Oh No! Not Again!

This morning we walked out the door to do garden chores and heard an "extremely loud buzzing of bees".  Uh oh.  Another swarm!    But this time we lucked out.  The swarm went into a low branch on an  oak tree, about 10 feet off the ground.   All Harold had to do was back the pick up under it, get on top of the truck bed and give one vigorous shake to the branch to put all the bees into a large deep bee hive box.  Probably at least 3 lbs of bees were shaken right into the box.   Harold had our neighbor Frank help us this time, and he quickly put a ventilated lid on the box.   The bees that didn't get into the box in time just hung on the sides and bottom.   Harold is now taking this hive out to our friend Joe's farm as I write this.   Two swarms in two days!   Hopefully we won't have any more swarms, as we need our bees to work for US and make honey!!  This swarm was huge, and will probably be ready to go to work out at Joe's farm making honey.

Look at the size of this swarm!  It is about 30 inches wide and 18 inches deep and 8 inches thick!

This swarm was captured nicely in a regular deep bee hive box.

"What A Beekeeper Won't Do........."

This morning as Harold walked out into the yard to do chores, he heard a loud buzzing of bees, which is usually the sound of a swarm happening!  Sure enough - the bees from one of our hives swarmed high into a tree not far from the bee yard.  He could see the swarm gathering around the queen bee in a tall tree.   So Harold got into his tractor/loader and drove it into the woods behind the tree, and lifted up the bucket.   Then he got a ladder to get up there, and prepared a 'swarm box', which is a smaller bee hive box with a few frames in it and a special ventilated lid that fits securely over the box.   We managed to save the swarm and I am documenting the whole morning's work in pictures below.   Later this afternoon or evening, we will carefully carry the hive onto the pickup truck, cover it with a tarp, and drive the hive to a friend's farm about 10 miles away.  You must carry swarms more than 3 miles away from where they swarmed, or else they will go right back to the same spot.  You cannot put them back into the hive they originally swarmed from.   Hives are expensive, and we certainly don't want to lose any of them!

Here is the swarm in the tree - the bees are all gathered around their queen.

A swarm box and lid.   You can see that it is smaller than regular sized hive boxes.  There is a screen in the lid section for ventilation.  We build our own hive boxes and swarm boxes and supers.

Harold begins to climb the ladder to where the bees are.  It was too hot to wear a full bee suit, but he did put on a bee veil!  The bees did not swarm in a really good spot either, as it was located in trees behind where we have a couple old cars parked.  Harold had to maneuver the tractor behind everything by driving through the woods.

Getting closer to the swarm!

Harold begins to cut off smaller branches around the swarm.

He now cuts off the branch that the swarm is on .

While bringing the branch down the ladder, it brushes against other branches and the bees scatter!  Fortunately the queen had not left yet!

Harold sat on top of the loader for about 5 minutes while the bees re-assembled around the queen.

He begins carrying the big branch of bees down the ladder.

Almost there!!

The swarm is then shaken over the swarm box in one swift action to dump the bees into the box.   The lid is quickly put on.

The swarm is now in the swarm box.

The swarm box full of bees was placed on a flat pile of logs in front of the loader.  There are still many bees in the air, and they will eventually go to the swarm box and hang on the sides.

The swarm of bees has been re-captured!  Success!

Later this evening when it is cooler, and all the swarmed bees are around the box, Harold will gently tarp it and put it in the truck and haul it off to our friend's farm.   Over the years our friend Joe has graciously allowed many swarm boxes to be delivered to his yard for safekeeping.   We check on these hives, in addition to the ones in our back yard, from time to time and add supers as needed.   This basically gives us two "bee yards".   When a hive costs about $130 you certainly don't want to lose one.  Bees just naturally swarm - it's what bees do - a survival tactic for them.   If we can catch them, it doubles OUR hives.
     There's an old saying that goes like this:
A swarm in May is worth a load of hay
A swarm in June is worth a silver spoon
A swarm in July isn't worth a fly
(not sure what a swarm in August is worth, the poem doesn't say, but it must be worth a lot less than a fly?)
     After all this Harold needed a rest and a reward - there's a pan of cinnamon rolls rising in the kitchen as I write this!  Good job Harold!

Flowers and grapes

Please humor me a little and allow me to show off a couple photos of things around here.   I got out the camera this morning and took some photos of how things look right now. 

Check out these beautiful petunias I started myself from seed and put into baskets.  My little "garden trolls" add a nice touch, don't you think?

More beautiful flowers on the Ferris wheel planter Harold made for me.   I started all these from seed, too.  (My own seed saved from last year's plants)

Our grapes are doing so well this year.  In previous years, we were plagued with a fungus that decimated our grape harvest.   This year, we found out what kind of fungal spray to use and also used ammonium sulfate granules around the base of the plants.   It seemed to do the trick to hold down the fungus, and look at the grapes!   We will have a huge harvest of grapes.   These are Northern Valiant grapes, hardy for northern climates.

Many, many grape clusters growing nicely!

The whole grape section, about 18 feet long:

The grape vines are just loaded with grapes this year.  We will have plenty of grapes for juice to can up.

The gardens are also doing well.   Here is one of our 4 gardens:

I couldn't fit the whole garden in this photo, but you will get the idea.

Harold and I find that growing things here on the farm is so gratifying!  It's a lot of work, yes, but we enjoy seeing the fruits of our efforts.   And it's nice to know that we can grow our own food, and I can grow my own flowers, too,  without having to buy anything.   It's basically our hobby!

Our Latest Project - Painting the Porch

A couple years ago we built my 'dream porch' off the living room.  It is 30 feet long and 6 feet or so wide.   We still have to build the ends of the porch but that will be for a later time. (When we get some spare cash for building materials!).  The wood is treated lumber, and supposedly a person needs to let it age at least 6 months before painting.   Well, it aged about 2 years!   Better late than never, eh?  I had hoped to get it painted last summer, but it seemed like the weather never cooperated - either too hot or too rainy.   But this week, the weather was just perfect for painting, so we went gung-ho on the project.
     Here is the "before":

Before painting:  a little excess lumber to get put away, and other stuff.

The porch is off the living room at the back of the house:

We still need to build the end railings.   We would have used the typical plastic porch railing sections, but those things are very expensive.   The cost for our 30 foot porch was beyond our budget to use pre-built railing sections.   The lumber to build the railing and our own work, made the porch railing about half the cost of the pre-built stuff.

Since the porch is quite high, painting the outside of the railings required some kind of scaffolding (which we didn't have).   So Harold used his tractor/loader and lifted the bucket to the height needed, then stepped onto the bucket from a tall ladder.

Harold stood on the bucket of the tractor and painted the outside, while I painted the inside railing.  He kept moving the tractor as needed.

So we finally got the railings painted:

The first railing section painted.

After painting all the railing sections, it was time to do the floor.   We pressure washed the floor and let it dry while we ran errands in town.

The railing finished, and floor section pressure washed clean.

And the finished project:

What a difference!  The porch is painted!  Now, all I need is some new porch furniture!

Garlic Harvest!

If you have been following my blog for a while, you know that I planted garlic for the first time last fall.  (The garden experts said that up north in cold climates, a person needs to plant garlic just before winter, and cover it with straw to "grow" all winter long).  I had my doubts about the survival of the little garlic cloves in 30 below zero temps up here, but the garlic did grow and came up this spring in full force.   I had posted photos of my lush garlic patch.  Well, now it is ready to harvest!   Again, the internet experts say that garlic is ready to harvest when at least the bottom 2 or 3 leaves are brown and many of the upper leaves are turning brown.   Here is what the garlic patch looked like this morning in the greenhouse:

The garlic looks ready to harvest - bottom leaves are brown and dead, and upper leaves are also turning brown. 

So I dug up a few plants to see what's what.  And yes!  It looks beautiful!

The harvested garlic.  The lower three plants are from commercial garlic, and the upper one is from a local grower.  Not sure of the variety, but it is bigger than the commercial stuff.  I only tried about 8 plants of commercially grown garlic, and planted 62 plants of the larger locally grown garlic cloves.

Here's a close up:

Four great looking heads of garlic! 

So I now can say I know how to grow garlic, and it will be something I grow every year.   I use a lot of garlic in my dill pickles, bread and butter pickles, spaghetti sauce, salsa, and also for every day cooking (zucchini sauteed in fresh garlic butter is fantastic!).    Now I need to let it "cure" for several weeks in a cool, dry place until the plants are really dry.   Then I will need to cut off the stem part, and trim the root part,  and store the garlic heads in mesh bags (I had neighbors and friends save me onion and other mesh bags just for this purpose.) I will also sell some of the garlic in our farmer's market booth.   I have a feeling that homegrown garlic will have a much fresher and better taste than the stuff a person can buy at the stores (and who knows where that comes from??)
     Anyway, my big garlic experiment was a huge success!!  Now I need to save some cloves to replant this fall.

An Update to Today's Market

We did very well today at the farmer's market and sold a lot of lettuces!  Sold a lot of honey and maple syrup, too.  I mentioned in my previous post today that there would be a chef doing a food demonstration today, featuring our lettuce!  To go with the salad she prepared, she made the following dressing.   Everyone thought it was good - so did I! 
     I have quit using bottled salad dressings, and prefer to make my own.   Bottled dressings have so much "other stuff" in it that isn't good or pronounceable!  So I offer here, the salad dressing made today at the market, plus a couple other favorites that we like.

HOMEMADE CATALINA DRESSING

2/3 c ketchup
1/4 c sugar
2/3 c vegetable oil
1/2 c lemon juice
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder

Mix all ingredients well with a whisk, or whirl in a blender for a few cycles.
You can store the extra dressing in a jar in the refrigerator for about a week.  I would probably make half a recipe for just a few salads. 
    (recipe source:  Univ of Minnesota Extension Service)

Here is another favorite recipe that I got from my sister a while back.   She said she got it from a salesman at work, who brought a salad dressed with this dressing.

VINAIGRETTE STYLE SALAD DRESSING

1/4 c sugar
1/4 c vegetable oil
1/3 c red wine vinegar
salt, pepper, and a sprinkle of garlic salt to taste

Shake in a jar until well blended. 

And finally, here is a creamy style dressing that is so easy to make and very refreshing.   This one cannot be stored, so you just make a small amount and dress the salad with it. 

CREAMY SALAD DRESSING

1/4 c whipping cream (yes, that's heavy whipping cream!)
1 T. sugar
1 1/2 T cider vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Whisk everything together well (but make sure you don't whip it enough to actually whip the cream!).   Makes enough for 2 or 3 salads.
     (recipe source:  The Pioneer Lady's Country Kitchen cookbook by Jane Watson Hopping)

If you go to the older posts in my blog, go to August of 2014 and I wrote down a recipe for a sweet onion dressing.    These 4 salad dressings make a nice variety for summer salads, and you will never miss the bottled stuff.   Both the sweet onion one and the creamy one, are also good to use on coleslaw.

Bon Appetit!

Preparing The Greens

This morning I spent about 3 hours picking various lettuces and bok choy from the greenhouse, washing everything well, and bagging it up for sale at the farmer's market this afternoon.   Besides the greens, we will also be selling honey and maple syrup.   It's a beautiful sunny day - not too hot, and not too cold!

I had a whole counter full of lettuce drip-drying on towels, even going around the corner of the counter!  It is a mix of various lettuces and escarole. 

I bagged up the lettuce into gallon plastic bags.

I also bagged up many heads of romaine lettuce.

Plenty of bok choy for the market, too!

Today the 'market chef' is going to feature salads and various dressings, so we should be able to sell everything.  Every week, there is a demonstration cook who prepares foods on site, using produce from the various vendors.   This week's dressing will feature honey, so we should do well selling that too!
     This will probably be the last week for fresh salad greens from the greenhouse, as the temps are getting quite warm and lettuce is a cool weather crop.   I'll wait until late July and plant more in the greenhouse for fall market.  Up here in Minnesota, July is probably our hottest month.   Things cool down considerably in August.    For next week's market I should have some small cabbages and fresh green onions and cilantro and basil.   Maybe even some yellow tomatoes!

Back Home Again - a Little of This and That

A few days ago I returned from my trip to Indiana and Massachusetts.  Since my return, I've been so busy!  Husband Harold did his best to take care of things while I was gone, but it really does take two people to keep the farm going smoothly.   The timing of this trip was not my first choice, but grandchildren do grow quickly, my sister doesn't retire every day, and I am so very blessed to still have my Mom with me at age 94.   So I spent some time with family in Indiana, and about a week and a half with my son and grandson in Massachusetts.   I went via Amtrak, and that is always enjoyable - at least I think so!  A person meets interesting people on the train and there's plenty of scenery to watch go by.
     I spent the first day and a half with my Mom, meeting some of her friends and playing cards with her.   I think Mom looks great for age 94!

Hope I age as well as my Mom!   Doesn't she look good for age 94?

     In Massachusetts, my son participated in the Annual Blackstone Valley Friendship Tour in Whitinsville Mass., which was a fundraiser for local charities.   It was a big deal, with several kinds of walks and races, a band for music, plenty of free food, and a  clown who did tricks and made balloon animals for the kids.  The day was sunny, and I think the whole town came out for the event.

Here is my son Jerry coming back from his portion of the charity Walk. 

The Clown Balloon Man just made a cat for my grandson Jeffrey, and is drawing the face on it. 

My grandson enjoying his lunch - note that he ate his dessert cookie first! 

The Blackstone Valley Friendship Tour took place at the edge of the falls in Whitinsville MA.  You can see the flags and balloons at the upper left on this photo. 

There was plenty of good free food for this event, prepared and donated by students at a local culinary program. All the food was healthy and fresh.

We also went to the Southwick Zoo, but my grandson was more interested in the great playground equipment than the animals.   Here he is sliding down his favorite slide:

During the week, grandson and I baked bread together (he loved punching and shaping the dough!), we made cookies together, and his favorite Polish Pierogies (homemade, of course!).  We also planted green beans (two 10 ft rows, which are starting to come up now)  and I taught him a great card game to play.
     After taking the train from Massachusetts to Indiana again, I stayed to visit family some more, and also spend some time with my niece and great nephew.   My sister had a birthday to celebrate, and she officially retired from her job.   Mom and I were able to be at her big retirement party, which was a lot of fun!  It was at an Italian restaurant called Papa Vito's and the food was absolutely fantastic!
Here is my lovely sister  at her retirement party:

Diana looks great at her retirement party!  Congratulations!  Enjoy retirement!

After all the visiting and partying, it was time to go back home on Amtrak.  I must say that Amtrak was pretty much on time, and lots of people took the train.  I think train travel is becoming a popular alternative to flying.   I met some interesting folks from Chicago, Missouri, Cleveland, Germany and Mexico on this trip.
     When I got back home, there was so much to do!  Weeds, plants overgrown (how can that be in only 16 days??) and grass needing cutting badly.  It rained most of the time, so Harold was not able to do as much as he wanted.   I discovered my greenhouse plants were a jumbled overgrown mess.   When I left on June 1st, everything was small in the greenhouse.  Then I came back to this:

Everything is way overgrown, including bolted spinach.

My beautiful spinach crop exploded in growth and "bolted".  So what is bolted spinach, you ask??  Well, that's when spinach goes to seed.   The leaves become pointed like arrowheads, and the plants shoot up big spikes of seedy growth.

This is what bolted spinach looks like.  Spiked leaves and big seedy shoots growing from the top.  It isn't very  edible at this point and tastes rather bitter.

I spent the last couple days catching up on chores.   A few posts ago I showed a photo of some new kittens.  Mama cat took those kittens and hauled them off to some other place, bringing them back a couple days ago.  But by now the kittens were really 'wild' and not used to humans.   But other mama cats brought back kittens to the house (for us to feed, I suppose?)  One of these kittens is just adorable, a white kitten who is so docile and friendly.   Not sure if I should name this kitten Henry or Lucy yet, so I will wait to name the little one.

One of our favorites of the new kittens.  I even brought this one inside for the photo!  A little cutie, huh?

Now that I am back home, we have done two days at the local farmer's markets selling various lettuces, bok choy, romaine, herbs and honey and maple syrup.   When the main gardens dry out a little bit, I have a lot of weeding to do!  But everything is growing nicely.   We will have a great summer.