Getting Dirty in New York: Sharing the Wealth

With the passing of the solstice last week, there is a sense of spring tenderness transitioning to summer hardening in the plants. We've been busy harvesting for the farmstand that's open in the garden Mondays and Wednesdays and also the Threefold Cafe, the Hungry Hollow Food Co-op, the Fellowship Community (which cares for the elderly), and a local food bank. Since food banks are mainly stocked with non-perishable items like canned goods, it always pleases me when fresh vegetables can be made available to them. Increasing access to locally grown produce as well as helping people grown their own is what inspired me to do this internship in the first place. Right now there's enough chard in the garden to feed a village, so why not share it?

Highlights of the week included

Let's put Chapstick out of business!

Helping to "split" a hive known as Feliciana that was filling up with larvae, comb, and honey due to a very productive colony. In order to encourage further productivity, some of the frames of larvae and comb and nursemaid bees were transferred into an empty hive with the hope that they will start a new colony. The queen bee was left behind in the original hive, so the transferred nursemaids will be forced to raise a new queen. This reduces the possibility of Feliciana swarming, not that swarming is a bad thing, but this hive is located in a somewhat secluded place where a swarm would not typically be noticed and therefore, the colony could be lost to the woods.

Learning how to make lip balm using beeswax and olive oil from my fun former fellow intern Kirstin McKeel (shown above), who finished her year at the Pfeiffer Center recently but fortunately will be around for the summer. These items were packaged and offered for sale at a fundraiser last night along a with an herbal tea blend.
Making 30+ pieces of origami to complement the bouquets of flowers decorating the tables at the aforementioned fundraiser. Keeping with the garden theme, I folded some colorful dragonflies, frogs, and rabbits, but found that the latter are not as windproof due to the long ears.

Waiting out a very heavy rainstorm in the greenhouse and getting a few trays of fennel fronds packed into the dehydrator in the process. My fellow herb stewards and I have been trying to keep the dehydrator full, but continuous rain has interfered with our plans. We're hoping for a drier week this week (pun intended).

Correction- When describing the fabulous bunch-of-grapes costume I wore in the 2010 DC Pride Parade, I neglected to mention that it was trifecta of designers who created it for me, one that included the delightful Angela Gaudette as well as Jane and Tamika.

Relocation Update- I found a nice, newly renovated, 2-bedroom apartment on a quiet tree-lined street in a historic neighborhood in Albany last weekend. It's walking distance to the hospital where Mike will be working and the rent is less than what we are paying in DC (not that that should surprise anyone). Now we just need to get everything moved, including Zoe. Stay tuned...

Here are some photos from the garden this morning: