Ceilidh Meadows Farm: 2010

Monday, October 11, 2010

Bee Tree Adventure

Charlie will often get e-mails from the Bee Club of people reporting honey bees in or around their home in hopes of having them removed without killing them. This homeowner had a tree fall in the backyard near the playground. He didn't want to spray the bees but he also needed them gone & the weather was getting too cool to start them in a new bee box. So, as Charlie considered the situation, he came up with an idea.

He decided to take the tree home...hive and all! This would allow the bees the best chance to overwinter with their existing hive.

The bees had quite an extensive hive already in this hollow tree.

Well, Charlie cut the tree where he thought the hive ended but the comb extended further into the tree then expected.

So, the Bee Tree was now cut into 1 six foot section & 2 two foot sections. How in the world was he going to get this home?

Charlie & Ben did their best using cardboard, shrink wrap & duct tape to close the bees in their tree for the ride home.

How fortunate it was that the homeowner happened to have a front end loader he could use to pick up the tree & slip it right into Charlie's truck.

Ben & Charlie then lifted the 2 smaller pieces of trunk to put in the truck.

With the bee tree secured, we were off...up Route 32 and...

...through Eldersburg...

...to the farm. We made it with no problem...just a few funny looks from drivers!

Charlie & Ben gently shoved the tree off the truck...

...and rolled it into a good position.

Like a puzzle, they tried to match up the 2 smaller pieces with the main trunk so the bees would not be too confused.

They also had to level out the tree so the pieces would meet reasonably well.

The bees were starting to find their way out of the hive so Charlie uses the smoker to calm them down as they finished.

The last step was to strap the smaller pieces to the main trunk to give the bee tree a snug fit, keeping out the weather & other invaders.

A few more screws...

...and they're done!

The bees seem to be content as they come out of their main entrance...especially considering all they've been through in the past 2 hours!

This is the bee tree complete & ready to ovewinter. Hopefully the colony will survive. It's difficult enough to successfully overwinter a normal box hive...we'll just have to wait and see!

Saturday, April 10, 2010

A Buzz At The White House

Last Spring, Charlie & Ben were invited to help man the "Bee Keepers" Table at the Annual White House Easter Egg Roll.

Tables & tents were set up all over the White House lawn.

Charlie & Jim work on setting up the displays and posters to share with the families as they stop by the Bee table.

Everthing is set up just in time for the gates to open.

Ben uses a poster to show these little guys about how bees work the hive.

Charlie gets a personal tour of the White House Bee Hive. His friend, Charlie, who is the White House Bee Keeper explains that the hive must be up on a platform so the bees' flyway would be mostly over childrens' heads.

Now it's Ben's turn to get an up front look at the "First Bees". As you can see, the hive must be strapped down so as not to be blown away when helicopters land on the White House lawn. It makes working the bees a little harder but well worth the trouble.

President & Mrs. Obama come out on the balcony to greet all the families and visitors.

Across from the Bee Table was the White House Kitchen Garden. Charlie & Ben were able to get an inside personal tour of the garden, too. We love to see that the First Family is encouraging gardening and local food!

Another view of the garden...looking good so far!

They had a wonderful day sharing about bees with others during such a great event!

Sunday, February 7, 2010

The Twin Blizzards at the Farm 2010

What a wild winter! We got about 26 inches here in Finksburg. We knew it would take a few days to get our lane open so we were well prepared to relax here at home. But before we could relax, we had to get ready.

Charlie & the kids stack up wood near the house to keep the fire going while I'm inside working on a big pot of beef stew.

We woke up to a beautiful snowy morning and the snow just kept coming & coming.

Here is our Border Collie, Zoe, trying to run in the snow. She was no match for the 2 feet of snow.

Sarah & Becky take a break from clearing paths to the goats and chickens.

After clearing the heavy snow from the deck, Becky, Sarah, Ben & Daniel jump over the side into the 6 foot deep pile of snow.

Yea... the goats are happy to have a path to walk!

After all the hard work, Ben finds time to enjoy the snow by building an igloo from the pile of snow that was pushed off our flat roof.

Round 2: More snow... Unbelievable!

Well, three days after the first snow, with almost non-stop commercial digging, our friend was able to come and begin digging us out. We have a quarter mile driveway and no tractor at this time to dig ourselves out of huge amounts of snow. Just as he got about one third of the way down our driveway, he got a call to go back to work for the second snow...another 24 inches or so was on the way... with Blizzard conditions! We were still stuck. Thankfully Charlie & Becky parked their vehicles out at the end of the lane so we could walk that quarter mile out if we needed to.

The total accumulation was so heavy that Charlie had to even shovel off the grape arbor to rescue it from the snow.

Here are the bee hives covered by snow. The snow actually acts as an insulator to the hives helping to keep the bees warm and protected from the blizzard winds.

Believe it or not that little piece of wood is the top corner of the gate to the goat pen.

This is Becky attempting to make a snow angel... not quite working for her!

How beautiful everything was the following morning when all the snow had finally stopped...completely!

This is our 5 foot above ground pool...LOL!

The kids get back to some serious deck jumping.

"Oh...let's try this part of the deck...watch out below!"

Ben gets some serious hang time on this jump!

These next two beautiful pictures were taken by our budding photographer, Sarah. She took many of the other photos also.

Like all the commercial snow removers, our friend was out working very hard so we had to figure out a way to get Becky & Charlie to work our selves. The kids & Charlie decided it was time to trudge their way out to the car and truck. Shoveling was out of the question so they just walked one behind the other to stomp down a reasonable path. Of course, they talked Daniel (our 9 year old) into going first through the deepest snow. He crawled on top most of the time.

Charlie & the kids finally reach the one-third of the driveway that was first cleared by our snow removal friend... a good place to take a rest. It will be easier going the rest of the way.

Daniel is "King of the Hill" as he climbs to the top of the mound to touch the street sign.

Ben & Daniel invent a new Winter Sport..."Luge for Chickens". Daniel gets on his sled at the top of the deck while Ben holds it in place with his foot...

Ben lets go with his foot and away Daniel sails down the snow mound and drops into the channel path made to the chicken coop...

And as he banks the corner almost taking out one chicken...

...he arrives at the finish line in a flurry of feathers
(Important Disclosure: No feathered friend was injured during the making of this Blog)

Our Mission Statement and Goals

Our Mission Statement:
To glorify God through our family, home, & farm. To serve Him by being good stewards of His creation and the resources He provides.

Our goals:
To grow & provide delicious, fresh naturally grown foods for our family and members of our CSA. Though we are not certified organic, we choose to farm using non-chemical methods. We also provide a happy healthy home for our animals using pastured systems.

We hope to support our family & CSA members in learning to eat seasonally from the farm. We hope to do this by sharing ideas for food preparation & storage.

As God provides a bountiful harvest, we hope to provide extra food for families in need during this economically difficult time.

Oh! Honey!

We have a new addition to the farm which in God’s provision, found us… honey bees! Let me explain. Charlie has always liked the idea of keeping bees … I always thought he was crazy. February 2008 he decided to sign up for a bee keeping class with the Howard County Bee Club. Two friends from work have bees & belong to this club, also. Charlie didn’t tell me a whole lot about it except that he would stop on the way home from work each Tuesday. He really enjoyed the class but we were not financially ready to take on bees… which was fine with me. Later in the spring the Bee Club had a Field Day Trip to an Apiary. Charlie dragged Ben with him which I thought was great… you see, Ben has HATED bees ever since he was stung five times at once when he was about 4 years old. Ben would not be so easily swayed by the little critters. Well, was I wrong… Ben loved it. They took pictures during the trip showing themselves dressed in the bee keepers hoods, working the smokers and in one picture, Ben is actually holding a drone (male bee with no stinger). This was not what I had in mind!
Well, the Bee Class was over and we had no plans to buy bees and equipment this year so I thought we could get back to thinking about real plans for the farm when Charlie brought home this funny box given to him by his friend at work. It was a bee box designed to catch swarms. I was pleased to learn that in all the years he had bees, he had never caught a swarm himself but he thought we could at least try. Charlie found a nice tree in which to hang the box & checked it almost daily. Can you believe it that in about two weeks we caught a swarm… Charlie's friend was amazed… so was I! I have to admit, though, that I was a little excited about it too. As Charlie was telling me about how honey is collected & put in jars (with no processing by me) I was beginning to realize that bees were tiny livestock that didn’t need fences or costly feed… they really were easy to manage. His friend had an empty hive at the time and helped Charlie to secure the swarm. He actually gave us that hive which was a tremendous financial blessing. Charlie and Ben are now both Certified Bee Keepers. We look forward to having honey to sell this summer as God is moving us in the directions He wants us to take with this farm. It is such a blessing to know that He guides us and directs our paths even in the tiny things.

Our Chickens

When you come to the farm, you will see a variety of happy chickens roaming cage free to eat grass, seeds, insects, grubs, etc. They are beautiful & fun to watch. We order a new group of day-old chicks through the mail each March...that's right they come to the post office & we pick them up as soon as they arrive around 5:30 am. We get an assortment of brown egg layers that may include Black Australorps, White Orpingtons, Rhode Island Reds, Barred Rock, Buff Rocks, Silver Laced, Columbian Wyandottes & many others. One of our unique chickens is called a Turken... it has a head & neck with no feathers like a turkey. We have also added Americanas from our local farm store. They are the puffy faced hens that lay blue/green eggs. Besides chickens, we also have a few African Guineas that roam our farm. Guineas are the equivalent of chickens in Africa. They are funny looking, love to eat ticks and are very noisy... which is why we only have a few. Their noise is helpful to sound the alarm when something is wrong like a predator. Predators are an ongoing problem on the farm for pastured chickens. Our chickens are often attacked by foxes. They have also been attacked by hawks, dogs, racoons, weasels and mink... yes, we do have mink in Maryland and they can kill up to 10 chickens in one attack. We have a large healthy flock now but a few bad incidents can effect our egg production very easily. Even with the difficulites of predators, pastured chickens are well worth the risk. Eggs from pastured chickens are so much more delicious with a beautiful bright yellow/orange yolk from betacarotene in plants. They are also rich in vitmins A & E, folic acid, lutein and omega-3 fats. Pastured eggs have 17.60 mg of omega-3 per g of yolk as compared to caged eggs at 1.73 mg per g of yolk. The yolks are where the good things are!

"Really looking forward to picking up the 2 dozen today! I swear, even the pricey organic eggs from the store can't hold a candle to your hens'!" Kim H.

About Our Farm

We had been searching for a new home with some land but never thought we would be able to really buy a farm. In the fall of 2001, we were lead to a "For-Sale By Owner" add that only ran one day in the paper. Charlie knew the farm listed but never thought I would be interested in an old neglected rundown farm. We went to look at it anyway... and it was truely a mess! Everything was overgrown, the fields were depleated & the woods ripped apart by loggers. The house was nasty... portions of ceiling were missing, the downstairs bathroom was a toilet in the middle of the laundry room, the kitchen was coated in grease and the refrigerator a science project. But when we saw, under the clutter, the old stone fireplace, the 175 year old hand hewned log walls that led up the curved staircase we knew we could turn this mess into a beautiful rustic home. We bought our 15 acre farm in March of 2002. It took 7 months and the help of many wonderful friends to get the house ready for us to move in November of 2002. It is now 2009 and we still have major work to do but that's life on the farm!