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In addition to Krystal, we also had a local young man named Kalvan work here at the farm in August and September. And like Krystal, he came to us also through the Monterey County Youth Employment Program – a well-needed program which trains young people and helps place them in jobs around the county. My job was not only to provide work for these young people to do, but to train them in general workplace conduct such as being on time, proper attire and conduct, etc.

Kalvan did so much work to improve our little farm while he was here! He weeded and mulched around our fruit trees and berry bushes, started a new large compost pile, cared for the chickens and worms, did some pruning, tried to catch gophers, hauled straw, and created three entirely new beds by digging out lots of kikuyu grass and planting cover crop.

The funding for the program – which I understand came from federal stimulus funds – came to an end sadly. We are hoping they will find more funding in the spring. Not only has Kalvan been a great asset to the farm, small businesses – especially small farm businesses like ours – sometimes need just this kind of extra help just to get off the ground!

Today we picked up two little twin girl goats. They are only 7 months old. Their names are Hope and Gracie and they are very special little girls. Here is their story:

They were born on a cold night in March at Summer Meadows Farm, and left outside by their mother. When Lyn at Summer Meadows found them, they were unconscious – suffering from hypothermia. She immediately scooped them up, brought them inside and put them into increasingly warm water to try to get them warmed up. She dropped warm milk into their mouths with an eye dropper and hoped. Eventually they stirred and by later morning they were awake. Later that day, to Lyn’s amazement they were able to walk!

Over the next days and weeks Lyn and her daughter bottle fed them and they gained strength, but Hope had an underdeveloped eye and she was much smaller than Gracie. So Lyn kept them close, they followed her everywhere, especially Hope who would stay right by her leg as she walked in order to feel where she was. She couldn’t see out of her bad eye. They were bottle fed and given lots of love, and they made it.

Lyn called me a few months ago. She knew I had been thinking about getting a couple of goats so she told me the story of Hope and Gracie. I knew they were special and despite my strong reservations as to whether I could handle more creatures, I took the girls to go see the twins. Anne of course fell in love when Hope chose her leg to follow.

We brought them home in our truck this evening. They looked a little bewildered when put in their yard, and when we let the chickens out to get to know them. They cried for a while when we closed them in their new house for the night – right next to the chicken coop. It’s part of the same little building but separate from the chickens, covered with a nice thick layer of clean straw. We tucked them in with a bucket of water and another of forage hay and alfafa. And so they spent their first night here – safe and sound. We hope they will soon feel at home!

I guess the new swarm – my second colony of bees, is no more, at least in my hive boxes. My guess is that they lost their queen somewhere along the way – maybe when I was brushing them into the box, and then got robbed in the last few days. Or maybe they swarmed and left – ? I’m not experienced enough yet to observe and know what’s going on.

So I suited up about two weeks ago after dark and took off that lid covered with bees, and had to brush them carefully into the box. I guess the swarm just never settled in after I dumped them in from the bucket I got them in, and stayed on the outside of the lid, as well as some on the underside. I got them all back in and removed the empty box on top. Whew! I was sweating. That was the hardest thing I’ve had to do so far with bees!

But in the last few days watching them, there are not many going in and out. Then yesterday and today, lots of frenzied activity – is it robbing?

Earlier this week I went out after dark to take a look at the box and see how the swarm was settling. There was a whole cluster of bees on the bottom of the outside lid! I don’t know if they are robber bees or part of the same colony – help!!