Just for my own satisfaction (sanity?), a reckoning of the elements in place or about to be in place here at Robin Hill Gardens: Veg gardens, all grown from seed (reasonable harvests, gardener needs more experience) Hoop house (12’x20′) Solar PV array (5.1 Kw – supplies 100% of electricity) Medicinal herb garden (minimal, needs more …
Author Archives: kaat
Of the Bees and the Birds in My Garden
Honey bee on Echinacea Humming bird drinking nectar from the Bee balm Humming bird drinking nectar from the Bee balm (messy hoop house in the background)
The First One of the Season
Always a first.
Compost!
All this out of one of my four compost bin, and it was only 1/4 full. I spread the wealth around the garden, then watered it in with (almost) the last of the rain water. Gotta make work of those 275 gallon toters. Oh but for a pickup truck or a trailer!
Blow Your Mind on a Muffin
Browsing through old photos I found this one, from December last year. We got the muffin on the plane to Belgium. Notice how only the wholesome ingredients are circled and then the word “natural”. It was supposed to be a muffin,  though by my definition it was a pharmaceutical factory, or any number of other things …
Riot for Austerity – June 2012 – Month 44
Here it is, the Riot for the month of June of 2012 for the three of us. My summary of our first three years is here. Edson fixed the calculator: all go tither to crunch those numbers! Gasoline.  Calculated per person. 16.35 gallons per person 39.8 % of the US National Average Electricity. This is reckoned per household, …
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Honey!
Yesterday I put the newly made honey supers (painted blue) onto the hives. Right on time for the one in the middle (H3): the honey super already on it (third box) was filled, frame to frame, inch for inch. Some of the outer frames just needed capping, so I left it for a couple more …
Solar Surplus Countdown!
We figured we need to overproduce (produce more than we consume) about 100 solar KwH by August 13th, which will be a year from when our solar system was connected to the grid and we started producing. If we make it, we’ll have broken even. It will be a challenge, since as of next week our …
Building Your Own Hives or Buying a Kit?
Today we built the last five hive bodies: five medium supers (cf. building the hive boxes and building the frames). I just need to assemble the frames and they’ll go onto the hives and collect honey. Finally, after two dry years, I will have honey, because the bee season and the honey flow so far have been …
One Element at a Time
Two elements in this image, actually. One of which we set in motion a couple of months ago, and one that I just strung. We had a clothesline until two winters ago, but the trees it was under leafed out so much it stopped being a very good spot: too much shade, too much stuff …