Took advantage of the gorgeous weather this week to go out to the bee yard. Here in Maryland we have a very short, very intense honey flow from April 15th to May 15th, and that’s about it for the year. If honey is going to be made, it’s pretty much got to be made in that […]
I got a sweet deal on a table saw last Fall – a brand-new, in-original-packaging Skilsaw model for $40. Sure, it’s dinky and light and not accurate enough for really fine woodworking, but it gives me so much more freedom to create larger projects. Especially ones from plywood. With three hives overwintered, my new problem is […]
I’m finally to the point that I’ve cleared out and colonized all the land left inside the garden. I want more room, specifically more room to grow perennials, and I’ve been eyeing the little strip north of the garden – maybe 1,000 sf or so – between the top of the garden and the road. […]
I just finished reading one of my most favorite gardening books to date: Guys, I almost didn’t buy this book. I saw it and thought “oh, I have enough gardening books,” but then I saw Bonsall speak at this past bionutrient conference and he cracked me up! And then after hearing him speak and feeling bombarded […]
Have I still never shown you the finished greenhouse? It’s been done since the beginning of March, for crying out loud. It’s positioned purposely over the kitchen door and window. I can walk right out into my garden. And when it’s hot in there, as it gets every time we have a good period of sun, […]
I feel so bad for the hens in winter. The ground is frozen and hard to scratch, there are no bugs to be found, and there’s certainly nothing green. Chickens are crazy about greens. They’ll tear up your garden, quick; in fact once I let them out there in the Fall they make short work of […]
One of the main factors that can speed or inhibit germination of seeds is the temperature of the soil. You can sow peas as early as you like, there are even some people who broadcast them over the snow – but if their environment isn’t to their liking, they’ll remain stubbornly dormant until it warms […]
Remember how I was saying I was hoping to get some energy stored in the thermal mass of the garden bed, so that it could slowly release heat at night? Chewing on that problem reminded me of a video by Geoff Lawton done on a greenhouse in Canada. They keep their greenhouse warm enough to […]
Man, I’ve been doing a terrible job keeping this blog up to date! I finished the greenhouse (well, “finished”… I still need to do a bit of caulking, and there’s one or two screws I’m waiting for Josh to get because I can’t reach, but hey it’s functional!) a week or so ago. I spent […]
I’ve wanted a greenhouse for the longest time. One of the things I miss most about gardening in California is the ability to grow nearly all year long, and especially grow things that need warmer climates like olives and oranges. As I write this it’s well into the heaviest snow of the year and even daytime temperatures haven’t […]