Getting ready for spring part I

Its 50 degrees in Salt Lake and that means it’s time to start preparing for spring!  (I know it doesn’t look like spring, but there is work to do before it really gets here).

For us that means our evenings and weekends are full of preparation.  It starts with Peter feeding the bees.  By giving the hive a sugar syrup with essential oils before the flowers start the hive is able to grow faster and is prepared to really start gathering nectar and pollen as soon as the first lilacs and cherry blossoms fill our street.  We are hoping that we will be able to gather an early cherry blossom (and lilac and plum blossom) honey as well as our later wild honey this year. 

To make the syrup, boil 4 quarts of water, remove from heat and add 8 lbs of sugar, when it has reached room temperature add 2 tbs of pro health or other bee feeding supplement (these contain essential oils and smell great).  

Then put this in your top feeder, removing the ventilator.

Smokers are used to calm the bees.

 

We then remove the jacket we put over the hive to keep it warm and dry in the winter

 

Up against the tree is the hive ventilation that is used in the winter

 This is also a good time to place a pollen patty in your hive and switch the placement of the hive boxes. 

 

Pollen patties are purchased on line

 

 

 

 

 

I also began our plants inside.  For any of you looking to buy seeds, we recommend using a seed exchange instead of your local store.  Most seeds come from the same 3 companies, and many are genetically modified.  This can make it impossible to save seeds from this year’s plant for next year (they just won’t grow).  Additionally, as humans we eat and cultivate a very limited variety of each plant (3/4 of our food comes from 8 species, while we used to eat over 80,000 species), which is eliminating biodiversity causing other varieties to go extinct.  This can be particularly problematic when the environment, illness, or bugs begins causing problems for one type of plant.  Without nature’s variety it is very easy for these issues to destroy whole populations, leaving little to rebuild with (this is thought to be one of the causes of the Irish Potato Famine).  Seed exchanges allow you to contact farmers or gardeners and use their heirloom seeds for unusual breeds of plants.  Most of the seeds planted in our garden are for varieties of plants which are going extinct.  We encourage any of you who garden to join us in trying to increase the variety and sustainability of our garden plants. 

This is the time to start your peppers and eggplants.  We will be planting mostly from seeds, although our hot peppers will be purchased as plants.  I have planted indoors 2 black beauty eggplants, 2 diamond eggplants, 4 purple beauty bell peppers, 4 orange bell peppers and 4 king of the north red bell peppers.  (Yes I know the photo is boring, but in a few weeks it will be much more interesting, I hope).