Working the land on the first of June

Today's the first day of June, a gorgeously sunny Sunday. We basked in the light and warmth, then set to work.

Here's a sampler of our homesteading practice at this time of year:

Bryan hauled some of last year's wood to the house and chopped up the bigger pieces.  Some chunks were already sized for the stove, but others were too broad and needed splitting down into the proper shape.  The results were stacked inside the house, ready to dry in the dehumidified basement over the summer and fall.

A new ax.

He also collected scraps of birch bark, fallen from trees.  These dry during the summer, in order to be stored as excellent winter kindling.

Ceredwyn planted pole beans.  It's finally warm enough to allow this.  She planted the beans, along with a sample of the three sisters, all under a tent to protect them from possibly chilly nights:

Bryan re-dug part of the driveway drainage ditch. He does this every year, repairing damages from winter (mostly trucks crushing it) and clearing out silt from spring rain.  It's about 3/4ths complete at this point, able to catch most rain overflow from the upper part of our land.

Such sunlight allowed us to hang two big loads of laundry.  We've never owned a clothes drier here, preferring to let the sun do its work (or the wood-burning stoves, in winter).  But a week of dismal skies slowed down the rates of clothes drying.

We also cleared up a blackberry patch, staking brambles to get them visible and off the ground.  Hopefully they'll yield more fruit this fall.

To sum up: maintenance, planting, housework, wood processing, all in glorious sunlight.