Homestead Happenings

Although I have been ridiculously absent from the blogosphere, I have been busy and productive in most others areas of my life.  We have had an unusually mild winter and our February even bordered on spring-like.  Because of the unseasonably warm weather, out of door projects have called our name and we have answered!

As most of you know, we lost our beloved Tibetan Mastiff dog "Reaper" to a horrific homestead accident last summer.  We have missed him terribly and have chosen not to get another dog... until now.  Next Sunday a new little homestead guardian will arrive!  We have named him Lowen and he carries the lineage of our "Reaper".  Lowen is an 8 week old Tibetan Mastiff - and he has very large paws to fill!  In preparation for our little guardian, we have been busy building a "dog den", rather than a typical  dog house.  Borrowing Sep Holzer's permaculture method of housing animals, we dug a hillside out and built a log structure into the hill and backfilled the "den".  We still need to finish the top with plywood and tar paper before we cover the den completely with dirt, leaving only the entrance exposed.  We are very interested to see how he likes his "den" and if he uses it.  At this point we think he will use it far more in the heat of summer than he ever does during the winter months!

Sir Night and Maid Elizabeth digging the hole

Maid Elizabeth has help!

Master Hand Grenade breaking ground

The finished hole (about 4 x 4)

The first two courses (butt and pass method)

Going up!

Beginning the roof

The roof is on - it's just awaiting plywood, tar paper and dirt

When he hasn't been working outside, Sir Knight has been organizing his new mobile tool box.  Over the years, Sir Knight has used and worn out numerous "road" boxes.  After his latest one disintegrated we decided to invest in something that would hold up better than its previous counterparts.  Enter the Pelican 0450 tool box.  It is completely waterproof, impact resistant and mobile.  It has wheels and a telescoping handle as well as two carry handles.  For the last week, Sir Knight has been cutting foam and arranging his tools and this week he will be putting his new mobile tool box into service.  I think it's a thing of beauty!

Tools laid out (with the marking pen and knives) to mark for cutting (each tray is a drawer)

Marking around the tools

Adjusting the knife to the depth of the tool (to cut into the foam at the correct depth)

Making the cut

Removing the foam

Just right!

One tray (drawer) finished - with room for more tools

The tool box closed - it is water proof and shock proof!

Carry handles

Rolls easily on integrated wheels

Telescoping handle

About a year and a half ago my Dad built a beautiful, rustic outhouse for me.  I was so excited!  We had a friend come in with a tractor and use his auger to dig a large hole over which we positioned the outhouse.  After using the outhouse for about 3 months, we noticed that the dirt was filling in the hole at an alarming rate.  The spring after the outhouse went into service, we were dismayed to realize that the outhouse hole was not only covering the waste but it was trying to digest the outhouse itself!  We quickly put long boards under the house to keep it from sinking into the ground but that resulted in a rocking outhouse.  We knew we had to come up with a better solution!  After considering many options, we decided that we needed to dig a hole just big enough to house a drum or barrel, cut holes in the bottom of the barrel (for drainage) and fit the barrel into the hole.  Then, we would move the outhouse over the barrel and position it on solid ground so the disturbed soil wouldn't try to eat the outhouse.  Armed with shovels and a plan, Master Calvin, Princess Dragon Snack and I dug a new hole, filled it with 4 inches of drain rock and positioned our barrel in the hole. With our truck, we drug the outhouse (it was built on skids) over the barrel, straightened it up and shimmed it to make it level.  After filling in the other hole completely, we have a fully functional outhouse that we hope will serve us well for many years.  And, I must admit, I sure like having two bathrooms again!

That's a little guy urinal in the corner

The new hole and barrel (plastic is draped inside to keep any leakage from the front)

Last fall, before the cold of winter descended upon us, we moved the bee's into their new "bee house" (it used to be our chicken coop) in an attempt to successfully over-winter them.  Our plan was to follow in our European counterparts footprints and have a house for the bees that would keep them warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer.  As of March 1st, we still have two very healthy hives that look like they will be going into spring ready to make honey!

Hives in the Bee House

I hope you are all having a wonderful, productive winter/spring!  Until next time....

From the Home Front....

I'm so sorry to have been silent as of late.  We had a tragedy and I haven't been up to putting pen to paper.  With a renewed spirit, I will update you on our latest happenings.

Our garden is growing well.  We have had a problem with Magpie's snapping the tender beans, peppers and onions before they are able to really spread their leaves, so there are a few sad looking plants.  Our heirloom bush beans are far outperforming the garden variety garden center beans that we planted just to use them up before the seeds were too old.  The tomatoes are growing famously and so are a majority of the peppers.  I can't wait to can my favorite tomato, pepper, onion mixture this fall!

Peas happily climbing the trellis

Tomatoes!

Our potato towers are actually  working!  They haven't become as green with leaves as I would like to see, however, on close inspection is would appear that all of the potatoes are sprouting, just at different rates.  We planted 8.8 pounds of potatoes, so we will weigh the harvest and give an end of year report.

Potatoes reaching out from their tower

One raspberry bed is heavy with fruit, while the other is bushy and healthy but won't put on berries this year.  We do have a few strawberry plants but not enough for preservation.  They are, however, just right for a handful of warm berries eaten out-of-hand.

A portion of one of our raspberry beds

The Buckfast bees are busy, busy, busy.  We have been caught off-guard by their super-quick build-up.  I put off ordering extra hive bodies, due to our experience with the Italians, and was horrified upon my most recent inspection of the hives to discover that they had completely filled all of their frames and were getting ready to swarm due to lack of space!  With no hive bodies to add to their home, Maid Elizabeth and I improvised.  I dug up two 10 frame hive bodies, stapled cardboard on either side of the bottom (about 1 1/2 " on each side - just enough to keep the bottom of the hive body from being open to the air) and set the 10 frame bodies on top of the 8 frame bodies.  I hoped that would give us enough wiggle room to get the new hive bodies here and assembled.  At this point, I think our foil worked.  The bees are contentedly filling the new frames with comb, which we will transfer to the 8 frame bodies when they arrive.

10 frame hive bodies perched atop 8 frame bodies - not something you see every day!

Notice the ratchet straps holding the hives into place.  The night we put our improvised hive bodies into place, a sudden and somewhat violet storm descended upon us.  I awoke to the crack of thunder and pouring rain.  Immediately I thought of the unprotected hives, teetering in a highly unusual configuration and woke Miss Serenity to brave the weather and help me secure the hives.  At 1:30 a.m., armed with a flashlight and rubber boots, we made our way to the hives and fiddled with ratchet straps until we had them securely in place.  Thankfully, the bees slept through our endeavor and we escaped unscathed.

Sir Knight replaced the broken window in my kitchen door!

And from the outside

My beautiful daughters - friends in the way only sisters could be.

The sun room dressed for summer

The sought-after outside bedroom

The children's cottage

Just a small note on our tragedy.  Our beloved dog Reaper died in a horrible accident.  Reaper was like no other dog.  He managed to capture each one of our hearts in a way that no pet ever has.  I must admit, we mourned our treasured pet - and really, we continue to mourn him.  He was a dog, but he was also our guardian and protector.  We are so very thankful to have known our dear Reaper.

I NEVER allow animals on the furniture...

But he stole my heart.

Enjoy these beautiful days of summer.  Savor every moment. 

Until next time.

Enola

Ordering Bees

Spring is quickly approaching and with spring, blossoms and blooms.  And what do blossoms and blooms need?  Bees, of course.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I have been preparing for bees by ordering all new hives (English Garden hives, of course) and charting out the perfect location for the "girls".  After receiving the new hives, I realized that if I didn't order bees soon, I would be out of luck for this season.  I quickly got to work researching bees and was surprised by what I found.

The bees that we have had in the past were Italians.  They were lovely and gentle and good producers, however, they seemed to swarm with unending regularity (probably mismanagement on our part) and were not particularly cold hardy (they did hail from Italy, after all!).  As I researched bees, I was drawn to a few different varieties that I thought would thrive in our area.  The Russians and the Carniolans both seemed like they would be a good fit, but one in particular caught my attention - the Buckfast bee. The Buckfast was developed by Brother Adam of Buckfast Abbey in Devon, England.  His goal was to develop a honey bee that was resistant to tracheal mites, first and foremost, and then he began breeding other good qualities in them.  They are particularly cold-weather hardy, are very gentle and proved to be the top producers during a two year study conducted at the University of Minnesota (in a field of six varieties of honey bees).  According to the study they have the best build-up in the spring, have a very low swarming tendency and produce queens that are noted for their longevity.

With the decision made we placed our order and have two packages of Buckfast bees coming via USPS (yes, they will be delivered in the mail!).  They should be here by the end of April, just in time to pollinate all of our spring blossoms and provide us with many hours of buzzing enjoyment.

I really think the bees will love their new homes - they are English Garden hives, after all!

A Hive of Activity

The big brown truck drove up our driveway this afternoon delivering a much anticipated package - two packages actually.

We have had bees for years, off and on, however, all of our equipment was scavenged from here and there.  None of our hives fit together very well, being made by different people at different times.  All of our bottom boards were rotting and our hive bodies beginning to fall apart.  This year, we decided to make an investment in our honey bees.  We ordered beautiful new English Garden Hives from Brushy Mountain Bees.  Sir Knight and I have started off with two new hives, although Maid Elizabeth has plans to order two more.

Unwrapping the frames

The bottom board

Our new hives are untreated wood, so they will need to be either painted or verathaned.  I plan to just verathane them and enjoy the natural beauty of the wood.  Until then I will be putting them on a table at the foot of the stairs and enjoy seeing them in all their glory.  The  copper tops can be polished or allowed to acquire a lovely weathered-green patina (my choice, I think).

Maid Elizabeth and I will be busy getting the hives ready for their new inhabitants, which will be delivered in April (I'm pretty sure the post-mistress will love me!).  Until then, I will just bask in the beauty of my lovely new English Garden Hives!

(As much fun as we had opening the boxes, Master Calvin in his best friend Hobbes had more fun playing in the empty boxes and packaging.  It was a big day!)

Master Calvin

Calvin & Hobbes