Getting Busy on the Farm

Tuesday:
Spring feels just around the corner, and when I see bulbs just about to burst, I know it's true.

That means we don't have much time to get a lot done on the farm.
Adam's making plans to add boxes to his beehives and feed the bees. This year we will have the bees produce honey to sell. He'll use that money to buy hive frames (the big expense) so he can increase the number of hives next year.

Water collection is still a priority, and the rain is falling as I type. Adam set up our old soft-side swimming pool as a water collection tank. I forget why it's preferable to the red metal tank; perhaps because it has more nozzles and such already installed in it, for siphoning water out.

Maggie helps inflate the top ring using our shop vac.

Adam ran hose all the way from the back of the barn where the water butts are, into the pool.

I go in the orchard about every day to check on the trees. We're pretty sure the tree in the front of the orchard is a peach tree. I found leaves on her today!

And a fat bud:

Adam gave her one last quick pruning:

She's a lonely peach tree. To get fruit, we need two peach trees. Unfortunately the other peach tree looks like this:

It's as dead as the post it's tied to.

Adam is busy preparing all the beds that he'll need, once our seedlings are ready to be set outside. Today he put together a trellis (of sorts) for cucumbers, squash, and other vining veggies. He made it from an old metal frame he found on the back of the property. He attached some chicken wire to it.

Here it is, set up in its bed, attached securely to its posts.

See what he used to join all the chicken wire together? Clever man! One thing's for sure ... grapevine is something we have LOTS of.
We'll have high winds and perhaps tornadoes in the area this afternoon (Wednesday), so Adam is outside battening down the hatches, as they say. Tell me -- do we use the verb "batten" in any other context in our language other than "batten down the hatches"?
Thursday morning -- We survived the stormy weather and strong winds. The greenhouse is intact!