Early Box Harvest

Today our box schedule includes lavender bunches. Well, the lavender is in full bloom right now. So it seems reasonable and prudent to include fresh lavender in our CSA variety boxes. So this morning, while the air was still cool, my daughter and I took to the fields to harvest a few bunches of fresh lavender for our CSA subscribers.

It was a wonderful day. Sunny. Clear skies. The purple color of the royal velvet was quite intense. The grosso lavender hasn't quite fully bloomed, but the royal velvet, well, it is at its best. So royal velvet is today's box harvest choice.

Look at the beauty. Nice, no?

The bees were out in force today. Just yesterday I checked the new hives to make sure they were faring well. The all were good. Though I checked one hive during a robbing incident. That hive was po'ed when I arrived. And my meddling didn't help matters. The little honeys took runs at my veil while I worked. But as I finished, they settled down a bit. I crouched by the entrance to watch as guard bees fended off robbers as if embracing in a natural history version of Klimt's Kiss.

Today, however, the bees were busy in the lavender. I caught this shot of a honey hovering in mid-air over a lavender penduncle. There is something that seems just right with all the bees in the air. The hum. They work so diligently. So purposeful. Not like the flies that seem so haphazard and random. I do love the bees.

Today was a harmonious day on Lavender Hill.