Tricolor pepper harvest Fat buds and flowers on my two Sochi tea plants. Mushrooms in my schroom bed, but are they the anticipated King Stropheria? ~ I did a quick inspection of the hive today and found an amply supply of honey, nectar, and brood in all stages of development. There were lots of newly …
Author Archives: kaat
Today’s Kindling
While gathering kindling in the woods behind the house my mind turns to the future. There is enough wood that is down and dead to heat a household or two, perhaps, but not more. It could sustain many more households in kindling, but again we’re not talking of the feudal forests that could trip up …
Fall Mite Count
Again I used the sticky board to count the mites in my hive. The last time I did this was in June, and back then, after the requisite 3 days of waiting I counted 30 mites. This time I found 68. The threshold – the point at which you need to consider treatment – is …
Doll Making
Amie is getting very excited about entering Kindergarten – she has an orientation on the 7th and school starts (only!) on the 10th. But she is also getting a little apprehensive. She remembers how she was comforted by a little seal doll during her first days at her preschool, and requested a new doll that …
Riot for Austerity – Month 22
This month our household was even more in flux than in July (see this entry for all the coming and goings). In August we averaged 6 people. Last year’s averages (calculated here) are mentioned as a baseline. I use this calculator. Don’t ask me how it works, all I know is it keeps me honest. …
Pain in Its Contexts
I am growing several sweet as well as hot peppers. One evening I witnessed my Bengali family try the Habanero. Now, these are people used to hot and spicy food. At first they claimed not to be impressed with the pepper, but by some fluke they must have tried a part of it that wasn’t …
Amie’s Summer: School Work, Art Work, Play
Amie is at the moment in her tent, erected with sofa cushions and a sheet in our living room a couple of days ago. With the aid of a flashlight she reading aloud from an Usborne Farmyard Tales book. She has made strides reading. If she keeps it up, she’ll read fluently from, say, Henry …
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HONEY!
When Tom (the hive inspector) pulled out one of the frames, he said it looked like perfectly good honey and I could harvest it.There would be another flush of nectar at the end of summer, so whatever I took they would easily rebuild and refill. So yesterday I did just that. The bees only got …
Homemade Quince Atchar (Chutney)
You may remember the quinces (2 lb. 4 oz.) I was given by my friend. My MIL tasted them and after her face stopped puckering she happily concluded that we could make an Indian atchar (a kind of chutney) out of them. I cut and cored the small, hard and dry quinces – peeling them …
One Hectic Summer
Hive inspection by the county inspector That’s one whole frame full of good honey, both sides. I’ll harvest it when the rain holds up. ~ I apologize for the dearth of posts. Our household has been in such a flux and beset by crises these last few months, it has been hard to sit and …