Update on bee swarm, pictures, kale "spaghetti"

Here's an update on the first bee swarm- they took to their new home, and are happily going about their business. We had another swarm that we were able to catch, and a third one that got away. Hopefully they are done swarming now. I dabble a bit in "bee-keeping", but sometimes for novices like me it's a bit difficult to "keep" the bees. :) Anyway, here's a picture of one of the new drawn-out frames in the top-bar hive.

Really pretty, I think.

A top bar hive is exactly that- there are only top bars, not a fully rectangle frame with a foundation that the bees draw out their comb on. Some people put a small starter strip hanging off the top bar, this type of frame I cut a groove in so the bees would have some inkling of where they should start building, and to kind of give them a toe hold, so to speak. They create their comb by hanging from the top bar, and building the comb as they are hanging there. Really amazing to me. In the center of the comb and a little toward the left, the more yellow part is drawn out and sealed off brood, which should hatch out in about 3 weeks or less.  In other "bees-ness", they found the squash blossoms.......

Bumblebee on a male squash blossom

Honeybee on a female squash blossom.

It's always a joy when the bees find the blossoms and start doing their work. For the early zucchini, we have been hand-pollinating, but it cuts down on the workload when the bees start helping out. We'll probably keep on hand-pollinating, at least for a while. There's not really a lot of bees out yet, and it's kinda discouraging if the squash don't get pollinated, and end up deformed or with the end rotted. We usually have one of the little tikes running around go "be a bumblebee" for a while, and they think it's a hoot to pretend they are bumblebees. Hand-pollinating is really not that hard to do, just pick an open male blossom (for beginning gardeners, that's the one usually on a long stem, with no tiny fruit at the base of the blossom), tear the petals off, leaving the stamen, (the part the bumblebee was curled around), and work it over and around the pistil of the open female flower, which is the part the honeybee's head is partly under. Female flowers are the ones that have a tiny fruit at the base of the blossom. The bees are lapping up the nectar, and as they fly from flower to flower, are unknowingly helping the plants produce fruit. It is really neat, how God created things to work together- the plants give the bees nectar and pollen; the bees, while collecting the products they need from the plants, are actually helping them out. Win-win for both species. :)

Here's some more pictures.......

Snap peas, almost ready to harvest.

More baby lettuce, ready for your late-August salads. :)

Happy spuds.

I've really been happy how the spuds are doing this year. Last few years, we haven't had good crops of potatoes, between lots of seed rotting last (wet, cold) spring, to another year having them in soil they obviously didn't like, and not being able to give them as much water as they would like. Have had to buy store spuds for family use even. (Yuck!) This year, I pledged to myself, I'm gonna do what I have to do to at least grow enough spuds for the kiddos to eat, so they can have real potatoes, and not have to eat psuedo-spuds from the store. With the rain and mostly cooler summer, the spuds seem to be loving it, so I'm hopeful there will be enough of them for our winter use, and some to sell for the winter veggie sales. Kinda like a present, though- you never really know until you open it. In this case, open the potato hills, and see what's under there. :) Talking about opening things, today the boys opened the last beet earth pit, we buried last October; lo and behold, beets! Some at the top had gone bad. The ones lower down, while not perfect, were still in usable condition. I had tried an experiment with this pit, only digging 10 inches or so down, heaping them up so they were partly above ground (this type of setup is commonly called a "clamp"), and putting a good layer of leaves over them, then the dirt. I'm guessing the top ones may have frozen with the brutal winter we had. In any case, beets we put in the ground last fall are gonna be on the table tonight. I love it! Could of course have fresh beets from the garden, but it's a sense of accomplishment to see how well (and how long) root crops will store underground in a "live" condition.

Zucchino Rampicante........

from the good folks at Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. They are sorta strange looking, but have good reviews. They can be eaten as a summer squash, left to mature and be eaten as a winter squash, and are supposed to be very prolific. What's not to love about them? We'll find out I guess, and if they ARE good, we'll grow them for market next season. If not, the goats will love 'em.

One of the old time rose bushes by the pond.

They don't look quite as fancy or uniform as the newer hybrids, but the fragrance is heavenly. I wish I could put the fragrance in this post, but I don't have the technology to do that yet. (And I guess I don't want it, for that matter.) So, if you want to smell them, you'll have to stop by for a chat. :)

Here, at long last, is the recipe for the "kale spaghetti". We're not big on fancy terms or gourmet cooking here, just plain easy down-home food. And the recipe we make is for a huge bowl, so if you have fewer eaters, cut the amounts in thirds or less.

                                                        

5 bunches of kale, torn into pieces, with the stems cut into small pieces, if you choose to use them; otherwise toss them into your (or your neighbor's) compost heap)

2 cups green onions, bulb and all, cut up

8 cloves garlic

2 oz. fresh lemon balm

2 lbs. spaghetti noodles

 Coconut oil for wilting the greens

Optional: 1 lb. (or 2) of Jimmy Dean Italian Sausage, nice flavor


Fry the meat, saving the grease for part of the oil to fry the greens in. Put the noodles on to boil; while they are cookin', put the grease from the meat and a bit of oil (we like coconut oil) in a pan, add in the greens, garlic, lemon balm, and onions, and lightly fry until they are tender. (We usually have to fry the greens in three panfuls, there's so much.) When the noodles are done to your liking,  and the greens are tender, toss the noodles, meat, and greens all together in a big bowl, mix them, load onto your plate, salt and pepper to taste, and devour. It's good for a quick (not too heavy) summer mid-day or evening meal. There, I told you it'd be easy, didn't I? :)

Well, I better run along. Y'all please take care now!