Holiday Weekend chores-Weed the herb and flower garden...

Lupine looking fantastic in yesterdays fog.

We also planted some new baby plants. This little kitchen garden is perfect for cutting some parsley to freshen a homemade soup after its cooked, or adding herbs to sauces or meats. Its rocky well drained soil that the Mediterranean plants love. Plants that are coming back are Lavender, Sage, Thyme, Oregano, Echinacea, and annuals already planted are Basil, Parsley, Cilantro, and Fennel. After we weeded we added Chamomile, Sweet Annie, Black Eyed Susan, Cosmos, and Alyssum. The herbs are in this corner garden and some flowers are also with more on the other side of the bench and stone wall. The tree is a Redbud and it flowered this year for the first time.

Holiday Weekend chores-boats

At the boatyard we checked on the boat to see if it was dry in the rain and did some cleaning. This clover was blooming with raindrops nearby.

A foggy day it had become, so we walked to the water to check it out.

Checking in with Bees

The hive entrance...

a closer looked showed them coming and going, some with pollen.

Inside they were busy working and full. I came back with an honey super to give them more space.

And inside the split they were happy and busy but Queenless. Hopefully its too soon to worry about that.

May on Ivory Silo Farm

Just Before the Big Bang

Wood

End of the Day

Plant Sale This and Next Weekend at Ivory Silo Farm!

Plant Sale at Ivory Silo Farm is happening today and next weekend. Check out the Ivory Silo Project Facebook page for more information.

Herbs, Flowers, and Veggies from Bill's own seed and trusted sources!

Daily Harvest: Asparagus Mushrooms and Rhubarb!

Reaching like trees

We weeded the asparagus and let the guests pick it right before dinner.

So fresh and delicious. Grilled?

We also harvested Shiitake Mushrooms again.

And we bought fiddlehead ferns because we can only get them for a short time and the ones on the farm are NOT edible.

We also picked Rhubarb and Rhubarb Flowers for dessert and to decorate our table.
Paired with Strawberries frozen last year-since its too early for this years crop. It did get a top crust and was super delicious. The rhubarb was soaked for 15 minutes in sugar instead of boiled.

Spring Dessert: Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Spring Dinner: Grilled asparagus, sauteed fiddlehead ferns, and beef with Shiitake mushroom sauce.

Working with hard working Bees

Honey Bee Forager

We see them out and about everywhere now,

as well as working at the hive entrance where I try to glean as much information as I can about whats happening inside the hive. This is Tony's hive and he goes inside the hive to see how his bees are doing.

5 Boxes full of bees. He wanted to do a split today so I suited up with him. We went into every box and examined every frame. We were looking for the queen, queen cells, drone cells, eggs, larvae, and examining the laying pattern.
In the middle with bees swarming all around me I realized that my hood was half way unzipped. I very slowly and carefully closed it, but soon after sensed a bee inside with me. I walked away from the hive slowly. When all the bees buzzing around my veil left I knew I was right. There was one mad bee still buzzing because she was trapped. Miraculously I was able to unzip and take off the hood without her stinging me. I felt very Lucky.
There were plenty of drone and queen cells in this hive. Tony chose 3 frames to take out. One with brood and queen cells, one with brood and honey, and one with honey. We put them in a new hive box with a few frames with cells and empty frames.

I fed them later some of last falls honey. They were inside hopefully cozy hopefully having what they need to hatch a new queen and start a new hive. I am not convinced this small split will prevent Tony's bees from swarming, but we shall see.

Daily Harvest -spring! Shiitake

In the woods this day in May

we were pleasantly surprised with a crop of Shiitake doing well from last years plugging.

An the seeds of ideas for dinner were sown.

Spring Greens with herbs, Baked Cod, topped with Shitake Parmesan Rosemary sauce.

And Dandelion Petal Cookies for dessert.

Daily Harvest-Spring! Dandelions

How can anyone pass up this treat? Not only is this color incredible, but the nourishment in this whole plant is really super food status. Dandelion greens are best before the plant flowers, so now is the time to use these vibrant petals. (Flowers? I use the petals because the greens are bitter, but the petals have a very subtle flavor that I chose for dessert, and wine.) One of these becomes...

One of these, and then there is a days work still ahead of me creating...

A bunch of jars of these. 1 cup I used to make these...

Dandelion Petal Cookies! For dessert, or rather tomorrows breakfast, because after our hearty meal...and these to me are a nourishing breakfast sweetened only with coconut palm and maple syrup.
See last years Post May 18 2015 on how I took only the petals from the flowers and made the wine and cookies.
I am trying to make the wine as last without brewers or bakers yeast. But this year with half the petals I am not using honey. I want to see if I can start a ferment with the petals and sugar. I will blog about that in future as things progress positively or negatively. These are very small batches for experimentation, started with a Sun Tea like last year. I do not want to kill any bacteria with boiling water. Wish me Luck.

New workers: Pigs!

We are housing these sweet creatures for a mutual purpose. They need a place to graze and we like the way they till and fertilize the fields as they eat!

Check out the earth. How efficient they are.