More Seedlings

On Earth Day, we ended up planting 72 seedlings! I wish I could say this was an activity that I had completely coordinated with the celebration but truly that's just the way our weekend happened.  Being somewhat of a spreadsheet addict, I look for any excuse to create new ones.  I started working on one for us that will track the progress of all the seedlings in an easy-to-update format.  This should help us learn from any potential mishaps or successes.  Here is a link in case anybody out there is actually interested in stuff like that!  My brain is full of other potential spreadsheet ideas swimming around just waiting for new data to be put into them.  We are adding more raised beds this year so I am going to track where we plant everything in order to prepare for future crop rotations.

Here is what those tiny seeds have turned into only one week later!

Bee and Garden Update

Last week, Josh opened up both hives to check on their progress and was glad to see that both are coming along nicely. Each hive has released their queen from her cage independently and both have sucked down the 5lbs of 1:1 sugar water solution. Keep in mind it takes 10lbs of nectar to create 1lb of beeswax! This sugar water will help give them a head start on all the work they need to do.

Smoking the hives

Checking the sugar water solution

He actually pulled out a few frames to get an even closer look.  Each hive is already drawing out comb on the inner most of the 10 frames.

As far as the garden goes, the peas have been slow to come up so far and we're beginning to wonder if the seeds were bad. The weather has been perfect for them to germinate but there hasn't been any sign yet. Only time will tell but we may have to wipe peas off the menu from the garden this year.

On the other hand, the tomato plants are growing fast and furious. Josh suspects that they will even need to be repotted once more before they are planted outside. The leeks look like they are going to be a success as well.  We're already thinking about planting a tray of 24 next year instead of just the 6 we planted this season.

The bees are here

By 6:30AM Saturday morning, I was on the road to pick up my bees. After installing a package of bees at Rick's, I loaded up our new neighbors and headed home to install them. Everyone I had talked to leading up to Saturday asked what the bees come in. I did my best to explain but here is a picture of a package..
 

Bees waiting to be installed



The bees are clustered around the queen in the cage




Queen cage removed from the package





Dumping the bees into their new home



Getting the sugar syrup ready for the install



Done!

You may notice that initial pictures are clear but when I started to install (dumped out 34,000 bees!) the pictures start to become a bit more fuzzy. My camerawoman (his beautiful wife, Stephanie) started walking backwards across the yard when the bees began buzzing. No matter how much I assured her that they would not bother her..she insisted on keeping her distance (I'm sure some of you out there do not blame me!).

The bees are settling in now and we will be adding more pictures soon.    



Honeybees

Our next big adventure has been taking shape over the past year. I first became interested in beekeeping as a hobby when I watched a segment on our local news, Bill Green's The Green Outdoors, about beekeeping in Maine. I instantly started my research into beekeeping. I read articles online and acquired a copy of Storey's Guide to Keeping Honey Bees. The more I read about it, the more obsessed I became with starting up as a hobbyist beekeeper (also known as an apiarist).

I started looking up local beekeeping courses and found Rick Cooper of Bees-N-ME.com. I talked with him numerous times via email in the fall of 2011 and signed up for his Spring 2012 course. After three full day Saturday sessions my course is over and my bees will be here on April 14! I can not say enough about the advice that Rick offers to his students during this course. His class teaches you the basics but it is intertwined with his personal experience spanning over 30 years. He speaks with a passion for the bees that reminds me of the Lorax!

Here are the hives that will house our Italian neighbors:

Finally found a use for the old horseshoe pit

I chose 10 frame deep hive bodies for the brood boxes. The hive bodies and accessories were purchased from Bees-N-ME.com directly.  I ordered two packages of bees and each package will weigh about 3lbs. The 3lbs equates to roughly 17,000 bees! That will make about 34,000 bees living in their high rise condos. By the end of the summer if everything goes according to plans there will be roughly 70,000 honey bees in each hive and hopefully a harvest of honey in the fall. We are not planning on the bees producing that much honey the first year because most of their energy will be directed into drawing out 20 frames of beeswax for their winter stores. The most important goal for the first year is to get them through the winter and have them come out strong in the spring the following year.

-Josh-

Peas

On Saturday, we prepped one of the raised beds and on Easter Sunday we planted three rows of Thomas Laxton Peas.  I can't wait to take my first snack break on these when I am mowing the lawn!




Prepped raised bed ready for planting!

My toy- Echo mini tiller



 On Easter morning while Charlotte was playing with her toys, I transplanted our 36 tomato seedlings and moved them under lights to give them a growing boost.  Next up to start are our cucumbers and all our different squashes.

While I transplanted, Stephanie became an expert pot maker using our new PotMaker mold.  This simple tool makes very sturdy molds out of recycled newspaper.  Best of all, the pots she made are 100% biodegradable!

2012 garden

Our 2012 garden plan has been taking shape since the first snow fell. In fact, the garden actually started last fall when we planted our first crop of garlic. Here are the first garlic scapes poking through the hay:

We have also started 36 tomato plants indoors with more seedlings to come.

Part of our focus has been on growing and heirloom crops. Most of the produce that you buy in the grocery store are some sort of hybrid, usually chosen for its ease of harvesting. However, these are not always the best tasting variety nor do they have as much nutritional value

We are planning on having the following varieties in our 2012 garden:

1. Rutger Red Tomatoes
2. Brandywine Pink Tomatoes
3. Yellowpear Tomatoes
4. Rosa Bianca Eggplants
5. Purple Top Turnips
6. Waltham Butternut Squash
7. Thomas Laxton Peas
8. Cucumbers
9. Summer Squash
10. Zucchini
11. Parsnip
12. Golden Beets
13. Carrots
14. Sunflowers

In addition, we are planning another fall planting of garlic for 2013. We are also making additional plantings for our asparagus bed to increase it's size for the future.  

We are also in the early stages of providing some of our own fruit.  Last year we planted seven highbush blueberry plants and will be adding to this by planting two peach trees this year.