WENDELL WEDNESDAY.
HAPPY HALF-BIRTHDAY WENDELL! This handsome boy is 6 months old tomorrow.
TENTH OF AN INCH.
First of all, we'd like to send a sincere congrats to all the farms who got some rain this weekend! Sadly, we would also like to extend a loud "we feel ya" to everyone else. This morning at dawn I ran––literally––to the garden to check the rain gauge before the sun could tamper with the results and unfortunately, we got only about a tenth of an inch. Luckily, it has stayed cloudy all day so hopefully a little soaked in. But in reality, it's like getting no rain at all, only a little more painful. We're staying hopeful, however! If we don't get any more rain by Wednesday, we'll have to do another round of hauling water buckets until the clouds finally decided to give us a hand. Officially four weeks (more or less) dry, but admittedly with some good chances of rain in the forecast. How's everyone else fairing?
SWEATY ANIMALS.
So, I don’t want to jinx it or anything, but it is SUPPOSED to rain in the next few days (I am knocking on wood as I type this, just in case). And as much as we are looking forward to this possibility, we are also hoping for a drop in the temperature! As uncomfortable as this heat wave has been for Jesse and I, it has been truly hard on the animals. I had to skip the delivery this week, simply because the animals need constant attention. By early afternoon, the rabbits need ice rubbed on their ears until they revive. We freeze bottles of water and lay the delirious rabbits on top of them. The chickens need new water every hour or so and huddle in the shade, panting and holding their wings out to the sides for ventilation. Poor guys! I feel terrible, wishing I could explain to them, apologize. We ourselves don’t have air conditioning, so I can do little to lessen the heat for them. I can only provide fresh water, fan them, ice them, and hope for a break.
Even the bees are struggling! Early evenings, they can be seen “bearding” on the hives. Bearding is what occurs when the bees are too hot - the bees huddle along the outside front of the hive. Hives need to maintain a temperature of 90 to 95 degrees, but when they OVERheat, the bees come outside the hive to lower the temperature, fanning their wings and creating ventilation. This usually occurs at night, when all the bees are inside the hive and it is more crowded then midday, when half the bees are out working the fields. For our hives, this has been happening pretty much EVERY night. I added empty super to the hives, and some extra vents on the top, but it is hard to compete with these temperatures.
Is it fall yet?!
- Hannah.
THE HAUL.
Unfortunately, those 20–30% chances of rain over the last few days turned out to be no rain at all, and thus none-to0-helpful. We did get a few drops on Tuesday evening but they promptly evaporated, turning immediately into humidity as the sun came out and the temperature shot back up to 100 degrees. So, this morning we decided to start intervening lightly by adding just enough water to keep our garden chugging along. We waded into the pond, loaded 16 water jugs individually and hauled them up to the garden where they now sit poised to save some plants. Tonight, once the sun relents a bit, we'll spread the water out onto our crops and continue to watch the sky. We don't love the idea of irrigating, but nature seems to be slacking in that department at the moment, and I must say I'm excited to add this pond water––dense with fertility and microbiology––to the garden, even if only in a small dose. The plants will no doubt be excited to feel a bit of fresh moisture against their roots!
- Jesse.
