I really wanted y’all to see this. This is a crazily drawn-out (filled with honey and capped) frame.  Two things: the color and the shape. Some of the comb is darker because the bees first used it for brood, and only after that did it became honey storage. The more comb is used, and especially when …
Author Archives: kaat
On (Not) Saving the World, One Element at a Time
(I’m thinking of this third post today as a Transitiony kind of post…) When I show people around the place, I finally (after five years) feel like it’s all coming together, and that’s because I have started thinking in terms of elements. Breaking the enormous task of creating a “sustainable place”  up into elements allows me …
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How’s the Mead Doing?
Two posts in a day! The mead’s doing well! I made two batches: one with honey from the first nectar flow (lighter colored), another, smaller batch with later honey (darker color). They’re about the same proportion water and honey – though, to be honest, I’m going the Sandor Katz-way, that is, I’m eyeballing it, adding …
Edible Mushrooms in my Garden and Neighborhood
You may remember I tried to grow King Stropheria in a bed of sawdust and leaves. Unfortunately it dried out and I never got any shrooms from it. But my mushroom adventures just began anew. I learned a while ago that a neighbor is a hobby mycologist and I expressed interest. Today she came by …
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More Fall Hive Management: Robbing honey frames and Mite Treatment
I wanted to treat my bees with formic acid against varroa and tracheal mite, but it kept being postponed. Just getting a hold of the treatment (MiteAway) was difficult. Then I had to wait for the free time and relatively warm, rainless day to do it.  Then, last week, it suddenly got colder and we even had …
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Winter Coop Prep and Eggs
We’ve not had a frost yet, but we will, this evening, and a hard one too: 28 F.  I have my thermometer out in the coop so we’ll know cold it will really get. I’ve harvested all there is to harvest, brought in all my potted plants, drained my rain barrels.  But, being a brand new …
Fire Wood and the First Fire
Ah, that first fire. Over the weekend DH and I hauled a bunch dried fire wood from the woodpile to the screened porch, and I cut up a lot of kindling. It was my first go with the small electric chainsaw that a friend gave us. It does the job! Another friend commented “My favorite …
Making Simple Mead
I started my first mead – fermented honey wine – Â today. I used my own honey, of course. This little jar was from our last extraction (09/26). All the air bubbles that were “invited” into the honey when spinning it had risen to the top, taking the wax and propolis that had hitched a ride …
Two Ferments: Sauerkraut and Comfrey Liquor
The first one is sauerkraut. It is my first deliberately fermented food. A huge cabbage head came in our CSA box a couple of weeks ago. What to do with it? As I was reading Sandor Katz’s The Art of Fermentation, I couldn’t resist. My mom and I went looking for a good crock, but all the right …
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Chicken TV
Best telly ever! Up the volume for some delish schmecking. Makes you hungry just looking at them. One missed out as she was in the nest box laying. These three didn’t leave anything for her.