It has been two weeks since the bees swarmed and the chickens came to live with us here on the “farm” which has been the best gift we have given ourselves in a long time, and we are enjoying the process of learning to keep different animals.

Today I fed the chickens and made a small feather garden with their molted feathers,  then I went in to check on the bees, with the intent to make sure that both hives have queens, and they do which is a great relief!

The hive that swarmed had at least 2 queen cells that were freshly hatched and so one of them will make her maiden flight and then come back to the hive ready for laying.

The other hive the “swarm” hive I knew had a queen, but I wanted to make sure that she survived and was a lying once again, which I could tell by the small rice like eggs in the bottom of the cells and the capped brood I found–good news all around!

They were also very busy making honey which was lining the entire top of the box and had to be scraped down, making a tasty treat!

Today I also prepare to leave early for the B.C Shamanic Conference, in Squamish for for a full week!

A week away from the duties of being a mother and wife. For a week I leave behind the mundane world and enter into direct relationship with spirit and from what I can tell this year I will be working harder then I ever have before.

On a practical level this means that anything ordered between Mat the 7th and 13th will not be shipped out until the 14th. when I get back.

I have made a bunch of  bear and wolf claw pendants for the conference, so this also means that anything that makes it back will be listed!!

This year is my 3rd year going and I am very much looking forward to seeing the friends I have made over the years, as we all gather back together from North America and Europe, and as far away as New Zealand.

But this year is also different for me in that close to a year ago I began a new shamanic apprenticeship in a northern European tradition known as the Wolven Path, and this year I will be leading a ritual and moving from my first year and into my second in this new lineage.

It has been a humbling and enlightening experience to begin a shamanic apprenticeship all over again after years of working with my guides as my only teachers.

I have had to “empty my cup” over and over again to make way for new teachings, and I have been amazed at how many lessons  were simply waiting for me,  it has me humbled and connecting in a new and deeper way as I move from my teachings in Core shamanism to that of a lineage tradition, which is very different indeed.

And so I leave this post to head back out to the garden, to spend the rest of the day with my family before I leave for a week.

Bright Blessings

Nikiah

It all started at our New years Eve party this past winter when I was extolling the virtues of our neighborhood and in the same breath wondering how to bring us together more often as a community.

Well I got my chance to walk my talk right then and there as our friend and neighbors two doors down Jason and Jayne were saying they wished that they had more room in their yard so they could have chickens.

Chickens, did you say chickens I piped up? I would love to keep chickens and since our city now allows us to to have as many as 4 it made us giddy with excitement!

And so a plan was “hatched” for us to share the cost of a coop and chickens in the spring and to create an opportunity to get the kids involved in tending chickens and gathering eggs, a perfect teaching moment for all of us.

We got a local guy whose business is called the “Vancooper”{ clever name if you ask me} to build us the coop and install it, which was great as he also keeps chickens and had loads of great advice and suggestions to get us going.

We did tons of research on breeds of chickens and decided that the color of the eggs would drive us as much as the temperament of the chickens and we settled on Wyandotte’s for brown eggs and Ameraucana’s for blue eggs.

Interestingly enough the day we planned to actually get the chickens was the same day that the bees decided to swarm and so I was very distracted by that for obvious reasons.

But the day turned into a beautiful one and when we all finally were packed up and ready to drive out to the country to get our chickens we were all in good spirits and looking forward to the next adventure!

The woman who owned the farm was fantastic and allowed the kids to choose and promised that if by accident we got any roosters she would exchange it for a hen, so fingers crossed we did not get any roosters, I value my sleep and my neighbors good feelings too much!

Of course there were chicks freshly born and so the kids each had a turn holding their softness. It was truly a full spring day filled with babies and sunshine.

We even got to meet the most beautiful gray horse mother and her new foal.

We decided that since there were 4 kids involved we would get 4 chickens and let each kid choose and name their own chicken, Our kids being much older chose the longest most complicated names, while the little ones chose short and very sweet names.

For anyone who lived through the 80′s or has shown their kids the movie back to the Future we have Marty McFly, then there is Baba, Bearded Blue Egg and Fan.

I even got in on the action holding the chickens and petting their super soft feathers, which reminded me of my early days on my parents goat farm, were we also kept chickens, my farm roots clearly showing themselves!

And so it is we officially have a small community farm in our back-yard, flowers and bees and now Chickens…..

Oh MY!

Beltane, which falls halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice,  and means “good fire.” It is also a fertility festival, dancing round the maypole, crowning the May Queen.

May your spring be filled with fertile creative possibility!

We drove for over an hour deep into the mountains and into the wild beauty of  Squamish, then it was down an old roads, on which we got stuck, but us gals managed just fine and with a few pushes Zahra and Shanti had us out!

The forest is alive and bursting with growth this time of year, moss is vibrant and dripping off of the trees and the local salmonberry bushes are bursting with deep pink flowers, and of course the nettle patches are lush and full, it truly was magical!

First we gave offerings and prayers to the land asking for permission to harvest the nettles and other sweet pickings, tossing sweet pollen from my bee hives laced with lavender and big pinches of sage and tobacco.

Then of course nettles sting so we had to don our gloves for the task, somehow I still managed to come home with tender arms and legs, but it was well worth it!

Nettles are high in Iron, calcium, magnesium, iron, B complex A and D, potassium, zinc, copper and many other nourishing vitamins. Nettles are great for a myriad of things, but mostly they serve as a nourishing tonic, especially for  us woman. Nettles are great for menstrual cramps, anemia and serves as a deeply a fortifying tonic for anyone who is pregnant or lactating.

Most years I can get my hands on a small amount of these from the farmers market, but this year I was able to harvest a large basket full which is a true blessing!

Once we got back home I excitedly began making nettle vinegar which I have always wanted to make but never had enough to really get a good batch or more more then a tincture or some nettle chips which I blogged about last year.

I was also able to get several bunches together for drying, and these will be made into teas and nettle salt.

The rest I have cut up for making Nettle soup{Next time it will be nettle gnocchi!} with the leftover stems and other bits boiled into a broth that will go into the garden as a tonic give back to the land, the flowers love the extra nutrients!

Yes today we all were truly nourished, full of offerings from the land and giving a little back for out part in taking.

I feel truly grateful, and blessed to be living so close to such abundance.

Nettle Soup:

Ingredients:

3-4 large potatoes

1 med sized onion

½ lb- young nettles-approx 8 cups

7-8 basil leaves

2 tbsp butter

4 cups chicken or veg stock

sea salt & black pepper

4 tablespoons sour cream

Method:

Peel, chop the potatoes and boil for 10 min’s in salted water. Drain.

Wash & chop coarsely the nettles and basil

Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the nettles, onions and basil and stir cooing the onions until tender. Add the potatoes and  stock, bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes.

When all is cooked and soft, cool slightly & purée in a blender, adding salt, pepper and the sour cream.

Having said all that as a beekeeper there are certain things that I need to be aware of this time of year, but mostly it is watching and waiting for May 1st when the winter cover can come off the hive and we begin watching for swarms. However.

My bees were decidedly busy this season talking every opportunity of the early warm days to gather pollen and this triggered the queen into some early laying which made them outgrow their home very early in the season.

What does this all mean you may ask?

Well I have a story to tell you, about the bees, so grab yourself a mug of tea or coffee and read ahead…..

It was a sunny morning and the garden was beckoning me, so I grabbed my boots and shovel and started weeded the spot around the bee hive that had been waiting for me all week to get to. Within a few moments of pulling up weeds close tot he hive, a few bees came out to see what I was doing which was not unusual, I had a great little chat with them explaining what was going on and figured that would be the end of it, but within a few minutes more were gathering and so I decided that perhaps I was disturbing them that much so I stopped and moved away from the hive. Once I was standing up and could see the larger picture of what was going on I said to Zahra who has since joined me in the garden “The bees seem swarmy today don’t you think?”

No sooner then the words had left my mouth I knew that they were not just swarmy, they were actually swarming!

Now if you have never experienced a swarm before, let  me tell you that it is truly a beautiful and powerful thing to experience. Imagine 20,000 bees buzzing and peaceful swarming up into the sky and all around you. The sound is intense and powerful and deafening!

I had been fortunate enough to help my beekeeping sister a few seasons ago with her first swarm, but since I was taking photos and holding space I was having a completely different experience then she was, as she was running around making sure that she did her job as their beekeeper in getting them back into a hive. I blogged about it “Here”

This year it was my turn, my “beekeeping initiation” as Nao called it and it was truly magical and stressful and wonderful all in one!

As soon as I realized what was happening I knew I was going to need help, so I made a few calls, the first one being to Nao, for emotional reassurance and a few tips before going in to gather the swarm, and my neighbors two doors down that are interested in learning to keep bees so they can help us when we go away in the summer. The were about to unknowingly get a crash course!

I should also mention that we are a very close neighborhood, so once the word got out what was happening everyone brought their kids over to see the swarm and experience it, so the house was full of little ones running around, asking questions and generally being excited!

Then of course the bees decided to land on the highest branch of my neighbors tree!

Yes it really was to be a neighborhood experience, so it was off to borrow a ladder across the road from Peter and then back with Jason and Jayne, my sweet hubby Sohrab  and Zahra with the camera to capture everything-literally!

Here are some photos of us cutting down the swarm:

Slowly, Slowly…..

Then it was down and safe in our hands-Whew!

Finally I shook the branch out into a big plastic tub and closed the lid, it took awhile as you can see!

Carrying it back to our yard down the back alleyway.

Then it was a matter of getting them in and the lid on the hive safe and sound!

And there it is in full circle fashion, the bees sorted themselves out, got a bigger home and now I have 2 hives of bees again, the first with a new top house and loads of room to grow, who are happily awaiting a new queen to be born, and the swarm hive safe and sound with their queen, ready to grow into a full sized hive.

Life, Death, Re-birth, the circle turns again……