In Season & Fresh from the Garden, the Fields, the Orchards & the Woods
March 30: black currant leaves just visible. April 2: 14F (14F!!!!!!) at night. Forecast called for 24. I did not cover my newly planted brassicas. A week later they show damage – the outer leaves show large whitish spots. April 3: spotted the first …
It’s been a hard winter for the bees. Harder than usual. We have lost 1 of our 3 colonies and it’ll be a few more weeks at best till we see reliably clement temperatures and blossoms for them. How can we help them?
End of season for the blossoms – they are now drying for later uses. The bees love linden too. That’s the other name for basswood aka American linden, Tilia americana. The British call linden “lime” which used to confuse me to no end. But …
Harvesting honey is – I hope – going to become one of our spring rituals. We just harvested out first honey: four medium frames, two people working two hours give 8 pints of honey (4 liters) or 12 pounds. We are about to start our …
Did you know red currants bloom as the same time as the cherries? They do. But unlike the billowy dreamy snowy cherry blossoms, the flowers of red currant are rather inconspicuous. One hardly notices them – especially with the explosion of greens and colors in …
Spring is blue and red: blue clear sky and red maple flowers. Indeed the maples are blooming now, the earliest single species source of nectar and pollen for our bees.
Yes, this is a food related post. Look closer… can you find the honey bee? her butt sticking out from one of the snowdrops? “her” indeed… they are all “she”, you know. ah… honey: the food of the gods! bee barf! On warm sunny days, …