SWARM
Yesterday morning Mr Chiots went out to catch a swarm of bees with our next door neighbor. Here are some photos Mr Chiots took during the adventure.
Now we have a hive of bees sitting up on our hill. Should be interesting to see how these guys do this summer.
Have you ever seen a swarm of bees?
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Friday Favorite: These Piggies
I must say, we’ve only had these piggies for a month and they’ve quickly become our favorite livestock. They’re very personable and happen to be wonderful garden companions. Since they’re fenced in back by the main garden, they come out and root and oink while I’m back there working. They even come running when they see me (probably because I often have a treat in hand).
The most beneficial part of these little porkers is that they’re fabulous garbage disposals. We had a heat wave at the end of may, temperature were up around 90 for a few days. As a result, my pak choi bolted.
What used to be a sad thing in the garden is now almost a cause for celebration as I know the pigs will happily munch it down and turn it into delicious bacon and ham. Early next week all the early spring spinach will be ripped out and fed to the pigs to make way for peppers and tomatoes.
We’ll definitely have pigs at Chiot’s Run from here on out. I’m already researching the kinds we want to try next. We want Guinea hogs for sure and I’d love to try Tamworth pigs as well. Next week we’ll be moving them into a wooded area to see how they do in that type of setting, should be interesting for sure!
Have you lost any vegetables because of the weather?
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Planning for Thanksgiving
The day before yesterday, I planted my sweet potatoes. 250 plants went into the ground in three LONG rows in the back garden. I’ll give you a tip that makes for lush sweet potato slips for planting. When your slips arrive in the mail, put them in a jar or tub filled with a water and dash of liquid kelp.
Your slips will start putting out the smaller feeder roots and will green up nicely after the shock of shipping. Mine looked better than ever when I finally got them in the ground. I usually just put them in plain water, but they have a tendency to get a little slimy. This is the definitely the best my sweet potato slips have ever looked at planting.
After planting them I mulched them well with compost. Later this week, I’ll put hoops up over them and some greenhouse plastic. This will give them the warm and toasty conditions they love so much. I would have had them covered already, but I’m out of greenhouse plastic (off to Johnny’s to order some).
Do you grow sweet potatoes?
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Hello Peas!
I noticed a few days ago that one row of peas is blooming quite nicely. These are ‘Dakota’ peas that were planted on April 5th. Most likely, they’ll be fruiting while we’re back in Ohio (which will be the last half of the month of June). Dailon will most likely greatly enjoy them. I’m also growing ‘Green Arrow’ and ‘Lincoln’ peas.
What I noticed about these plants is that they’re very short, they’re only 12-18 inches tall at best. I have them supported with chicken wire staked with bamboo poles, but I’m thinking I wouldn’t need that at all.
I’m really looking forward to garden fresh peas this year. I have two 70 foot rows up in the main garden, with hopes of filling my freezer with delicious peas. There’s just something not quite right about beef stew or chicken & dumplings if there are no peas in them!
Do you grow garden peas? Which variety is your favorite?
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Chick Update
The chicks are doing really well, they are now outside 100% of the time. Dailon built a movable chicken coop, following the instructions in the back of Harvery Ussery’s The Small-Scale Poultry Flock. So far we like it, there roosts inside and nesting boxes with outside access. We don’t really need to worry about eggs any time soon, these chickies are just about 5 weeks old.
I love that they’re roosting and acting like little tiny chickens. They scratch, dust bathe, chase insects and they are even establishing a pecking order. It is nice to have them be fully outside and more or less taking care of themselves.
It has been fun to watch these little guys/gals grow up, we’re looking forward to the upcoming months to watch their transformation into teenage chickens.
What’s your favorite animal to watch grow up?
