- Trevor
Our bees arrived! On May 19th our 20,000 new residents arrived to the Post Office. Numbers looked good as there were less than an inch of dead bees on the bottom of the boxes, meaning they made it well. Some death is expected due to short life cycles of bees. Our plan was to keep them in the garage and place them in the hives at the end of the day to help ensure that they will stay in their new homes, as opposed to swarming off. Note, we did place a trap hive on the roof of the house just in case they decided to leave and provide another place for them to go on the property. Like I said, this was the plan. Shipping led to a small opening on the one hive that became apparent in the car with three escapees. Considering this, we still decided to wait until the afternoon, but walking into the garage midday changed our mind. The increasing temperature increased their activity and hundreds of bees were loose, so it was go-time for putting them into the hive. Below are our top bar hives. My dad and I made them in the winter out of new pine boards for the frame and as much scrap wood as we could find for the top bars. In the one picture, you can see the quarter round that we attached to the bars as recommended in the book Top Bar Beekeping by Les Crowder. We think this was a good idea, as we will explain later. The tables were made about a month or so ago out of old raised bed gardening boxes. Once we switched from treated to untreated wood, some of these boxes became obsolete. So I repurposed them into a beehive table. Notice the bungee cord wrapped around, which holds on the lid and holds the hive to the table. I also made some sugar water feeders to place in the hives initially to provide a food source. Just using some scraps I screwed some pieces of the same width on a scrap piece of plywood and just far enough apart to hold an upside-down mason jar. Picture shows a quart jar, but that was too big and was replaced with a pint jar in each hive. I just punched a few holes in the lid so the bees had access. Sugar water was 1-to-1 sugar and water and we filled them up again after two weeks. After four weeks, we will remove them from the hives. The above video portrays us opening the second shipment box of bees, taking out the metal sugar water can, removing the queen cage and taking out the cork holding the queen inside. Had I done this correctly, there would have been some "candy" there between the bees and the queen to help get them acclimated to each other. However, unbeknownst to me the queen cage had two ends so I just threw her to the wolves. Thankfully, they were in shipment process for awhile so they already got acclimated to her, as evidenced by the status of our hives now. At least we hope, because we have still yet to find the queens, but the hives are doing well. After removing the cork I pinned the queen cage to one of the top bars. The second video shows us "bonking" the bees to the bottom of the hive and then literally pouring them into the open space. At this point, replace the top bars and roof and we were done. To the left is the bee waterer I made. Feed pan from TSC, bucket we used for getting maple syrup earlier in the year and rocks around it. Bees need water and we do not have standing water on our site, so the waterer was essential. We don't see them using it, but it's there if they need it. The rocks are to provide a standing spot for them to drink. Without a landing spot, the surface tension of the water could grab them and pull them in and drown them. Below is a video of the hive entrance after we put the lid on. The above pics are shots from our first hive check after about 6-7 days and then a second check a week after that. The video below is during our first hive check. Very stoked to see the bees making A LOT of comb, looking good and going straight. This is the supposed benefit of the guides on the top bars with the quarter round and it looks like it works! The second hive check showed capped comb, which is very good. Not sure what they are capping yet as we are still novices, but we hope its brood - eggs and growing bee larvae. - Trevor
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On a day in which my dad was here with his tractor, I had the impulse to have him dig a hole. Now the hole had a purpose, but it was going to save me a lot of work as I wanted to try my hand at "hugelkultur." Short version, dig a hole, fill with woody material, mound dirt back on top and plant. The wood base will work as a water sponge and hold water in place. We had the woody material from trimming the neighbor's apple trees and ripping out all the grapevine and autumn olive in the front berry garden area. My dad used the forks on his tractor to "grab" the woody material and place in the hole. I was in the trench with the chainsaw cutting it down to fit better in the trench. My dad then used the bucket on the tractor to put a couple of scoops of mulch from tree trimmers in there, put on the old soil and then put some old garden soil from the previous owners of the home (sorry to the rabbits who had taken up residence in the pile). We had some leftover mulch and sprinkled that on top. Afterward, we soaked it with water to let the wood get wet. Wish we would have done that first. Our extra seedlings have been planted on this, as well as a giant bag of old seeds that may or may not germinate. Ideally, a hugelkultur bed would have logs and large pieces of wood, but we used what we had and this will be a good experiment. My guess is that next year it will be even better as it captures that spring snow melt and early rains for the remainder of the year.
- Trevor Apologies from Dandelion Hills as we have been working our tails off out here with all of our projects. Thankfully, we took pictures, but we have not had time to post it on the blog. Unfortunately, one of us now has a lot more down time. We had a non-farm casualty which occurred in between youth soccer games as I was showing off my mad soccer skills to my two boys. I was successfully keeping the ball from the boys until I landed on said ball, rolled over it and seriously messed up my foot. There was snapping and popping sounds that occurred, major swelling and and hopefully a diagnosis on Monday. Nonetheless, now there is time to do more blogs so get ready as here they come. The plans calls for a bee post, chicken post/update, garden updates, pics of all the builds we have done to get ready and possibly an update of what our summer has in store for us . . . that is as long as one us can get mobile again. By the way, crutches suck! UPDATE: Today is Monday and I officially have a broken foot. Walking cast for eight weeks, which for those of you calculating temperatures are two of the three hottest months! ARGH! Anyway, nothing I can do about it, but take it easy for a few more days and then get back at it.
- Trevor The roadside edge of our property is plagued with invasive weeds--in particular, trees of heaven and autumn olives. While the neighbors have successfully eradicated these "weed" shrubs and trees with multiple applications of herbicides, we have allowed them to grow and thrive on our lot. In all honesty, we allowed them to stay, in part, due to a general lack of caring. We had been prioritizing other jobs on the property, especially the garden (which we either move or add onto every year) and just hadn't had much time to worry about the plants growing along the road. Now that we are adding a farm stand along the driveway, though, we decided we should clear away some shrubs to open visibility to the stand. We quickly identified the "problem" shrubs as Elaeagnus umbellate (autumn olive) and the trees as Ailanthus altissima, or tree of heaven. Both of these species are excellent in permaculture settings, especially as biomass accumulators. They will grow back vigorously after being cut back. We could use the "chop and drop" method, just lopping off the top of the plants and dropping the branches on the ground to leave as a natural ground cover and edge for native species, or we could keep the wood to use for firewood, trellises, mulch, or hugelkultur. For some reason I have always really liked the trees of heaven. They are quite beautiful and have a tropical-type appearance, and since we really don't have any other trees on the property yet, we have been very hesitant to cut them down. We also learned that the roots, leaves, and bark of the tree of heaven have been used for thousands of years in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Even modern pharmaceutical companies are researching the trunk and root of this tree as a potential drug. We may experiment making a simple tincture using the root-bark. Outside of gathering a bit of root bark and lopping off the top of the trees, we are allowing the trees of heaven to stay put. Even more valuable, arguably, are the autumn olives; however, we decided to cut them back anyway, simply because they were completely blocking visibility of our driveway. Luckily, they will grow back thicker than ever and we can continue to harvest their fruit, and chop and drop. At one time, autumn olives were widely planted by the U.S. Soil Conservation Service for purposes of attracting wildlife and serving as a windbreak. Plants can start bearing fruit in their third year, and just one mature plant may produce several pounds of edible fruit. The ripe, red fruits, which are extremely high in lycopene (15 times higher than tomatoes) are especially favored by birds, who readily scatter seeds. Some farms are even planting autumn olive as a cash crop. Need more reasons not to hate autumn olives? They are also great nitrogen fixers and nectar producers. We are considering including autumn olives in the fruit tree guilds of our soon-to-be planted food forest. Get more info on the value of autumn olives as a cash crop here. Since both of these plants are considered to be invasive and threatening to native species, we would not likely order in autumn olives or trees of heaven and introduce them to our property. But fortunately for us, they are already here. If you can't beat them, join them! - Diana The asparagus spears made an appearance last weekend. Man was it nice to have the chicks in the house, plus it helped keep them warm. Well, that was until we introduced their dust bath. This led to a room in the house that was literally uninhabitable for two weeks. At four weeks we moved the chicks to the garage and were left with the following devastation. Notice the layer of dust on our exhaust fan. Now, imagine that on everything in the room. Gross! What did we learn, chicks in house = okay. Chicks in house with dust bath = NO GOOD! Here is the brooder in the garage. The chicks were not happy with this transition, but they did adjust to the colder temperatures. However, the thing we think made them the most unhappy was the ever-increasing size of fifteen pullets and the static size of the brooder duplex. Following Harvey Ussery's plans for his chicken tractor the above contraption was constructed and covered with old greenhouse plastic. It rolls well and moved rather easily to the back garden. Here, we started the chicks outside so that they can help to prepare the beds for planting by eating up bugs and weed seeds. We kept them in the tractor for two days to establish this as their home. Now, they roam free for most of the day in their "pasture." The "pasture" for the chicks is established by 160 feet of electronet fencing from Premier 1. It is charged by a Patriot fence charger connected to an old lawn mower battery. While initially left outside, we decided to put it in a battery box to protect from the elements. We used some scrap wood to create a brace for the solar charger. This charger is a 1.5 Watt solar charger from Harbor Freight. The hope is that this will charge the battery in line with usage for the fence to create a continuous use system. After a field trip to Battel's Sugar Bush farm, we were inspired to tap a few maple trees on family property for the first time ever. We used a total of 7 taps on 3 Silver Maples, and in just a few days got roughly 30 gallons of sap, boiling down to almost one gallon of syrup. We started with a rough attempt with old tubing and Hawaiian Punch bottles, then upgraded to multiple taps into buckets, which worked fairly well. However, next year we are planning on using more flexible tubing with appropriate fittings and doing more trees. Also, figuring out how to boil the sap down by open fire would help save on using propane and be more sustainable. Most of the below damage was done on purpose and not some freak spring tornado. Our neighbor graciously agreed to allow us to "adopt" some apple trees from her retired apple orchard, so we heavily cut back several branches and are currently working on raking up all the leaves and apples to compost for our gardens. We have been behind schedule with planting already, thanks to the cold and/or rainy weather and waiting on soil amendments, but we have begun planting peas, broccoli, carrots, onions, cauliflower, spinach, and several varieties of flowers. We prefer to direct sow whenever possible, and will be experimenting with direct sowing luffa gourd, tomatoes, peppers, and other plants traditionally grown from transplants. More on this later. We also received our first plants in the mail this weekend--hardy kiwis, We put those in pots for the time being and placed them into the greenhouse until we determine their exact location on the property. This is a pretty cool plant as it is hardy in our planting zone and creates smaller, but more tasty fruit than its fuzzy cousins that are sold in the produce section. If it does well, one plant can yield over 10 pounds of kiwi fruits. Pictured are catalpa, sugar maple, and locust seedlings in the greenhouse. Our beehives have been done for some time and are awaiting the bees, which should be here around May 15 or 16. We have three hives for 2 nucs of bees. The hope is to catch a swarm this year for the third one. However, we should already have our two trap hives out and baited with lemongrass oil if we want a good chance of this. Just not enough time it seems. Nonetheless, these will be out soon and we will begin our adventure as amateur apiarists. We are putting them to use though as the above pic shows us using the hives as a makeshift potting table. Overall, things are progressing. More apple tree shrapnel to pick up and move, more seeds to plant, more plants coming in the mail and the fact that bees are almost three weeks away. Not to mention baseball is starting for our boys and soccer will be right around the corner. It's been busy, but we all have noticed less time inside, less screen time and more productive time outside. In some ways, this was the plan all along.
- Diana + Trevor In 2011, we moved to our location in the spring after a winter with heavy snowfall. As we became acclimated to our new home, spring began to emerge and proceeded with its annual conquest over the last remaining vestiges of snow. While focused on the interior of the dwelling, we were struck by the veritable anarchy with which the dandelions were demonstrating on our new front lawn. The initial reaction was one of amazement, but not for the "right" reasons. Both Diana and I were raised with the notion that dandelions were "weeds" and needed to be exterminated from the bright green palette we called a "lawn."
What was interesting was that despite this cognitive response, the visceral reaction of seeing a flowing yellow field of pure sunshine was also noted by both of us. The presentation was made more startling with the juxtaposition of the golden wave to the neighbor's pure green lawn. The dividing line was so apparent between the two that it appeared as if the Maize Rebellion and Emerald Empire were facing off in an epic showdown right at that property line. Having known the neighbor for some time, this was not a surprise. In fact, upon closer inspection it became apparent that the Emerald Empire was winning as it had taken over some of our new kingdom. In other words, the weed-hating neighbor had sprayed onto our property. A quick consult with him confirmed this as he shared his concern that our Maize Rebellion was a clear and present danger to his Emerald Empire due to our secret weapon . . . an aerial attack of millions of paratroopers. Never mind the fact that dandelion seeds can be carried for miles by the wind--that extra few feet was apparently pivotal. At the start, this was just humorous to us as we were not offended by the invasion due to our own archaic view of lawns. However, the vision of that field of dandelions stuck with us for that year. As they died off, it became clear that we were far from having an Emerald Empire as our soil was abhorrent. The next year we were graced with the dazzling spectacle of our dandelion crop once again. By this time, we were questioning the necessity of exterminating the "King of the Lawn" as we were distracted by our first garden (more to come on this one) and the fact that we secretly enjoyed the passive-aggressive power we held over the neighbor, even though it became apparent that his Emerald Empire had advanced a few more feet into our kingdom. The start of our "organic" gardening had led us to confront his use of spraying and we were met with the thought that not only did he think he was doing us a favor, but it almost seemed as if he was programmed to unleash a terminating assault on the innocent flaxen flora. (As you may have guessed by now, he is more than just a neighbor. . . he is my father-in-law.) It's safe to say that we were not totally clear as to why our front yard was a flowing yellow tsunami every spring, until this past fall when we began our expedition into sustainability and permaculture. It became clear very quickly that our "Kings of the Lawn" were there for a reason. Remember how I said our post-dandelion lawn was a disaster? Well, the dandelion was already telling us this, we just had not listened . . . or better yet, did not know the language. The dandelion is especially prone to propagate on hard soils that may be lacking in a number of essential soil minerals. Due to its taproot, the dandelion will literally bust through hard clay soils, slowly drilling holes one by one to loosen the soil and mine for minerals and water. As it dies, it leaves is edible greens behind to accumulate on top of the ground, deteriorating and becoming new soil . . . also known as bioaccumulation. The Maize Rebellion was not waging war on the Emerald Empire as previously thought, it was waging war on our horrendous soil texture and quality, which had become more and more apparent due to the recurring sore lower back after a tumultuous ride on the lawn mower. More research on our part found that in the world of bees, dandelions are an essential early food as they emerge from their winter hibernation and await the onslaught of flowering summer annuals and perennials. Rosemary Gladstar's Herbal Recipes for Vibrant Health divulged a number of unknown uses, including dandelion root as an incredibly effective and safe diuretic, blossoms as a wine or vinegar, and the greens as a salad green or in a tonic tea due to the potent combination of vitamins and minerals. This list leads her to state: "Dandelion is, I'm convinced, one of the great tonic herbs of all times." While there is no argument on our part, a quick look on the Internet at some forums at permies.com and other sites shows that these are only a few uses of this "weed." So as we venture into this new endeavor, it became almost silly how we arrived at the name. While I had thought of the name earlier in the week, it had slipped my mind in the chaos of whatever else was going on. I do know that I had come to the name by asking myself, "What are we the best at growing?" Of course, we aren't growing them per se, but we have yet to stage a suburban assault on them and we have been working to keep the Emerald Empire at bay as best we could. So as we continued to dig deep in the crevasses of our cerebral cortices, it came to me again while in the shower . . . of course. As I was preparing to yell to Diana to come and hear my idea, I heard her approaching. Before I could share my news, she exalted her forthcoming idea with glee. At this point, I began to laugh. I almost knew what was coming before she said it because her level of joy was what I was expecting from her when I shared with her my idea. Of course she shared some offshoot of our name utilizing dandelion, leading us to settle on Dandelion Hills. Serendipitous? I think so. Does it fit? Absolutely! Will the Maize Rebellion bring the Emerald Empire over to the Saffron Side? Stay tuned! - Trevor |
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Dandelion Hills is a family-owned farm in Caro, Michigan, established to provide beyond-organic food to its owners and the local community while improving the soil quality. Categories
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May 2016
TAGSDandelions Hills Farm Caro Michigan Local Permaculture Sustainable Ecological Natural Beyond Organic Biodiiversity Regenerative Family Farm Mini-farm Farmstead Homestead Pastured Eggs Chicks Chickens Poultry Gardening Honey Bees Flowers Herbs Ducks Turkeys Geese Quail Market Garden
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