another day inside, but instead of looking at equipment or painting signs, i thought a couple of words and a few pictures would be a pleasant interruption to the wet outdoors.
a couple of days ago, in between the spring showers, we were able to catch a little sun and take a few pictures of some happenings around the place.
the bees were ecstatic to leave the hive for a quick flight around the farm. this is just a handful of some returning in the evening.
the hives see
m quiet from the outside, but inside, they are bustling with activity. i wish you
were able to hear what this picture sounds like. the bees seem to be doing pretty well this year despite the crazy spring weather.
in less than a month, the hive has more than doubled in size, and, soon, we will be adding supers. hooray for honey!
even though the bloom was early and the hives young, the trees seem to be loaded with apples this year. thank you honey bees. we passed this little cluster of baby apples on the way to the garden.
the garden has expanded in size and by quantity of delectable treats this year. we started picking spinach, radishes and onions a couple of weeks ago. the hops are about six inches tall and the blueberries are flowering.
we are excited about getting some squash, pumpkins and gourds in the ground after it dries.
i think we are interested in setting up a co-op for either plants and/or produce next year; so, let us know if you have any ideas and/or interest.
the crazy, purple puffball of a flower belongs to one of our chives. the potatoes are starting to get little buds, which reminds me that we need sweet potatoes. the snow peas are looking for something to hold. i'm ready for more fresh veggies!
I wish you could have seen Jason and me wandering through the strawberry patch as the strawberries first started to ripen. The mostly white-green berries with just a little red blush tint were taunting us and we searched in frustration for the first ripe berry of spring. Well... the moments dragged on and the disappointment crept in... until we found that one beautiful red berry. Well it's pretty funny trying to share one strawberry that's less than the size of a quarter-but we did. And now... a few days later we're sharing hat-fuls of beautiful red berries!
Hooray for Spring and all the delicious treats it brings with it! Rhubarb season has been upon us for a few weeks now and we just can't seem to get enough strawberry-rhubarb treats. I've baked pie, crisp, crunch and they never last long enough. Great-grandma's rhubarb recipes have stood the test of time and our luck restaurant patrons have been enjoying the amazing fruits of spring.
One of my favorite days of the week is when Jason checks on the bees; it means tasty samples for me. Sometimes the bees start building honeycomb inside the hive box in inconvenient places (inconvenient for us not them) and that honeycomb needs to be removed. You'd be hard pressed to find something sweeter than fresh honey. And for those of you who put stock in herbal remedies; its good for building up tolerance against those nasty spring-time allergies. Yay!
