Bees and more bees

I have had a bee hive for the last year or so ( thanks mom ). As a diligent bee owner, I would check on them regularly, but not too often. This year we have had a wet winter, and I was concerned that the bees might not make it or head to a better location, leaving me with an empty box. I would be out there in the rain, watching to make sure I see them heading out from the box, making sure all was well. So far so good.

My heart stopped a few weeks ago when I went to check on them and no one was on the landing pad. No one taking off, no one landing, no nothing. Was I a victim of the dreaded bee colony collapse. As I sat there for a few minutes, and no bees were present, I needed more information. I took off the lid and the top cover. Usually at this time I typically have a few bees looking up at me. Was going to use the 1000 eyes analogy, but with bees that’s just 1 bee. In this situation, not a single bee was there to give me the stink eye for opening their box. I took off 1 of the 4 supers to see if there was anything going on. Nothing…well not really nothing, just one younger bee looking back at me. Where was everyone ?

At this point I was sooo disheartened that I could not continue to dismantle the boxes. It will need to wait for another day before I clear out the place. O where O where did my bees go. Ugh  ! I need to call mom and tell here my bee left. What a failure.

Last week we were having a party at the farm. Another bee friend coming to the party was asking about the bees. I begrudgingly told him they left a week or so ago. He looked at me curiously for a second or so and said that they were pretty active. I glanced over to the far corner of the field and could see bees around the box. Yea ! my bees are back !

Not quite sure what happened, but I am glad they were there. The bees may have swarmed, leaving a reduced crew back at the old homestead. I think if I had removed a few of the supers I might have found them. Either way, I’m happy they’re there.

The bees needed friend so, about 5 months age I ordered another hive. It would have been a real bummer if the neighbors showed up and the other hive was empty. Alas, that’s not the case. 2 hives and both pretty happy…so far.

The New Hive

If your not familiar with bee hives, here are a few photos of the process of getting a new hive into their new home. In this little box connected to the frame is the Queen. The Queen is contained in the small box with a screen that allows for the works to feed her until she is released. The small black plug is a sugar plug that the bee eat and frees her from the box.

Queen attached to a frame

This photo was a bit difficult to get since I had a few hundred bee looking for their Queen. Most of them were poured into the super, but many were looking for mom. 2 attendants were still pretty close.

Bee boxes ready to go

Bee box ready for new bees. Bee drink in place

Bee active drinking spilled nectar

The current family of boxes

These are photos of the supers ready to accept the frames and the remaining bee. I have their drink ready to go. Want to make them as happy as possible. If you notice, you may see some older frames in the boxes. I have been told that if you use some older framed with some existing comb, the bee will accept the box easier since it means less work for them. Pr-existing comb, score!If you notice, I have 3 supers on the new hive. It’s is a bit of a no, no, since it gives the new hive too much space. Too much work for them to do in their new home. You really should start with 2 supers and then add a third or forth as time allows. All you bee purists, go easy on me.

All happy and doing well. In the foreground is their wood hive box that the bees arrived in. You can still see some stragglers. I am told this isn’t an issue, since most will find their way “home” shortly. Need to get this back to the Bee people since I get a $10 refund for its return.

The front blue box is the new hive with plenty of activity on the front landing. That so happens to be the place I spilled some nectar. The nectar is just a mix of 1 to 1 sugar to water.

The rear box is the existing hive that I thought was gone.

Been Googled Mapped

July – 3 – 2015

If you search the Internet there are complete websites dedicated to Google Maps and some of the interesting photos that the Google car “accidentally” takes photos of.

The Google car drives by with it’s camera on top of the car and takes images of everything. Everything. Google does its best to blur the images of people faces or offensive things. Sometimes these images are one and the same. There are even people that seek out the Google cars and put on the best shows for the photo. Some of the wacky photos are planned while others obviously aren’t. What has been seen can not be unseen.

My Google Maps tale begins when I see the Google car turn down our street. The house is about 500 yards from the turn and its pretty obvious what the contraption is on top of the car. Living in the Bay Area, I have seen hundreds of these cars, but always noticed them after they had passed by. In that interval from when you first notice the car coming at you and the point at which you may end up in a photo, many things go through your head.

“What should I do?”

“Should I play it cool ?”

“Should I moon it ?” – This seems to be a common response to the Google Maps car.

“Do I have my A’s cap on? Go A’s !!”

“Did I brush my teeth this morning?”

“Crap, I left the leftovers out overnight. I guess I will have them for lunch.”

Well, these things went through my head, your head may work differently. But I digress. So, I am thinking all these things and the car is getting closer. By the time I am almost finished processing everything, the car is on me. As you can tell by the photo, I was STILL deep in thought about the leftovers. That’ s my “eating leftovers” look in the photo. Google did me a favor and blurred out my confused and deep thinking  expression.  Oh, and by the way, yes, I did have leftovers for lunch.

 

So I knew there was a Google Maps photo of me out there and I had to go see it. After checking back every few weeks, the photo finally appeared. If your interested in seeing the Google Map image you can go here.

Google Maps

There is another interesting thing about Google Maps now. There is a slide ( highlighted it in red at the top left) that allows you so see all the previous Google Maps photos. Neat option.

 

 

The Kids Are Back In Town

June – 19 – 2015

So, I have been told that our dogs are the “girls”, the lambs are the “darlings”, and the goats are the “kids”. This stops Sandy and I from getting confused as to what set of animals we’re talking about. Now the difficulty also come in when we are talking in the yard or the house. If Sandy says something to me, it needs be be prefaced with “Honey”. If not, then I assume she is talking to one of the girls or one of the kids or one of the darlings. If I don’t hear “Honey”, I generally tune out, like most men do. On some of those special situations when she uses “Vernon”, then I know she is REALLY talking to me.

The darlings all peaceful and tranquil before the kids come to town

The kids taking over everything

Now that we have our communication situation explained, lets move onto the girls, the kids, and the darlings. The kids have been with us for almost a week now. Unfortunately for us, the day we got them was the day they were weaned. It’s also the day they left their mother. I was unaware that such a horrid noise could come out of such a small creature. They climb onto the small tower I built for them and cry. It lasts for a few minutes, then they move on. As the days have progressed, the cries have become less and less.

Finley getting her daily brush. There is a books that says sheep don’t like to be scratched on their heads. They never meet our darlings. They love it…for hours.

Speaking of the tower / jungle gym, it has become a bit of a battle ground. It sat in the pasture for a few weeks prior to the kids getting here. The darlings paid it no mind and were maybe even giving me the stink eye for putting it in their pasture. BUT the moment the kids started to play on it, the darlings had to have their turn. Its quite easy for the 25 lbs kids to hop from the ground to the 1st step and onto the 2nd step. Goats doing what goats do. Its pretty interesting to see Finley, the No. 2 lamb, hop herself onto the first step and then onto the 2nd. 40 lbs lambs should not be doing that. The No.1 lamb, Sidney attempted to get onto the first step, but she is about 5 – 7 lbs heavier then Finley. It was all great fun watching Sidney attempting to get enough bounce from her back legs to make it onto the first step. Finley hopping up to the top step and pretending to be king of the lamb hill. The kids bounding from the ground to the 1st and then 2nd step and then off, back onto the ground. Its really cute the kick they make in mid air, making good style points.

All this harken back to a saying my mom always used to say.

“It’s all fun and games until one of you ends up being dinner”

Violet with her upside down mutton chops. Some of Constance in the foreground. Both on the top step of the jungle gym.

Well, mom never said that, but you get what I mean. They were all having fun until Finley, No. 2 lamb made it to the top step. Being pleased with herself, she proceeded to push the kids off. Kids didn’t mind too much, since they were jumping anyway. This went in circles for a minute or so until one of the kids decided to stand her ground. Finley misjudge and launched herself off the tower. She was unphased, and proceeded to attempt the climb the tower again, but the No. 1 lamb, Sidney was blocking her way. Finley pushed Sidney out of the way and made it back to the top of the tower, scattering the kids.

Kids under the jungle gym. Lambs behind looking for their opportunity.

I had to step in at this point. Did not want Finley or the kids to get a broken leg and end up having lamb or goat for dinner for the next 3 weeks. Besides, I think Finley is too old now and her chops will not be very tender…(tongue in cheek). For the next few days the tower laid on its side, but that did not stop it from being used. The kids continued to climb on its legs and the darlings continue to use it as a shade out of the sun. Once Finley becomes plump enough to not mount the stairs, it will be put back into play. Who knew this would be soo much fun.

Sheep, Goats, and Fencing, oh my !

6 -May – 2015

I know I know, I always apologize for taking so long to post another entry. I have a million excuses, but it’s always the same. The days just get away from me. I end up getting home after a long day, eating dinner, and fall asleep. Somewhere in between I take a shower ( yes dear, I do shower), brush my teeth, change my cloth, but not always in that order.

“What’s taking all your time Vern?” I hear voices from the ether asking.

We recently sold our house in Oakland. Getting it ready, packing, and the whole move thing was ALL consuming. In between, I had a birthday. I allowed myself to sit on my ass for a day or two. The other thing that’s taking time is getting the place ready for the goats and sheep. If you recall, we had planned on this very early on, but now it’s actually happening.

The paddock behind the barn needed work. The far corners of the rusted tin roof was kept down by the weight of a big ass rock, since the nails once used to attach to the rest of the roof had long since rusted into nothingness. That can be said for most of the roof anyway, most of it is rusting into nothingness. In fact, the most solid structure of the roof was the big ass rock. Time to remove the roof. Oh, but wait, if you replace the roof, all the rafters need to be replaced. Oh wait, most of the paddock needs to be replaced or fixed. Ugh, great.

Just a little rough. Bad rafters, bad tin. What a pain.

What made this tricky was that I had to replace the rafters and purlins while the roof was still on. Yep. Since I needed to walk on the roof, it needed to carry my weight as I replaced the tin. Wasn’t too difficult but just a bit backwards. I guess I could have used a ladder and removed the tin from underneath, but that would have been messy with most of the crap on the roof falling onto me or into my eyes. Its better the way I did it….I think. 

Roof coming off with new rafters and perlins to support my weight as I take off the remaining tin panels.

This is my art inspired piece. I call it, “If I had a hammer” Picture is from the top of the paddock roof . Nice rust patina on the old tin.

More of the roof with another rock used to keep the roof in place. Will not be needing that anymore. Stark contrast to the gleaming almost new roof of the barn.

So what is all this work for ? We, Sandy and I are proud owners…not owners…parents…no..not parents. Ah “care takers” ( far more PC ) of 3 sheep and 2 goats. Let’s introduce you to the lambs first. One is named “Chop”, another “Rack” and the last one is “With Mint”.

I have been strictly forbidden from eating any of our 4 legged guest, so this was a bit of an inside joke. They aren’t actually named “Lamb Chop”, but do have real names of Sidney, Finley, and Kiley.

The sheep are Katahdin. These are hair sheep and will not need to be sheered. perfect ! Don’t look much like your common doll sheep. Pretty unique.

Young Sidney on the left. Looks like she is sheered with curly short gray hair.

Sidney is pretty unique looking as Katahdin sheep go. She has that perpetually sheered look.

 

Young Finley. Mocha mop of a tail and scarf.

Young Kiley. Mom in the background with plenty of winter coat left to fall out.

Not so small Kiley in the foreground and Finley behind her. They are maybe 4 months old at this point.

Here is the breeder’s entire new flock of sheep. Our 3 are in there. They have all just been weaned and are looking desperate for their moms

The goats are Angora. These goats produce Mohair and need to be sheered twice a year. GO figure. Sandy has sheep that don’t need to be sheered and I get goats that do. Most Angora goats are white, but there is a movement towards the brown and and black coats. My 2 girls happen to be the brown ones.

This is Constance. As in Constantine. He was the prior owner of the farm, but we figured that naming a girl goat Constance would be a fitting tribute. She sort of looks like an old man.

This is Violet. She came with this name and is very fitting based on her very blue eyes.

Should have renamed Violet something less cute.

 

Proud papa. Very handsome fella

 

Constance with her head on her twin sister Violet

So the sheep are coming and the goats will be here a week or two later. All I need to do now is finish fencing the remaining 400ft . Oh, also need to add in some electric fencing to keep the foxes and predators out as well as keep the goats and sheep off the fence.

Here is what 300ft of fence wire looks like. Good thing it fit into the SUV since the truck was full of other stuff. Wish me luck.

Wine…Yes Please !

4 – Oct -14

As I am sure some of you may know, I have actually worked as a mechanic for many years. Did work on BMW’s and Mazda’s at Positive Strokes in Oakland. The shop is no longer there and in it’s place is an art studio.  Now the place is called Oaklopolis. Very interesting to see a nice clean art studio where there once was 90 weight oil and vehicle lifts. Must love gentrification. I digress, on with the story.

I was also a 63B as well as a 98G in the Army. The 63B is a military designation for wheeled vehicle mechanic.  This wheeled designation did not prevent us from working on tracked vehicles like the M113 or M578. I have a good breath of experience when it comes to being a mechanic, So when my friend PW asked me if I knew anything about fixing brakes on a forklift, I jumped at the chance.

The forklift is a TCM FCG20. Not to worry, its all Greek to me to. TCM has been making forklift for years. O, Did I say years. YEARS. This one is a per-WWII forklift. I’m told it came off a liberty ship. Judging by the look of the thing, I am inclined to believe the story.

PW of PW Scoggins Wines was complaining that the brakes weren’t working and was afraid of crashing into something or someone and was generally afraid of killing himself also. Not a good thing to have a 3.5 ton forklift run away from you. So being mechanically inclined, I jacked the thing up and pulled of the wheels and hubs. Just like changing the brakes on your car, but 10 x heavier. Your average car drum assembly is maybe 30lbs. These were easily 80lbs. Takes a bit of leverage and know how not to loose a finger.

It’s no wonder that the brakes did not work. After removing the oil soaked shoes, springs an clips, I took out the caked slave cylinder piston.  Black goop eased out from the boots and cylinders. Doesn’t looked like this forklift did much stopping…..ever.

So, parts list; Brake Shoes, Slave Cylinder kit or replacement. Everything else was there and cleaned up OK. The next question is where to get parts for this beast. Lucky for us there is a forklift part place here in Petaluma. Lets call them and see.

“Nope. Doesn’t sound like we have those parts. Can you bring it by and we might match them up. What year again ? Nope. Try Earl’s”

“Nope. We might have one in the salvage lot, but Jimmy hasn’t gotten to it yet. He is out on probation in a few days, so maybe next month and I can let you know”

I headed home for the weekend and had PW call a few places with limited luck. I am sure the Internet will have part. Nope.

We kind of forget that this was the way auto parts shopping was just a few years ago. Now a days, I can look on the Internet and find a gold plated window crank for a 76′ Ford Pinto and have it sent to me over night. This same parts supply line does not exist for forklifts. Who knew.

After a week or 2 looking for the parts to no avail, I get a call from PW.

“Vern, I need to use the forklift”

“Its not ready and I cant find the parts”

“Vern I need it. I need to move some grape vats into the production area. No vats, no wine.”

“O…” I was out the door in a few minutes and ready to reassemble the forklift. It was plenty clear that if this forklift wasn’t fixed, production would stop and the wine would not flow. Must fix forklift now.

With a bit of emery paper I was able to clean out the slave cylinders and the seal was good. Soaking the shoes in de-greaser did wonders. After a bit of cleanup, the brakes were looking acceptable.

Everything went back perfectly. The forklift has brakes. Wine can be produced. There is happiness in the world.

Checking on the forklift a few weeks later and we still have brakes. The slave cylinder is holding well and the forklift has great brakes. Better than they have been in many, many years. I really hated using the old stuff, but finding new stuff was next to impossible. With the good cleaning of the shoes and slaves, the brakes should be good for another decade or so. Enough to last many, many, vintages.

What’s Next ?

Sept – 10 – 14
Coming to the close of the work on the barn. Here is a before and after shot of the facing side of the barn. Looking much better than it did when we first got the place.

Amazing what a nice clear blue sky will do for you

I did like the rustic nature of the old barn, but it would not have been rustic for long. In a few more years it would have been beyond hope. At least now it can start aging again without being a hazard.

I closed up half of the open soffits along the roof line. After some coverings or windows, this should keep unwanted critters and weather from the barn. The windows on the side let in a bit more light and can be opened to get some more air through the place. The old siding is in the dump. Cost me $45 to make that trip. The most expensive single trip to the dump, but at least it’s out of here.

I am amazed at how nice the grounds look in the older photo. I guess you can make the grounds look pretty when you throw all your crap into the barn. Once I pick up my wood scrap from the work and grade the area in front of the barn doors where I put down a concrete pad, it should look pretty good.

Percie’s BFF for Now

Now I know why Percie is so tired. Sandy introduced her to Pumpkin, the bull calf next door.

Pumpkin and Percie are BFF. They will spend the day with Percie cleaning the little bull’s ears and nose. The little bull will rub his head on Percie’s head. One will bark, the other will snort. Both go running off in little circles and come back and meet at the fence and do the cleaning and head rubbing again and again. All way too cute. Its cutting into my barn time as I watch this weird game the two of them play. All this happens under the watchful eye’s of Star ( #10 on her ear tag )

Star is intrigued by this game and will come over and allow herself to be inspected by Percie. Sandy takes the opportunity to get cow and calf kisses.

 

Update for the month

25 – July – 14

Been a bit tardy updating the BLOG. Have been working on several things but not finishing anything. So, for all that are interested, here we go.

Barn
Painted the front and rear of the barn “Barn Red”. Its actually looking pretty good.

“What’s left to do on the barn ?” you may ask.
Plenty. The entire front siding of the barn needs to come off. There is currently composite wood siding over the original 1×4 tongue and groove redwood siding. I am not a fan of composite wood siding. Once it gets old it just starts flaking and falling apart. The worst part about it is it’s not really wood. If you take  it to to dump it goes into the garbage pile and not the wood recycling pile or yard waste. It’s just nasty stuff. The biggest question is what is the wood siding hiding ? Once I take it off, what kind of mess will I find underneath ? Not sure where I will find 80 ft of 1×4 T&G for replacement. Let me not get ahead of myself. Let’s first take off the siding and go from there.

Windows
Still 2 more windows to do.  The ones I have are in really rough shape, completely rotten. I have a router and the bits to make replacements, but am not really good at making windows. Well, I can’t say that. I have never made a window, so can’t really say how proficient I am. Would much rather buy 2 but can’t seem to locate any. Every barn around here has these 3 over 3 pane sashes, but none of the salvage places seem to have them. Guess I’m not looking in the right places.

Soffits
The barn has an open soffit that run from end to end. Great for a barn, not so great for a man cave. Not sure I want that much ventilation. A soffit is the space between the roof and the walls. Most houses will has closed soffits what a few “breathers” holes. This allows the attic to breath. Since the barn has not attic and breaths pretty well as it is, soffits can be closed up. Will keep to critters out a bit better if they are closed up. Almost as big a project as replacing all the rafter tails for the roof. Not looking forward to it.

 Other Stuff

Added a 3rd box to the bee hive. A bit late in the season so hoping there will be a good amount of honey in the top box. Also need to add my queen excluder to the top of the 2nd box. Don’t want the  queen laying in the honey top box.

Grapes

Looking pretty good. Just a bit early in the season, but harvest will be in the next month or so. Seems a bit early, but this is a strange year for grapes. Predicting that most grapes will be harvested early this year.

4th of July Parade

Penngrove Market 1882. Still a market. Has a SuperBurger at the other end of the building. Great burgers. Only place locally that you can get a lamb or boar or buffalo or elk or … burger ! Yum http://santarosasuperburger.com/

Everyone loves a parade, but you have got to really love a small town parade. The Social Fireman put on the Penngrove parade. I am told they are a hard drinking, hard partying, good group of people that Sandy and I should join. The MC of the parade is the Social Fireman grand master and knew everyone in the parade, or knew they parents, or their grand parents. As every float passed by the reviewing stand, we were treated to a complete historical accounting of the tractor, or car or rider and the MC’s relation to them. This turned a 5 float, 20 minute parade into a 1 hour lesson on Penngrove and it’s history.

Nice old John Deere with the after market sun shade

Went something like this. Since the MC was on a PA system, it was a very 1 sided conversation.

“I recall working on that JD (John Deere) with your dad.”

“You’re John’s son ?…O the grand son..dam I’m getting old”

“You still using it….”

“O just for parades.”

“Well the tractor is looking good. O, and tell your dad he still owes his Fireman dues. ”

Sonoma County Festival Queen and Jr. Queen in a older convertible.

After the parade, the Social Fireman put on a BBQ and fair in the nearby park.

Junipers and more

16 – June – 14

I continue to work on the Junipers. There is maybe one more day of cutting and 3+ more trips to the dumps. Its far easier to cut it down than it is to load it up and haul it away. I have given up the option of doing it in the chipper. Takes far too long and uses up way too much gas. Might be easier and cheaper to get my mulch from the landfill where I take the Juniper to be mulched. ?! Doesn’t make much sense, except after seeing how little progress I made after using the chipper.

I also did think about making Gin with the Juniper berries, but that went out the door. Once again, its so much easier to go to the liquor store and pick up a bottle of Gin than it is to make my own. In fact, just a few miles from us there is a new distillery, the Spirit Works. Fun place. Make sure you go there for the Sloe Gin. Yum.

So who is having the most fun with this Juniper ? Pursie is. Since she is a little tyke, she has managed to figure out that she can walk on top of the Juniper’s branches. Its such a huge beast that supporting her weight is nothing. Percie will walk from one end of the remaining Juniper to the next. It makes a great platform for ambushing the other dogs.

Queen Bee Percie on top of the Juniper. Her personal launching pad.

Making her way across the Juniper. Percie is pretty black so getting good contrast photo of her is difficult. Looks like a little black blob.

Here is a video of her on top of the Juniper. She will be the only one sad once that nasty old bush is gone.

Percie is about 3 ft off the ground in this video.

 

Onto the next project..and the next..

13 – May – 2014

It has been a month since the last post. Life is getting back to normal. The loss of Piper still stings but we are managing a bit better. Part of getting back to normal was adding a new set of little feet to the house. Percie is a little girl McNab / Boarder Collie that we added to the menagerie. Not to replace Piper, but just to remind us with all of her similar traits.

McNab

 1) Juniper from hell

As I had mentioned before, we have a huge Juniper bush in the front yard. It takes up about 1/2 of the front yard. Must be about 70ft x 30ft of Juniper, and its 50+ years old. The branches and stumps are about the size of tree trunks. Never let your Junipers get that big. If we are going to plant grape vines, the Juniper needs to go. Even if we weren’t doing anything to the front, the Juniper was still going to go !!

After a few days of heavy hacking and a few trips to the dump, I have made some great progress. About 1 weekends worth of work left to do

Before

After

 

2) Barn Project

As mentioned earlier, the barn will be a party barn, with the back half used to keep the tractor and “farm stuff” safe. In that vein, I am on the hunt for a disco ball and a pool table light.

“Disco ball. Pool table light ! What What !” I am sure all the barn purest out there are saying.

Yes, it needs to go along with my pool table, sofa, and bar table.

Pool table in the process of being recovered.

After I finish felting the table, I am sure I will have a pool party. Should be good fun. A real hootenanny.

3) More fencing

Since the old fences were pretty far gone, I am in the process of removing all the older posts and re-planting new / weathered posts. As I told Sandy, using the gas powered auger to do the few posts needed for the front fence was do-able. For the entire property, not a chance! It would just be a matter of the auger giving out or me. Catching a rock or a root a few too many time would be the death of me. Not looking forward to pulling my arm out of its socket.

To make the work easier, we invested in a tractor. A Yanmar YM2000, a Japanese gray market tractor. Its the perfect size, only about 4 ft wide. Perfect for fitting through the rows of vines that will soon be there. My Yanmar is nowhere as pretty as these in the link. Yanmar.

If your familiar with John Deere or Cub Cadet small tractors, then your familiar with Yanmar. Most of Deere’s small tractors are Yanmars, but painted green. Also, if your a sailor / boater, then you may also know the Yanmar 2 cylinder diesels that power many smaller sail boats.

YM2000 tractor with auger PTO

New to me, weathered fence post. Sandy wanted the weathered look so brand new doweled posts would not work

New redwood gate but build to match the existing older gates.

 

The girls on the tractor. Making an old tractor look good.

 

Figs ….almost.

28 – Jan – 2014

I am sure that I have mentioned that we have a small orchard at the farm. Most of the trees are 50+ years old. Some are still producing fruit, but others are on their last leg. To prevent the complete lack of fruit as all the old trees die off at the same time, Sandy and I are slowly replacing or adding young trees as we find them. One of Sandy’s finds have been figs. One is a Black Mission and the other is a Violette De Bordeaux fig. Who knew ?

As most are aware, this has been a banner warm winter here in Northern California. We have been having winter days in the mid to high 70’s, That’s 21 for anyone using new money. Unprecedented for anyone else keeping track. It has actually been so warm that the figs are starting to sprout leafs and and and…..figs ! I know some would not believe it so I took a photo of said figs. We’re not going to make fig newtons from it / them, but its just so interesting to see these fig plants doing so well.

“so Vern, why are they in those black containers ?”

They are actually in the containers for their own safety. We, as it so happens, we have gophers. A very large and active gopher population. One way to ensure the survival of plants is to keep the plants in the containers until they get older and stronger. Younger tender roots are a gophers favorite. I did plan to recruit Olive to stand guard over the fig trees, but as you can tell, she is not having any of it.

Sandy has a special location picked out and marked for one of the figs.