Lavender, Confetti and Getting down to 'Bees'ness

Spring is on the way, heralded principally by the appearance of the Almond Blossom at Finca Tres Hermanos.  It's a timely cue to begin paying a little extra attention to the garden; specifically to tidying the veggie patches and clearing them of their unwelcome weeds, and preparing the new beehives for what we hope will eventually become home to some new honeybee colonies.  

It's been somewhat of a lackluster start to our winter growing season.  A person with the remotest grasp of horticultural knowledge will know that bad growing seasons happen from time to time, and it seems that our vegetable garden is a little tired from overworked soil which in turn has given over to struggling plants.  The best way to avoid this happening of course is to let an area rest for a year.  As luck would have it, we have a good deal of space and while Scott continues to make a full recovery from fracturing his ribs last September, our good friend Antonio has rotivated some new areas in our fruit orchard and these are now planted out with peas, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and broad beans; better late than never we suppose!  What we've already planted in the existing beds are picking up a little bit so fingers' crossed we'll have platefuls of fresh veg for our dinner yet!

The new vegetable garden has somewhat expanded our production capacity
(as well as saving the chore of mowing by quite a significant degree!)

 

Broad beans in one of the existing beds are giving it their best shot, despite the tired soil!
(pictured left: our broad bean flowers in morning dew)

On to the subject of bees now and, sadly, things are no better there; a lot worse in fact.   A few weeks ago, our remaining hive was raided by a nearby squadron of hungry bees.  Always in the know about all matters relating to campo life, Antonio later explained the certain cause was a nearby beekeeper who regularly fails to provide extra food for his own hives during the hard winter foraging months.  His bees cannot be blamed for heading out on the rampage therefore.  Scott was first to notice the ensuing battle raging outside our hive.  At first, we mistook the scene for "bearding" (gathering around the entrance to a hive in order to cool down) since the weather was unseasonable warm for the time of year.  However, it soon dawned on us that a raid was in progress.  In just a few short days, debris formed by the dropped honey and nectar left by the overladen raiders at the entrance, and the noticeable reduction of our colony number was evidence enough that there was an inevitable sorry outcome for the hive. 

Neither of us could really bring ourselves to visit the bee terraces to check in the aftermath of the raid.  It seemed a little too hopeless a situation.  There's little a beekeeper can do once a hive is fully under attack.  Had we a little more experience, there might have been something we could have tried in order to throw the attackers off, but we've learned a valuable lesson from the experience nevertheless.  It's just so sad that it has come at the expense of our growing colony.  

So, it appeared as though our colony was doomed.  After a few days, however, we noticed some activity again and it seemed as if our bees were making a comeback against the odds.  I rallied and took steps to try and help.  I made the one entrance in use smaller (the top entrance being closed off) by stuffing it with bits of dried twigs and grass so as to make for a better defense, and quickly shoved a feeder of sugar syrup in the hive top to boost the dwindled food supplies.   Despite our efforts, alas, within a few days activity around the hive had reduced to zero.  We were left to surmise the queen had lost her life in the raid and/or new developing larvae were ruined.   All was lost.  The last remaining bees had probably died a natural death out in the field and our hive was empty.  

Cleaning out the hive and disposing of the raided frames was done with an air of melancholy.  As I examined the combs, I found within them the promise of the honey production that had begun.  It seemed that in the rush to gather up their booty and flee, the raiders had missed a cell or two.  We were nowhere near ready to start harvesting honey and neither will we do so until we have a fully established and healthy colony.  Even so, it was sad to see the early promise from all that hard work (both human and bee) go to ruin. 

Fast forward to the weekend just passed and, not to be deterred, we regrouped and have set the way forward to begin our beekeeping adventure again.  This time, we have three hives ready to welcome their new dwellers.  We might just hold the third one back for a while in case we should get a desperate call later in Spring to rescue a displaced swarm that has taken up residence in someone's back garden.   You might remember that during our first lockdown last year, and only four weeks into our beekeeping adventure, Scott didn't hesitate to do just that when the call came from a friend, and he brought a rescue colony home in a prepared hive one twilight evening.  Of course, that colony overtook the one we'd already started and it's that very same colony that we have just lost. 

It was a beautiful sunny day on Saturday and a good one to prepare the new site for our third hive and re-place the two existing and freshly cleaned hives down beside it.  As Scott trimmed the low-hanging branches from an almond tree above the third hive site, a gentle breeze blew the blossom from its boughs, as well as from those suspended from the other almond trees nearby.  As I watched the little pink and white flower petals float down and land in higgledy-piggledy fashion around the hives and beyond, it reminded me of confetti in a church yard after a wedding.  I pondered a while at the scene.  As is my wont, my mind often ambles off to seek the poetry in life and I couldn't help but imagine what this spectacle of nature might be saying.  I pictured a moment of silence and sorrow.  The joyfulness of confetti was replaced by the sadness of tears, falling quietly and softly around the silent hives, as if mourning the loss of one of natures greatest marvels.  And then my mind turned full circle and back to the beauty of it all; delicate little petals adding colour to wherever they lay.  Looking back at the trees from which it was falling, and there before my eyes was the promise of new beginnings.  I like to think of it that way.  Nature might seem cruel at times, but it is also profoundly beautiful and renewing too, especially if you look for the poetry within it. 

Elsewhere on the bee terraces, our lavender continues to bloom, as it has done all winter, thanks to the relatively mild weather and a gentle watering from the irrigation system.  I didn't have to look far for further proof that life carries on for the collective honeybee.  Pollen and nectar remains to be gathered in abundance, albeit just not by our very own little army of workers.  It hardly matters they are not ours.  One day soon, they will be.  We'll have to just try a little harder to keep the next lot safe. 

And so, we are ready.  The sun and the little Spring precipitations are already seeing to the regrowth of the citrus blossom, and to slowly bringing on the flowers that will give birth to our organic veg.  It's a good time to be out in the garden, but, it will be a better day when we see clouds of honeybees fly over and take up residence in the hives.  

Down on the bee terraces, preparing the hive sites.
The lavender is waiting

Siting the hives.  We've painted the lids white to deflect the sun.
A finishing touch: the hearts will tell the bees they are loved.

Lavender, Almond Blossom and Beehives.  A picture of new beginnings

Warts 'n All - The Real Story of Finca Tres Hermanos

This is the "Warts 'n All" story of Finca Tres Hermanos; this beautiful place we call home; this place that inspires "Mowing Over Oranges".  

If I am to be accused of previously showing our home in its best light, and of hiding the lumps, bumps and imperfections that lie beneath then I stand guilty as charged.  Perhaps I can't be blamed for that.  In my eyes, the imperfections blend seamlessly into the perfect.  I'm not ashamed of this house, quite the opposite.  Since moving in three and a half years' ago it has slowly burrowed its way slowly yet determinedly into my heart.  It was lucky, there was still space for it after I'd given up a huge chunk for its owner.  In the short time that has passed since, together Scott and I have poured much into it and now it is the place where the word "Home" means so much more than a dictionary definition and where we share the hard work that it constantly demands of us to keep it looking shipshape.  But, we hardly started from scratch.  So much had already been done to make this place a home, just as many others do, or even perhaps aspire to do, to 'live the dream' in their own piece of idyllic Andalucia.  So here is a brief story of our place, of how it came to be, and of how it continues to grow. 

In the Spring of 2002, Scott's search for a family home ended when he came across a little house on an isolated plateau surrounded by farmland.  Neither anything sat within nor without its boundary fences to puncture the view of the landscape that surrounded it.  Many people, myself included, would not have given this place a second glance.  It left so much to the imagination that even the most creative of minds would have thrown their arms up in defeat and left without looking back. To call these walls a "house" would have been to stretch the imagination beyond reality; it bore more resemblance to a warehouse fit for storing oranges (which is rather apt considering the title of this blog).  Only some scattered furniture, a few well placed windows, and the pretence of a kitchen and bathroom inside gave a suggestion that it was quite serviceable as a home.  I always imagine falling instantly in love with a house that you might then prospect to buy, like most people.  Falling in love with this little house must have taken some doing. 

A montage documenting how "Tres Hermanos" started life 

Despite its shortcomings the deal was done, the papers were signed, the family moved in and the four walls became a home.  It then secured its rightful place when it was appropriately renamed "Finca Tres Hermanos" in honour of Scott's three boys.  Not long afterwards a new extension was added to provide much needed extra space, a pool was dug out, and the outside bar was built; the latter creating a perfect place to entertain. 

The meadow: top left, in its early days and now

Fast forward to today and as you look around you can plainly see what it has become and why it is worthy of being loved.  We blush when visitors profuse their admiration but when I think about it I think it's pretty damn worthy of the praise, as is Scott for his vision for creating the perfect place to raise his boys.  

The land when first purchased and now

One of the first things to change when I moved in, in July 2017, was the remodeling of the kitchen. Now I distinctly remember only refusing to cook with the old oven that sat somewhat neglectfully, of a good clean, in the little galley kitchen, despite it having done a pretty decent job over the years servicing a family and hoards of visiting friends.  For reasons best left to him (should anyone care to ask), Scott chose to give up a bedroom to make way for a whole new kitchen more fitting for my new incumbency status.  Perhaps I should have explained first that my culinary skills had never risen above the level of satisfactory before he made such an undertaking but I still appreciated the sentiment of course.  Luckily, my cooking skills have improved quite a bit since!

The kitchen is put to good use!

From thereon in Scott never once batted an eyelid as my influence was exacted elsewhere (cue over-enthusiastic makeover show!) not even when another bedroom was lost to the study that I insisted was absolutely necessary!  And the shabby but beautiful old covered terrace is now transformed to a sunny music-come-reading room; an addition that once would have given this little pre-00's 'orange store' delusions of grandeur. 

A woman's touch or, as a friend put it: "I can see the effects of the New Broom"!

It's unlikely we'll ever stop working on this place, that is simply unrealistic given its size and age.  I guess that's how it should be: one could no more easily cease from nurturing the child that has flown the nest than cease from nurturing the love and attention that went into making that nest beautiful. 

OK, we didn't grow the bananas!

And this is why love the warts too and like so many old Andalucian houses this house has quite a few.  Despite every best effort to build a home on solid foundations, this part of Spain makes it a constant battle and visible signs of movement are evident in just about every house you come across (and I've seen a fair few in my time here!) 

Our home is no exception, it moves, sometimes a little and sometimes a little bit more.  Cracks appear when the ground dries up in the summer, and then they close again after the winter rains soften the ground.  We diligently follow round with some filler and a paintbrush with almost subconscious routine.  I'm still trying my hardest not to point paranoically while exclaiming loudly: "Is this another bloody crack?!" or "Has this one got bloody wider?!"  As some of the cracks have become wider these last few months owing to an exceptionally hot, dry summer my paranoia has been increasingly harder to control. 

A few notable 'warts' being repaired or soon to be addressed

The wood store: from "wart" to, well, tidier "wart"!

Top Left: The pool from its good side and its bad.
Pictured below: the rapid deterioration that's occurred this year

Not everything in the garden is rosy: well, I am married to a plumber
and you never know when those spares might come in handy!

And then there's the garden, beautiful in all its splendor.  Scott can take the credit for this of course (as well as for the random piles of junk!).  My job is simply to be Gardener's Apprentice since I still might be prone to pulling up a valuable crop instead of an invading weed!  That said, I'm pretty handy with a lawnmower and have a certain flair for finishing touches. 

Images of quiet solitude around the garden

The bee terraces and a place to sit and watch Mother Nature work her magic

So the work (and improvements) continue.  In fact, as I type, I can hear our Spanish builder friend (Antonio) chipping away at another crack to repair with his trusty tools of the trade and that's where we are today, to bring us bang up-to-date.  An old crumbling terrace has been taken up and relaid, cracks are being repaired (hopefully once and for all) and after nearly 20 years the house now boasts an electric gate (with freshly rendered walls either side to follow suit in the New Year).  The aging swimming pool is next as that too is in dire need of attention.  The contract has been awarded and the work also starts early in the New Year. 

The crumbling bedroom terrace gets a makeover

At last, Finca Tres Hermanos gets a proper gate and 
the surrounding wall is nearing completion

Finally, the last major job will be to remodel our ensuite bathroom; definitely the last remaining wart, and one of the most problematic!

With the majority of transformations complete, we can sit back and be happy with what we've created so far: a place where tasty fruit and vegetables grow in rich soil, where bees hum and make their honey, where butterflies and insects flitter amongst the wildflowers, where the aroma of baking fills the air, and where Christmases and social gatherings are joyous occasions.

Everyone would claim to have an Eden, their little "corner of paradise" and that would be true because there are many but this is is ours. We are grateful for it and we love it. The warts pale into insignificance and satisfaction is oozed in abundance. 

Update from The Finca

My last update was after week 3 of our post lockdown 'new normal' . That was 26th May.  I didn't bother with the weekly updates after that as it seemed that we pretty much had a semblance of 'business as usual' and what's so interesting about that?  I figured I'd return to where I was before: to picking different themes to write about surrounding our lives at Finca Tres Hermanos when I had the time.  

I didn't expect it to be quite so long before publishing another blog, I guess I've been busier than I expected. But yesterday (Sunday) came around and I was rather taken with the idea of simply taking it easy (for once!), pottering about, catching up with my Mum, then putting my feet up and waiting for inspiration to come for some writing, all while the delicious smells of our Sunday roast wafted about the house.  Given the relaxed mood of the day, the inspiration didn't take long.  So, I delivered a cup of tea to the hard working gardener and opened up my laptop.

We're riding out this roller coaster of a pandemic the best way we can.  We're complying with the rules on wearing our masks and keeping our social distance (OK, I will admit that once or twice we've let our guard down but, then, who probably hasn't?).  We're also reshaping our lives and habits a little to feel comfortable with this changing world that this virus has created in the last 9 months.  We're happy to stay at home more and we're choosing to keep our socialising to our immediate circle of friends; sometimes out but more regularly gathering at each other's houses.  That's all I shall say on the matter.  This and future blogs will be a COVID-free zone unless some reference to it is vital to contextualizing the story.  

Freedom to socialise again: ladies night out; another BBQ at home; paella at a Spanish finca, and Sharon's 50th birthday.

But, time spent with hubby is still the best way to spend time!

So in the intervening period where there's been no blog, a few significant headlines are: we celebrated our 2nd Wedding Anniversary, we experienced our first beekeeping disaster, Daniel arrived in the Summer to "work from home" and has rented an apartment in town until January, I've got back in the saddle after vowing I'd retired from horses!, I've started amassing equipment for the home gym we are planning, and Scott turned 55 and is officially 'retired' with a British Gas Pension (although currently shows only mild signs of slowing down in his current day job!)

So first to the beekeeping disaster and, sadly, we lost our rescue hive.  We'd noticed that numbers had started to dwindle but wondered if perhaps the new colony had merged with the first as it seemed to be getting stronger at the same rate as the other was dwindling.  A preferable consideration, as that would mean fewer lives lost.  Merging of colonies hasn't really been heard of though I don't think, and much later our wise old Spanish friend (Jose) suggested that the stronger colony had simply raided and killed/forced out the weaker.  Sounds brutal but that's nature I guess; survival of the fittest and all that.  In less than a week the abandoned rescue hive (which was being bravely defended by the last handful of remaining honeybees or quite possibly by those who'd been displaced by the previous raid) succumbed to the devastating work of the wax moth whose larvae ate through the combs and destroyed what was left.  The saddest part was lifting the hive lid and seeing collapsed frames and no bee activity.  We were at least spared the added distress of having to scoop out handfuls of dead bees.  But, now that we've come through our first disaster, we will be better prepared for the next.  On a positive note, our (now one) colony is thriving and growing hugely in number.  We'll continue to monitor their development closely until they are up to full strength.  Only then might we be able to breathe a little!  With food sources being scarce in July and August, we've been feeding them weekly with sugar syrup and will continue to do so until they can forage successfully again. 

Left: The damage caused by the wax moth, and, right: a thriving hive

Daniel, Scott's eldest, has returned home for six months and is working remotely from an apartment he's renting until January.  If working from home becomes the new norm for him, he may well stay.  He has a great deal of drive and ambition though so anything could happen in the next few months.  For now, it's wonderful having him home and just up the road. 

Good to have Daniel home

So, yes, I'm back in the saddle after a four year break following the accident that nearly killed me.  Brian, who made my wedding dress, kindly invited me to go out with him and I could ride his quieter second horse, Apollo.  I felt like a complete beginner but the nerves quickly faded when I realised what a good little horse I'd been entrusted with.  I'm still working up the courage to have my first little canter out on the trail, but it'll happen!  Not sure yet if it will be a regular thing; we'll see.   

Back in the saddle

The creation of a home gym is somewhat more of a mission for me than riding, and Scott is pretty enthusiastic too.  My training has picked up in pace quite significantly since the lockdown ended and I've spent the summer eagerly watching equipment come back into stock with my chosen suppliers and haven't hesitated to place orders before they've immediately sold out again.    

Gym equipment beginning to arrive!

Gym equipment hasn't been my only internet purchases of late, I've also built up a stock of sewing tools, fabrics and wool for craft projects to keep me busy well through the winter months (as well as occupied should our freedom of movement be curtailed again!).  I've also bought a new sewing machine to replace my old Singer that finally bit the dust this summer after 35 years of faithful service.  

A wool order: this should keep me busy!

I think I'm behaving quite like a lot of people insofar as preparing for ways to keep busy and happy at home when there's less enthusiasm for going out.  It's quite evident people are doing the same as me since just about everything I've wanted to order is subject to long delays and lead in times; still waiting for the sewing machine that was ordered on 5th August!

Scott is dealing with the dawning realisation that he is now a pensioner. I fondly tell him that 'retired employee' is a better way of saying it.  In 14 months, when I turn 55, I will join the same rank and take my own private pension.  What we do at that point is still up for discussion.  I keep hinting at making some sort of plan but it's hard work trying to pin someone down who prefers the more relaxed and spontaneous approach to life!  For now, he's just happy to be supplementing his income enough to slow down a little so I think he will concentrate on that in the coming months. 

I'm not a cake decorator, but I was rather chuffed with Scott's birthday cake, plus as a bonus he gets to keep the props I bought!

So, on to tales from the Finca itself: 

Norfolk Island Hibiscus: One of two planted in early summer. The bees love them!

This summer has been a tester.  Temperatures in July and August sustained themselves in the high 30s to mid 40s which has seen records being broken.  Gardening activity was reduced to simply tending the growing summer crop of vegetables and looking after the bees.  Gowning up in full beekeeper attire was no fun in 40 degree temperature I can tell you!   It seemed all our hard work in the garden during lockdown was at risk.  Our meadow and orchard is dry and barren (but that happens every summer) and we unfortunately lost some of the lavender we planted.  Hardy weeds cropped up unchallenged where, previously, we'd worked hard to clear them from our borders and, overall, the finca started to look a little bit more like the wild abandon it would choose to be if we weren't here to keep it in check.  

Neat rows of tomatoes. It didn't stay like that for long!

The vegetable plot, which always begins each growing season looking perfectly neat, with things growing in orderly rows, soon became a higgledy-piggledy mess of crowded and intermingling chaos.  I have to say, I like a little bit of chaos, it rather suits our garden to be honest.  If you should take a wander round, you'll see some sort of chaos exists elsewhere and the veggie patch is not alone!  While we admire a friend's weed free and immaculate show garden, I had to gently remind my lovely husband that our plot is perfect in it's own way and that it truly reflects the years of hard work he has put into making it the way it is.  When you consider our garden was an open field 20 years ago, you can see just how far it's come today.

I realise that I haven't made any jams or chutneys this year.  I've only managed to turn some of our tomatoes and onions into sauces to use over the winter months.  The hard summer has actually been pretty detrimental to yields so we've had to be content with mainly picking what we can eat each day.  When we've had a little extra, we've given it away or exchanged it, so keeping up our 'campo currency' arrangement with friends.  

Campo Currency from Antonio: Plums and Pears

Our greatest success has been in our tomatoes, these have been full of richness and flavour this year.  Everyone who has received a bowlful from us has been unanimous in saying that they have been the best they've ever tasted.   Our tomatoes are now coming to an end and we just can't imagine coping with supermarket replacements in the coming months!  

Courgettes, garlic, sweetcorn and tomato sauce for the freezer!

We haven't had any failures to speak of, but our sweetcorn has certainly been interesting!  As our husks have matured on the stalks, we've eagerly opened them up to find a cob only partly covered by the edible seeds (kernal).  Despite being watered and fed organically (with horse poop basically!), it's nevertheless been a lesson in expectation vs reality; not everything looks like it does on the supermarket shelves!

Right now, our pumpkins are maturing and we've had a decent crop of melons and courgettes too.  If we're lucky, we'll also have the odd pomegranate or two with which I shall decorate the odd salad or rice dish for as long as the last.

The growing habits of pumpkins is a little random, the stems and tendrils of which simply refuse to remain in the confines of the vegetable patch and stubbornly and resolutely snake their way in whichever direction they choose.  This makes for some interesting step work when negotiating one's way outside to hang out the washing!  Mr Forbes has plans to grow next year's crop somewhere in the orchard away from human traffic.  We'll see how that goes but I have visions of pumpkins hanging from startled and invaded fruit trees!  

Pumpkins have a way of taking over....

...but look promising...

...while providing a bountiful home for the local fauna!
(She's a Golden Orb Weaver)

Somewhere hidden amongst the pumpkins, a crop of aubergine flowers have reared their heads.  With a bit of luck, the fruits will start to grow.  Elsewhere, we have a good crop of peppers and these are deliciously sweet without their seeds, or a little spicy if we chuck those in the pot as well.

Beautiful aubergine flowers

Glorious Peppers

Now that we are in September, Scott has prepared one of the beds ready to receive the first planting of winter vegetables.  The soil has been turned over and a fresh lot of manure has been rotovated in.  In the coming couple of weeks or so, the seedlings will start arriving at the garden centres and we'll be busy planting. 

Scott hard at work with the rotovator

A costly but unavoidable job this autumn will be to engage the services of a contractor to reform our swimming pool.  After 20 years it's braved the ravages of the hardest well water in the district, but is now failing in quite the most spectacular way.  I've spent the summer tearing my hair out in despair but managed to slow its decline and keep it in service.  The refurbished pool will be resurfaced, the levels corrected, retiled and finished with new coping stones.  We'll have to work hard to make sure the refurbished pool remains in top condition but I consider myself pretty well placed for that, having graduated from the School of Hard Knock Pool Maintenance!  

Long overdue weeding now that the weather has cooled off a bit

The palm trees get their annual trim at Tres Hermanos and Del Olivar

We're looking forward to autumn's arrival, when we can be out in the garden for most of the day and get a good amount of work done.  We have lots of plans and, not surprisingly, much of them are centered around what we need to plant to make our bees happy.  We've had thoughts about turning the meadow into something a little more structured and beautiful (having been somewhat inspired by Channel 4's George Clark visits to National Trust houses and gardens).  Now, that might sound hugely ambitious for a hot climate and chaotic garden such as ours but we're not put off ...... yet.

And now for a few little extras: 

Still time for a bit of baking!

While Fudge is on garden pest watch, Humbug is .... well...
(the male and female of the species perfectly described by cats perhaps?!)

I think this would be my dream home (visit to a customer of Scott's)

I'd better leave it there, I have a rather large pumpkin to turn into soup!