I’ve had the best couple of weeks! Spring is certainly my favorite time of year. I love seeing green out my windows and I even love it when it’s 95 degrees out. Hot days cause some of my family members to melt, but I feel energized by the heat. (Ask me if I still feel that way in August. My answer might change.) I’ve been spending my spare time planting, and planning what else I want to plant, and then reminding myself that I don’t have to plant every single plant that I love right this second. (Can’t spend the grocery budget on plants!) A couple of my big boys helped Jonny to clear out an area for fig trees for my Mother’s Day gift. (I always request yard work-and handmade cards. They always sigh.) I realized that I planted my two fig trees in a poor location last year (northwest facing) so they were transplanted to a new spot that is southeast facing. Jonny and I made an afternoon run to the farm store to buy another fig tree, as my “official” Mother’s Day gift. Well, that in addition to the marigolds that my girls bought me on Saturday at the farmer’s market. I truly had the best Mother’s Day, doing what I love with the people I love.
After losing all of our bees last winter, we are beekeeping again! Last week the two packages of bees we ordered months ago arrived. Silas and Job declared that they wanted to help and dug through the bin of bee jackets to find a couple that sort of fit. They were all enthusiasm until the rumble of thunder forced them to abandon the installation half way through. This was just like the day we installed our first packages of bees, six years ago. And if I’m remembering correctly, this has happened several other times over the years. Jonny went back out after the storm passed and quickly got the second package installed. Tomorrow we will open them up and see how they are doing! I was sad that we lost our bees last winter, but I feel good about our fresh start, and the fact that we are starting small (we have had as many as seven hives in the past). Two feels just right.
I hope you all had a lovely weekend and a great start to your week!
Rebekah Stark says
I would love to know how you preparedand trained yourself for bees. What books did you read? I’m working really hard to prepare myself but I really don’t feel confident yet. Thanks.
Ginny says
Hi Rebekah! We read so many books, but probably learned the most from Michael Bush. http://www.bushfarms.com/bees.htm We dove in not knowing a whole lot and learned as we went! Still learning!!!
Richard (in Charlotte, NC) says
Nice to know you have bees again, I know you have mentioned how you and your family enjoy it so. I have 4 tomato plants in the ground and two are in bloom but, my gardening has taken a backseat to my chicken tending. This is the first time since 2013 that I have had chickens. I found out the hard way back then just how many and just how hungry the predators were in my neighborhood. Best wishes for the rest of your Spring.
Ginny says
Hi Richard! I’m glad you have chickens again! We have been struggling with predators this year. I hope you have better luck with your new flock!
karen says
fingers crossed this bee colony is the thriving one 🙂 My mother loved 95 degrees and counting. I love 20 degrees – I feel rotten when it’s hot and humid.
Cindy in NC says
I would love to have fig trees, but I know the squirrels would get all the figs just as they get all the pecans from my three trees. I have to content myself with buying figs for making fig preserves. What variety do you have? The stores here sell only Mission or Brown Turkey. I wish I could get Celeste.
ginny says
We have one mystery fig (I think it’s probably brown turkey) and two Chicago Hardy. Our farm store sells those two along with Celeste. I’ll have to get one of those next!
Amanda says
Your irises are beautiful!! ? I agree — spring time is by far my favorite. Where I live in northwestern PA, we’ve been having high temperatures in the low-70s/high-60s and temps in the 50s overnight … it’s absolutely PERFECT. Enjoying it while it lasts…
ginny says
They were planted by the previous owner of our house. She loved irises so much that our guest bathroom has a sink painted with irises!
Caroline says
One of the couples in our village had bees and they were all killed by wasps 🙁 I loved having local honey which I’m sure helped tremendously with my hay fever!
So lovely to see your family working together.
Marion says
I always enjoy your posts and the activities you and the family does. The flowers are so pretty.
Marion
Joan says
Your flowers are lovely. I melt in the hot weather . 60s are warm enough to me.
Joan
Marilyn says
Glad you are enjoying the Spring weather. I do not like the hot weather.
Marilyn
Lady Locust says
Your posts are always like a breath of spring air ~ even in other seasons. Bees are amazing creatures. I too am energized by working in the yard/garden in the company of bees:-)
Martha says
hilarious, as always, to read Jonny’s story in the post you linked. homesteading together has got to do GOOD things for a marriage. 🙂 my grandfather kept bees (in Ontario, Canada) and we loved visiting as children and always going to see all the bees. He had many hives and a whole shed space devoted to equipment and harvesting the honey. I wish I had paid more attention to it all when I was younger! Would you share more about the process, equipment you use when extracting and storing honey, how much you get from 2 hives, etc, as you go?
ginny says
We have mostly used the “crush and drain” method to extract, but a friend loaned us an extractor last year so we spun some honey that way as well. We most likely won’t harvest any honey this first year with the new bees. Our goal is to keep them alive through winter! As far as storage, we just keep the honey in jars in the pantry. 🙂
Bee says
Ok I have to ask – packages of bees, how does that work? How are they “shipped” and how do they stay alive? I just picture you opening an Amazon-type package and all these bees flying out… 😉
Love seeing your kids so excited about the beekeeping, and love that dark red clover as well. So beautiful.
ginny says
They are shipped in that wooden box with the screen in the pictures above. Isn’t that crazy? The post office calls us when they arrive (they don’t get delivered to our house) and we go pick them up!
Emily DeArdo says
This time of year energizes me, but the heat can sap me if I’m not careful. So I have to plan my stuff for the morning/evening, and stay inside and knit when it’s the middle of the day and HOT. And with my skin, I need to avoid the midday sun anyway, because hellooooo sun damage. But the plus side is I’m starting to get up earlier, like before 7, and I love the sunrises.
Sandra Davidson says
Your iris are beautiful, my daughter gave me some for Mother’s Day but they aren’t as beautiful as yours . I can’t believe how big your boys are getting .
Wishing you a beautiful spring. Hugs Sandra
Jen says
I am very curious to see how the 2 beehives work out- to see how much honey you get from them at the end of the season, so keep us posted! Thanks!
Myriam says
Ooooh, this post makes me miss spring!! (I live in Guatemala.) My dad was a beekeeper, and I clearly remember the excitement of helping him out with the bees. All the buzzing. So great that you are offering that to your kids. Chances are, they’ll remember it!
Jeanette Bruffett says
Love seeing the littles in their bee suits helping out. My daughter fell in love with bees after we did 2 hives for home school a few years ago…now we have 14! She’s hoping to be at 20 by the end of this year and she has never bought any. She splits and catches swarms. crazy girl. lol
I’m glad you got some new bees. I’ve always loved the colors of your hive boxes…so pretty.
ginny says
That’s so cool!!!
Nathana Clay says
I completely agree! Spring is so invigorating. Missouri had a wacky spring with several very late snowstorms. So everything has been blooming later. I planted a bunch of tomatoes and tomatillos from seeds and planned on planting some onions and cucumbers. We have a very stiff clay soil but we mixed in some top soil and compost. My husband and kids and I worked out in the yard all weekend for my Mother’s Day present. We have a lovely little garden put in and are in the process of putting the rest of our peppers and tomatoes into pots. I also planted some flowers and we are going to visit my favorite little local greenhouse later this week. I was so worried because we got a tremendous thunderstorm yesterday that blew things all over the place, but when I went out this morning to check on the damage, I was pleasantly surprised to find that our tomatoes and tomatillos looked better than ever! know if I can just find a good solution for the hungry catapillars who have taken a liking to my rosebush…
Clémence says
Oh lucky you! We’ll be beekeeping one day too and I can’t wait to live that marvelous adventure… Garden days here too, leeks and pumpkins yesterday, and today the plan is pesto with all the wild garlic we harvested… (“official work” first though!). I like how your celebration of Mother’s Day sounds!
Angela says
I wish you all the best with your bees. I hope to be a beekeeper one day. I have dreamt of it for years.
your flowers and garden are always lovely. happy mothers day for sunday