Weeds and Bees

Whew! Another busy day on the farm. Along with picking and packing CSA bags, it was the day for tackling all the weeds that are growing rampant all over the farm. I think Jeff mowed and weedwhacked for a solid eight hours straight. The poor guy will probably be wheezing from allergies for days, but the job had to be done. Weed erradication is important because it's really hard to see the farm clearly when it's overgrown. Clearing the weeds is kind of like cleaning the kitchen before preparing a big, complicated meal - you need all the space you can get so you have room to make the next mess.

The highlight of my day was getting to see a wild swarm of bees move into one of the bee boxes that we have on the farm. The last couple of years have been so dicey for bees everywhere that we wanted to introduce extra bees to the property, as well as attract wild bees. Rob the Honey Guy brought us some bee boxes and bees and we also got a bee "trap" box intended to draw in wild bees. Since we got the trap box, we had seen some bees check it out, but it had yet to be fully inhabited by a swarm. Today, though, the swarm descended. I wish I had a better camera so that I could have taken a good picture, because it was the coolest thing. Seemingly out of nowhere, a swarm of bees appeared and filled the air around the tree in which the trap box sits. The swarm was about 30 feet by 30 feet of solid bees...incredible! Within five minutes, the air had cleared as the bees made their way into their new home. I'm telling you, it was so cool. I felt like I was watching some spectacular nature display on the Discovery Channel, but lucky me, it was right on our farm. I'm always amazed how often I see the most special natural occurrences in my day to day life. Even though it may feel like we live in the midst of a concrete jungle full of cars and shopping malls, all that crazy, man-made chaos exists within the much larger natural world. So. even if we aren't actively seeking out nature by going hiking in a park or camping in the wilderness, if we just open our eyes and stay attuned to our surroundings, we'll undoubtedly see nature's most intricate and incredible workings.

So, there's my challenge for you. Wherever you are, whatever you're doing, look for nature. I bet that you'll be able to see nature even in the most unlikely places. And if you look for nature enough, I guarantee you'll see something so awesome that it trumps anything on the Discovery Channel.