Spring Breaks!

It seems as though spring is truly here. And isn't it a beautiful spring this year? Every being at Joyful Garden seems to be truly appreciating the cool mornings and the sunny afternoons. The chickens are basking outdoors in their pen, not yet needing to hide in the shade of the coop due to heat. The pullets are stretching their wings and legs in a sort of Kenchicky Derby inside their new outdoor enclosure every morning. They pile together at night, nestled deep in the straw inside the small coop. Pip the dog lies in the sun in the afternoons, often baring his belly to the sun! Our burr oak leafed out in just the last 48 hours, the seedlings from the garden have easily doubled in size in the two weeks since I bought them, and the tomato and calendula sprouts that we seeded are growing well. Even the gutter garden has survived the spring break, thanks to India reminding me to water it. 

Our latest delivery of chicks arrived and they are tiny and lively. They are bantams, which is just another term for miniature. They will be available for viewing, should you like to come early for noon departure and have your child show them to you. 

Spring sprang a bit early for one of our soon-to-start members and his family: Hudson's new baby brother, Phoenix Alejandro, arrived March 16, about two weeks ahead of his scheduled due date! You may remember meeting Hudson and his parents, Nancy and Adam, at the February Community Night. I am accepting refrigerated/frozen, reheatable meals for Hudson's family this week; I will drop them off on Friday. They eat vegetarian + dairy. I know that the meals will be much appreciated! Hudson will thank you in person when he starts at Community in June.

There is definitely a huge increase in insect life around Joyful Garden since the last time the children were here. It is a great idea to give your kiddo a spritz of mosquito repellent before you head over in the morning. Unfortunately, the wasps are making a comeback this spring, as well. I am looking for natural solutions to this problem, including traps. Apparently, chickens love to eat trapped wasps, so everybody is a winner with this solution (except the wasps, of course). Complicating things a little bit is the fact that we received our new bees and beehive from Beeweaver (www.beeweaver.com) over the weekend. If I can figure out how to trap wasps without also trapping bees, then I won't hesitate to do so.

The bees are very docile and are getting oriented to their water and food sources. The hive we received is already completely full of honey, so we must add a new super (the box that the honey frames go in and that the bees live in) as soon as possible. India is very interested in bees and their plight (http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1918282,00.html). We love to think that we are helping keep the species alive, while also helping our garden. And that we'll get some delicious honey, to boot.

The beehive is in the far northwest corner of the Back Forty. We will be constructing some type of screen loosely around the hive. We don't wish to hide the hive, but the screen will elevate the bees' flight path above the heads of the other inhabitants of the property. This helps reduce painful collisions. Ideally, we will use reed fencing, so that guides can occasionally take children on a destination to observe the bees through the screen.

I am struck by the change in energy that the spring breeze is blowing in, both internally and externally. While the plants and chicks are growing, the bees busily tending to their honeyflow, my ideas are coming quickly, my energy is flowing, and I must work and make lists and gogogo. But, should I build a raised bed, or work on fencing the pasture for the chickens? Is there budget for both, or only one? Which is more important, right now?

Spring is a time of enormous change and upheaval in nature, and so it is with people, too. Coincidentally, it is also the time of year when families are asked to make decisions about their childrens' school for the next year, when we find ourselves weighing and assessing our previous assumptions, and making adjustments as current data dictates we must.

It can be a time to feel overwhelmed, out of balance. The intensity of the season can flow over into our relationships with each other. It is only natural, with all the urgency of spring pressing in on us. All our decisions seem critical, so vitally important. So it is important to also take time in spring to sit still and think from time to time. Our true priorities rise to the surface, if we can just take a little time to let them. All too soon, the volatility of spring will pass, and we'll be working to assimilate the choices we have made and the lessons we have learned (gathering the fruits, so to speak). 

I am so grateful for the choices that working to create this community brings me, and for all that I have learned and continue to learn in doing that work.

I am also grateful for the wonderful work table that James and Emily built for the front outside area, giving up precious time on a Sunday to do it. Thanks, Emily and James!

Some important dates:

Monday, March 21--TODAY--please let us know your plans for enrolling your child for summer and fall. Annual re-enrollment fee is due.

Saturday, March 25: Work Day, 9am-12 noon; pickup truck convoy from Whittlesey Landscape Supply at 7:30 am.

Thursday, April 21: Katherine will be out; Garden Cottage will have a substitute, most likely Maya.

Friday, April 22: Joyful Garden Holiday--Community is closed.

Tuesday, May 31-Friday, June 3: Early Summer Break; Community is closed.

Monday, June 6: Joyful Garden is open on Mondays! New fee schedule for naps applies from this date on.