Bee Check and Unidentified Vine

Because it has been so hot and also because we have been slightly frustrated with the beekeeping, we recently adopted a new approach:  Let the bees be.  This is our 2nd season beekeeping, and our first season was a total disaster.  This year we've done better than last.  This time last year, we didn't have any bees.  One reason we've been frustrated is because up until recently the bees have been very aggressive, much more agressive than last year's bees.  So we've stayed away.  We know we had a swarm, and I believe I mentioned that the last time we were messing with the hive, the bees didn't seem aggressive.  I know we have a new queen, and she's much nicer than the last one.  So, checking the hive this evening was not stressful like it has been so far this year.  The bees were not buzzing us and gathering on our veils.  We were able to check both brood boxes and the honey super without fear.  I've always been told if you have an aggressive queen to replace her, but nature did that for us with the swarm. 

I'm learning to follow my instincts when it comes to beekeeping.  It's about looking at the facts and clues in front of you (and there as SO many little things to look for) and making a decision based on the given situation and your knowledge base.  No one will give you a definitive answer for any one problem.  Some beekeepers will say we made the wrong decisions, while others will say we made the right ones.  One thing I noticed this evening was the lack of stored honey the hive had, both in the brood boxes and in the honey super.  About a month or two back, a fellow beekeeper told me in times of draught, when no nectar is flowing, and the bees really have no source of food, they will eat their stored honey to survive.  We've definitely been experiencing a drought, so my instinct was to start feeding them sugar water again.  I called my friend to bounce the idea off her, and she said she went to extract honey from a super that was full a few weeks ago, and by the time she went to extract it, the super was practically empty.  The bees had eaten the honey to survive.  She said feeding them would be a proactive way to help them start storing for winter.  So, feeding them is what I'm doing. 

We appear to have a very productive queen evidenced by this beautiful capped brood:

I feel like we are back on target with the bees, and while we are definitely not going to harvest any honey this year, if we can keep them alive through the winter, I have confidence we'll have some next year.  Here's to hoping!

Now, I need help identifying this vine.  It's growing along the back fence that separates us from our back neighbor.  I suspect it's a muscadine vine, but I thought muscadines were larger.  The "grapes" are about the size of blueberries, and when I squeezed one, the inside texture was like a grape, and it had 4 "grape" seeds in it.  Also, the juice on my fingers tasted very grapey.  Since I haven't id'd it yet, I haven't eaten one, so I don't know if the skin is bitter.  The fact that I haven't keeled over from licking the juice is a good sign, I think.  What keeps me from determining it's a muscadine are the leaves.  The pictures I've seen online of muscadine leaves are different.  Any help is appreciated.

Happy homesteading,

Candace



 

Party Hardy, Dude!

"But I always say one's company, two's a crowd, and three's a party"  Andy Warhol

"One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor!"  Unknown

I have a major birthday happening this week, and Nate and my friend, N., decided to throw me a party.  Unfortunately, I'm not a "sit back and watch while others plan things" kind of girl.  I'm a control freak and don't like to sit on the sidelines.  I freely admit it, and those who know me well may not like it, but they accept it and sometimes love me despite it.  I'm a Leo, after all.  Changing this part of my personality would be like trying to take the stripes off a zebra.  Nate just said, "Tell me what to do."  That makes me laugh.  N. said, "I can't wait to see the party I planned."  That makes me laugh too.  With that said, they have been great and have definitely participated in the party planning and preparation.  I have a wonderful friend and husband! 

In planning the menu, it was important to me to use as much from the homestead as possible, so the menu developed based on what I have this week in the garden.  Everything we're serving has at least one item that was either grown, foraged or produced by us.  I've been prepping each day so there won't be much to do on the day of the party.   

Party Menu:
Carrot Cake
Chips and Salsa
Jalapeno Dip
Brie with Fig Jam
Cubed Melon
Pasta Salad
Egg Salad Sandwiches
Eggplant Dip

That's it for today, folks.  I have stuff to do for the party, so until next time, I leave you with one of my favorite birthday songs by Cracker, "Happy Birthday to Me."   



Candace

Roll Call

So, I'm stealing Jenna's idea at Cold Antler Farm for a roll call.  I hope she doesn't mind, but it's such a great idea, and it's a fun way to see and appreciate where you are on your journey.  Feel free to sound off.

1 girl

1 boy

3 cats

5 hens

1 bee hive

2 angora rabbits

Fruits:  blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, 2 fig trees, 1 meyer lemon, 1 orange tree, 4 blueberry bushes, 1 peach tree, 2 apple trees, 1 loquat tree, 1 banana tree

Garden:  spread all over my front and back yards:  eggplants, yellow squash, zucchini, garden huckleberries, ground cherries, peppers, swiss chard, cucumbers, pole beans, lima beans, mexican sour gherkins, winter squash, various annual and perennial herbs, beets, melons , carrots, , tomatoes

Happy homesteading,

Candace

Trespassing for Fruit and Market Finds

I've never eaten loquats before yesterday.  I don't know if I've ever heard of loquats before a few weeks ago.  My friend mentioned them to me during a phone conversation, and then she gave me some loquat jelly.  It's delicious, and I remember her discussing the location of a few trees with somone else on FB.  Yesterday, I decided to try to find some.

Long story short, I drove over the to quasi-public park and found a loquat tree almost on the street outside of the main gate.  As I was picking fruit, some homeowner came over and told me the park was closed and that I was trespassing.  He asked me what I was doing, and I said, "Picking loquats."  Then he asked me if I even knew what a loquat is.  Hello?  I said I'm picking loquats.  Obviously if I called them loquats, I know what they are. 

I left and went to our downtown market, and lookie lookie at what I found for sale.

 



















A loquat tree!  If you're curious about loquats, here's a link:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loquat

There is a girl at the market who sells "exotic" plants, at least plants that aren't commonly sold in these parts.  Her booth also had a variety of citrus trees, and last year, I wanted one, but they were out of my price range.  Yesterday, she had some sizes closer to what I could afford plus a few I couldn't.  So, I bought what I was told was a meyer lemon, but when I got it home, I looked at the tag and saw that it was a kaffir lime.  I didn't really want a kaffir lime tree, so I had to go back to the market.  I just wanted to trade, but of course, they didn't have a meyer lemon of that size, so the gentleman who helped me upgraded my purchase and I got one of the larger meyer lemon trees for the price of a small one.  Awesome!

Here's my new meyer lemon tree!

The lemon tree has to be potted because our winters are too harsh for citrus, and I'll probably pot the loquat tree for now until I decide where I can put it. 

If I can get everything fruiting and keep the birds and tree rats away, I will have quite the menagerie of fruits on the homestead.  Loquats, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, peaches, strawberries, figs (two varieties), ground cherries, garden huckleberries, pomegranates, oranges, meyer lemons, and apples (I don't expect apples really because they don't get enough sunlight where I have them.)

Oh, and props to our outdoor kitty (OP2).  We saw her stalking a tree rat in the backyard yesterday.  I told her to park herself under the peach tree and do her job as a farm kitty.

Happy homesteading,


Candace

Blackberries and Raspberries and Bats, Oh My!

A few years ago, we planted blackberry canes along the edge of our driveway, and since they were starts, we just let them grow.  Last year we should have trellised them, but I was so busy with work, they got ignored.  They sprawled all over the ground and took root wherever they landed.  I wasn't too worried about them taking over the yard because they can't get past my driveway, but some did root in my neighbor's yard.  I pulled those out.  Today, we took care of the problem and used some of the bamboo from up the street to create a trellis strung with wire.  Nate beat three 7 ft bamboo sections into the ground, strung wire end to end at heights of 2 ft, 3.5 ft and 5 ft, and then braced everything on each end with more wire.  It looks great, and now most of the canes are off the ground.  Now that I have a proper trellis, I think I could dig up some and realign them with the trellis for better management.  The bamboo is beautiful and natural and free.  I already had the wire, so I love when projects come together without a trip to the store. 

 

We planted some raspberry canes along the front of our deck this evening.  The lengthening of the days is always a blessing!  Hopefully they will thrive there.  With the trees gone, I think we've gained 2-3 hours of sun along the back of our house, which should bring us to six hours of sun on some sections of the yard.  

Before it got too dark to see, I was watching some bats dart around the sky.  I love to see bats because I know they are natural mosquito control.  I can use all the help I can get in that department. 

Happy homesteading,


Candace

Weekend Recap

The temperature topped out over 80 yesterday, and should hit around 80 today as well.  I'm afraid of what the summer will bring!  After today, it's back to the 60s during the day though.  It's so nice to be outside on a beautiful day, but the pollen is starting to fly, so being outside is a double edged sword for me. 

Our Pearl has been molting, so we haven't received an egg from her in a while, but she's back on her game.  Yesterday she laid, and she rejoiced all through the yard, loudly and proudly I might add.  She's a Black Star and is a wonderful layer.  I was reading a publication on chickens that stated all chickens stop laying during the winter unless you put lights in their coops.  We don't have lights, and ours laid through the winter.  We didn't get as many eggs as we do during the summer, but we did get 1-2 eggs a day.  I know the breed contributes, and we have a RIR, a Buff Orpington, a Black Star, a Barred Rock and a cross breed Brahma.  What is your experience with winter eggs? 

In addition to routine chores around the place, yesterday we started our spring yard redo.  We seem to do this every year as we decide certain plants may do better in another area of the yard.  Yesterday we relocated two lantanas, a rosemary bush, a Japanese maple, a pomegranate, some perennials and we potted a fig tree.  This fig tree was a rooting from some friends, and it just hasn't prospered where we planted it, so in an effort to rescue it from certain death, I decided to pot it for a while.  It's pretty small, and I've read that figs really like their roots kept confined to produce fruit.  I don't know if that's necessarily true, because I'm certain the fig tree across the street has not been confined in any way.  It's huge.  Potting the fig tree will help me keep a closer eye on it and give it some extra attention. 

A few weeks ago, I had a few tree services come over and give me estimates on taking down some of the trees in my neighbor's yard.  I've been going back and forth about spending that money, but we can get it done alot cheaper if they just drop the trees and leave them for us to cut up and dispose of.  It's ALOT of work on our end, but think of the money we save on gym membership.  Plus, one of them is an oak, and we can save it for firewood.  So, this weekend we really watched the sun to see how taking down three trees would benefit us.  I've been complaining about those trees for years, and now given the opportunity to take them down, I think I need to step up to the plate or stop complaining.  Plus, I think it will open up enough yard to start a small espaliered orchard.  If we go this route, we will have to sacrifice our current peach tree, which is another dilemma.  It really is a great tree, but I can espalier so many more fruit trees in the area it takes up.     

We checked on our bee supplies to make sure they were in good shape for our nuc delivery in a week or two.  We didn't find any evidence of wax moths, so I think we're in good shape. 

My ginger ale didn't really carbonate, but I think it's because I had it in the wrong-sized container.  I really need to get a 2-liter bottle and try again.  Either way, it tastes pretty good.  A nice change up from tea and water, for sure.  I think next time I may add a little more sugar because it has a bite to it that we didn't find enjoyable.  A little honey in my glass seemed to take the bite out though.

What did you accomplish over the weekend?

Happy homesteading,

Candace