In The Garden :: August 31, 2015

We have reached the end of official kid related summer, yet our garden's summer still has a few final weeks.  This time of year the garden really takes care of itself, our tasks are focused indoors where all of the bounty must be processed and preserved for the longer colder months ahead.

Though the garden still runs about two weeks behind, we are way ahead of our processing compared to last season.  Our pickling, freezing and canning is going great.  Really just eating all we can and waiting on the final reward, tomatoes ripening for sauce and salsa.

It is also the time of year when we focus on our to do list.  The litany of things that must be completed before winter.  As we finish final harvests over the next few weeks the garden must be put to bed.  Each row will need to be topped with a generous helping of compost, and covered.  The best way to do this will be to take it a bed at a time as we finish harvests as not to get too overwhelmed doing the whole thing at once.

We need to take advantage of the temperate days to get outdoor work done.  At the top of the list is preparing the granary to become our farrowing space for Mabel and Penelope.  The girls will be farrowing this winter, so we really need to get everything done when we are not also battling the cold.  As important as what is happening in the garden this time of year is how we balance enjoying the season, while accomplishing everything necessary to make our lives easier this winter as we button up the homestead.

Summer's End

Today marks the final day of the kids' summer break.  

There was plenty of down time and self direction peppered with day trips, friends, movies, bonfires, parties and finally a great vacation.  

This last day of break will be filled with little last minute school prep errands, maybe with a little something to make the day extra special. Until next time summer....

Re-entry

It is always tough coming home from vacation and getting back into the time zone and routine.  Especially when the routine has been summer and you get thrown immediately into fall sports, and back to school preparations. Thankfully we have had this week to get the litany of pre-school year errands, appointments and open houses taken care of.  As the kids both start new schools this year, there is added enthusiasm for the start, with maybe a smattering of trepidation about the first days navigating new waters.  It is important for me to have things as in line as possible before school starts so that the transitions are smooth and free of any avoidable stresses.  The temperatures have been cool and rather fall-like early on this week. As the week winds down, the to do lists melt away and the temperatures look to be warming once again for the final weekend of summer break.

In The Garden :: August 23

Leaving on vacation for nine days in the heart of the season always leaves us with a bit of anxiety.  I was thankful that we got so much preservation done before we left, because I do not feel so much panic in seeing the current surplus'.

This is one thing that we will not preserve, these little cucumbers are perfect just to pop whole into the Greek salads that may just be dominating our diets for the next couple of weeks.

I think if anything defines the state of the garden as we return from vacation, it is blush.  As we continue to preserve the summer squash and green beans, the next phase is blushing nicely.  Hints of canned tomatoes, sauces and salsas come...and oh the masses of butternut!  For a season that started so slowly, some things are well ahead of last year.  We were keeping our fingers crossed for ripening on winter squash up until we harvested them in late October last year.  This year?  Well, they are well on their way!

Along with the garden bounty, the late summer blooms are dotting the landscape in all of their glory.  The first goldenrod is just beginning to put on its show.  The garden tends to do what it wants this time of year and really you just must wait for it to provide and then eat and process.  The animals, on the other hand, gave Ellen quite a run for her money while we were gone, but that is a story for another post :)

How Two Hives Become One

Two years ago, B placed two bait hives in different trees around the property.  There they have sat since, unsuccessful at catching a swarm.  I talked about our honey tree here, and it has been a very active hive with an enormous number of bees.  Low and behold, as we were surveying the place a week or so ago, B discovered that one of the bait hives was full of bees!  We are certain that the abundant honey tree hive, must have recently swarmed, and they did not travel too far.  Now comes the dilemma, they have built a fair amount of comb already, but there simply is not enough time for them to make a home to sustain themselves through the winter.  So on the advise of a bee keeping friend of ours, we decided to introduce this box to our other large hive and see if we could get them to assimilate.

When working with bees, B has found it is best to have all of your ducks in a row supplies wise before you don the very warm bee suit on a hot humid day.  Fortunately, last Sunday was a perfect morning for the move.  It was foggy and a bit cooler, so there was not much in the way of activity around the hives early in the day.  First, he smoked both hives to encourage the bees to ascend into the upper portions of their respective hives.  

Then, he detached the bait hive from it's foundation in the tree, put a bottom platform on it, and blocked the exit door so they could not all fly out while being moved.  The idea when combining both hives is that when we add the new hive to the bottom of the existing one, top it with a large piece of newspaper like paper with some slits cut in it.  Over the next several days the bees will eat through the paper and be released into the existing hive, hopefully giving them time to recognize each others scents and adjust.  Then what will come is the queens deciding who will reign.   

The bottom box on the main hive was empty, but the bees were just beginning to beard into it preparing to fill it, so the timing was perfect to remove the empty box and add the new hive with the partially completed box.  The whole process took about 30 minutes, and now we wait to see if it is successful.  After about 48 hours, we were advised to open the exit door on the bottom hive, and when B did there was a huge flurry of activity.  It will be interesting to see if they assimilate.