A surprise in our mailbox!

Yesterday, we got a pretty fantastic package in the mail. A friend of ours from NYC, Julie Simon, sent us this wonderful seed collection to start our bee garden! Check it out:

The bee garden selection we received
yesterday from Julie Simon.
What a fantastic surprise! Thank you, Julie!

What's in the collection, you ask? Here's a list of all the good stuff:

• Bird, Bee, & Butterfly Mix, which includes about 16 flower types
• Black Eyed Susans
• Sickle-Keeled Lupine
• Columbine
• California Poppy
• Rocket Larkspur
• Sweet William

We'll be planting these this weekend, so they can get growing for our little pollinators.

In other good news, I've been seeing our honey bees everywhere outside the house. I'm fairly certain they are our bees, and not a wild variety, because of their striping pattern. Moreover, I've never seen so many hovering around our house in the previous summers. So, the ladies are out and about, which means it's warm enough and the nectar has started flowing.



Rainy in the Panhandle...what's a girl to do?

It's been raining here in the northern panhandle fairly regularly every afternoon. Right now, there's very little productive outdoor work possible. Here's what it looks like from my kitchen window....

Our garden, soggy from all the rain,
through the kitchen window.

What's a Farm Girl to Do on a rainy day? Well, cook of course! Thirty-minute meals? Bah. This will take you fifteen, tops.



Step 1: Put olive oil, washed button
mushrooms, salt, pepper, and a little
water in your skillet. Put a lid on it.

Step 2: To the cooked down mushrooms
and remaining water, I added Hoisin sauce,
an Asian-style plum-based condiment.

Step 3: I added chicken that I'd cooked,
sliced, and froze.This speeds up the process
a bit. What's in the jar? Ginger root!
I grated some over the chicken and mushroom
to enhance the Asian flavor. The root itself
is in a cooking sherry to preserve it. 



The finished product, with a side salad!
Mmmm...blue cheese dressing.




Checking on the Bees -- Some Photos

We received bees on Tuesday, and Glenn, Michael and I went to check to see if the queens had been released from their cages so that they can begin laying eggs. Here's a glimpse of today's work....

Our Hives

Michael in his bee suit

Glenn in his bee suit

Glenn getting the smoker started

Taking the hive apart, so we can check on the bees.

Glenn smoking the bees while Michael
prepares to remove the feeders.

Lifting the frames.

Again, moving the frames to create the
appropriate bee-space between them.

Looking for comb

Healthy happy bees, drawing out comb.

One of our little workers.