Last weekend I ‘crewed’ for Team Big Table at the Yamhill Heritage Center’s annual plow day.  There were 20 teams….probably the biggest collection of draft animals certainly in Oregon, possibly on the west coast outside of the Small Farmers Journal Auction (which is this week!  You should go).  There were Percherons, Belgians, mules, Brabants, Shires, [...]

The Celilo Indians hold their Salmon celebration this weekend up on the Columbia.  My salmon fever wracked husband caught the first fish in our household today, not long after he dropped me off at the dock so I could go to work.  Always nice to know we have some in the freezer, especially this time [...]

We finally had a break in the weather, which coincided with some sure signs of swarm season: The bees won’t raise a new queen unless they have drones.  She won’t get fertilized on her mating flight if there are no boys hanging around the Drone Congregation Zone. Looking into the TBH/Warre mutant hive I saw [...]

Firstly and most importantly, Big Table Farm’s spring releases are…well, released!  This includes the always amazing Syrah and my personal favorite, the Rose, which they did not make last year.  Boy did I miss it.  Here is the link to Clare’s release letter: Secondly, there was a great post at 47th Avenue farms a week [...]

At this time of year, any sun break that lasts more than 5 minutes brings us all outside. Bees are flying and collecting pollen. The bunnies are growing. Dogs are paging for bellyrubs.  Or just basking. Tomatoes are up, and have been moved to the greenhouse, where they are getting seriously hardened off (we have [...]

and not a drop to irrigate.  My husband and I fell in love with a piece of Clackamas county a couple of weeks ago…great price, good location, perfect aspect, on a paved but quiet road, excellent soils.  There is water on the property, a creek runs along the bottom, and there is at least one [...]

I posted about soil blocking last year, but it is that time again!  In the name of reducing plastic here are some photos of the process.  The mix is a ratio of potting soil, peat moss, compost, sand, and a dash of lime.  Roughly a ratio (in order mentioned) 5-3-2-1 plus a dash of lime. [...]

One of the members of my bee group just turned me on to this website, which is a great compilation of all news and information related to bees and beekeeping, condensed and vetted by a person very knowledgeable in the field.  Check it out: In other news….saw a property this weekend that could be The [...]

I help direct a group of beekeepers at an urban educational farm in SE Portland.  We have several hives going, and made a real effort last season to keep fairly consistent hive logs.  In January I transcribed all the logs and then wrote up a synopsis for the group.  It was very very interesting and [...]

January is typically the month for garden planning.  Once all of those seed catalogs start arriving I know it is time to start planning for the beekeeping year as well.  Now is the time to build new equipment, rehab old equipment, and research the areas I want to focus on in the coming season, as [...]