Spring Update: Covid19 Edition 2

First.. The Nitty Gritty:

To Sunflower.. or not to Sunflower..

That is the question.. isn’t it?

Yes!! There will be Sunflowers this year… even in this time of uncertainty, and COVID19… We still intend to plant our Sunflower seeds, after the full moon in June, like we have done for the past nine seasons.

We have the bees.. and the birds.. and the butterflies to think about… along with all the other wonderful little critters who have become accustomed to munching down on our field of Sunflowers every year. We can’t let them go without just because us Humans have to stay home, Can we?

And besides… Who wants to live in a world without Sunflowers? The world is filled with enough sadness and bad news these days.. We feel it could use every little bit of joy and happiness our Field of Sunflowers can give… even if it is from a safe social distance.

Will we open to the field to the public this summer?

I wish I could answer that right now… but like many other small businesses in Nova Scotia.. we are waiting.. and watching to see how the next few months play out. In the very least… We hope to be able to Open By Appointment throughout August and September.

What about the Butterfly Release? Is it too late to order one? or Is it Cancelled?

Canceling the butterfly release would be like canceling Christmas in our house… little eyes started to well up when we discussed if we would have to cancel this summers plans or not. So No.. We will not cancel the Butterfly release although we may have to change the way we currently do things. I’ve been in touch with our lovely butterfly farmer, Lucy, and she agrees… The butterflies must flutter!! She’s even been kind enough to extend our butterfly ordering deadline until mid-June when we might have more clarity than we do now.

Like the Sunflowers.. the Butterflies will now also have to be “By Appointment” so we can limit the number of people in our field.. and keep to safe social distancing practice. If you have Pre-ordered a butterfly or two already, We will soon send an email out to ask for your preferred time to release your butterflies on August 15th… because you were kind enough to order ahead of time… you will get first choice on appointment times. If you haven’t pre-ordered.. and still want to please message us at Butterflies@DakeyneFarm.com before mid-June.

We will also, for the first time, host Private Virtual Butterfly releases.. for anyone who wants to release a butterfly into our field of sunflowers.. but for any reason is unable to physically attend. With the help of my daughter and her boyfriend, both currently attending NSCC’s Photography program, we can live stream a personal and private moment between you and your butterfly before She flutters off to find a Sunflower to pollinate and eventually.. create more butterflies for us to appreciate. (They might even chase it around the field for a bit for you.. if the butterfly is ok with that.)

So… those are our Sunflower and Butterfly plans so far. As things change.. and August gets a little closer.. we will have a clearer picture as to how our field will work this summer, and can update further.

Now for the New News:

(or the Spring Update portion of this post.)

What have we been doing while we “stay the blazes home”?

We have been busy this spring.. hatching chicks for photoshoots (and later.. for more eggs), pruning the fruit-bearing bushes and trees, filling the freshly repaired greenhouse with seedlings and salad trimmings for this summers gardens, taking in amazing sunsets and moonrises, rolling on the grass, chasing chickens, hugging the horses and mending fences (mostly mending fences.. those belted galloways love to make new holes in the fence line).

We also put in several rows of raspberries, elderberries, strawberries, and both red and black currants that should give us lots of berries for jellies within the next couple of years. (It also give us plenty of bee/butterfly food for all our pollinator friends… not that they need too much more… we also planted oodles of Valerian, Comfrey, Peonies, Roses, and Sunchokes for them too.)

On a more personal note..

Our family grew a little bigger, and our home a little fuller..

We were very blessed to welcome our very first GrandChild this fall, a beautiful little boy who has stolen the hearts of not only his proud Mama and Papa.. but anyone he flashes that cute little grin too… especially his Great Grandparents, Annie & Donnie.

My oldest daughter had moved back home in the fall to save a little money while in college (which means Petal the Maze Cat and her friend Odin also moved back in.) Her horse has never been happier… and neither has her equally-as-obsessed-with-horses littlest sister.

It’s been nice having the younger two home with us this spring. Time with your children is so very precious.. it goes so fast.. and we, in this busy day and age, as parents tend to miss a good chunk of it. With all that is going on.. we are very grateful for this added time we have had together as a family.

They are learning lots in ‘Farm school’… like how fast Laddie can grab an egg when you drop it coming down from the coop.. and how to divide seedlings when you accidentally dump a bunch of seeds into one cell, and forget to tell Mama. They both had a turn learning how to use the excavator to remove thorn bushes from the fenceline, and of course.. we have been practicing lots of chicken math.

Hmm.. What else…

We do have a couple of wonderful things planned for our farm in the future months ahead… but I’m not quite ready to let the secret out just yet… Soon.. very soon.. but.. the chickens haven’t hatched yet, so I’m not quite ready to count the eggs.. if you know what I mean..

How about a wee bit of Good News to end on..

We spotted our very first Painted Lady Butterfly of the Season!!

We were waiting at the top of the hill by the sunflowers the day the Snowbirds were supposed to fly over..

when she so briefly fluttered by.. saying hello to all of us, before disappearing back into the hayfield.

We did not see the snowbirds that day.. they had changed their flight plan at the last moment and although we could hear the engines as they went.. they were too high above us to see…yet it didn’t matter.. seeing the butterfly made our day more than any formation of aircrafts ever could. (I tried to catch a photo of her before she left, and ended up chasing her a ways.. but she was too camera shy and way too fast for me. )

A magical.. beautiful.. moment for us all to remember.

Photos of our spring so far: