At home I finally got some progress in my front yard and it was exciting to see my trellis and beds out there, David had to go out of town so Abby and my boys helped me get everything out and in place, we changed the design, a little again to incorporate a central point for the bed, which is going to be home to a mulberry bush I am growing in a pot right now. I have been studying up on permaculture practices this semester for one of my courses, and am enjoying using these practices to bring this space to life and to make some changes around our property. The front yard has taken a good beating from all the rain this winter, and sunk about a 1/4 inch, so I am thrilled with the timing of this project to help use the flow of the land to help the water drain well and soak into the garden, instead of becoming runoff going to the river.
One of the major permaculture practices I have been trying to implement is 'Produce no Waste', I have been trying to use as much as possible what I have on hand, from the logs for the raised beds, to the leftover fencing for the trellis, and to using my neighbors bamboo that is seeking to overtake her backyard - for future trellis' I will be building in the next few weeks. I have been making compost and using soil from the woods behind my house - I will have to buy some, but using as much as I can from there. It has been a great challenge and taking a lot longer than anticipated. The other thing I am doing with the garden is seeking is the permaculture principle of 'Obtaining a yield', the garden will serve the purpose of feeding my family, providing income from herbs and extra produce grown, deepening relationships with my neighbors as they watch and interact with me as I work outside (The 12 principles of permaculture
by TIMBER PRESS on FEBRUARY 21, 2013
in DESIGN, GARDENING, HOMESTEADING, POPULAR)
The other place in my yard I am obtaining a yield is in my beehive, these guys and gals are going crazy and did a practice swarm yesterday, and had me leap into action with all my studying of bees. I did the beekeeping class through UMass and it really solidified my passion for beekeeping, I lost one of my hives over the winter, but this remaining hive survived the winter really well and literally exploded this past week with the nectar flow from the two enormous poplar trees in my yard. we have had a few storms on and off the last couple days and I learned my lesson about inspecting the hive when its overcast or a storm is approaching. However, while we were working in the front yard yesterday, Daniel, my oldest came running over to me telling me my bees were acting were and I ran back to see them swarming and heading up into a very tall Pine tree. We watched them, and I set my second hive out as a trap to hopefully get them back, but within a couple hours they were back in the hive doing their thing. The clouds. never completely cleared, but I knew I had to go in to try do a split, I had been engaging with some fellow beekeepers online, on how to best go about this. I couldn't find the queen - a literal needle in the haystack of bees, so I split off some of the beautiful queen cells, brood, royal jelly and honey, and there is some activity there today, but I will have wait a few weeks to see if I have created a new hive or killed my existing colony. My go to resource for this very practical season of beekeeping for me is Top-Bar Beekeeping by Les Crowder, it is a wonderful resource and been very helpful in helping me read the signs of a hive and learning to work with it and not against it in the most natural way. It is definitely a harder form of beekeeping for a newer beekeeper like myself, and I am still wrestling with whether or not to try a Langstroth hive and see if it is easier, as I know it probably would have been yesterday - as I could have just added another super and queen excluder.
I did end up after much careful inspection and fully clothed in my gear, with one sting, which warranted a visit to the doctor this morning for a steroid shot and some strong antihistamines, as I don't have anaphylaxis, but do get sever localized swelling, so as much as I love bees and their their importance in nature and especially my yard, with all I grow, if it becomes a life threatening issue, I sadly may have to rethink keeping bees.
My Permaculture bible verse that ties in beautifully with what I am trying to accomplish in this season of my life:
This is my permaculture Stages 1-4 design process documenting the flows and issues with my current yard, for our final project I will be completing this process and have the new garden bed included in my design.
