Farm Blog, Winter 2013/14
January 1 - March 20
March 9 - 20
We planted some hardy cool weather seeds on the 17th. - arcadia & solstice broccoli, collards, tuscana lacomb kale, pac choy, totsoi and red ros kale in 2 in. Cow Pots that will be raised in the sun room until they are big enough to put out in the garden in May. In the hoop house garden I planted donkey spinach, jericho lettuce, a delux lettuce mix and winterbor kale directly in the soil. The hoop house is partially covered by shade cloth and completely covered by bird netting.
By the 20th the pear trees, backyard lilac and 'Gwen's Buffalo' currant, have broken their buds. The jasmine and white hyacinth are in full bloom. The yellow crocus blooms are all falling off. The tulips, daffodils, iris and daylilies are coming up very nicely.
March 3 - 8
Garden Plants - The yellow crocus are all blooming and some of the tulips, daffodils, daylilies and irises are beginning to show small shoots above the ground. There are various other smalll perennials that are also showing a little green.
The Bees- Bees from all three hives are out and looking for whatever they can find. I think mainly water and some pollen from the crocus.
February 3 - March 2
All of the garden plants and fruit trees are still dormant except for the Hardy Winter Jasmine that blooms in late February every year. We are having more days in the 40s and 50s now, so the bees in all three hives are coming out more often for water. I went into all of the hives to check for honey supplies and found them all to have plenty left until spring. I did replace the styrofoam covers, since we will still have some cold and windy days and nights.
January 1 - February 2
The fruit trees and garden plants are all dormant. The snow has not all melted off and there is quite a bit in some parts of the farm. The bees in all three of the hives are out on days when the temperature gets into the low 50s. They seem to come out and fly around the hive entrance and are even seen as far as the pond garden, although the pond is frozen over until later in the day.