May 23rd, 2013 We finally got our berry beds built, filled, and planted. I love them. We’ve lined them up against the fence so the ones that need support will have some already. Watching the sun the last few weeks, they should all get filtered sun in the mornings, and then lots of sun all afternoon, but won’t shade out the veggie garden or fruit trees, so I think they will be happy.
The closest one above has grapes, strawberries, and asparagus. Next to that is a tayberry and boysenberries, then four varieties of blueberry, then raspberries, and at the end some blackberries.
The rest of the garden is coming along too. Most stuff has been planted. You can see our potatoes have really taken off in the picture below. We have corn and peppers and tomatoes to plant in the bed on the left that’s still covered in plastic.
I’ve also planted a couple of elderberry trees. This black lace one and a green one.
Our cherry trees are starting to produce some little fruits. Our peach tree has leaf curl, which we knew was a potential problem. It’s in a sheltered spot, but obviously not sheltered enough. We are going to have to look into ways to treat/prevent it for next year.
Most of my garden is edible, or beneficial herbs and flowers, but I do love daisies so I’ve planted some osteospermum daisies. I love how pretty and bright these ones are!
May 4th, 2013 Marilyn from Bees ‘n’ Glass came out last Monday to show us how to inspect our hive and see if there was anything specific we should get to work with them. Kris had taken the day off as he didn’t feel well in the morning, but it worked out great as he was able to be there and see how she did things and ask questions too. She said everything looked great and the queen was laying well, and actually managed to find our queen to show us. Meredith was with us and was pretty enthralled by the whole thing, until a bee flew near her face and then she got a bit nervous. I forgot to bring my camera with me, so didn’t get any pictures, but it was nice to have Marilyn walk us through exactly what we should be looking for and how to do it all. She even sold us a used honey super with drawn comb (so gives the bees a head start on honey making) for a great price that we added to the top of the hive.
Yesterday was Kris’ birthday, so he had taken it off as well, and we went down to Bees ‘n’ Glass to pick up the rest of the supplies we need. Unfortunately they were out of veils, but we got gloves for Kris and I, and a whole bee suit for Meredith, as well as a hive tool and another used honey super, with drawn comb. The only other place in town we know of that sells bee supplies was also out of veils, so we will just have to go slow for now. Kris wasn’t too concerned since he doesn’t have hair for them to get caught up in. We decided rather than a smoker we will start out trying to use just a mild sugar water solution in a spritzer as needed, as it is less stressful on the bees but still works to calm them.
Kris and Meredith did a hive check today and it went well, though Kris said it was a bit nerve wracking with the bees flying around his face. No one got stung though. Everything seems to be moving along as it should, with the bees making honey in the top box and the eggs and brood remaining in the bottom two boxes.
It’s neat to just sit near the hive and watch the bees go in and out. You can see the pollen on their back legs as they return to the hive after gathering.
Fiona is of course wanting to try it out as well. The suit is still a tad big on her though!
April 29th, 2013 
We have talked about getting honey bees pretty much since we moved here. Last spring we almost got some but then decided we would wait until this year instead. Since then, we’ve been casually reading about them, talking to local beekeepers, and just trying to build up some information. Then we had …
Continue reading Our newest additions
April 15th, 2013 
Despite most people on my Facebook feed complaining about snow, hail, or overall just cold weather, we have had gorgeous weather up here. We had a few days of really heavy rain but otherwise lots and lots of sunshine and warm weather. We were out gardening in t-shirts most of today.
Our …
Continue reading Garden plans
March 11th, 2013 
Another gardening season is almost upon us! I am excited for changes and trying new things this year. We have been getting our beds ready since mid-February, hoping to have everything ready to plant as the weather warms up. We got a whole bunch of really cheap horse manure and spread it in most of …
Continue reading A New Year in the Garden
September 16th, 2012 
We had some baby chicks hatch this week again. I’m hoping for more hens, since we ended up with mostly roosters last time.
There are six in total this time.
This little guy is about half the size of the rest and has fuzzy feet, so I assume our …
Continue reading Babies!
July 9th, 2012 
Some friends came over today and we were able to get our sand box filled with sand as well as put up our swing set.
The kids were thrilled (and tired!)
It took about a yard and a half of sand to fill it this much! They won’t run …
Continue reading Play area update
July 2nd, 2012 
We spent today putting together a sandbox we built for the girls. It was really easy. Basically, four 2”x10”x8’ boards attached at the corners with scrap 4×4 pieces we had. We inset the nuts on the inside so there wouldn’t be anything poking out at the girls. Stained it the same colour as the see …
Continue reading A giant sandbox
June 18th, 2012 
Remember my tiny little ducklings I posted about just ten days ago?
They’ve been growing! (My real camera is going into the repair shop tomorrow, yay!)
This is the same five in the same box as above that they only took up a tiny corner of. Now they barely …
Continue reading Ducklings and chicks
June 14th, 2012 
It’s surprisingly hard to blog with no camera! We’re taking them in this week and hoping to have them fixed asap. We only have a three-year-old iPhone that has very little battery power. I managed to get a few pictures of our garden progress earlier though, before our iPhone died.
I’m …
Continue reading Garden stuff
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Current To-Do: Garden
- Plan and frame out beds for berries
- Fill all empty beds in (lasagna gardening)
- Plant green manures around trees and in unused areas/beds
- Figure out a good irrigation system
- Build new compost bins
- Plan out guilds for fruit trees
- Set up automatic chicken door
- Build oyster shell feeder for chickens
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