(By Skylar Bodeo-Lomicky) We dedicated the day mainly to the BRC orchard - the area of the farm that I have spent the least amount of time in this year. A pair of Common Yellowthroats called to each other from the Tolman Sweet tree. A sweat bee (family Halictidae) visited a patch of yarrow. Another sweat bee joined the first, this one further along in her expedition, hind legs thick with pollen. I walked down the rock steps to the pond. It didn’t take long to see the life this water fosters: green frogs, tadpoles, mosquito larvae, whirligig beetles and backswimmers. The collies waded out into the pond, drinking and trying hard to cool down. Behind the Trailman tree, a cluster of chest high fleabane bloomed, as if existing in its own dimension. How does this vast landscape fit inside the BRC when I know a row of apple trees grow not far behind?

By dinnertime we had cleared brush around a dozen or so BRC trees; established a bed of shiitake mushrooms in the raspberries by the house; harvested a handful of plants for experimental use in water kefir, plant dyes, and tea; and watered the vegetable gardens. Satiated by the sun and daylight dwindling, we called the workday done.