On our way to Saint Andrews Forest Farm Tuesday and Wednesday and Friday, we continued to find male pollen from many trees and locations to take to the female pawpaw buds at SAFF in order to set fruit in the old clonal colony. We’ve seen many more clusters of trees along Howardsville Rd, creeks and rivers on the way to the farm. We are so hopeful they will produce fruit this year with the pollen from different genetic material. We have been getting rain regularly so far and have more in the forecast for the next few weeks. We just hope for the best.

We’ve also continued to level the tiny house and check for water entry after rain. We found that there are a few areas where we need to address past water damage. We have plans for a new overhanging warm roof which will be a large help on multiple fronts. We also will remediate the damage done by replacing materials as needed. The tiny house was built on a mobile home trailer with steel framing so the bones are strong.

Today we were pleased to have a farm day Friday and we ran right down to the old colony pawpaw patch to continue pollinating. We noticed a powerful smell right away. As we went down to the main waterway from the Pawpaw Peninsula to cross over we saw a possum carcass. Normally this would cause us more than some displeasure. Today we couldn’t believe our good fortune. What a blessing in disguise! Asimina triloba are pollinated by a number of insects as we’ve seen but the most important pollinator historically has been the fly. Flies were all over this gift of a stinky carcass. We are sorry for the possum. A few years ago, we found another possum in a similar spot and also deceased. We’ve grown to appreciate them and hope they thrive in the forest at SAFF. They are known to eat ticks which is a positive. Poor creature.

We also noticed our shoes are covered in pollen. We will get a photo. We are like giant bumble bees running around the forest spreading pollen everywhere wittingly and not.