Apifera Farm - where art, story, animals & woman merge. Home to artist Katherine Dunn

Apifera Farm is a registered 501 [c][3]. #EIN# 82-2236486

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©Katherine Dunn.





Friday, October 26, 2007

Butternut Empire


Remember spring, the weather begins to warm, thoughts of vegetables dance in your head, you rush to buy seeds and you set out to create your vegetable empire. Only this year, you will do it all correctly, you will not rush and try to get too much planted at once - that only leads to messy rows, mixed up plant tags and sore backs.

No, this year, you will have a real plan, even if it's in your head, or scribbled on the back of a seed bag.I thought this year I had planted just the right amount of butternut. But like the last three years, I forgot one important thing - I plant them in 'the gold mine' as we call it. A huge hill of compost created from years of the former owner's horse manure, and now mixed with our horse's, and swirled in with the best fertilizer you can get - sheep poop - and the occasional donkey-goat mix. The man who eats at Apifera truly gets a taste of the farm.

And in true Apifera fashion, I first gathered the squash in piles at the gold mine. Days later, hauled them to the house. Days after that, arranged them to create a Big Tony pathway so he can sit outside out of the rain. And now days later, or has it been weeks, I dragged tarps down to cover them at night should we get a frost. Eventually, I will drag them down to the cellar, and try to create order there.

Rome was not built in a day.