Wondering Waiting and Weeding

It is a mere month before the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year and my head is spinning wondering how we got here so fast, abundant in tulips, and plum and crabapple blossoms after such an insanely icy and tortuous winter. We re-named the long, lower driveway, the one that comes up from the mailbox, the "Newcombville Icefield" as it became impassable, even to our lovely red farm tractor and it's ice chains, for more than a month. It is a shady and low spot where water collects, so it took a very long time to melt and be drivable.

Now that it is drivable we are awaiting the arrival of the fellows from Bernard Mailman's, the contractors who will re-surface much of our driveway with "Class A" gravel, filling in that low spot as well as building-up and smoothing out the ruts that have eroded over the years from heavy rains and bad drainage, as well as the parking area in front of the gallery which hadn't been addressed since we backfilled after building the gallery addition. Necessary but unglamorous landscaping.

I am also waiting, with bated breath, to see how much of the lavender survived the winter. We never did get the rows mulched as we had considerable snow fall before the ground was frozen and for the most part it never left. Often there is a "January Thaw" but not this year, so I counted on that snowcover to be the protection needed for the plants. The older Munsteads, hardy to Zone 4, seem to have weathered it. I am not so optimistic about the Grossos and Twickle Purples, both Zone 5 hardy (we are 5b here I believe). The Twickles, (a type of lavandula angustifolia as are the Munsteads) that were planted last year grew well and quickly, but this spring I find many of them have split down the middle and are weak and/or dead. 

Such splitting is a problem generally with older plants which have not been kept pruned to a compact shape, but these were only first year plants and I had pruned them. So I am left wondering what happened.  I am also waiting for them to green up. A few of them, and a few Grossos (one of the "french" type hybrids, l. X Intermedia that are raised primarily for oil production and for their sturdy long stems for bouquets) are just starting to show a leaf or two of green near the bottom while the Munsteads are much further ahead. These do however bloom a lot later than the others as well. Patience is required, and restraint, as I am inclined to write them off as dead and yank them to re-plant. A mistake I have made before, and regretted upon seeing good roots and one little green leaf starting to emerge.

But right now my lovely lavender farm looks like a field of regimented porcupines, sitting very still. So I watch and I wait.

Besides this waiting and watching and wondering I am also weeding, something else that wasn't done well in the fall as I became overwhelmed with the number of chores here while wearing my multiple hats as lavender farmer, grower of our own food, producer of a (small) variety of products using dried lavender buds, photographer/gallery owner and now emerging Soul Coach ®, trying to get that part of my vocation off the ground. If you are interested in learning about that aspect of what I do please look at my new web site, Third Eye Soul Journeys.

I think I am going to have to get some help this year to keep on top of it, I am finally resigned to accepting, sort of, the idea that I do not have to do it all myself. Oh I know I have Edward, my wonderful husband, who is farm-hand extraordinaire, having been raised in this crazy lifestyle in a more self-sustaining way and under harsher conditions than I can ever imagine, but he does have his day job still, the one that pays a lot of the bills while all these other enterprises evolve. We're still at the capital investment stage on a lot of fronts! He does as much as he can on the days he's not at his own office, like yesterday, in the rain while I weeded, he moved the chicken coop to the other side of the driveway to a more sheltered place where they could have a better outdoor run now that we have given up on free-ranging them for the time being. 

Yes, I'm afraid we have limited their range quite severely, for two, no, three, reasons: First, we got a dog, Angus, last October, who it seems is still fascinated by little creatures that run around and wants to chase them. He hasn't managed to catch one yet so we're not sure if it's a herding instinct or a hurting instinct and we don't wish to find out. Secondly, the roving gangs did a number on many of my flower beds last fall as they got braver and traveled further from the henhouse. They tossed mulch on the gravel paths and vice versa, impossible to clean up. They are quite intrepid little beings but there always seems to be a ringleader. And third, besides the garden damage, they just roved too far afield this spring as soon as they were allowed out, I shooed them out of the neighbour's yard more than once. They were getting closer to the highway too, only a matter of time before the chickens crossed the road.

Our flock has dwindled to 5 as a result of the autumn rooster cull (tasty but really lean birds!) and a few sad casualties due to un-identified illness through the winter, one of whom was my little favourite, Skippy. Like they say, never name your chickens.

That said, the remaining Gang of Five consists of Sargeant Major, a pompous Speckled Sussex rooster; Number Three, a fluffed-up Barred Rock rooster; Button, a seemingly intelligent and brave Barred Rock hen; and the two Rhode Island Red hens, interchangeably named Little Red and Ginger. They are obviously the "popular" girls in the coop as they have many of their back feathers worn off by the excessive friskiness of the roosters. We think we'll segregate them soon to give them a break, but we had hoped one of them would go broody and hatch some chicks. No luck so far. Floozies the two of them.

The ruby-throated hummingbirds have returned, by the way, practically chattering "hello we're back" as they zoom by us in the garden. Edward got their feeder out just in time and they seem appreciative. 

So life is full and so is this blog post. I sometimes wonder how I got myself into this mode involving so much hard labour and constant attention, but as I work in the garden, blackflies permitting, I know I am indeed in my element. I am sure there will be more to write as summer nears and life speeds up.