Meadowset Farm & Apiary

....almost every day our three year old daughter asks me: "daddy, when is the snow coming?"  While my family back home in the Swiss Alps is drowning in the snow, southeastern PA just got a couple of light dustings....as one of my friends put it: my girls are getting a concussion from making snow angels.  These southeastern PA winters are a tough pill to swallow for an expat from the Swiss Alps!!!  Anyway, snow or no snow, spring is coming and life on the farm is starting to get busy again as we prepare for the annual shearing and lambing.  The honey bees are out and flying on days around 50F and witch hazel, croci, snow drops are providing the first pollen for their colonies as they get busy with brood rearing.  I used the opportunity to check the colonies a few weeks ago during the warm-up we had here, and I happily observed most hives were well and strong.  The milk ewes are doing well and starting to show some udder development.  A few lambs have already been born, thus the 2009 lambing season is officially underway.  Pretty soon, onion grass will come up and there is no holding back of ewes and lambs yearning to get the first blades of grass.  Hope to see you all at the sheep shearing March 14^th, 2009.

...we like the fall, nature slowly prepares for winter, busy bees fly on warm fall days gathering pollen from some "late bloomers" and carry water to the hive one last time, milk sheep are being dried off and the rams are looking forward to their "wedding night"....Fences are being moved a few last times to get the stockpiled grass on the pastures, hay making equipment is being stored away and, ...yes, of course, then there was the new addition to the familiy...three weeks early, so we lost some hay on the ground and the last beans went south with the early October frost.  Time to start reviewing notes made during the growing season....not before long, the next year is upon us before we know it; but for now, we'll enjoy some hearty fall and winter meals from "Grosi's (Swiss German for: grandma) farm recepie collection. We'll spend some time at a crackling fire with the girls eading stories of fairies and gnomes who lived in the Swiss mountains many, many years ago....but sshhh...there may be some right down at the creek on a full moon.....  We'll do some cooking at the hearth with a grass-fed leg of lamb on a string slowly turning and roasting while sipping on some local wine, sharing stories with friends....gotta run, dinner is ready.....there is this wonderful smell of melting bees-wax filling the house while candlemaking is in full swing; stay tuned!