August News on the Farm

The bees are definitely making progress this year -- when I compare this year's work with and for the honeybees, I can see very satisfactory development. Our overall work on the farm is to help build an environment that will strengthen the bees' immune system against an onslaught of detrimental forces. Decades of poison-addicted agriculture and invasive beekeeping methods, I believe, have lead to the degradation of these fascinating organisms and gifts of nature.

On the farm last year the food supply for the bees was not good at all. The bees flew strongly into willow oaks which supplied perhaps some strengthening forces, but no forage. To my great amazement and deep satisfaction, the bees are not flying into the willow trees this year, at least not up to now.

Also, the goldenrod did not give nectar last fall. So we had to feed the colonies a sugar syrup or let them starve over the winter. This sugar feeding is not good for them at all and should only be practiced when absolutely necessary.

In spite of my worries of how they would take this emergency feeding, the hives did winter extremely well and the winter losses were only 13%. That included two colonies that were weakened by mice during the winter. This year they seem to have become acclimated to the local nectar and pollen supply. They brought in loads of pollen and much nectar from the honey locust trees as well as the neighboring black locust trees and a variety of bushes.

In spite of the very wet spring (the 4th wettest in recorded local history), the colonies built up fast and we began to catch swarms in May and to add honey-supers at the beginning of June. By July a good number of hives had two supers filled with capped honey and we have a wonderful honey harvest. We are selling it at the St. Louis market along with many beautiful vegetables. Of course we are leaving them enough supplies for their own needs!

The mite population has been held in check by the bees themselves and I only have to treat some colonies during August against the varroa mite. The stock of honeybees I have been working with seems to become very inventive in keeping the mite population at a tolerable level.

At the beginning of August, the buckwheat, which was sown at the same time as the sunflowers, is almost finished blooming and the sunflowers have come into their own and radiate their gold into the blue skies. Native bees, bumble bees, as well as our own honeybees are very diligent in that field and the strips sown at the border of the soy bean field.

Earlier in Spring, a few acres of mustard kept them busy -- and also healthy, since mustard has medicinal value them as well as for us. The swales of perennial bee forage we planted last year and expanded this year not only look beautiful, but are frequented regularly. Right now the echinacea and anise hyssop are humming with insects.

With the help of our interns, we can accomplish the major weekly tasks with the bees. The amazing gifts the bees bring to us and to all of nature are deeply appreciated. May we, with your help, continue to serve their needs and strengthen them. Have a wonderful August.

Gunther Hauk

Moving Into Late Summer

When I arrived at Spikenard a month ago I was welcomed right away: before I could unpack my bags I was sharing lunch with the farm crew and discussing the week’s work plan under a silver maple tree. In addition to sharing some background info about who we are and the varied life experiences that we were bringing to the farm, we also took time to discuss a few pages of Rudolf Steiner’s Agriculture lectures. I had no idea what I was in for but did know, with clarity, that I was in the right place. Orla, one of the sows, was about to give birth to piglets, while Bobbi and Alex, key farmers at Spikenard along with Vivian and Gunther, were also expecting a little one at some point during my stay. Peter and Keith were settling into longer-term internships and commitments with the farm and apiary and Daniel, about to leave after a 6 week stay, was getting married a week or so later. Transition, birth, embrace, and support resonated in the circle that we sat in that day and characterize the experience I’ve been so blessed to have here.

A month later…

Orla successfully gave birth to 3 adorable piglets and it’s a joy to see baby Rowan, with a full head of hair, with his glowing parents, Bobbi and Alex. Our garden crops transitioned, as crops always do: cucumbers and zucchini are all but finished growing in the fields, replaced with gorgeous melons and sweet corn. We observed tight, little tufts growing out of the deep green kale leaves – a sign, according to Gunther, of excitement on behalf of the kale’s life forces. These were a big hit, along with our array of heirloom tomatoes, plentiful yellow and green bush beans, and the most flavorful & crunchy celery stalks that you could ever taste, at the Tower Grove Farmer’s Market. Keith, Peter and I became a real team, changing and enhancing a few processes for market preparations and sales, as well as learning to respect the work we shared in the fields, with the bees, with one another. Daniel is now happily married to Jessica and Gunther reported back on their beautiful celebration. My hope is that we can continue to support one another, and do so in deeper ways even. The bees, the trees, the flowers, and even the weeds, need our attention as the farm continues to transition into its next stage. And Spikenard, a place of great sanctity and healing for me, as well as for many visitors in the past and surely in the future, welcomes and needs the community’s support to make this vital transition a reality, too.

~ Karisa

Here at the farm I have found myself thankful for the many rainy days we've had recently but even more grateful when the sun has shone itself, which seems like it's been few and far between. But how easy it is to forget the gray days when the blue skies appear. On those days, to get up and out at 7 is a real joy. The bird songs hover in the cold air just a little longer. The fog hangs in the shallow valley on the horizon. The pigs wait impatiently for their morning feeding. The moo of a cow from a neighboring farm bellows along with the roo-coo-ca-coo of the rooster in the hen house. And I head for the green house along with Bethanie, Emily and Gunther to check on the starts and get the day rolling.

Recently we have been transplanting tomatoes and cukes in between the thriving lettuce and leeks on fruit days and we've already got peas sown and coming up in the market gardent along with some good looking swiss chard transplants. Emily has filled in a few more beds in the greenhouse with fennel, their slender leafy fingers glowing bright green next to deep forest green of the deer tongue lettuce. Apparently deer tongue lettuce is Gunther's favorite. His directions were to make it a priority in the green house before sowing any other lettuce, and so we did. I can't wait to try it in a few more weeks when the leaves start maturing.

Just yesterday on a beautiful sunny day in the low 70s we found the time to transplant a dozen or so rasperry plants at the bottom of the garden along with 3 gooseberry plants. And at the other end of the garden we put in an apple, pear, peach and cherry tree next to a handful of blueberry plants. I'm looking forward to their juicy offerings in the seasons to come.

A bee crisis affects every realm of our human "being" here on earth. Today, our world is experiencing crisis at many different levels--be they political, economic or social. Though it may sound strange initially, it is wonderful that we are in a crisis in all of these realms, because a crisis is a chance to turn around, to change our ways, to think about what we are doing. When I wrote my book, "Toward Saving the Honeybee" (published in 2002 by the Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Association) about aspects of destructive beekeeping, I foresaw that terrible things would happen. But I am not the only one who foresaw it. Rudolf Steiner in 1923 foresaw it and said that if we do not change our mechanistic way of beekeeping, the honeybee may not survive the end of the 20th century. Here we are 9 years beyond that seeing the evidence.

The term crisis comes from the Greek origin, meaning circle ("kreis" in German). While heading straight down a path of destruction, we can undergo a paradigm shift. A line can curve into a circle. Crisis really is an opportunity. An opportunity to change our trajectory and create a circle. We are all interconnected.

Let us feel blessed and filled with hope about where we can go from here!

Gunther