Weekend Update

Our forecast for this weekend was Rain, Rain, Rain.  And gratefully, we got quite a bit of it!  But amid all the showers we were actually able to squeeze in a bit of fun.  Friday night, after our take-out pizza, mowing the lawn and planting just a few more tomatoes, Heath built a nice little fire and we roasted marshmallows and had smores!

The kids loved it!  

And as proof of any good camp fire, by the end of the evening were all covered in sticky marshmallows and dirt.

At one point D, who as usual had no shoes on, stepped in a hot, half melted mallow that T had dropped on the ground.  It was a great night, and I'm so glad that long days are finally here.  

Another thing we were lucky enough to get done between rain showers was plant a tree. We've been looking everywhere for a Cameo apple tree, with no luck.  But Heath found this Gala and we thought we would give it a try.

As you can see we have very, very, very rocky soil!  But apparently that doesn't bother trees so much.

Heath did a great job planting our tree.  I know it looks like it's leaning, it was just really windy yesterday.  He also staked and watered the tree and it looked great today after nearly a day and a half of long soaking rain.  

After moving into our house, the kids soon discovered a tire that had once been used as a tire swing laying under the deck.  Since their discovery they have been dragging it around the yard by its tattered remains of a rope, begging Heath to hang it up.  So after buying some new rope and finding just the right limb, the kids now have their very own tire swing!  And they couldn't be happier!

D told us that he was "going to catch the chickens" and made several attempts at roping the chickens.

The chickens are doing great!  They are now 7 weeks old and still growing.  We have been letting them free range daily and they seem quite happy.  

They love to get out to peck and scratch and look for yummy things to eat.  We are right on schedule with our healthy, happy, curious chickens and can't wait for some eggs come September.  

After two days of rain the bees were happy for the cloud break to get out of the hive.

Planting the Garden

For the last two weeks, little by little, we have been working on planting the garden.  We have finally got the majority of it in.  

I think we've got a pretty good balance on what we've planted.  We planted potatoes (russets and yukon golds), tomatoes (early girl, roma, beef steak and manitoba), peas, green beans, carrots, beets, cucumbers, corn, yellow straight-neck squash, zucchini, acorn squash, pumpkins, cabbage, broccoli, rhubarb, an heirloom melon that has been in Heath's family for a long time, and of course our strawberries and asparagus.  

As usual, we had lots and lots of help!

And you can't live in Idaho with out some delicious potatoes!

Heath's dad switched to raised beds a few years ago.  Not needing his seeder any more, he generously gave it to us and it made light work for planting all those seeds.  

'Bee'gining Again

Heath has kept bees since he was young and has a great fondness for them - one that only a beekeeper could have.  Most people run scared when the see bees, but you can't keep Heath away from them.  He actually subscribes to two separate beekeeping magazines and is a proud member of the Organic Beekeepers Association. 

So after a long cold winter Heath couldn't wait to go and check on his hives.  After inspecting his hives he noticed that one hive didn't make it through the winter.  Heath was quite disappointed because he prides himself on never loosing hives.  He immediately went on the hunt for cold-hardy bees to replace the hive that he lost and ordered a package of Carniolan Bees.  A package of bees consists of about 10,000 bees from several different hives and a young queen bee placed in her own cage.  We finally received our package of bees Saturday.  So I thought it would be fun to share how you get 10,000 bees into one hive.  

After cleaning out some of Heath's equipment, we set up the new hive in a sunny location.  

Heath builds all of his own equipment out of used lumber that he finds or people give him.

After getting the hive body set up the way he wanted, Heath removed the syrup can and the queen cage from the package.  The syrup provides food for the bees while they are being shipped.  

There is the queen in her own private quarters.  The cage is plugged with a small candy door which the worker bees will eat away in the next two to three days and release the queen into the hive.  This queen is not in any way related to the bees in the package.  Therefore, the candy plug allows the bees two to three days to get used to her and accept her as their own before she is released to the masses.  If the queen was just dumped into the bees without the introduction period, she would most likely be killed by them.  

The queen cage is suspended in the center of the hive where the rest of the bees can cluster around and attend to the queen's needs.  

Then comes the fun part!  Heath then shook the bees into the hive to be with their queen.  

Then he began carefully placing the remaining frames into the hive.  

Heath then closed up the hive to allow the bees to get settled in.

With the top on and the hive set up, the almost empty cage was placed in front of the hive to allow the stragglers to make their way into their new home.  

Within just a few minutes, it was business as usual.  And the bees were getting lined out in their new home.  It was truly an amazing process.  The bees were very calm and docile.  Heath didn't even wear a veil, and the kids and I were right there next to him.  It really only took about 10 minutes for the entire process.  We love keeping bees, we get lots of delicious raw honey, they pollinate our flowers and garden, and provide much happiness for Heath.

The New Mower

For my birthday Heath surprised me with a new lawn mower!!!  Just kidding, we ordered it weeks ago and it just happened to show up on my birthday, therefore becoming the birthday joke.  

Honestly, with the slow arrival of spring we've been working a lot out in the yard and our lawn was in some major need of trimming.  We Heath researched, read reviews, and "test-drove" mowers and he decided on an electric, cordless mower from greenworks.  I know, I know electric!  When Heath first pitched it to me, I had the nightmare-like flashback of mowing the side of the mountain that my grandparents called a lawn with their corded electric mower.  The entire time I was terrified I would run over the cord with the blades, electrocuting myself and rolling to my death at the bottom of the mountain.  Whether this is even possible, I do not know, but at the time it was a very valid concern and terrified me none the less.  

So, you can imagine I wasn't so sure about this electric mower business.  But I have to say, (and I'm sure that Heath loves to hear it) he was right about this one.  

The mower has been great, it runs on a battery that you just plug in to charge.  There is no mess or hassle of gasoline or oil.  It is QUIET!! ( I honestly think my hair dryer is louder)  Its easy to use and self-propelled.  It is also cheaper to operate, it costs between $.07 - .09 for each charge! So it costs us about $.14 to mow our whole lawn, and we have a large lawn.  

The kids love it.  When Heath first snapped everything together and got it started, I looked out the window and there was Heath, mowing the lawn...and there were all three kids directly behind him, like little ducks in a row.  It was so cute!  

Everyone got to try out the new mower.

Heath was able to mow the entire front yard, side and just into the back before the battery died.  We were both really impressed by the amount of ground covered on a single charge.  The run time was about an hour and 15 minutes. 

Well done Heath, well done!

Celebrity Birthday Dinner

This week I had the honor of celebrating my birthday with, Skeletor, Iron Man and and very special woodland fairy!

Heath treated us all to a yummy dinner and the kids were delighted that the restaurant had a very talented face painter on hand for their "Kid's Night."  I am still not sure how I am feeling about my age, but one thing I know for sure is that I am incredibly blessed.  I am married to a wonderful, loving man who truly is my best friend.  I have the most amazing children who keep me on my toes and always make me laugh when I need it most. 

Strawberry Patch

One thing (among a long list of others), Heath and I really want in our garden is Strawberries.  Heath did some more research of varieties and he decided on one called Honeoye.  They are a June bearing variety, over winter very well, great for canning and freezing and are known for their vibrant color.  If all goes well, we plan on doing lots and lots of canning and freezing!  We bought 30 bare root dormant plants and potted them up into none other than red plastic Solo cups.  

Here they are about a week after potting them and placing them under our grow lights.

This is three weeks after potting.

Foliage was growing and they were trying to to bloom, so Saturday we decided to get them into the ground.  

E was very anxious and willing to help.  If you were to ask her on any given day, she would tell you that strawberries are her favorite food.  

She did great, and it really is wonderful to see the kids get so excited about growing our own food.