Bee Box Bonanza

After you have your "code signs" memorized, you will want to get your bee boxes ready.

Bee boxes should be white or a light pastel color. Darker colors attract too much heat. We wanted a nice clean white. Brother B suggested using Bher exterior paint because it is durable.  We recommend painting your bee boxes before the day you pick up your bees. (I would NEVER procrastinate like that) Okay, maybe I did, but I've been really super busy.

 Choose the location for your bees. Really think about where you want it, because is is not recommended to move the hive once the bees are in. We wanted the entrance to face the east because we get the least amount of wind from that direction. 

We were constantly referring to the book, 'Bee Keeping For Dummies' as we were setting this up. We raised our hive up on cinder blocks to help keep moisture out.

Next, scream as loud as you can when you find a snake right next to your bee box.

After that watch as your husband has to pretend that he is Steve Irwin

Then as it slithers under the fence to the neighbors yard, yell, "AND STAY OUT!"

Then calmly explain to the children that they are much more afraid of us that we are of them while deep down you know that you are WAY more afraid of them than they are of me.

~marisa

First Order of Business When You Get Bees

In preparation for getting our bees, Michael and I decided that we needed to come up with a form of non-verbal communication in case one of us gets stung and can't speak. If you have bees, or are thinking about getting bees, you may want to  think about adopting some of our "sign language."

Aghhh! I just got stung!
 No action is necessary after this sign. A sympathetic face and restraint from laughing is all that is advised.

 Run for your life!
Action advised: RUN!

I'm going into Anaphylactic shock!
When you see this sign, call 911 immediately. 

You are too late!

Feel free to print off these images and study them before you get your bees. Make sure everyone is clear on the signs. We will be quizzing our children on them.

We will have more articles on bees this week!

~marisa

Happy Mother's Day 2011

Happy Mother's day to all the women out there. Watch this entertaining and touching video about a Silkie chicken that had a strong desire to become a mom. It's a great true story from the movie "The Natural History of Chickens".



~Michael

Of Pasture Walks and Garden Walks, Part 1

By uncle Dale

We have just finished a pasture walk and I am eating lunch with nine dairy farmers and our County Extension Agent on the veranda of Myron & Janet Martin’s home at Peace Hollow dairy farm in western Maryland. Janet brings us steaming macaroni and cheese casserole, homemade sweet pickles, freshly baked whole wheat roles, and savory butter. It is all delicious. Janet knows what I like and sets a tall mug of ice cold raw milk in front of me. I am in heaven.

  The entrance to Peace Hollow Farm in western Maryland. In the background is a Mennonite church built on land donated by Myron’s father.

 One of the joys of my job is pasture walks. Groups of farmers meet at each other’s farms to walk the pastures, look at the dairy cows and facilities and offer suggestions on how to improve production methods. After the pasture walk we have lunch, where I present economic information from my research at the University of Maryland. 

I have known the farmers sitting around me for years. They are the salt of the earth, as good a people as you will ever meet. They all have strong families. They are all devout Christians from various denominations. They all have an intense desire to use the resources God has given them to produce high quality milk while protecting the environment. This is evidenced in the prayers that begin each pasture walk. 

Sometimes I wish we could turn back the clock 50 years when this culture was common and not just isolated pockets in the vast landscape of metropolises and industrial agriculture.

  Myself (left), Myron Martin (middle), and Ron Holter (right). 

Myron and Ron both produce milk for the Organic Valley milk cooperative. This nationwide company is the real deal. It is a cooperative of small family farms like Martins and Holters who really care about their customers. Ron serves on the Northeast Educational Board of the company. Try their drinkable yogurt. It is incredible. Click here to get coupons.  

Reader Question: Strawberry Thieves

Question: I'd like some advice on maintaining a berry patch that doesn't get nibbled on in the middle of the night by rodents! It seems like those critters come along and ruin every ripe berry before I can get to it! It's maddening! Aside from covering the entire plot in netting do you do anything to protect those precious berries?


Answer: We have never had issues with rodents in our strawberry patches. Birds seem to be the main culprit in our garden. We use netting to keep the birds at bay and I wonder if this might help with strawberries.


Luckily we have a large group of readers that have probably had the same problem. If you have had rodent problems with your strawberries, what have you done to keep them away from your strawberries.

~ Michael

Excellent Adventures in Backyard Farming

Have you seen the famous B movie Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. It is the true story (maybe not true) about 2 high school metalheads that are the epitome of pathetic. They get a visit from Rufus, a man from the future, that tells them that if they don't pass their history class, they will not go on to form the music that is the basis for a future Utopian society and the earth will be doomed. They then travel through time to prepare for the best history presentation ever. Don't worry if you haven't seen the movie, the point is Bill and Ted are slackers that go on to do great things. Much like Bill and Ted we found out recently that our soil is pretty pathetic as well.

You might ask how how we know that we have sub par soil? We took our soil into our local extension recently and we found out what we already expected. Our soil is pathetic, lazy and vile. It is very alkaline, and there are extremely low levels of Nitrogen and phosphorous.  For more information on soil testing got to this link and read the PDF articles entitled Why should I test my soil and Soil testing guide for home gardeners.


It was not a huge surprise that our soil is the equivalent to a high school version of Bill and Ted. We have talked to other gardeners in our area and they have warned us that it will take some work to get the soil up to par. The long term remedy to all of our problems is compost, compost, compost. Many of the gardeners around here use mink manure compost for their gardens.

As I researched using mink manure, I found that it is high in phosphorus and nitrogen, both of which our soil is in need of. We paid someone to bring us 7 square yards of manure that had been composted for more than 3 years with pine shavings. They dumped it in a pile on our property (see picture on left). Not only does the manure add the needed nutrients, the composted pine is supposed to reduce our soil alkalinity as well. Who knows, maybe one day our slacker, good for nothing soil might actually make something of itself.



In a future article we will show you how we prepared our first garden plot. Until then, give us feedback on what do you use to improve your garden soil?

Be excellent to each other, and party on dudes.

~Michael

Raw Milk Espionage

This article is an exercise in sarcasm. If you prefer non sarcastic articles read more about raw milk here, here, and here.

In what is assumed to be an extremely expensive operation, The Washington Times reported that the FDA was successful in rooting out evil Amish Farmers. Thankfully, federal taxpayers money was used to fund the mission of eradicating the scourge that continues to try to sell raw milk to educated adults. Some of the heroic FDA agents signed up more than a year ago to participate in raw milk clubs and groups. Then they used all of the surreptitious spy skills they learned from watching Jason Bourne to carefully infiltrate the vile raw milk community. Thanks to the great work of these great people, the FDA has filed a 10 page document with Pennsylvania courts seeking an order to stop the farm from shipping across state lines.
I for one am thrilled at this news. I dream of a day when I can walk down the streets of our great cities without seeing rampant raw milk abuse that is so prevalent today. I look forward to a time where I can stop locking my house because I am scared that a raw milk junkie might break in to my fridge to get their fix. Think about how much happier our children will be without the peer pressure of other kids trying to get them to try their first unpasteurized drink. Thank you FDA, your efforts bring a tear to my eye.

This part of the article marks the end of sarcasm.

I know that there are a lot of debates about the health benefits, or heatlth hazards of drinking raw milk. Let's assume that raw milk is terrible for you and perhaps in rare cases it can kill you. If you are a capable adult, why does the FDA feel the need to protect us. It doesn't protect us from tobacco. I think that we should be free to choose whether or not we ingest tobacco. However, if the FDA feels like they need to protect us from raw milk, why do they let so many people die the slow tragic deaths caused by cancer from tobacco use. Why do they give us freedom to choose on one case, and then protect us in the other, when they should let adults make their own informed decisions. What is the answer? There has to be a reason right? My vote is money, what's yours?

~Michael