Did I mention I’m about a thousand times more engaged with beekeeping these days than I ever was with growing vegetables? I love hanging out in our backyard, and a large part of it has to do with the fact that I’m surrounded by green things growing like mad all over the place. But it’s the honeybees that complete the picture for me.

So although I’m not giving up on the gardening side of Mud Songs, I’m compelled to take a different approach to it. Yes, compelled! The new approach is this: I’m not going to bother with “garden updates” or any kind of updates. What’s the point? Whatever there is to learn from our experiences as backyard gardeners — and from growing things upside-down in buckets and bags and other contraptions — can be appreciated just as well after the fact. That’s probably the best way to do it, anyway. I can take plenty of photos throughout the growing season, take note of a few key and scintillating developments, and then write all about them in a more interesting and cohesive form over the winter, when I have a lot more time on my hands.

So that’s it. I probably won’t write another gardening-related post until sometime in the fall or early winter. I’ll write a few more gardening posts in late winter to talk about what we plan to do for the next season. Then no more gardening posts until it’s all over and we can document it online in a manner that’s more interesting and informative than most of what’s been posted so far. Okay, then. So it’s settled. {Deep sigh.}

To all of my readers, all three of you, thanks for listening. Carry on.

P.S., A reader asked, “Why do you have five categories (Beekeeping, Zucchini, Tomatoes, Broccoli, and Planting / Transplanting) at the top of your page, and then a full list of categories in the sidebar?”

Good question. The short answer: Those are the top five topics I’ve written about. Beekeeping is by far #1 with 36 post so far. The other four categories are tied for second place at 6 posts each. If for some reason I upload another stimulating post about tomatoes, then the “Tomatoes” category will show up next to “Beekeeping” instead of “Zucchini.” The top five categories could easily change once the beekeeping posts pile up. I may eventually remove the top-five feature, because I see how easy it is at first glance to think those are the only topics I write about.

UPDATE: The baby birds have flown the coop (one of them may have been eaten by a predator). Ah, they grow up so fast. Click the image to view the webcam page which may or may not be broadcasting now.

(Thanks to Seth.)