What we learned from our garden this year.

Watermelon take a long time to ripen.  The stem falls off when ready.  Needs lots of space.
All plants grow well in compost.
Spray for squash bugs early on.  They come back.
Peas need staking early on.
Stake squash.
Harvest continually.  Particularly the snow peas.
Check every other day for problems.
Drip line needs to on top of ground to be effective.
Peaches, apricots and raspberries need lots of water.
Thin peaches and apricots when they are 2 inches in diameter.
Harvest peaches before the bugs and birds get them and let them ripen on the counter.
Harvest swiss chard young.
Plant catalop, watermelon, spinach, cucumber, carrots, peas and tomatoes.

Bear Lake Vacation

Old House on Bear Lake

Overlooking Bear Lake

Tony Lake

Tony Lake

Apricot Jam

Bees

Brother Clark in our ward posted on Facebook that they had a bunch of bees in their tree which were up for grabs.  I emailed him I was on my way and quickly looked at a YouTube video on how to get them into the hive.  A few thousand bees and a queen is worth about $150. He mowed his lawn at 1:00 pm and there were no bees but by 4 there was a large swarm in the crook of a tree which was about 9 feet tall.  The bees were 7 feet up in a ball about the size of a small watermelon.  I already had a hive in my garage but figured it was too late in the season to order my bees. 

Standing under the tree,  I held the hive up to the bottom of the ball while Bro Clark pushed the bees into the box with a broom.  That made them a little mad.  I realized I couldn’t get the ball completely into the box with the broom so I put on gloves and pushed them down into the hive with my hand.  This really got them excited and some now searched us out to sting us.  I got stung on the right arm once.  My friend moved back and avoided getting stung.  We sat the hive on the ground so other bees could join the queen and a few hundred bees in the box.  I put the top on the box, put it into my trunk and took them home and placed them on a rock.  I went back a day later to the tree and saw maybe 50 bees swarming around the tree looking for the queen but no ball.

When I got home a bunch of bees tried to get into the hive by sitting on the outside of the box but most were inside.  Some bees put their little butts in the air and did a dance.  They were releasing pheromones to let other bees wandering around know the entrance to the queen.

Back to Eden

The system is pretty simple.  You lay down cardboard over weeds, junk grass and anything else you don't want to deal with.  You put clean compost over the cardboard.  Over time the weeds die underneath the cardboard and eventually the cardboard turns into good earth.  By that time all weeds are dead.  When new weeds blow in, as they will, you simply pluck them out because their little roots don't have a lot to hold them in place.  It is what happens in nature.

 









  

Carol

Carol Gardiner quotes:
"Kent you never age."
"Don't get old.  You will hate it."

Bob Layton comes to visit