A day at the Urban Farm is certainly full of surprises. Throughout the three hours I spent working at the farm on this calm Saturday morning in May, a flock of chimney swifts flew around overhead, a swarm of bees moved into a hive, and geese passed by on their way to the river. The farm is always abundant with wildlife. It is a home to all kinds of creatures.
The farm task of the day was thinning out young apples so ensure that they have adequate space and nutrients to mature into healthy fruits. The particular tree we were working on hadn’t been thinned out last year, and many of the apples ended up rotting or getting too buggy. Thinning the young fruits on apple trees allows the apples to grow large, full, and healthy. It also helps prevent the apples from bearing too much weight on the trees and potentially breaking off the limbs. So, a group of folks and I spent a couple hours pinching off the young fruits so that there were only one or two at each bud, rather than the four to eight that grow naturally.
Tasks like this allow you to get a closer look at the intricate processes of nature that you might not notice from afar. I had never seen apples at this phase between flower and fruit–just a little fuzzy bulb with the remnants of petals closing in on the tip. It’s incredible to think that the little bulb will grow into something so nourishing and delicious!
The Urban Farm abounds beauty and amazement at every scale. Walking into the space there is a bounty of color–purple borage, white arugula flowers, yellow brassica flowers, and bright green foliage all around. But if you look closer at any one thing (especially during spring), you’ll find flowers turning to fruit, new leafy growth emerging from stems, and maybe even a honey bee sipping on some nectar.
Speaking of honey bees, a whole swarm just moved into a bee box today! Apparently, one bee from a faraway hive was sent to scout out a new home. Harper explained that “wherever they were living, they ran out of space.” So a lone bee was sent out in search for a new place for their community to live. They likely stumbled upon the Urban Farm bee box and decided it was a perfect place (the Urban Farm is a pollinator’s dream, right?!) and went back to tell their community about it. Then they all flew over to the farm and swarmed around the bee box, eventually all making their way into their new home.
