The Summer Solstice is the day of the year with the most hours of daylight. In the Northern Hemisphere, it always occurs in June between the 20th and the 21st. The Sun will reach its highest position in the sky on this day north of the Tropic of Cancer (23o26’N). Even though we have been experiencing a certain amount of “June gloom” in our area, my thoughts are starting to turn towards long, warm evenings, mint ice tea brewed by the sun and setting up the hammock for lazy naps.
We spent this last weekend working diligently in the vegetable garden, digging competing weeds, planting out starts, watering all the crops in well and then applying a thick, heavy layer of mulch from the goat barn to keep all the root systems moist and cool. It looks like we will be getting a bumper crop of plums and grapes again this year and the pomegranates, bursting with their bright red flowers, are keeping the hummingbirds very busy these days. Most of the roses are repeating their blooms and the house is filled with their beautiful colors and fragrant essences. The smell of the Scotch broom in the riverbed behind us, blooming in its full bright yellow splendor comes across the back field on the evening breeze, sending our senses reeling. The plums from the trees are so sweet they almost hurt your teeth to eat them and we have even caught the dog raiding the blackberry patch a few times.
Summer daze is upon us!
All the poultry pens are in full production now and both of the incubators are running with full trays of eggs. We are hatching many nice chicks, turkeys, and pheasants and selling dozens of hatching eggs to people who want to try their own hand at it. So far all of the new poultry families that have bought our birds have reported success and here are some photos of some VERY lucky chicks that became members of the Shahin family a few weeks back – what great digs they ended up with! WOW!!!
Blue Hill Farms 