Spring Update

Spring is well and truely underway here at Hobbs Orchard.

The blossoms are out and the sweet smell of pollen is filling the air.

The weather has mostly been on our side with only a few cold and wet days keeping the bees in their hives.
We did try to talk them into working in the rain but to no avail.
Apparently they don’t appreciate being told to “harden up”. Who knew!

The arrival of blossoms not only heralds the start of the Spring; it also means that the frost-fighting season has begun!
Nothing makes me feel more alive than leaping out of bed when the frost alarm sounds at some ungodly hour of the night, throwing my gear on and running around the Orchard, thermometer in hand to monitor the temperature and decide whether or not I need to crank up the overhead sprinklers.
So far this season I’ve had to crank up 5 times.
One of the longest sessions was last night where we had to run the sprinklers from 9:08pm until 9:15am the next morning!
12 hours of frost fighting certainly makes a truckload of ice!!!

I’m grateful that I have my “support crew” (Mum and Ruby) back at the house keeping the fires stoked up and the jug boiled.