My baby (all 6'4" of him) was back in town with his babies for a short kamikaze trip. Yesterday morning we cut some bamboo (legally and with permission) from a neighbors yard, and hauled it back home. Think earlier pic, but 10x as much. Barely fit in the trunk this time. It was fun driving thru town with 15' of green hanging out of the trunk and watching peoples heads turn. Simple things.
The trench... Long and shallow... sorta like a quickie grave.
But instead of bodies, asparagus, on a 2" mixture of peat and compost. Yes, the long stringy things are asparagus roots that attach to the crown, where all the goodness comes from. The bodies are staying in the chest freezer down stairs... for now.
Covered and tamped.
Put about 2 inches of soil on top of the roots. Wait till they start to pop up thru the dirt, and add another 2 inches, repeat till a 2 inch hill above ground level. Not going to build a box around these, (after i already cut out and sealed all the pieces) but instead going to lay down some 2x3 beams around the patch to delineate it and make it easier to mulch. The 6" box was too much for right now. Gotta fill the other bed so I can get my tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, beans, etc in the ground.
Now the wait... 2 years... will continue to buy asparagus at the MennoMart on the end of town.
all 4,000 of them, but who's counting. Opened up the top bar hive (TBH) to check out the girls and their progress on drawing out comb, and to check on the queen to see if she was doing her job... making more bees. Beeboy helped me and took the pics. Gonna show you bar by bar starting with the last going to the first. The first being the one closest to the entry.
Remember, they were installed on 4/15, only 10 days ago. They have been busy lil girls.
Bar 7. (but marked 8, long story) There is no comb on this bar, but you can see what is called festooning. This when the bees hang on each other by their legs and the ones in the center begin to draw comb. They sorta measure where and how the comb is going to hang off the bar. Bees are so cool.
Bar 6. Small comb and festooning on either side.
Bar 5. Full comb loaded with bees.
Bar 4. First shot is right after i pulled it out. Second is several seconds. Notice how the bees scatter. This bar had some pollen up near the top of the comb which is the orange. We also noticed how yellow the whole comb was. Beeboy wasn't sure why, and thought maybe it was from dandelion.
Bar 3 is the first bar with capped brood. There were also eggs on this bar. Can't see any eggs in the pics, but they are there. Second pic is a closeup.
Bar 2. Lots of brood. Notice in the second pic, the 4 bullet looking cells. Those are drone (male) cells. The males of the hive usually number from 200-400. They don't forage, tend brood, guard the hive, or help in the hive at all. Their only purpose is to spread the genetics of the hive. They don't mate with the hives queen, but with other virgin queens from other hives. A queen may mate with 10-15 drones during her first flight. All from other hives. When there are too many drones, or in preparation for winter, the girls drive them out of the hive, to their certain death. It's tough being a male in the midst of 40,000+ females. In the last pic, notice the yellow comb mentioned earlier.
B1. This is the bar closest to the entrances. Beeboy smoked the comb to get a good look at it. Capped brood and hatched cells. We didn't see the queen on any of the bars, but we know she was there due to the newly laid eggs. There was a little capped honey and some storage of nectar, but that comes a little later. I am feeding them sugar water for food. Right now, priority of the hive is building comb, and raising baby's. The big nectar flow starts early May and runs thru end of June. That is when they will be foraging heavy. Another flow happens in fall. The next few pics are taken inside the hive looking toward the front. Top bar hives are a more natural way to raise bees for pollination and sustainability, not honey production.
Planning, making, assembling, filling, and planting asparagus. (da beans were thrown in the pic cuz they looked purty)
I love asparagus. Got mine at the Landreth Seed Company. They are the oldest purveyors of fine seeds and flowers in the U.S. of A. David Landreth started 1784 and counted George Washington and Thomas Jefferson among their customers. The 2012 catalog is full of beautiful art work from earlier editions and many are suitable for framing. And they are local, just an hour down 83 in New Freedom. They are having a plant sale May 19/20 of heritage tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, cukes, and lots of flowers that local greenhouses grew from their seed. Next weekend (5/5 and 5/6) they are going to be at several flower and plant shows in and around Baltimore.
Also known as Aconite. What a pretty little flower. Blooms mid winter. Mine were shining bright yellow late December thru February.
Unfortunately, these little darlings are one of the most poisonous plants in the garden. Used to used as a detox in old China. And spread like fire. On Friday, I noticed the green seed pods were starting to dry out, and thought I need to get them pulled before they open. By Sunday, most were starting to open, many were already empty. I like the flower, but wanna get rid of it, or at least confine it.
It has taken over my big perennial bed.
I got alot of the pods without spilling the seeds, but I know next year I can expect this. Lots of baby Wolf's Bane in my backyard.
Ate out of the garden today. Spinach, Loose Leaf Lettuce, and Red Lettuce. 4 weeks and a day since planting. LG is making some sort of veggie burger and going to put lettuce and spinach on it for her dinner. My dinner was snap peas i found in the bottom of my fridge, carrots, and raspberry yogurt with granola. Tried to tell the other neighbor i was eating peas out of the garden. She didn't buy it.
Spent most of the day reading Eliot Coleman's book Four-Season Harvest. They have a farm in Maine and harvest crops all year long. In Maine!!! In the book he has a picture of a large hoop house that sits right out side their pantry door and attached to the house. Its Jan in the pic, and the ground is full of beds of green with brown walkways in between.
Ohhh the things you can do.... like make a trellis for your climbing peas.
Remember the bamboo hanging out of the trunk of the lil black Civic. Here is the end result. Da peas were stretching up into nowhere, looking for something to grab onto, hence banboo and twine.
Tried lashing it together the old Boy Scout way, but was using wire instead of string, but didn't work as well as i liked. Torqued too easy using the wire, string would have been much better, but I don't want to be rebuilding these every year. The trellis for the pole beans I will lash using string, just to compare the two. Ended up drilling thru the two pieces and threading the wire thru and just twisting it tight. Simple, easy, and it worked. I wanted a shelf type of top, with strings hanging down for each plant. 9 plants per square (3x3).
Yeah, I know, nature isn't gonna follow my self-proclaimed perfect plan. Here's are 2 pics of the top. Basically a shelf with 45 degree bracing. I notched the vertical poles a bit to accept the shelf. Everything else is center drilled.
Wow. The strings look so organized and taut. How'd you do that? Glad you asked. I wanted some sort of system on the bottom that would hold the twine next to the plant so it would grow straight up. Tried using thin bamboo and wrapping the string around that, but i didn't like how it looked. Got some landscaping staples and straightened them out, (since i couldn't find cheap heavy wire) and put a hook on the end, pushed them in the bed, and vola. Long hooks perfect for what i wanted. Notice the pipe clamp upper right. Those were what i used to hold the two vertical pieces. Screwed them right into the side of the bed.
Here's the peas, each one with it's own string, and hook.
And of the finished trellis.
I like how it looks, and how sturdy it is. Neighbor commented on how it will hold up in the wind. Confidently I said it'll do just fine. He smiled and turned back to his yard work. Great guy, and makes a killer pork loin slow cooked over charcoal. We'll see who's right.
Getting bees in the top bar hive on Saturday. BeeBoy has a hive he needs to split and he called me yesterday. Last night gave him some bars to put in the existing hive for them to start drawing out comb. I hope to take daily pics <yeah right> to document the process and progress of how this hive develops. It is not far from where I live, but then again it is not in my backyard.
And yes Short One, you can play with my bees. Bring Tall One with you. :-)
Planted 6 squares of Brussel Sprouts transplants and 2 of pole beans in the remaining squares this morning. 1 plant per square and 9 bean seeds per square That brings that bed to a close for now. In it I have... 2 types of radishes, 2 types of beets, 2 types of peas, spinach, mesculin, lettuce mix, 3 types of carrots, romanescu, red onions, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, and pole beans.
In the second bed (currently empty) is going tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, more beans, among other things. On the compost mound next to the barn will be zucchini, squashes, cucumbers, and other climbers. All this is subject to change, and probably will.
Some of the cauliflower that LG started from seeds are a bit leggy and weak looking. She was encouraging them this morning, I was threatening to rip them out and get stronger stock. They have till the weekend to get their act together. She's obviously attached.
After church and an excellent home cooked lunch, came home and worked on the garden. Linseed Girl (LG) joined me. She said that all my birdhouses have nests in them, and one may even be a bluebird.
Planted another 4 squares of carrots, 2 of Davers and 2 of Short and Sweet. Replanted the Short and Sweet square that was only showing a few tops. Not sure what happened to them. The Davers and Multi's are sparse, but showing some greens.
Planted 4 squares of red onions, 9 per square.
Planted 8 squares of Broccoli and 8 squares of Cauliflower, both 1 per square.
Planted 2 lettuce plants that LG had left over from her container garden.
Update on the other half...
Peas are anywhere from 1-4 inches tall. Gonna put a trellis of some sort over them so they grow up, not out. More on trellises a bit later. The radishes are also looking good.
Last big garden project completed today was "The Turning of the Compost." The outside of the pile was getting hard and crunchy, but the inside was still hot, cooking, and breaking down nicely. I almost thew some on the sifter to see how it would "shake out" <pun intended>, but resisted. I'll probably let it cook for another 2 weeks, turning weekly. Here's a pic, looks like the other pic, but the whole pile is moved back under the pine about 4 foot. Didn't quite feel like 1600lbs today, was way lighter. Probably from drying out the past week.
Last task of the day involved a field trip. I knocked on LG's door and asked if she wanted to go on an adventure. "I'll get my shoes." was her eager reply. Not even sure she finished her tea. On the way, I explained that it might be somewhat illegal, and the only reason i was bringing her along was she was my scapegoat. "But Officer, this was all her idea." She was not amused, but somewhat intrigued.
I noticed several weeks ago that along the stream that flows thru the edge of town, there is a large cluster of Bamboo. I wanted to make my trellises for the climber plants (peas, pole beans, cukes, melons, etc.) out of bamboo. In fact, it was this clump of Bamboo that gave me the ides. It is on the other side of the creek, on the edge of a business park property. We snaked our way thru, it wasn't on the park property, but down the bank on the other side of the train tracks, so I'm assuming it's on the railway property.
Once we were there, i realized that the stream bank was rebuilt to prevent erosion, and the bamboo was planted there to hold soil, although not sure how well it does that. Anyway, I explained how bamboo was such an invasive species and I was only doing my duty to help curb the rapid expansion of the existing weed. She still thought I was stealing it, and expected the cops to show up any minute.
I cut 5-6 20ft pieces, trimmed and loaded them in my car. The rear seat was down and the cut ends were an inch away from the windshield, but they still stuck out this far.
The sound they made dragging was pretty cool. I told her if she would put her ear against the vibrating trunks, she could probably hear the ocean waves break against the beach. I think sometimes she wonders why she's my friend.
was my birthday. Lots of fun and bittersweet all in one. Breakfast with da boys. Out comes a muffin ablaze with candles. Guy sitting a few booths down said it was as bright as a sunrise service. It was funny.
Worked at the office in the morning, like i do every Saturday morning. On the door is a big Happy Birthday handmade sign. Made me smile. Noonish our receptionist (the sign maker) walks in with her husband singing Happy Birthday and presents me a homemade chocolate cake with peanut butter icing... one of my favs.
Then my daughter and her beau offer to take me to dinner. We go to one of my favorite places and she's stoked that they have local grassfed meats, and Chimay beer. My friend (who's wife is on a field trip to Maine) met us there and we had a good time. I really enjoy spending time with her.
Stuck around after they left and had a bunch of "birthday beers" from others in the bar, along with chocolate cake with peanut butter icing. Dogfish Head 120 Minute on tap, along with Weyerbacher Double Simpcoe. Hops to the max.
Bittersweet was between Lunch and Dinner, I was helping my son pack the truck. He, his girl, and my two grandbabies are moving to Ohio. I had two of his neighbors come up to me and say I should be proud of him for how hard he works to take care of his family, and what a good daddy he is. I am.
I was still short some fill in the other half of the 4x14 bed... a few inches all around. I sifted some of the Alpaca Poo Compost, getting the best i can find in the pile, one shovel full at a time. It did not sift well, as it was not completely done. Got about 10 shovel fulls and moved on. Mixed it with equal parts of peat and vermiculite and filled up the bed. Here is a pic of a sifter full... pre and post. Usually the clumps will break apart easily, these were still too wet.
Pre
Post
Also planted some more Daikon and Watermelon radishes to bring the count up to 16 (actually made it 18 to appease my mild case of ocd) Planted some additional spinach too. The spinach didn't germinate as well at i thought it would, and the lettuces are very spotty, but i'll give them another week to see what pops up. Red circles are where i planted additional seed.
Daikon
Watermelon
Spinach
My son stopped over this afternoon to drop off some stuff for me to store. We talked for about 2 hrs while I pulled weeds and plodded outside. It was grand. Then i went over to his house to see the grand kids. :-)
Alright, it’s poo, not pot. This is mostly composted Alpaca poo from a neighboring Alpaca Farm. Shout out to the Zurins at Eastland Alpacas. It is still cooking, turning from poop/straw/shavings to compost. When it’s completely cooked, it won’t be odoriferous at all. Just rich, dark, garden gold. Veggies love it, worms love it, gardeners love it, and it’s completely natural… no pesticides, insecticides, homicides, or chemicals, etc. No artificial colors or flavors.
Sometimes compost cooks too hot and burns. The white is burnt. This happens if it isn’t turned enough. If it’s turned too much, or is not mixed right (greens to browns) it will shut down, or go cold. Then you gotta kick it back up. I’m not an expert on composting by any means, I just know it’s good stuff.
I started composting, sorta, but it wouldn’t be ready till fall, and I need to fill beds now, and like I said earlier, bagged compost you buy from the garden store is way too expensive. If this was bagged, it would run about $125-150. I got 1,500+ lbs of it for nothing. Although I did stick around and helped (ok… watched) about 100 alpaca’s and 2 llamas get wormed. It was quite a system they had going. I wish I took some pictures. Their fur is amazingly soft. Check out the Store. The Copper Crew socks just rock.
This was dinner. It looked so good on the plate I just needed to take a picture of it. Local chicken salad and veggie farmers cheese, wrapped in red leaf lettuce… sprinkled with tomatoes, and a Stone to wash it all down. All from the local Mennonite store (sans the beer). Linseed Girl calls it the MennoMart.
Yesterday and earlier today… more stumps. It was like digging out wisdom teeth with a toothpick. The stumps don’t deserve a picture. One more out, one loosened up, and two that are next years project. At least now I can build the asparagus bed. Might even start it tomorrow, although they don’t go into the ground till May.
Check out this post from Walter at SugarMountainFarm. :-)
