Dreams to reality…

All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.
Walt Disney
I’ve had a vision for a long time of how I wanted the pond area to look, getting it from in my mind to reality isn’t an easy task, I’m only one girl trying to create a gardener’s paradise.  I’ve still got a long way to go, but it’s getting closer and with each plant I place, each weed I pull, each change I make I can see my dream coming to fruition..


Now the area behind the pond where the deer fence is going, is starting to take shape AND I even started planting in there! 



Now to get that fence ordered installed and the rest of the bittersweet pulled out…I can see it, I really can!

Woodland Wonder

Compromise - something intermediate between different things..
So I have a dream of what things are supposed to look like in my gardens, I can see it in my head.  If you are a gardener, or creative, or maybe just have a vivid imagination you know what I mean.
For me though, reality is a big brown mammal with a voracious appetite for a lot of the plants I want to grow.  While I don’t mind sharing my home with all of the animals that live here with me (ok I could totally do without ticks, mosquitos, gnats and stinkbugs) I do find it very frustrating trying to bring my vision to life when someone keeps eating it.  So if I can’t turn my entire property into that dream woodland escape, I’ll have to settle for a portion of it being done that way!

So you are looking at this going, what the heck does the pond have to do with a woodland.  Well nothing and everything!  See the pond makes for a nice break on this side of the yard, almost like a moat and behind that is a nice area of woods, with rich loamy soil, some native wildflowers like mayapples and jack-in-the-pulpits and some lovely native shrubs like maple leaf viburnum and redbuds. 

I had intended all along on landscaping the area behind the pond heavily to make it a cool place on a hot summer day, but then it occurred to me that since it wasn’t practical to fence in the majority of the yard (and oh how I would LOVE to!) it would be practical to fence in a small section!  So I walked off an area (and have done that three times now) that we are going to install deer fence around.  There is an old cedar tree in the middle of this area, it needs some limbs pruned and there is a pine that needs to come down as it’s leaning into that cedar, but besides that, nothing major needs to be done.  Well major as in something I can’t do, there is a MAJOR amount of bittersweet and wineberry that must be removed by hand.

I started that process last weekend.  It’s tedious work for sure, but it comes up pretty easily, I just have to be careful so as not to rip out a wild trillium or any other natives.  Sadly (and I am sad as I thought it was native at first) the evergreen shrubs that I was planning to leave are invasives from Japan so they must go.  I’m keeping all the old logs that are in place and will use them as focal spots for ferns. 

I love brush piles because they provide needed space and habitat for sooo many animals but this one is going to have to go or at least part of it is.  We are going to chip it up and I’ll use those wood chips for the path in my woodland sanctuary.  The problem is it got unruly and it’s more long and flat and spreads into the small space I want to utilize.   Not to worry though we started another one around back and there are evergreens in the queue!
The list of plants that I’m transplanting to this area isn’t that big, the problem is that the plants are spread all over the yard.  One step at a time though, pull out weeds, chip up brush, mulch up leaves, then plant, plant, plant.  Wonder how long it’s going to take me???

Dreams and Reality Mixed…

Conversion – change in character, form or function..
I want need my own gardening space.  Ideally it would be something like this,

It would be nestled back near the apiary, clean and tidy and all mine!
Reality check, it isn’t going to happen, so a girl has to settle for something a little less, but I couldn’t bring myself to spend money on a plastic shed that just wasn’t even close to what I liked.  So, what to do, what to do???
Convert the space under the sunroom to something functional for me!  When I first suggested this to Randy, he looked at me like I had just landed from another planet.  Typically most of my bright ideas are met with that look!   After some thought he said he thought that was a good idea and he suggested some additional upgrades.
We started by cleaning out all the junk that was under there, he’s been storing all the scraps and bits of wood and what not from the basement cleanout.  Then we went to work!

We put up that white lattice to act as a break between the two sides and we are going to put some trim along the bottom as well.  We moved the plastic shed (we’ve had that since we got married lol) to the pad the hot tub stuff was once on.  That shed is used to house the pond supplies (pots, gloves, filters, etc.)
We are going to paint the block wall and the ‘ceiling’ white to brighten it up even more plus some more hooks and shelves.

The trash can is full of potting soil.  I used to hooks on the post for my plant hoops.  I used my tomato cages temporarily to sort all my garden stakes in.  I either want flue tiles or some pvc pipe sections those things are like wire hangers when stored together!

This stuff still needs to be organized, it’s my flower pots and containers and right now they are on my old mini green house frame.  My carts, need a parking space too and I need a couple of hooks to hang my trugs from.  All in all it’s not too bad of a space and even though it’s not my dream shed, at least it’s a space of my own..  Now where can I put a work table….

Welcome to Pooh Corner!

Oh I wouldn't climb this tree
If a Pooh flew like a bee
But I wouldn't be a bear then
So I guess I wouldn't care then
Bears love honey and I'm a Pooh bear
So I do care, so I'll climb there
I'm so rumbly in my tumbly
Time for something sweet…
While we will never be “A Hundred Acre Wood”, we can have a Pooh Corner.  In which we will find “Mr. Sander’s” house and “Trespassers William’s” 

Yes I’m naming my apiary after Winnie the Pooh, Pooh loved honey which meant he loved honey bees and I love Pooh bear and honey bees so it makes perfect sense. 
This is the future site of “The Chestnuts”

And if you don’t know what any of those names mean, you need to start with The House at Pooh Corner by A. A. Milne..

Apartment for Rent..

Originally this little darling was going to be a bait hive.

It’s a five frame medium Nuc box but…plans have changed. I now want to build two bait hives that will take top bars.  My idea is to use some of the comb from my last hive to bait the box, along with a swarm lure and if all goes buzzingly, I’ll have some free-bees to put into the newly modified top bar hive.  Now you may ask yourself why I would want to do that, so I’ll tell you!
Bees are getting harder and harder to get, you have to order your bees in the winter and because demanding is increasing, so has the price.  There is also the belief that bees that have swarmed are the cream of the hive.  They are coming most likely from a hive that has survived the winter, built up fast and decided that they need to move out!  My goal is to get some apartments up for them to move in to, you know the pre-furnished kind that scream if you lived here you’d already be home!  
So what happens to my five frame Nuc, well it’s still useful and who knows it may still end up as a bait hive!  In any event I’ll post pictures as soon as we get the bait hives built!

Top Bar Hive Redo..

In which we have new legs..

A repaired window..

A screen in the bottom..

An adjustable bottom board…

Two custom supers…
Still more to come!

Foundationless..

So while I or rather we are using Langs this year (we because if Randy wasn’t helping it wouldn’t be happening) I’m still not using foundation.  After much research, I decided to use the wedge from the frame as my comb guide.

So here’s the frame, looks just like a medium Lang should.

Here’s the wedge put in place to be used as a comb guide.  According to what I’ve read (wonder if the bees read the same stuff??) this will be enough to get them to draw straight comb on the frame, let’s hope so because I’m incredibly anti-foundation.  I don’t want plastic in my hive, I don’t trust the wax from commercial sources as being clean and pure, so what’s a beek to do if this doesn’t work?
I have no idea!