It's been an eventful week so it's only appropriate that I share it with you.
We had a windy few days that created some chaos but fear not.....
...we shall rebuild!
Honey is referred to throughout scripture as a blessing, provision and wisdom from the Father so it's only appropriate that Hebron should have this symbol of love.
Finding a beekeeper who was willing to part with a hive, or even a new swarm, was proving difficult so I ordered two nuc (junior) hives from a Kangaroo Island beekeeper.
The KI Ligurian bee is a pure Italian breed and has a reputation for being resilient and calm, attributes that all Hebronites should have!
We bought two new bee boxes and I'll be transferring them over tomorrow to give them room to produce more bees. I've had lots of experience working around bees and extracting honey but never worked the hives themselves so this will be quite an education.
Our gum trees are flowering at the moment so it's lovely to hear them busily collecting the nectar and pollen. The study of all the scriptural references to honey is a fascinating one and I love the picture it paints.
I think my favourites would be Samson's riddle in Judges 14:14
"Out of the eater came something to eat.
Out of the strong came something sweet."
and
Jonathon's feed of honey in 1 Samuel 14
But Jonathan had not heard when his father put the people under oath; therefore, he put out the end of the staff that was in his hand and dipped it in the honeycomb, and put his hand to his mouth, and his eyes brightened".
Samson's riddle is referring to the swarm of bees and honeycomb in the carcass of a lion he had previously killed and after Jonathan was the catalyst for defeating the Philistines he was exhausted, but his energy returned after eating honey.
May we as a community be strengthened, envisioned and encouraged by YHVH's Spirit in the midst of adversity wherein the enemy of our soul, as a roaring lion, seeks whom he may devour.
We also said goodbye to Fergie, our steer, this week. After putting on quite a performance last month to evade capture, I wooed him into the yards with hay, closing the gate behind him, and when prompted he went up the ramp into the trailer. Too easy. I shall miss his antics.
The capers are putting on good growth for the season and some of the more established ones are already producing capers. We lost a few last year and there are still quite a few tiny ones that are determined to hang in there so by the end of the season we will assess how they're going. These capers are certainly resilient and a worthy feature of Hebron.
Our fruit trees are putting on good growth and some of the blossom that survived the winds are now producing fruit.
However, our biggest apricot tree was pruned by Fergie after one of his escapades.
Summer is the most challenging season for Hebron, and particularly so this year as we have received such little spring rain. However, each year we are gaining experience and knowledge, each year our trees grow to provide more shade and each year we are less phased by what life brings.
Shalom is not evidenced by the lack of adversity, shalom is evidenced more keenly within and in spite of adversity.
May we rest in the Prince of Shalom and have stillness in our spirits even though our boat may be tossed around by circumstances.
Thanks Annette for keeping us up to date with Hebron and its development along with the words of encouragement and your constant attention to its needs. John
ReplyDeleteHey Annette. You did well in enticing Fergie into the trailer. Well done. I wont miss him but will miss the apricots.
ReplyDeleteAbasinya Neal (the Admiral)
Hi Netty,
ReplyDeleteNow you have bees in your menagerie, you'll get a better pollination in your orchards. But, bees hate windy conditions, just like trees and people do. To improve fruit set in your orchard beyond someone's wildest dreams (not saying yours because you're very imaginative) I highly recommend interplanting every row of fruit and nut trees with Tagasaste (Tree Lucerne). Add 1 dripper per sapling, and in less than 2 years they'll be towering over your fruiters, providing windbreaks and from years 3 onwards, some nice shade in the afternoons. They'll mine nutrients from down deep and fix nitrogen into the soil which gives the fruit a boost, and when they get taller than 3m, start pruning like young Boaz (ie Ruthlessly) and chucking the prunings under the neighbouring fruit tree as chicken-scratching proof mulch. If you plant tagasaste, chestnuts, mulberry, carob, pistachio and olives around your orchard as a primary windbreak (all these species do fine in dusty and windy conditions), you'll have enough spare tagasaste to supplement your sheep in those long summer / autumn days. I can sing the praises of God's wonderplant all day!