Farming in the shade

How Doth the Little Busy Bee How doth the little busy bee Improve each shining hour, and gather honey all the day From every opening flower! How skilfully she builds her cell! How neat she spreads the wax! And labors hard to store it well With the sweet food she makes. In works of labor or of skill,  I would be busy too; For Satan finds some mischief still For idle hands to do.  In books, or work, or healthful play, Let my first years be passed, That I may give for every day Some good account at last. --Isaac Watts The bees are back at Shady Side Farm. Due to Colony Collapse Disorder , our beekeeper friend opted to keep the few bees he had last year close to home. He's had wonderful success capturing swarms this year, however, and that means the bees are back.  The summer has blown by us--we've experienced several cold days that make us think about fall  and the season that follows it . We rush through our ...

Some of the projects we've been involved with over the past few weeks have taken away from my blogging time and motivation. Our beans will be featured in the Grand Rapids Magazine's December edition. At least that's what we've been told. When we were interviewed, we realized that we really can't put off having a real website much longer. So we've been working on that, with the great help of our daughter and her co-worker. Whatever "works" about the website is because of them. Whatever is clunky is probably where you see my fingerprints. No, we're not unveiling it just yet. It still needs a little more spit-polish. For a couple of weeks there, this blog's future hung in the balance. Why not just incorporate the blog into the website itself? Have everything look uniform, streamlined, less cluttered... But I just couldn't leave it behind. So, while I may rearrange the furniture a bit sometime this winter, I'm sticking with the blo...

I've slowed down on the blogging a bit over the last couple of weeks. Did anyone notice? I've been planning out our homeschool year (or at least the first half of it), busy working my part-time job, and tending to sick family members. I'll be back. In the meantime, here are a few blogs I enjoy reading: Maple Corners -- a fiber artist caring for her mom, who has alzheimer's, on the family farm... Advocates for Agriculture -- a news blog featuring articles about American agriculture (with commentary)... Crazy as a Loom -- the day by day musings of a retired nurse now weaving her dream full time. Music warning--just mute it if you don't like it... Michigan in Pictures -- fabulous photographs of my adopted home state... Just Something I Made -- a graphic designer who's almost too crafty for her own good! Lots of goodies there... Granny Miller -- great homesteading, homemaking advice and tutorials. This is no longer an active blog, but there are some gems if yo...

A few days ago, Alwen from the Lost Arts Studio  notified me that she'd given me the "I Love Your Blog" award.  Please go check out her blog.  She blogs about many things, but I think it's the fiber arts that keeps me reading. I also appreciate her quiet wisdom.  I don't know how she found me, but I first realized she was reading my blog when she corrected me on the type of thistle seed sold in birdseed. She knows her horticulture, she does. Now on to the part where I bestow the "I Love Your Blog" award to a few of my favorite blogs. (The point of all this is that we can all find some great new blogs to read...) In no particular order: 1) Maple Corners -- A fiber art enthusiast living on ten acres of fine Minnesota land caring for her Alzheimer's suffering mom, a herd of fiber llamas and alpacas, a couple of dogs, a few cats, and some chickens.  2) Muddy Boots -- A homeschooling mom with a brain! (Joke here.) She makes me think harder than I'd...