Thanksgiving Moments

Thanksgiving Week

It is hard to believe that it is the end of November in Northern WI; I am wearing a T-shirt outside.  The honey bees quit their cluster and have been flying around the yard.  The ground isn't frozen any more. It is just so nice to have this mellow weather.
I wandered around and cleaned the gardens a little better. I'm inventing my own Hoop house and I got it repaired from the winds just in time for winter. Well if it survives it will be a nursery and a warm place for transplants. A lot of the garden tools and mowers are stored in the Chicken coop.  So Now I Can Dream About Next Year's Gardens!
Now I get to go up in the woods. Yes that woods in this picture. It was a foggy morning and the sun was rising.  So beautiful and quiet....   Let's see--chainsawing firewood, hunting, clearing brush, making trails and brush piles. When I clean a little place, or sit along a trail, it is really something.   Just like real Thanksgiving moments.

Do good.

Good Morning to the First Snow

Good morning to the First Snow....

I like to think about things; Nature, the seasons, the wind, sunrises, and the wonder of it all!  So today in my walk-around I was greeted by snow pelting into my face, whipped by the south wind.
So in my mind and my body I started to see the new season as reality, not probability.

So how have I done in my preparation.... The gardens have cleared and ready for next year.   I put off working on the high hoop house. I was reading Colman's book on 4 Season Gardening. It was pretty amazing. I started to believe in it, then this summer I  hurt my ankle and I had time to study it more.  I realized he is in Maine, but in climate zone 5. I am in zone 3.  Duhhh.  The high hoop house was going to be my 4th season garden.  In the next weeks I'll get it closed in and in spring I will be able to plant early.  So up here this fourth season is  Winter. I am going to experiment with spinach and onions in the greenhouse.  Last year in the greenhouse I had some onions and chard that survived the winter even though the ground was frozen hard for months.  So I hope to understand something about plants this winter.
Two weeks ago I brought the hives together and set up an Apiary in the corner of Garden #1. It is behind the fence in this picture. I have 2 hives.  I am getting more confident about being with the bees. I did some clumsy things when I was opening the hives and working with the bees this summer.  Now they have plenty of honey in their frames and I am starting sugar feeders. When I go by the hives I can hear the 'humm' as they swarm inside the hive.  The hives do not have enough wind protection yet. By this weekend the wind fence will be up. Next year Garden #1 will become a flower garden. Partly for the bees, partly for me....
It looks like a bleak windswept landscape. But there is a lot going on.
Do good!