A year in review...

 

Oh my! Can you believe that it has been an entire year since my last blog post? What should I write about? How could I even begin to remember all that has happened over the last year? I will do my best...Let’s go! Last year around this time, we were harvesting whatever was left in our garden that had been taken over by weeds. Fast forward to this year and not much has changed. We decided to till the garden in May of this year and brought in several pounds of mulch to surround everything that we planted. In the entrance to the garden, we decided to put down cardboard and cover it with mulch to see how much that would control the weeds. This worked great and I have a feeling that next year, we will be stock piling all of those Amazon boxes that somehow show up at our door throughout the year and will try to cover a larger area for weed control. We try to use natural methods to limit the exposure of chemicals not only to the ground but to our bees as well. Overall, I think that due to the dry weather and our lack of effort in the garden, we had more weeds this year than in 2020. It is like a scavenger hunt trying to locate a random squash or pumpkin in the garden. We were able to harvest some tomatoes, peppers, green beans, pumpkin, (one) kohlrabi, spaghetti squash and acorn squash but we did not have luck with sweet corn, lettuce, cantaloupe or watermelon. As of right now, it is safe to say, we are not the best gardeners. Nonetheless, we will keep going, trying new ways and will eventually figure out what works. This time last year, the bees were really doing great and we had two hives that were excellent honey producers while the other two were a little slower at producing. This was my first winter with the bees and we came out on the other side having lost half of our hives. Because of this, I decided to install two packages of bees in the spring, which were shipped to us from Georgia. I’ll admit, it was fun to get a call from the post office telling me that my bees were there and to please come and pick them up! So blessed to live in a small town. Those bees really thrived and I was able to split another hive as well. This summer we have been managing five hives. Honey harvest seems to have been a little slower this year but we also tried a new honey super kit that is specific to ross round honey comb production. This was a great success. It takes a little extra work for the bees to draw out brand new comb and fill with honey but it is something special that we get to offer to you for those that enjoy honey comb. Soon, I will start to prepare the bees for winter. They are taking sugar water so quickly that it is hard to keep up. The bees will use this sugar water to draw out new comb, and store for winter feeding. I often get some interesting looks from the checkout counter when I come through the line with 30+ pounds of sugar. A sure sign of a beekeeper. We continue to donate $1 per jar of honey sold to charity. This has been such a rewarding thing for us to be able to do and it is something that we will continue to do going forward. As for the chickens, they did great throughout the winter and we even added three to the flock in the spring from some friends that were ready to get rid of them. The chickens free range every day and have been eating very well with all of the grasshoppers and other bugs around their area. I imagine that they will begin to slow down on egg laying soon as the weather gets cooler and the chickens are another year older. The barn cats are doing great. We are down to two and they spend a lot of time lounging around in our garage, chasing mice and running from our little dogs that think they are big and bad. Not much else is new at Simple Ridge. We are beginning to prepare for a new adventure and I will fill you in on that in the next blog. Let’s just hope it doesn’t take another year to put out another blog. We hope everyone has been healthy and we continue to appreciate your support of our little adventure of “city folks” becoming small time farmers. It has been interesting to say the least but life is too short to sit around wondering. Go make it happen!

Sifting Through The Weeds

Well, it has been quite a few months since I have blogged. I have had plenty of time to write but for some reason didn’t. I had gotten started a few times and never completed an entry. Not sure what stopped me each time but such is life. Where do I even start?! I remember blogging in the past about how things had changed with this pandemic but could any of us have really imagined the depths that this would touch our society? Our world? The “new normal” is a term that you hear a lot and I keep feeling like I am in an episode of the twilight zone. Fortunately, that feeling typically only occurs when I walk into the grocery store or some other public place where everybody is donning a mask and there are people on the ready to spray you with sanitizer. Or when I watch a baseball game and can see cardboard cutouts of people in the stands. Anyway, excuse my rant but isn’t this stuff on all of our minds? Recently, I had a discussion with a friend about how this pandemic has affected mental health and something that stuck with me and made sense is that for a lot of people, there seems to be no end and that is hard to deal with. While other things that we go through as a society, such as a mass shooting or bombing, etc. have a clear ending and we heal and move on…and get back to “normal”. People are having a hard time dealing with this pandemic and feel as though they don’t have resolution and can’t move on from it. I’m sure there are other aspects and different scenarios that are reasons for this pandemic affecting mental health but this angle was one that made sense to me. It has been tough and so many changes and disruptions will affect almost everyone. Regardless, let’s always do our best to stay positive and be kind to one another as we don’t know the battles others are fighting. As a side note; I am always here for anybody that needs to talk.

OK, back to what this blog is really supposed to be about .

A lot has gone on in the last few months at Simple Ridge and we have learned so much. First and foremost, when people say you probably won’t get much honey your first year of beekeeping, don’t believe them. Our bees have really knocked it out of the park this year and it has been amazing to watch them work and be able to reap the reward. We have always said that we wanted to use this land to give back to our community and the surrounding area and we have found our first way of doing so and that is through donations from honey sales. We made a decision to donate $1 per jar of honey sold to various charities and this will continue for the long haul. It is so amazing to be able to give back in this way. In our first month, we were able to donate $100 to storm relief for those affected by the derecho that hit Iowa on August 10^th, 2020. For the month of September, we have chosen Alive and Running as the charity, which is a local non-profit that invests in education and awareness for suicide prevention. September is suicide awareness month and we also lost a family member to suicide 2 years ago in September so this cause is close to our hearts. I believe that we can at least double that $100 amount raised, if not triple it this month. Another thing that we have learned over the last few months is that weeds in the garden are a lot harder to contain than originally thought. The weeds in our garden were so bad at times, it was hard to even determine where certain plants were. It wasn’t a total loss though. We have enjoyed tomatoes, peppers, kohlrabi, kale, lettuce, cantaloupe, watermelon, sweet corn, carrots, sweet potatoes, green beans, cucumbers, spaghetti squash, butternut squash, pumpkins and a few onions. If we could have controlled the weeds, we could have harvested a lot more but the garden was not a complete failure. Plenty of “tweaks” already planned for next year.  We now have a solid crew of barn cats that actually enjoy our company and at the same time are rodent killing ninjas! We have had dead mice on our doorstep and I even found a head (yes, just the head) of a large rodent laying close to the barn where the cats hang out. They are definitely doing their job and the chickens appreciate their work. We have let the chickens free range a few times and have realized that the cats enjoy their company, we won’t be testing this with the dogs as I’m sure there is a strong possibility of tragedy if we added them to the mix. We have planted a couple of Linden trees which when mature will supply a lot of pollen for the bees and some tasty honey for me and you. Those are just a few updates from Simple Ridge. The biggest update might be that since the last time I blogged, we officially became an LLC, adopted a logo and will soon be working on a website. Thanks for all your support. We love the community in which we live and look forward to being able to contribute more as the years go on. 

Where's the corn?

Hi Everyone! I have been slacking on writing but found some time today to put a few words on “paper”. A lot of major projects have been completed in the last month or so at Simple Ridge. We have installed a fence around our garden, completed an outdoor chicken run, leveled two loads of fill dirt around our driveway, planted several fruits and vegetables, cut down limbs (and even a few small “volunteer” trees), and created a flower garden. There is probably more that I am forgetting but you get the point. Things have been busy. The good part is, come next spring a lot of what has been accomplished will not have to be done again and in fact, some of what we have done will continue to reap rewards well into the future….So, to be completely honest, I started writing this and had to leave the computer because my kids were arguing and now two days later was able to get back in front of the screen to finish my thoughts. Does this happen to anyone else? Let’s give this another shot. I mentioned that we planted a garden and like most things in our life, we go all in. Our garden is a good size and being that this is our first go-around, we made quite a few mistakes right off the bat. First, we reserved half of our garden for sweet corn which was not the problem. The new “learning opportunity” that we discovered was that planting sweet corn should not be done on May 2nd here in Iowa. Who knew the ground needed to be at least 60 degrees before planting?! Ha! Well, we do now because after 3 weeks, we realized it wasn’t going to come up. Also, we planted several vegetables by seed and besides romaine lettuce, carrots and red onions, you would have thought that we actually planted thistle seed. It was that bad! After gaining some advice from a few of our online groups, we decided to start over. I began tilling up and digging out all of the thistle, and my wife and boys replanted our sweet corn. I also went to the store and purchased several vegetable plants that were now on sale for 25% off because they should have already been in the ground at this point. We have more confidence now that we are on the right path and that everything will survive, thrive and turn into a sweet reward. Even sweeter knowing that we had to work twice as hard to receive it. The decision to declare a “do-over” and basically start from scratch was not an easy one. When we do this, we are somewhat accepting that we have failed and that maybe we were wrong with the way we thought everything should be. But once we decided and started to put in the work, we knew it was right and are better off because of it. Here I go getting a little deep again (This always seems to happen with my writing), but in life, I often make these decisions to nix the original plan, declare a “do-over”, learn a new way and go for it. We are given this blessing and we end up better for the experience and the knowledge gained. Other things at Simple Ridge that have been going extremely well (and have not required any “do-overs”) include the bees. The hives are doing absolutely amazing and we are on track to get honey in our first year! Another thing going well has been the chickens. No eggs at this point but they seem to be happy, healthy and love to be outside in their new run. Even our barn cat is getting used to us and enjoys attention and follows us around everywhere. We must be doing a few things right. There is a lot of unrest in the world as I write this and it seems we are at a point where it is time for most of us to take a look at how we have been doing things or even how we think about things and make sure it is truly the right way to continue. Like our garden, it might be time to accept that it’s wrong. If so, it is absolutely OK to declare a “do-over”, start from scratch, learn from each other, discover a new way and go for it. Just maybe we will all be better for doing so.

Time to grow!

Happy Earth Day! It has been a month since my last post and I have decided to get back on the horse. It has been too long and today is the day to set aside some time to write. This past month has been a time of adjusting to a new way of life, a time of appreciation for the blessings that we have and a time to take a step back and re-evaluate what is truly important in life. Where are you headed? (Probably not too far from the house, right?! ;)) There have been many times in my life where the path that I thought I would be on has abruptly changed and from there you have to learn to adjust and lean in closer to God. Because of COVID-19, we are all in one of those moments together. I can look back at other times in my life where unexpected change has occurred and realize the blessings that came with those changes. Of course, in the midst of the change it is sometimes difficult to see but hindsight provides the right lens to focus on the importance and the positive impact those changes made. We are all better for the things that we have been through and the experience that we have gained. Those experiences mold us into the people that we are and who we will become. It is up to us to let our experiences make a positive impact on not only our own development but helping others as they navigate through the things that you have already been through. I know, this is getting a little deep considering that this is supposed to be a blog about a family from the city that moved to the country and is experiencing new “country” things. From experience, I know how these times of change and unexpected situations can be an easy way to let your guard down and let negativity in so I want to do my part to let you all know that you have a purpose, you are loved and the best is yet to come. We have been using this time to grow closer as a family. I have since finished the chicken coop and as a family, we transported all 14 of the chickens out to the coop. With the family present, I installed roughly 20,000 honey bees into their new hive and after a week and a half, things are going great. We have all spent time in our new garden planting and getting ready for more. We all spent a day deep cleaning the house. I have been able to spend more time with our boys during the day and while it has been a challenge to get through school lessons and complete daily chores (can I get an amen?!), we have been together through it all. Baseball and basketball practices have been in the yard and in the driveway, as a family. Dinners (more than usual) have been together as a family, we have even gotten into a couple of bible studies. If this pandemic doesn’t occur, these things don’t happen and we continue to be pulled in separate ways and the usual craziness of life ensues. I’m not bashing the crazy way of life that we had pre-pandemic, I am simply appreciating the new opportunity to be together and it has been awesome. We absolutely miss our friends and activities. Life happens and we learn and grow. For my family, we choose to trust in God and understand that he will provide in his time. Be patient, be kind to others and grow from this experience.

Hey, Chick! Focus on the Positives.

Wow! What a difference a few weeks makes…a few days make…a few hours make. I ended my last blog entry by saying, “a lot of firsts for us this year and we look forward to enjoying them all”. Could you have imagined this “first” that we are all experiencing together as we forge through the unknown with the COVID-19 pandemic!?! So many changes for us so quickly. I don’t think that my head has stopped spinning. Once we have our share of toilet paper stocked in the pantry and we have mastered the art of social distancing, we can pause and choose to look at this in a variety of ways. I am encouraging you to look at the positives. I have seen a lot of negativity around cancellations of sports, school, travel, work, etc. but what I have also seen is a social news feed with the occasional picture of families coming together, playing board games, spending time together and enjoying each other’s company. I have also seen promotions for free streaming music performances, Broadway performances, workout classes, worship services. Last Sunday, my news feed was filled with various church services that had gone live. It was awesome! I am seeing people supporting their local businesses by choosing carry-out options and buying gift cards. If you can, I would encourage you to do the same. I am seeing the long overdue appreciation of our “essential workers”, grocery store workers, gas station workers, skilled trade workers, police, fire, doctors, nurses, mail delivery, financial institutions, home medical suppliers and so on. We are social beings, no doubt, and we will eventually get back to a new normal but let’s take advantage of this time to slow down a little. Understand that God is in control and let’s choose joy. The streaming church service that I took in last Sunday reminded me that choosing joy doesn’t change the problem that we face; it changes the way we face our problem. Our kids are watching us and learning about how we react to stress and uncertainty. Let’s make sure we teach them to be resilient and not to panic. I know, like me, you are seeing nothing but information on this pandemic and I felt a need to write about this on my blog and hopefully encourage you a little. For a Simple Ridge update; we have let the cats out of the barn and at least two have hung around and are helping with mice and unfortunately a couple of birds as well. From starting with 15 chickens, we lost one right away and are down to 14. Those 14 seem to be very healthy and I need to get my butt in gear and build a coop before they are too big for the container that we have them in currently. I have already upgraded their accommodations from a large plastic storage container to a large box that used to hold bird feed at Menards. Ha, funny story, Liz and I knew that the chicks had outgrown the container so we went in search of something bigger (you mean I have to spend more money on these birds?!)…As we were walking the aisles of Menards, I see this huge, empty box and I thought, this will work perfectly and I doubt it's very expensive ;) Excellent! After reinforcing it a little and putting some pieces of an old rug at the bottom with pine shavings, the chicks were good to go. Like this pandemic and like everything else, we must be creative and learn as we go. Let’s not forget to choose joy, be thoughtful of others and look at the positives in the process.

Who's Ready For Spring?!

This is the time of year that short glimpses of spring start to appear but then give way to a harsh reminder that it is still early March in Iowa. A time of transition, a time of anxiousness and a time when you have just about had enough of another Iowa winter. This year, I am more excited than ever to see the weather change and begin a new chapter at Simple Ridge. Big plans for our first full year here. With that comes a lot of preparation work. This is the kind of work that I don’t mind doing. When the work you are doing is getting you closer to the dream, if you don’t lose sight of that, it doesn’t feel much like work. Plus, I have three boys to help and to learn right alongside me and their mother. This year, we will be preparing an ideal apiary location and installing bees, building a chicken coop, a chicken run, preparing a garden, planting wildflowers and other plants and making sure the location is just right for all of these things as we look toward the future. I am sure that there will be more things that get thrown on the list but we will make that choice together. All of this as we navigate baseball practices, tournaments, work travel and maybe even basketball tournaments and practices as well. We choose to be busy and we can choose to prioritize what we are going to be busy with. Our family has always been full throttle and on the go but this opportunity that God has given us allows us the chance to be busy and to slow down at the same time and we are grateful for that. As long as we keep our eyes on what is important and prioritize those things in our life, we will come out the other end with feelings of accomplishment, appreciation and plenty of great memories. Since my last entry, we have adopted 5 barn cats and we are on the verge of “opening the door”. I have a good feeling that this group will stick around. They are much more friendly than the last two cats that we had and don’t seem to mind their surroundings. Next week, 15 baby chicks will arrive, and we will all learn together how to take care of them. A lot of firsts for us this year and we look forward to enjoying them all…

Going all in...with barn cats

We are the type of family that tends to go all in when we want to try something new. This can be exciting and nerve wrecking at the same time. I mentioned in my previous blog entry that we had decided to get barn cats. My wife (Liz) came up with this idea shortly after we moved into the new place. Not a fan of small critters like mice and rats, she saw this as a great solution to keep them at bay in the area where we would eventually like to have chickens. Also, my kids had expressed that they might like to have a cat but I am allergic so we definitely would never have indoor cats. Perfect solution, right? It seemed like the local humane society had a window into Liz’s mind because shortly after this idea sprang up, they advertised a need for someone to adopt two barn cats. They have a great program where they will spay/neuter and vaccinate these feral cats and give them a chance at life with those that need barn cats. This time, it was us! More excitement in our house as we were about to venture into unknown territory. We prepared by researching how to get your barn cats to become familiar with their surroundings and once it was time to let them roam, how to get them to stick around. We also purchased some cat food, kitty litter, food/water bowls and used an old storage bin we had for a makeshift litter box. Liz brought them home and we released them into an outbuilding that has a garage door that closes onto loose gravel. Things seemed to be going great. The two cats were using the litter box, eating their food and were getting along. They were both very shy and would not let us come near them. After only a couple of days, we noticed that a door to the outbuilding had been left open. This was from our 4 year old son being curious and checked on the cats but forgot to close the door behind him. It happens…One cat gone, one cat stayed. We hoped the other would return but after a week, we knew that would not be the case. Of course, our kids named the cats. It was Rocky who busted out, and Midnight decided to stay. We thought retaining one out of two wasn’t bad and after a couple of weeks, it felt like Midnight was going to stay. We were getting close to the point where our research had told us it was time to let the cat roam and see if it would come back. One morning, I noticed under the garage door, there was a hole that had been dug out just large enough for a cat to squeeze under. Uh oh! Did we lose another one?! I went and inspected, sure enough, Midnight had run out of food and decided to take matters into his own hands digging a small pathway in the gravel, under the garage door. He was gone but not for long. Two days later, he returned! The kids were so happy. We decided to not fill the hole. Midnight could come and go as he pleased. I continued to fill the water and the food and changed the litter. After a while, there was no longer any reason to clean the litter box…this had me a little curious. The food was being eaten…Had Midnight decided to do his business outside now that he had free range? We couldn’t catch a glimpse of him for a couple of weeks and I noticed that the hole under the garage door had gotten a little bigger. I was becoming more suspicious until one night on our return home I received my answer. Close to the pathway that Midnight had created was a possum! Yes, I had been feeding a possum for weeks. It is still unknown where Midnight ran off to. We can only hope that he has found a better life and maybe someday will return. I know that possums are great for eating ticks and are considered nature’s pest control but he can do that outside of my building and eat ticks instead of cat food. The hole is now filled, the food and water dishes put away. Things don’t always turn out as you expect them to but you have to at least give it a try. We will try again when the weather is a bit warmer and we will continue to go all in. It might not turn out as we think but the experience will help us along the way.