial hops are ripe and the golding variety are close behind (it’s almost time to brew beer, again)! Two of the three muscadine grape vines are growing (one failed) and we have a new row of thornless blackberries – from Lowes and the Gilmanor chicken swap.

    Our three peach trees are alive but struggling. The leaves are turning red and yellow and at three years old, they have not begun to set fruit. The two pecan trees planted in 2017 have finally gotten their roots. In 2022 they have almost doubled in size (hurrah!).

    Our bees have been a trying experience but we continue to learn and will be extracting our first honey at the end of June. They are in a robbing mood as the honey flow is nearly over and the summer dearth is going to begin soon.

    The pasture got a good start and the cool season grasses are growing dormant with the warmer weather. Last year we had a good stand of natural crab grass and are hoping for a similar result this year.

    Stumping and clearing continues to the north. Almost 17 acres to date! As Diesel prices soar ($5.27 at last purchase) we’re glad we’ve been able to do as much as we have. Brendan purchased a new (to him) 1969 International Harvester 856 at the end of June. It’s been an action-packed month!

  • May 2021

    May 2021

    “It is wonderful how much may be done if we are always doing.”

    Thomas Jefferson

    May jobs including plantings, stumping, job applications, brewing, and other farm activities. A friend loaned us two bee hives, cousins visited, and we enjoyed relaxed restrictions as vaccinated members of society. Brendan purchased a plasma cutter and welder for the farm, and the old 1949 Chevy farm truck got some overdue TLC.

    The month started dry and cold and ended dry, hot, and humid. In a stroke of lucky genius, we brought the water line from the greenhouse 165 feet up to the Tobacco barn on April 29th. As a result we had water for the new garden and baby plants. Unfortunately, the newly sowed grass and hardwoods struggled as we teetered on the edge of drought conditions.

    New lima beans stretching for the sun on May 22

    We brewed a couple of 10 gallon batches – a Session IPA in the style of Founder’s All-Day IPA and a summer Witbeer ‘Gaarden Hoe.’ Having brewed 30 gal at the farm, we’re entering the next generation of All-Grain brewing: Broad Axe Brewing 2.0. We expanded Broad Axe brewing to include a new fermenter, 15 gal kettle, brew sculpture, and kegerator.

    In the garden, we laid out a permaculture area by the vegetable garden around the peach trees that were planted in March. We moved last year’s bare root blueberries from Willis Orchards to their new spot and tentatively laid out space for blackberries and grapes. We have hopeful plans to add hops and blackberries later this year.

    New transplanted blueberries north of the garden.

    We planted 10 little hop bines at the beginning of the month in two buckets and by the middle of the month they sprouted and were ready to climb. Using the auger, we dug 3 post holes and will be moving them to a new home south of the garden.

    We stumped an additional 2 1/2 acres for the future paddock. The stumps will wait until we have access to a track loader later this summer. The areas cleared last year are planted in Crimson Clover and oats. The Crimson Clover bloomed in early May and a friend brought over two bee hives to enjoy the feast.

    Honey bees settling into their new home away from home.

    The bloom finished by mid-May and we sprayed the clover for green manure. The following day we rented the Piedmont Soil and Water District’s grain drill and drilled this area and the oats with sunflowers. If successful, it will loosen the soil for the fall’s pasture mix and make an excellent feast for wildlife.

    Stumpin’ aint easy but it helps to have good tools to do it.

    Three Golden Comets joined the Glendale flock, pushing the number of young chickens to nine. We deposited a heaping wheelbarrow of leaves into the coop and are starting the use the deep litter method. As the chickens scratch and poop, we’ll add additional leaves and ‘brown’ to balance their green manure. By the time it accumulates to 10-12 inches deep, we’ll have a lovely compost for next year’s garden. As of the end of the month, the comets had started to lay. Hurrah for fresh eggs!

    The dry weather has been good for the apples which have not suffered as badly from blight as last year. Farm happening to be continued…