I slapped a second deep on the hive of the swarm I caught last month. Apparently, they've been building comb like crazy because it was ENTIRELY full. I guess they've had nothing better to do since the rain has kept them in so many days. I should have checked it two weeks ago. Anyway, I'll check this again in two weeks to see if I can get a super on it. It would be nice to get some honey off a new hive. I don't always... some years it is all they can do to fill two deeps before winter.
On the old hive, I was going to pull the super today, but didn't get to it. I'll do it tomorrow after I get back from hauling the youngest daughter to town for a doctor appt. It isn't supposed to rain til Friday, so that should work. I also have to figure out where my hive tool has gone... couldn't find it yesterday, and ended up using my pocket knife, which is somewhat less efficient...
Wednesday, June 26, 2019
Tuesday, June 25, 2019
Ridiculous rain and overwhelming lettuce
I have four tires of lettuce, four different kinds. They have all absolutely adored this cold and rainy non-summer we have had up to now. I have been harvesting it by the cut-and-come-again method (meaning the outer leaves only so it keeps making more). I have never had lettuce that is three feet tall before. It has always bolted or simply melted from the heat before this. I have so much I've been giving it away and feeding it to the rabbits as treats... and the kids got sick of salads for a bit so I had to take a week off that. It's too bad there is no good way I know of to preserve this bounty. I also have a stunning amount of cilantro and dill. And the carrots are awesome. This is the first year I have EVER gotten carrots, and this year they did fabulous both in the hoop house and in the tire. I wish I had planted more. I would have canned a bunch for soups in the winter. Heck, I might plant another tire as soon as I have an empty one just in case the luck continues. The potato plants in the straw bales outside are trying to take over the world. The ones in the hoop house not so much. Only three grew there, so I planted more, but I don't know if it will be too hot there for them or not. I'm worrying about it since the ones outside have grown so wildly. The sweet potatoes are slowly getting planted in the straw bales as the slips in the house get long enough and have roots. I have one to plant today, and 6-8 more that are very long but have no roots yet, so won't go in for a few more days. I don't think the outdoor ones will have a long enough season to produce much, if anything. I hope the ones in the hoop house bales produce, at least.
However, the cold has really slowed the cukes. Even the longest cuke vine is only a foot long, and there is no sign of flowers. The tomato plants are smaller than normal, too, for the end of June. Some of them have flowers and a few small green maters. The pepper plants are also stunted by the cold, although the ones in the bales inside the hoop house have done slightly better than the ones in the ground. It may not be a fair comparison, since those were planted before all the others. I will harvest the last of the beets today. The turnips are done/harvested until the late planting. In the future I will plant more beets in the spring. The greens are decent in salad when they are young and tender, but I need some baby beets for the tater/beet/horseradish salad that we all liked, and some larger beets for the pesto recipe.
It's just the beginning of summer and I am already making plans for next year's garden. I am nuts.
However, the cold has really slowed the cukes. Even the longest cuke vine is only a foot long, and there is no sign of flowers. The tomato plants are smaller than normal, too, for the end of June. Some of them have flowers and a few small green maters. The pepper plants are also stunted by the cold, although the ones in the bales inside the hoop house have done slightly better than the ones in the ground. It may not be a fair comparison, since those were planted before all the others. I will harvest the last of the beets today. The turnips are done/harvested until the late planting. In the future I will plant more beets in the spring. The greens are decent in salad when they are young and tender, but I need some baby beets for the tater/beet/horseradish salad that we all liked, and some larger beets for the pesto recipe.
It's just the beginning of summer and I am already making plans for next year's garden. I am nuts.
Thursday, June 6, 2019
Missed a swarm catch, but got a lot of broccoli
The old hive threw another swarm on Tuesday. They were wrapped around a tree trunk, with branches intervening, so there was no easy way for me to get to them. I set up a nuke with lure in it at the base of the tree, but no joy. They were all gone the next day.
This was made up for by a beef stir fry full of broccoli and asparagus from the garden last night. There is a bit more asparagus to harvest, and a bit more rhubarb, today. And a lot more broccoli. This is Sessantina Grossa Broccoli, which is actually a raab type. The heads are small - 1-2 inches - loose, and the reason I'm getting so much is that they are doing their best to flower since the weather heated up this past weekend. The entire plant is edible - heads, leaves, stems - the directions say to harvest before they bloom, but I've eaten both closed heads and blooming heads, and they taste the same... broccoli with a hint of mustard (sensible since they are in the mustard family). Of course, if I wanted a mustard with a hint of broccoli taste, I would just eat the "heads" of the brown mustard plants growing adjacent... it's a bit strong for me, though. I have NEVER had any luck with broccoli in my garden - something else has always eaten it before there was any head to speak of. I may try some other raabs next year, just to see how much difference there is between them.
This was made up for by a beef stir fry full of broccoli and asparagus from the garden last night. There is a bit more asparagus to harvest, and a bit more rhubarb, today. And a lot more broccoli. This is Sessantina Grossa Broccoli, which is actually a raab type. The heads are small - 1-2 inches - loose, and the reason I'm getting so much is that they are doing their best to flower since the weather heated up this past weekend. The entire plant is edible - heads, leaves, stems - the directions say to harvest before they bloom, but I've eaten both closed heads and blooming heads, and they taste the same... broccoli with a hint of mustard (sensible since they are in the mustard family). Of course, if I wanted a mustard with a hint of broccoli taste, I would just eat the "heads" of the brown mustard plants growing adjacent... it's a bit strong for me, though. I have NEVER had any luck with broccoli in my garden - something else has always eaten it before there was any head to speak of. I may try some other raabs next year, just to see how much difference there is between them.
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