What did you do in the garden today?

[Sally PB]

I would love to have bees, but we just have too many bears around. I'd def need electric & feel like I might be attracting them to the chickens by having them & there is no way for me to do electric around the chickens.

Yeah, bears and bees... not a good combination. If we had bears around, no way would we have a bee hive.

While I would absolutely love to have bees, I simply don't have the time or money to learn right now. Too many other things going on. It is something I hope to do in the future, God willing.

The upfront cost is/can be steep, that's for sure. We paid $400 for a used hive with a lot of the accoutrements. We bought it from someone who was "getting out of bees" as he had too many other things to do. I think it would easily have been $800+ for everything, new. I asked a bee keeper friend if we should buy it, and he said, "If it's in decent shape, YES!"

It did not include the bees. Those were another $160, plus the drive (3 hours, round trip) to get them.

I highly recommend reading a book about keeping bees before you get them. They are very interesting bugs!

 

[Sally PB]

It is very foggy here this morning. At least, it's really fog, and not wildfire smoke. Or as much smoke, though that may come back later today.

 

[jerryse]

I am going to Prompt care to have a tick bite checked. I suspect lyme disease.

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

Finally getting some rain yesterday and today. Almost 1 inch.

 

[BReeder!]

It is very foggy here this morning. At least, it's really fog, and not wildfire smoke. Or as much smoke, though that may come back later today.

Same here.

 

[BReeder!]

I am going to Prompt care to have a tick bite checked. I suspect lyme disease.

I hope not... ticks are around us this year. Tick on DD once and on my dog twice.

 

[WthrLady]

Yeah, bears and bees... not a good combination. If we had bears around, no way would we have a bee hive.

The upfront cost is/can be steep, that's for sure. We paid $400 for a used hive with a lot of the accoutrements. We bought it from someone who was "getting out of bees" as he had too many other things to do. I think it would easily have been $800+ for everything, new. I asked a bee keeper friend if we should buy it, and he said, "If it's in decent shape, YES!"

It did not include the bees. Those were another $160, plus the drive (3 hours, round trip) to get them.

I highly recommend reading a book about keeping bees before you get them. They are very interesting bugs!

There is something unsettling, and unnatural, about driving around with a box of bees in the car, isn't there.

 

[TJAnonymous]

This is the recipe I used, though I didn't quite use the ingredients it called for (no fig, pear & potato, used herbs & lemon), but the cooking method was perfect.
https://www.tastingtable.com/642554/crispy-roast-duck-recipe/
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That looks delicious! I will definitely check it out. Thanks...

Steve is no more.... The girls are having a peaceful morning for the first time in months.

 

[Sequel]

I'm going to be doing a little experiment tomorrow or Friday. I'm getting a bottle of rooting hormone from Amazon, which I've wanted to have for years. Just been too cheap to buy it.

But I found a native red huckleberry plant at the edge of my woods and decided to try to root some cuttings from the plant. I read that this is the time of year to do that, so the timing is right.

I asked my daughter in law if she wanted some of the red huckleberry starts and she seemed pretty excited about getting some. If they root, I'll plant several more along the lawn/woods border. Maybe they'll start producing in 10 years. LOL

The berries are pretty small, about half the size of a pea. But they have a nice sweet-tart flavor. And the wild birds like them too, so I doubt there will be many for me to eat. And that's ok!

Pics of the red huckleberry....

View attachment 3558949View attachment 3558951View attachment 3558952

I remember the red huckleberries almost always grew on stumps. We loved to eat them as kids and I still would! I hope you get them to grow!

 

[pennyJo1960]

Good morning Gardeners more power to those raising bees, We have bees in the garden.
I grow some flowers to encourage them leave them water.
Huckleberries where a great treat.