Washington Wine and Cidre for a stormy day

It's the weekend, it's the Ides of March and although the month arrived like a sophisticated polite lamb, the weather is a bone chilling driving rain that we almost forgot about this Winter. The early spring and beautiful weather allowed us a jump start on the garden and the orchard! In addition to the blueberries we added two Apple trees (Honeycrisp and Gala) two Pear trees (Bosc and Anjou) and two Cherry (Rainer and Bing).

In anticipation of the next harvest it's time too bottle up last years harvest. I don't really like bottling but with this weather it seemed like a good idea. So we have one Beach Plum cidre in a farmhouse style, slightly sour and a bit funky with a low ABV. The next is a Green Plum cidre, traditional with a little more kick to it. The last is Barbera that I had the opportunity to harvest last year in Yakima.

Spring Time!!! Mason Bee House

As the Winter thaws and the blooms are budding I started building Orchard Mason Bee (Osmia Lignaria) Houses to put around the yard and hopefully the whole neighborhood should anyone ask for some. Super simple and straight forward, to start I drilled out a block of wood and capped it with some cedar for a roof.

Jason Kotarski

If I get the chance I will try to pick up a pack of cocoons with larvae. I am going to try several variations of the houses and see which ones get the most action. This one is near the blueberries tucked up against a tree for rain protection and facing the morning sun.

Jason Kotarski

With an ample supply of water and mud, I hope these little friends move in and help us with the garden! I'm excited to see how this year's harvest goes. We expanded the blueberry patch this year with four more bushes and are looking at four more next year.