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 [...]

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 [...]

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. [...]

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 [...]

So I have been mentally reviewing the backyard bunny project, and here is how we did this year: We mated both does twice in 2011.  Momma bunny (who is a somewhat unwilling breeder and not very fond of Poppa bunny generally, but a good mom) had two litters of kits.  The first litter was 7 [...]

Well, I try not to.  The pears sure are doing so, and sometimes when you step on a rotten pear….. Speaking of pears, the Comice had the best crop of winter pears ever this year, after the coolest rainiest crummiest spring imaginable.  The good weather window must have been open when this tree blossomed.  Winter [...]

Ok, with the new war in the middle east and the horrific events in Japan and a March that continues to roar dreary windy cold and wet, when I am feeling as gloomy as the clouds overhead, I go look at the baby bunnies.  So I thought I would share with ya’ll.  The older kits [...]

Books I like and use Beekeeping for Dummies, by Howland Blackston Well written, great pictures, excellent overview for beginning beekeepers no matter what type of hive you are using. The Barefoot Beekeeper by Phil Chandler Best book I have seen out there on top bar beekeeping, available online.  Phil also runs the Natural Beekeeping Network [...]

So in addition to baby chicks we (my husband and I) have also added meat rabbits to the menagerie.  In my continuing struggle to reconcile my love for animals with my love for eating them and taking responsibility for that, this is going to be a toughie, because really, rabbits are about as adorable as [...]