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?
Share this:
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?
Share this:
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?
Share this:
It’s Planting Time!
This is the seventh installment in the 5×5 Garden Challenge Series. Every Wednesday I’ll be posting about the challenge, covering topics that will help all the new gardeners get started. If you haven’t heard about the challenge head on over to the 5×5 Challenge Website, we’ll also be putting up a page here that pulls in all the 5×5 Challenge posts.
This past weekend I seeded my 5×5 Challenge Garden. I started off by measuring off square foot sections of the raised bed. This isn’t a necessary step, you can plant your garden without making neat rows. I find it makes spacing easier when I measure it off in this way. I started by laying a few yard sticks on the sides, then I simply drug a dowel from one side to the next to make my grid.
Back when I first started gardening in raised beds, I use tacks on the side of the beds and strung twine between the make a semi-permanent grid.
Since I had made up a plan earlier (see this post for my 5×5 Challenge Garden Plan), it only took me a few minutes to get all the seeds in the ground. One of the reasons I contacted Renee’s Garden about being a part of this challenge, is because she specializes in seeds for the small home gardeners. Many of her seed packets contain multiple varieties, the seeds are even color coded to make planting easy.
When you plant your challenge garden, use the spacing guides on the back of the packet. Since you’re growing a small garden, you only need to take note of the spacing guidelines mentioned between seeds. Disregard the row spacing requirements. Back when I was planting a few small raised beds, I had Mr Chiots make me a few planting guides with different spacing that were a square foot. As they grow, noticed whether this works in your soil. If your soil is great, you can get away with planting things closer. If your soil is lean, you might need to go a little farther apart. Using the guidelines on the back is a great starting point.
I noticed earlier this week that some of the seeds were already germinating. Of course the chickens managed to nab a few of the bean sprouts before I noticed, but they only got a few.
Yesterday afternoon, I even headed down to my neighbor’s house to help her plant her 5×5 Garden.
Any seeding questions from our newbies or advice from our seasoned gardeners?
Share this:
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?
