February 3, 2016

mid-winter garlic

I checked the garlic growing in my garden today. “Music” (pictured) is up an inch or so above the salt march hay mulch. The tops of the plants look weather burnt, but underneath they’re green. “Late Italian” is up about 2 inches above the mulch. “Duganski” isn’t up yet. Our forecast is now saying maybe we’ll get some snow next Tuesday. The garlic would prefer that. Gardeners at my community garden have been concerned and have been adding more salt hay to cover their garlic. I’m now eating supermarket garlic.…

February 1, 2016

chickens out for a walk

My chickens went out for a mid-winter walk today. No snow left here – they had lots of scratching to do. In the middle of their walk, Ginger the brown Auracana all of a sudden jumped up, left the group, ran for the laying box and left me that blue egg. I’m getting 2 or 3 eggs a day now. Only Bertha, the big white Brahma isn’t laying yet.

February 1, 2016

where did winter go?

It’s in the 80’s in the sun now! Where did winter go? A high of 57F is officially predicted this afternoon in Boston. My bees are out and about. Garlic is sprouting. I’ve been opening my greens tunnel to the sun the past few days. We’ve had a week-long stretch of very mild winter weather. I’m tempted to think spring is around the corner, but I was reminded that last year, most of our enormous snowfall came in February. Nevertheless, I think this is turning out to be a very…

January 29, 2016

bee photos

Here are pictures of my bees that I took yesterday. This is the top box of the smaller and larger colonies: And a close-up: Here’s the new sunny location of the hives behind my vegetable garden.

January 28, 2016

mid-winter hive check

I was wondering about my bees today and so I dropped an email to Tony at my local bee club and asked if I should be checking them in the winter. The answer was “Yes, I should”. But not like a summer inspection. Tony recommended suiting up, but no smoker. He said to lift hives from the back to check their weight. If light, they’ve used up their winter honey stores. Finally, he said, lift the cover and check the location of the bees and if they’re alive. If they’re…

January 24, 2016

at the northern edge of a giant snowstorm

We only got a couple windswept inches of snow yesterday, but Skippy watched it fall at the Sudbury River. Boston was way up at the northern end of the giant snowstorm that hit the coast south of us. I only have a little bit to snow blow this morning.

January 23, 2016

new app! — flowers and herbs

Our new app is out! A planting calendar for Flowers and Herbs. $1.99 at the apple Store. 60 varieties with sowing times and methods. The calendar starts soon with winter sowing of varieties that need cold stratification. Apple store link: Skippy’s Flower & Herb App

January 21, 2016

bee hives in winter cold

My bee hives are dwarfed by the long winter shadows. I’m wondering how the bees are doing. We’ve had a couple weeks of temperatures in the 20’s and below. What a difference a month has made! At the end of December my bees were out pollinating hellebore. I prepared my hives for winter back in October by installing mouse guards, adding a piece of ceiling tile to insulate the top, and making sure my top entrance was available to the bees. I don’t have entrance reducers on, but I do…

January 21, 2016

winter tunnel update

I’ve been looking for my bottle of castor oil for a week now. There are vole holes in my winter tunnel and wanted to give the soil another dose. I finally found it. Of all places – in my new garden shed! I forgot about that spot. There it was with the empty pots and garden sprays. I’ll have to get used to having a shed. Today I opened up the tunnel. I’m really pleased with how everything is doing. Fortunately, no more vole damage, except a small bite…

January 17, 2016

potato order

I’ve decided on my potato selection for this year. 4 types, all from Fedco Moose Tubers: Natascha, v. early, yellow skin/yellow flesh, waxy, high yield, high scab res AmaRosa, mid-late, red skin/red flesh, waxy, high yield, high scab res German Butterball, late, yellow-russet skin/yellow flesh, med/dry texture, med/high yieid, exel storage Russet Burbank, late, russet skin/white flesh, dry texture, high yield, high scab res., exel storage Last year I restrained my self to one variety, spaced the eyes out nicely, and ended up with a very poor harvest. I’m looking…

weeks and counting until my last spring frost

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23	24	25	26	27	28	29
30	31