Today was the perfect fall day, a breezy and cool 65+ degree day. The perfect time to start prepping for winter. I actually started this last week-end by cutting and raking the weeds from the secondary garden. Today I took the Littles out with me and we dug up the potatoes and sweet potatoes from the garden. I pulled off any remaining peppers from the plants, and then turned the turkeys and geese out into the gardens. Their job now is to clean up the yard from any remaining vegetable matter and to fatten themselves up for the coming cold months. I also cut down and raked out the tall weeds from the top of the primary garden. I won't touch the bottom of that garden until sometime next month, when I'll winterize both gardens.
Today we also cracked open the bee hive to check on the girls and harvest any excess honey. To my brief disappointment, the honey super on top was completely untouched by the bees, so I removed it. However, the top portion of the second brood box was packed full of capped honey. From this I extracted a single full frame and replaced it with an empty frame. They survived last winter with only half a single brood box, so I think they'll be alright giving up one frame. I managed to scrape off the honey from the wax foundation of the frame into a pan, which I then drained through a wire mesh. The first side of that frame yielded a whole pint of home-grown honey! We'll scrape the other side of the frame tomorrow, then give it back to the bees to clean up.
The funny part of this particular endeavor occurred toward the end of our escapade when I was trying to take the full frame of honey away from the hive. I started by brushing the bees onto the hive, then took the frame across the yard to another area. I finished up my part with the bees and handed over my gear to A1 so she could also look and then close up the hive. When we were finished and went to get the frame of honey, several bees had been drawn to it and were checking it out! I had A1 go get the smoker to encourage the bees to leave, but she had trouble since there were bees on the smoker too!! When I finally got all the bees off, I had to practically run it to the house to keep them away. The smell was apparently too enticing for them.
In addition to our little homestead fun, J also had an engagement involving a major school dance. I was so proud to learn several weeks ago that she had been voted to be part of the homecoming court. Unexpected, but so proud! So she lounged around for awhile, then scooted off to her friends' house to have her hair fixed up, then back home for her dress, then off to the dance! She went with friends, no particular male involved. It lasted until midnight when D went to retrieve our Cinderella. It took mere minutes for her to return herself to her regular pumpkin-like state. When asked about the dance, she replied: "it was kinda boring, the DJ was old and kept playing music from the 70's and 80's!"
Incidentally, 'tis the season... knitting, crocheting, spinning, fiber!!! There will be 15 POUNDS of mohair arriving early this next week. Couldn't beat the price at which it was being offered, so I tried to buy enough to last the remainder of my life. Also put in an order to replace my size 17 needles that B drummed on the floor and broke. Finally I picked up a skein of 1/2 llama, 1/2 wool single-ply yarn to try it out. This first skein will likely be a hat. Depending on how it comes out, I may pick up more of that yarn.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment