Stove Top Popcorn

Lately my new thing has been making stove top popcorn.  I've never made stove top popcorn before and had no desire to.  That was until our nephew, a boy scout, was selling popcorn this fall.  Of course being a good aunt and uncle we had to buy some.  That was until I saw the order form and prices.  A box of microwave popcorn was $20 and the tins of the caramel covered stuff was around $30.  Being that we don't really ever eat popcorn, $20 for a box of 4-5 fake butter drowned microwave bags seemed outlandish.  So we bought the bag of popcorn kernels for $10.

When we got the popcorn it went into the pantry and has sat there since I had no idea what to do with a bag of kernels.  Growing up we had an air popper and I loved putting the butter in the top cup and watching it melt from the heat of the popping.  Then came microwave popcorn and the air popper I am sure got tossed along the way.  I wasn't about to buy a piece of equipment for one bag of popcorn kernels.  So last night after months of the bag staring at me every time I opened our pantry I decided to break down and learn how  to make popcorn on the stove top.  It turns out it's actually not difficult and dare I say better than the microwave stuff.  In the past 24 hours I have made two batches and am tempted to make more.

Peonies

The peonies are finally beginning to come in which always makes me smile!

Garlic

Seeing something green growing in the garden while I am waiting for everything else to come in helps to make the spring garden feel alive.

Trouble with Wildlife

This was the lettuce bed early Friday evening after planting.  We have had bad luck with lettuce the last few years.  This year I sowed the seeds a bit more thinly than in the past.  I didn't spend too much time because we have had such bad luck when I have taken much care I figured this year if I didn't worry about it too much maybe we will get a good lettuce harvest again.  But at the same time I tried to space the rows appropriately, spread the seeds and covered carefully with a thin layer of compost and manure.

When we returned on Sunday afternoon this was the bed trampled by some sort of animal.  It seems that it might have been a deer but it's hard to tell, the tracks weren't clear.  Of course it could have been an overzealous squirrel too.

It seems that at least once a year after planting seeds one of my beds gets trampled by the local wildlife.  I attempted to gently move the soil back how it was, but we will have to see how badly the planted seeds were displaced once they start coming in.

Harvest

These were the final few carrots left from last year's fall plantings that I dug up when I cleaned out the garden on Friday.  They aren't pretty but they are super sweet and delicious, I will definitely be planting Napoli carrots again this year.

Mistaken

With my rush to get garden work done I also wanted to get into the hive to check on the ladies and give them some food if need be.  When I got inside I found a dead hive.  We were mistaken that the hive might be alive, it must have been other nearby bees robbing our dead hive of it's honey that we mistook for life from within our hive.

It was really disappointing to find this.  I had hoped that the activity we saw outside the hive was the signs of success, but it wasn't.  I tested a few frames by sticking a toothpick into the remnants of the honeycomb cells.  Thankfully I did not find goopy, rope like strands when I pulled the toothpicks out, a sure sign of American Foul Brood.  Instead it seems that everything left behind is old packed pollen.

Empty hive bodies on the lawn is not a welcome sight to a beekeeper.  The honey supers still looked good but all of the brood chambers looked dark and dirty.  So I am going to strip out all the comb and foundation, scrap and scrub them clean and then pop in new foundation.

Below you can see a dark spot that does not look like a bee (or the dead wasp you also see that got into our hive) is a small hive beetle.  I saw at least five on the screened bottom board.  The small hive beetle is one of the newer pests that plague honey bees.  They could have definitely contributed to the death of our hive.  It might be time to rethink some of our hive management procedures.

Garden Work Has Begun!

Today the weather was warm enough that I was able to get outside and do some work.  Work that was LONG over due!  It was a rush to get things done since we're going to be gone over the Easter weekend and when we return it should be raining.  Here are the garden beds at the beginning of the day after a long winter without any work.

This is what I accomplished today:

*clean the straw and leaves off the beds

*pull plants that finally gave out over the winter and harvest any left over roots.

*prune back perennial herbs.

*amend beds that were going to receive seeds.

*turn over/loosen soil in the in-ground bed.

*Finally created draft garden plans so I could figure out where to plant some of my seeds.

*planted the following seeds: peas, kale, lettuces, carrots, and radishes.

Here are what the beds look like now:

Not perfect, but immensely better.

I still need to:

*amend remaining beds.

*plant spinach and chard

*finalize garden plans for summer plant placement.

Seeing the garlic growing without the straw and the pea tepee supports in place make it really feel like the gardening season has begun.

Spring Break?

I am on Spring Break this week.  Although it should be called Winter Break #2.

This is what is looked like this time last year.

This is what this week has looked like.

We got this snow on Monday and it hung around until Tuesday.  The snow has melted over the past couple of days and the temperature today is getting up to the low 50s.  I am hoping that the soil won't be too soggy and I can actually get some things planted!  I am more than ready for winter to finally let go.

Bee School

Over the weekend we attended a bee school/conference for the 3rd year in a row.  We always enjoy this day because it gets us excited for the upcoming bee season.  We get to share stories and tap into other's knowledge.  There are also vendors selling all sorts of beekeeping books and tools.  This year we finally invested in a full beekeeping suit.  We bought one that will make sure to fit both of us and I feel like a huge marshmallow in it but I won't be worried about a bee finding an opening in my clothing.

Spring?

Yesterday we only reached a high of 38 degrees. A week ago I thought spring was arriving.  I was wrong.  

It's been too cold and wet to get any seeds in the ground.  I am hoping to get some in next week!

Signs of Spring

The garlic is coming in through the straw and the chives have already started new growth.

Overwintered Hive?

Could it be that we actually overwintered a hive, even without medicating or really trying?  On Sunday when the temps hit over 60 degrees I was surprised by the amount of activity that was coming in and out of the hive.  I thought they might have died but Andy was convinced they were still alive.  It looks like he is right or there are a lot of bees robbing our hive of it's honey.  We definitely need to get in there asap and find out what is going on.

Arrived

All my seeds have arrived.  I am hoping to get lettuces, greens and peas in the ground this weekend.  But I don't have a garden plan yet.  I really need to sit down and figure out where I want everything to go in this year's garden before I can put a seed in the soil.

Spring Is In The Air

This is what the garden looked like on Wednesday when we had a snow day.

Seeing this gal collecting pollen as I walked around without a coat today put a smile on my face that Spring has arrived.

Finally

Over the past week I inventoried my seeds, cleaned out old seeds, compiled a list of what I needed, scoured catalogs and finally placed some orders.  I placed orders with Pinetree, High Mowing and Johhny's.  I wish I could find everything I need in one catalog to save on shipping costs but then again I like supporting more than one of my favorite catalogs.

I ordered a bunch of lettuce seeds with high hopes but the order might prove to be foolish since the past couple of years I seem to be the only person on the planet who has a hard time growing lettuce.  I ordered a few of my favorites that needed refilling (Napoli carrots, Lacinto Kale etc..) and a few other items for fun just to try ("watermelon" radishes and such).  I am looking forward to the arrival of my seed packages, it means the possibilities of a new garden are around the corner!

Harvest

Last week the ground was finally dry enough to dig up some carrots and parsnips.  I have been harvesting a little at a time because I am curious to see how well certain items will keep in the ground.  The Napoli carrots are doing great and super sweet.  I have left a few in the ground to continue to test them.  The parsnips are OK, the cores are very woody and they should have been pulled awhile ago.  The leeks unfortunately did not make it through the deep freeze and snows, they are still standing but beginning to break down.

Super Late

I should have ordered seeds weeks ago.  But life and work have put my gardening plans on the back burner.  I am hoping to use this long President's Day weekend to inventory my seeds, finish going through catalogs and finally put in my orders.  The first seeds are going to need to go in the ground in about a month!

Roasted Chicken

When the weather is as cold as it has been nothing is better than warming up the house with a roasted chicken for a winter meal.  Of course I also made a good amount of stock from the carcass too.

Cardinals

At the Cincinnati Nature Center, where we went on our hike, they have an area set up as a bird preserve with numerous bird feeders.  We were surprised to see so many Cardinals.  Against the white snow all the brightly colored birds were beautiful.

Snowy Hike

Not much has been going on in our world other than work and living the routines of life.  After the recent warm up we had it then quickly got cold again and we got a light snow.  We decided it was the perfect weather for a snowy winter hike.