Well I have had an eventful past few days.  Last Friday, Saturday, and Sunday I was in Wagoner Oklahoma for the Annual Oklahoma Fiddlers’ Association convention.  I played for hours and hours.  From sun up to sun down with very few breaks.  I was so worn out but I had fun.  I played with Fred Stoneking and Ray Curbow a while (they are big names in Old-Time fiddle music in our area) and I played a bit with some others also.  While a large part of the group played the Texas/Compatition style,  I was able to find or to start oldtime sessions a few times.

I have finally got my barn closed in on the front and I planned to get the back done but I wasnt able to reach that high up on the back side so I had to build my deck before putting the siding on (was planning to build it afterwards).

I have no access to the second story from within because I didnt want to loose the space by having a stair case going up so I put it outside on the back.  Currently its temporarily mounted against the wall but after the siding is put on I will bolt it to the main structure.  I have it set out a foot or so, so that I can put the siding on without it being in the way.

I plan to store my Vermiculture tank under the deck with it inclosed to keep darker.  I will also have a stair case with rails going up, but for now I am just using the extension latter.

We started our tomatoes and our bell peppers inside and have had none of the bell peppers come up (not sure why) but almost all the tomatoes sprouted.  We have scrapped the bell pepper flat and started over with different seed.  I changed the type of seed starter I used this year.  Last year I tried using a Potting soil but the seeds had a severe growth stunt.  This year I bought the cheapest plain soil I could find, then mixed an almost equal (a little less than the soil) amount of peat moss and then mixed an equal amount of whole rabbit manure.   The result was a very fluffy mix that retains water well and allows for good aeration.  It is good in both Phosphorous and Nitrogen and allows the seeds to start quickly.  Since starting the Tomatoes, we have also added some other items like varous Herbs and some other early crops.  The tomatoes grew so fast that we have had to move them to cups already!

I have expanded my bee hives for this year and I hope to use a few tricks to catch some wild swarms.  I am up to 6 full hives (1 hive body and two supers) and I hope to have more supers to expand that too.  Here is a picture of them.

I still have to strip and paint some of the hand-me-down boxes but I should be able to do that sometime this spring.  The narrow strips that are stacked to the right are cut down leftovers.  When the guy I am working for decides a Hive body is too rotten at the bottom to keep as a hive body, he cuts them down to a super.  This is a result ( I kept them so I could used them to repair my hives) and usually he just throws them into the burn barrel.

Bee Hives for Sale:

For those of you who are interested, I hope to make a post on the Bee Hives I am building to sell.  I will be making complete hives for sale and will feature them in the MyerstownFarm Market so they can be purchased online and delivered directly.   I will be building them with 1 inch Box Joints joined with Screws (instead of the lower quality nails).  I will be offering a stain and seal finish (staining allows you to never have to scrape and repaint), Primered, or Plain options.  The bottom boards (as of this moment …unless requested) will be solid with a treated 2×2 to meet the ground.  This design allows for quick cleaning and prevents termite damage.  The tops will have either a Migratory Design or the standard Telescoping top that will be covered in a single piece of metal.    All of the designs and options can be modified at customers’ request and I can do a fairly large number with adequate time permitted.  Anyone interested in this right now before I have pictures up of actual items please email me at jeremy@myerstownfarm.com and let me know what you need.

Thanks again to all who keep up with these posts.  The inspiration is two fold.

God Bless.