Honey Bees

Beekeeping is sweet. Twenty years ago, we had up to 10 hobby hives at one time. Back then we got started with bees by capturing free swarms to start our hives. We are planning to work with bees again, a first for our northern homestead. So we revive the hobby again. Double sweet.

The process of working with animals is fascinating. We enjoyed searching out the queen bee and watching the entire colony interactions. We even created an observation hive, a three frame hive in our dining room. It was glassed on both sides, and one frame thick, so you could easily watch the bees and the queen.


2012 Experience

Today (April 24) we installed our bees, and they are doing great. The weather was sunny and temps in the lower 60's. We got a call at 7 am that the truck was 30 mins out, and to meet them at our pickup location. We got there just before the box truck pulling a trailer eased in behind us. They had driven non-stop from Florida and the vehicle was packed full of bees. Our stop was the fourth for them, and they had two more to go.

We had ordered 2 nucs, and they were at the top of the stack. The rest were packages of bees in the load. We helped them unload the 50 packages for this dropoff location, and then gently headed home with 50,000 girls in the back seat.

Two boys watching the bees. How fun!

Normally when you install a package of bees, they are calm, as they do not have a "hive" to protect. They are just happy to get out of the box and into a normal hive. I found that installing a nuc is not the same. I spritzed them with sugar water, but in retrospect I think some smoke would have been better. The 5 frames of the nuc came out ok with a frame extractor, and I was careful to not roll and kill the bees as I extracted the frames and installed them into their new home. You set the frame in with some space to spare, and then slide it up close to the nearby frame. We were able to locate the queen bee in both hives, so that was nice to be able to see them! The nucs have a good brood pattern, and we saw several new workers hatching out as we inspected the frames.

When the nuc box was empty of frames there remained several hundred bees hanging inside. I gave the box a rap onto the hive box to knock them out. That just made them MAD. They came out with stingers barred. I was expecting very docile behavior, but these guard bees meant serious business. They did have an active hive to defend. Within moments we were all running and wishing we had tightened down the access points of our clothing. I had bees inside my bee hat and veil, inside my shirt pockets and inside my shirt. Our dog was a victim as well. She was standing nearby and soon was a bee target, and she ran with good reason as we all retreated. The wiser, we approached the second hive with more preparation and better clothing.

One of the nucs was bulging at the seams with bees, the other was mostly full, but not crowded. As soon as we set them up the workers were out and looking for pollen and nectar. There was no wasting time looking around at the "new house." They got to work! We could see streams of bees coming in with pollen sacs on their back legs loaded with bright yellow pollen. It is fun to see them have something local to enjoy on their first day in their new home.

July 4, 2012 update: The bees have been busy! We have added a hive body a little faster than 1 per month. We are now at 4 hive bodies on each hive, and the bees are bringing in loads of nectar. We have entire hive bodies full of capped honey. In the two upper bodies on each hive, we have placed 9 frames, and spaced them evenly with a 9-frame spacer tool. This allows the bees to draw the comb out a little longer per frame. This is beneficial for honey extraction, as there are 2 less sides to uncap per hive body for the same total volume of honey obtained.

July 26, 2012 update: The bees have filled all four large hive bodies. Rather than go up and make the stack 5 bodies tall, I chose to remove some of the super honey frames, and replace them with new frames of un-drawn foundation. We have pulled 24 full sized frames, capped on both sides of honey. It is a lot of honey, and we will be extracting this first batch in a few days. The honey flow seems to be continuing even through the heat and drought. Lots of bee activity each day!

July 30, 2012 update: We extracted the honey from the 24 full sized frames using our 9 frame radial extractor, and obtained 12 gallons of honey.


Colony members

1. Queen - her primary duty is to lay eggs, around 1500 a day. She also secretes pheremones that keep the workers happy. Queen bees can live for 3-7 years. A queen will emerge from a queen cell in 16 days.
2. Drones - the drones only duty is to fly out and mate with a queen. I believe queens need only mate once. Drones take 24 days to emerge from the drone cell.
3. Workers - as the name implies, the workers do all of the work. They are non-fertile female bees and they have a very structured life from the moment they emerge from their cocoons. Throughout their life they will serve as nursery bees, construction bees, storage bees, guard bees and foraging bees. They live, on average, only 20-30 days from the time they emerge from cocoon. The time from egg to capping is 9 days, and the bee will emerge in a total of 21 days.

Hive construction

I have removed swarms from hollow logs and under houses. Bees can enter a hole and build a hive within a wall (making extraction difficult.) While bees can make their own home, it is more convenient for them to have the bee keeper construct a hive to their exact preferences. Bee hives, or boxes, have a specific size, and are slotted to hold the frames, suspended from a ledge at the top of the box. This gives the bees free access to the frames. The frames are "started" with a foundation sheet, imprinted with the honey comb pattern, and it jump starts the bees into comb production in an organized way.

Bees rear their young, and store honey and pollen in the wax comb, so it is a wonderful multipurpose structure.

I found it easier to purchase tools and hive parts and assemble the hives myself. If you have wood working tools, I don't think it would be difficult to construct the wood parts from scratch, but I would still suggest following the time proven patterns that bees prefer. If you wanted a home based business, producing hive parts could be a viable small income option.

The bee box is made of wood, painted on the outside and left bare on the inside. The bee box comes in three heights, the 12" box and the 6" super (or honey box) and I have seen reference to an even smaller height box. I used 12" boxes through out my bee system. A hive body full of honey (wood parts plus honey) can weigh 80 lbs. The 6" super would weigh in at around 40 lbs, and would be easier to lug around. My view was that if I can handle the weight, it would be half the work and parts, to use the full size or "deep" frames for both brood as well as honey production. The full sized frames yield 40-50 lbs of extracted honey per hive body or super. This yield equals 4-5 gallons of extracted honey per super.

For overwintering, a hive in the north where we live should have two deep hive boxes of honey stores, and they should be checked periodically on warm winter days to make sure they are not running low on honey. It is possible to feed your bees sugar water or sugar candy to keep them alive through the winter.


Protective clothing

You need to assume that you will be stung when working with bees. Generally they don't sting, especially if you do not rush and have a calm spirit when you work with your hives. Bees do crawl, and when they get under your clothing, it can create some excitement. As you move around, you may start to squeeze a bee, who likely was not in the best mood to begin with, resulting in a sting. Excluding the bees from clothing is a good plan. I found them rarely able to sting through denim. I would wear one pair of jeans, double socks, and rubber band the socks outside to the jean legs. Long sleeve flannel shirt, or double shirt. If it was cool I would wear a bulky sweat shirt. Their stingers are not all that long, so you just need to hold them away from your skin a bit. Bee gloves and a bee hat exclude them nicely.


Tools

• Hive tool (web order)
• Bee smoker (web order)
• Bee brush (web order)

Start up costs

It has been several years since I have worked with bees. I have kept my deep boxes, but other than that, I am basically starting over. When we moved prior, I sold all my frames and bees. My smoker was rusted through, and by bee hat and gloves destroyed by mice. I just placed my order for the needed frames and equipment, totaling around $500.00. I am planning on purchase of 2 nucleus hives at $100 each. If I was starting from scratch, I would guess it would total close to $1000. With that investment, you can start with two active hives, and grow with not much more cost up to 10 hives. In a good year, a hive could offer $400 value in honey.


Time required

Bees generally do very well just being left alone. There are some cases where it is good to know what is going on, but it does not take a lot of time to assess how the hive is doing. If the hive fills all the available space with honey and they need more space for the flow of nectar into the hive, they will prepare to swarm. If left to their own devices, they will swarm, and you will loose a strong productive hive. You would check for disease, pests, and queen cells signaling a coming swarm. A good management practice is to inspect your hives every two weeks. This should only take about 15 minutes per hive. For two hives, that could be an hour a month.

Extracting honey takes more time, but wow, you are richly paid for that time investment! With a few hives, you can definitely work with bees as a hobby. You don't have to be on a strict schedule, and they are busy working while you leave them to their own activities.


Bee Facts

• It takes 12 bees their entire lives to produce one teaspoon of honey. (web)
• A honey bee can fly up to 15 miles per hour. (web)
• A bee will visit 50 - 100 flowers per foraging flight. (web)
• Bees will visit two million flowers and fly 55,000 miles to produce one pound of honey. (web)
• Bees generally forage within 2 miles of their hive, but could travel further if needed. (web)
• A teaspoon of honey contains 22 calories (sugar = 18), and a table spoon of honey contains 64 calories (sugar = 46). (web)
• The queen will lay 1,000 - 2,000 eggs per day with warm temperatures and honey flow. (web)
• A strong hive will have 70,000 - 100,000 bees. (web)
• There are around 3,300 individuals in a pound of bees. (web)
• Bees will fly 150,000 miles, the equivalent of 6 times around the earth, to produce one pound of beeswax. (web)

Pests

Varroa mites to a bee are like fleas on a dog. Only the mites do more damage to the overall health of a hive if they get out of control. They are flat, saucer shaped red colored insects that bite under the honey bee scales. Watching the bees it is obvious that the bee is bothered by the mites presence. The bees are sometimes able to flick the mites off, and they fall to the bottom of the hive. There are screens that you can place in the bottom of the hive that will allow the mites to fall through to a sticky pad, trapping them from climbing back up to find a new bee victim, but the screen keeps the bees away from the sticky pad. Treat with 1 cup of powdered sugar all over the tops of the frames (1 cup per deep box). Perform this treatment exactly once a week for three weeks. The bees become covered with this dusty sugar, and so in an effort to clean themselves up, they also clean off the mites.

To address the tracheal mite naturally use a grease patty in the hive. Mix 2 parts powdered sugar with one part Crisco vegetable shortening. You can add a bit of honey-b-healthy or lemon grass oil extract. Compact this mixture between two sheets of wax paper to the size of a hamburger patty and lay on the top bar of each deep brood body. The grease patty cuts the tracheal mite population by disrupting the mite life cycle. It makes it more difficult to for mites to pass from older bees to younger bees either physically or by masking the scent of younger bees. It is ok to leave grease patties in the hive year round.

I once found a mouse carcass in the bottom of a hive. It appeared stung to death, and was encased in the bees propolus glue. Pests best not mess with a strong hive.

Consider working with bees. You will find is a rewarding study, and oh so sweet!


Resources

• Bee Keeping Lessons (web)
• Michigan Beekeepers (web)
• Mann Lake bee sales (web, catalog)
• Long Lane Honey Bee Farms, Fairmount, IL (web)
• Candy board instructions (pdf)
• Making Soap with Beeswax and Honey (web), Basic Soap Recipe (pdf)
• Tracheal mites info (pdf)

Blueberry Pie

Our blueberry plants are doing well. All have survived so far. I can only hope for the future to include a lot of blueberries! We picked / purchased 150 lbs this year. We froze most of them, and canned some as well. Our canning method was unique to us, being recommended by a friend. We took sterile jars, and dry packed them with fresh, cleaned blueberries. We pressed them down as much as we could to completely fill the jar, yet without smashing them. Then place the jars into the oven, and bake at 250 for 30 mins. The berries cook down inside the jars, and the end result is about 1/2 full of canned berries. The jars seal, and stay canned. It is a simple way to preserve blueberries. Sunshine says the skins of the berries are slightly more tough with this method, but the ease of processing makes the method a winner.

With fresh blueberries, I suggest you make a blueberry pie. I just did, and mmmm, good! I got this recipe from Sunshine's sister, so credits to her and thanks for the great recipes. I love crusts, and now that I have made a few pies, I know why. They are not all that healthful ;)

Crust:

mix well dry ingredients:

• 3 1/2 C white flour
• 1 1/2 t salt

mix well wet ingredients:

• 1 C oil
• 1/2 C cold water

Mix dry and wet ingredients together. Stir into dough quickly, but don't stir too much as that would make the crust tough. You want a consistent texture to the dough. Separate out 1/2 for the bottom crust, and the other half will be for the top crust. Roll out on a dough sheet, and set the pie pan on the dough, and flip it over. Remove the dough sheet. Roughly trim the excess off the pan, and settle the dough in place. Roll out the top in preparation for placement over the filling.

Filling:

6 C fresh washed blueberries

4 T corn starch

3/4 C sugar

1/8 t salt

1 T lemon juice

Place the filling in the pie pan, and place the top crust on the pie. Crimp the edges to join the top and bottom crust. Poke some decorative holes (fork pricks) into the top crust to allow steam to escape. Fashion some strips of aluminum foil to wrap around the crinkled edges of the pie (to keep them from getting over cooked.)

Bake at 400 for 45 mins. Remove the edge foil, and finish baking for 15 more minutes.

If you need any help eating the pie, just invite us over ;) Happy eating.


P.S. Apple Pie Filling:

For this fall when apples come on (we hope there are some apples that made it through the spring frosts), we suggest apple pie! Use the same crust and method. The filling directions are below. I tried it with canned chunky apples, and it was hailed a success:

5-7 large apples, or 1 1/2 Q canned

3/4 C sugar
3 T white flour, or 3 T starch
1/8 t salt
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t nutmeg (optional)

Place cut apples in the pie pan, mix ingredients over apples, and top with 1 T lemon juice.

Fruit Tree Pests

I have been told that one of the hardest areas in farming organically is fruit trees. Pests love fruit trees, and especially the developing and mature fruit. Insects and animals can pose serious challenges. Let's explore these, and suggested treatments.

Insects

A relative has in the past had extensive damage from several insects in his orchard. He has developed some creative solutions. He uses an electric zapper with two types of light source (florescent and incandescent.) Below the zapper he places a small wading pool of water, and wets the water with a detergent. In his experience, many moths and insects will be attracted and stunned, but not be killed. When stunned, the insect will fall to the ground, and with the wading pool below the moth kill is dramatically increased. Helpful insects are not strongly attracted to the zapper, while moths are strongly attracted. Moth pupae are damaging to many crops on the homestead. One person told me they could not think of a beneficial moth-- all are destructive to something. They love to fly at night, and if you have electricity, you can zap / drown a lot of them.

Another promising control measure is a clay product called Surround. It coats the tree and fruit in such a way as to confuse insects and camouflage the fruit which limits infestations. This product can be washed off with rain, and has to be applied weekly.

Peach Tree Borer

Traps can indicate the presence of adult moths, and once present, you will soon have eggs on the lower part of your peach trees. The eggs hatch in 7 days, and the larvae descend to ground level and burrow into the bark. Control measures applied to the tree need to be precisely timed to catch the eggs or larva before penetration below the bark.

Some farmers are convinced that the bug zapper has eliminated the peach tree borer damage. This moth is active in the day, but I have read reports that they mate at night, and therefore would be susceptible to the bug zapper.

• CO State University Fact Sheet (web)
• Peach Tree Borer trap and lure (web order)

Plum Curculio

This small snout beetle, 1/4 inch long, dark brown in color with patches of white or gray, lays its eggs on developing fruit, and the larva will burrow in and often destroy the fruit. Home gardeners can help reduce future problems from the Curculio by picking up the damaged apples as they fall off the tree and destroying them before the adults emerge. In apples, the larvae will only complete development in fruit drops.

• Fact Sheet (web)
• Fact Sheet (web)

Animals

Birds can quickly ruin a crop of mature fruit. I have a friend who watched a bird go from peach to peach throughout an entire tree taking one gouging bite from each nearly mature peach. The bird was doing great damage, and not eating hardly any of the fruit to become satiated. In a short time, such damage will rot and spoil the entire peach. Netting the entire tree is suggested if you have this type of damage. It is almost impossible to keep the birds out otherwise. Select a netting size that will not entangle the birds that land on the netting.

Strings draped through the tree foliage has been reported to discourage crows from staying in the tree.

I have seen electric wire around the trunks of fruit trees to discourage squirrels and similar from climbing the trunk to destroy fruit.

Deer and raccoon can be best excluded with electric fencing.


Resources

• Overview of insect pests and control measures (web)
• Companion planting to deter pests (web)
• Seasonal Checklist for the Holistic Orchard (web)
• Kaolin Surround use as a blossom time treatment (web)
• Pure Neem Oil (web order)
• Organic grower supplies (web order)

Watering Systems

This year (2012) has been hot across much of the USA, and much less precipitation in our area than normal. Where we have in the past been able to rely on our 3200 gal roof catchment cistern, it has been of no help this year. In the past month we have had around .25 inch of rain, which just enough to send a brief trickle into the cistern. We have had to use well water to keep the garden going this summer.

Last year we used 3/4 inch PVC pipe with regularly spaced small holes drilled, per the Mittleiter method. Our garden land has a slope to the row, and we found that we did not have enough water pressure to pressurize the PVC system, so the water just ran downhill, watering the lower end of the row too much, and no water at all at the top end of the row. This turned out to be a complete failure of time, material and effort.

This year, we have installed the commercially common T-Tape drip system, and we love it! The T-Tape system comes to pressure before the water is released from the in-line emitters, and we are finding consistent watering along a drip line with descending slope down the row. The system is simpler to construct and deploy than our PVC pipe system of yester year. These components are used by commercial farmers across the USA, and the system works well.

The watering is done with drip rather than a spray, so less water is lost through evaporation in the air. Some farmers may bury the drip lines and water under the soil.


Components:

Our feed line is a garden hose. There is slip connectors that join the main line tubing with the hose connection.  From the main line, you punch a small hole, and insert a T-Tape fitting that allows you to connect the T-Tape to the main line. At the end of the main line, you insert a plug. At the ends of the T-Tape lines, we tie the tape into a knot.

Our main hose to the garden has a flow rate of 5.5 gallons per minute. With this flow, we are able to pressurize and water up to 15 runs of T-Tape at a length of 90' each. This equals a row run of 1,350 feet. When we turn a zone on, it will take a few minutes to fill the main line and tape with water, and then build to pressure. All lines start to drip at the same time when there is pressure in the zone.

The links below go to the online store were we purchased our components.

Main line. We use 3/4 inch mainline
T-Tape: 8 mil, 8 inch on center
Fittings:
     3/4 inch connectors, including hose connectors
     3/4 inch barbed plugs
     Main line to T-Tape fittings
Tools: Punch for a .400 barb
Hold downs

We are experimenting with a few additional components: an in-line particulate filter, a fertilizer injector and tree drip line circles.


Resources:

• Dripworks (web store)
• Drip Depot (web store)

Recipe: Squash Patties

In the summer, we joke that friends at church start locking their car so their back seat is not filled with squash. Once squash comes on for harvest, it comes on all at once!

We get a lot of squash mid summer. We have found the perfect way to preserve squash and use it throughout the year. We make squash patties. This is like a meat substitute patty for sandwiches. We have also had the patties stacked on edge covered by a sauce as an entree.

You can make up these patties in the summer, and freeze them. We have done this with success, but have found that over time the patties can become freezer dried, and the texture is not as good as fresh. What we now do is shred the squash, and freeze the shreds in freezer bags. Then we make up the patties fresh as needed.

Zucchini Patties Recipe:

• 9 cups grated squash (zucchini, yellow or zucchino Rampicante)
• 4-6 cups quick oats
• 10 tsp McKays Chicken style seasoning
• 2-3 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup Nutritional Yeast
• 4 Onions, chopped
• 2 cups cashews 
• 1-3 cups bread crumbs or croutons

Mix ingredients together. Bake on skillet on Medium High heat and brown lightly on each side.
1/3 cup batter = small patty
1/2 cup batter = Large patty

May chop onions, bread crumbs and nuts in food processor or blender. Patties freeze well.

Variation:

Substitute for Cashews and Bread crumbs (makes a Gluten Free recipe)

• 1 to 1 1/2 cup Rice Flour (Blend dry uncooked Brown Rice until fine)
• 1/2 cup Flax Seeds (Blend dry to flour consistency)

Garlic

Garlic was the first thing we planted for this season. You plant garlic in the fall for a mid summer harvest the following year. Our garlic sprouted early and has been growing strong. We selected stiff neck garlic for our planting, and it does have a wonderful taste!

Some say no vegetable is easier to grow or harvest.


Planting

Plant the garlic in the fall, in rows spaced 18 inches apart, and set the cloves into the row about 8 inches apart. Cover with one inch of soil and mulch for winter. See our 2013 planting garlic article.


Garlic Scapes

Early June, our garlic started producing seed scapes. These start off straight, and then curl into loops as in the following image. We remove these when they curl, and use them fresh in garlic pesto and other recipes. They are really good, and just as powerful as clove garlic. It is a great to have fresh garlic even before the cloves are ready to harvest.

Note: Garlic scapes are fantastic baked with a little oil and salt. We ate them like finder food. Mmmm good.


Harvest

When the garlic leaves lower (and outer layer covering the bulb) are dead and dry, and the rest of the plant appears dry, the garlic is ready to harvest. Gently remove the bulbs from the ground. You do not want to smash or damage the integrity of the bulb and enclosed cloves. Let the entire plant dry out of the sun for several days. The stem and leaves should become completely brown and dry. The roots under the bulb should be completely dry as well.

At this point, you can cut off the stem leaving a few inches above the bulb. Keep the bulb intact till you plan to use the garlic cloves. Select the largest bulbs / cloves for your seed cloves. These will be planted in the same fall for next years harvest.


Resources

• Planting garlic (web)
• Planting & growing garlic (web)

Lettuce

Lettuce plants grow in cool weather, and with a little protection may overwinter. Most dark greens are good sources of Vitamin C and other nutrients. The rule of thumb is, usually, the darker the greens, the more nutritious the leaf.

For a market garden, you will get more income for leaf and lettuce crops per square foot of garden space.


Planting

Early spring is a great time to plant your lettuce seeds. Lettuce likes the cooler temps, generally 40 to 60 degrees F. In warmer climates, you can likely grow lettuce until it reaches about 80 degrees F. If you plant seeds in the spring, you should try to get started at least a month before the hot weather hits your area. You can also plant in the late summer for a fall harvest.

Something new that we are trying this year is the planting of lettuce in a shaded garden under a part of our forest canopy. The trees are large, and tree trunks are spread far apart. This area that is significantly cooler than our open field gardens in the heat of the day. A friend has reported good success with this type of forest planting. We will see how it goes for us this year! (UPDATE, this did not work for us in 2012. I think you have to get the plants started in the early spring. There just was not enough light in this plot to get the lettuce going.)

We make a shallow furrow, and sprinkle in the seeds. Then we cover with the slightest dusting of potting soil to help hold moisture. Some seeds need light to germinate, so don't bury those kind of seeds.

You should see seedlings sprouting in 7 to 10 days. When your lettuce is about 1 to 2 inches high, you should thin the plants a bit so that there is about eight inches of space between each other. If you want to have lettuce growing throughout the season, you can plant different types every few weeks (about 10 to 14 days apart). This is called successive planting. (web)


Planting Record 2012

This late winter, we noticed some small lettuce volunteer plants coming up from the Black Seed Simpson leaf lettuce patch. Last year we allowed the patch to go to seed, and new plants were growing even though there was snow outside. When we could work the soil, we transplanted these into a lettuce bed, and they filled the bed of 4' by 60'. We have been eating this lettuce all spring, and it is just now starting to rise up getting ready to bolt. For the past week or so, we have noticed this lettuce becoming a bit bitter as our temperatures have been rising.

From this experience, we can see that lettuce can really grow early in the season!

On May 21 we planted 5 rows in the woods consisting of:

1. Lettuce Sangria MTO
2. Lettuce Beleah Rose
3. Lettuce Cimmaron
4. Romaine Lettuce Red Amish Deer Tongue
5. Romaine Lettuce Parris Island

As of June 10, we can conclude that we waited too long to plant in the woods, or that our woods are too dark. There are some small weeds growing, but the lettuce planted does not seem to be doing well.


Pests

Lettuce can be attacked by a variety of insects and animals. I have seen small lettuce plants in a green house covered by aphids. Insecticidal soap can be effective deterrent for aphids.

Rabbits and deer could also be attracted to your offering of salad. Fencing is suggested if animal pressure is high.

Harvest

We suggest you harvest in the early part of the day. I think lettuce plants are crisper and a bit sweeter in the early morning as compared to afternoon harvests. Cool lettuce quickly and store them in a cool location. The crop should be cleaned, and then dried to prevent spoilage.


Resources

• Pests of Lettuce (web)

Creating an Orchard

Fruit is wonderful, flavorful, and healthful! If you get fruit varieties suited to your climate, you will have a much easier return on the investment of time as compared with vegetables. Fruit trees do not have to be coaxed to life each year.

Just as in my article: Creating a Garden, you have to prepare the ground of your orchard before you plant. Take special care to add mineral nutrients to make your soil a perfect location for a tree to thrive. In addition to these suggestions, I want to provide some planting guidelines and spacing suggestions for your orchard.


Orchard considerations

• Some trees need partners to pollinate well. Some trees are male and others female, and these surely need pairs to be successful.
• There are different tree root stocks which will help control the size of the tree. You need to plan your orchard spacing with this information in mind.
• How you plan to cultivate weeds, irrigate and harvest your fruit may influence your inter-tree spacing within the row, and the space between the rows. Orchards take a lot of ground, so plan out the grid and prepare the holes before you purchase trees.
• If you are wanting to go organic, or at least avoid toxic chemicals as much as possible, consider purchasing disease resistant trees. (See this reference also.)
• Orchards need attention at specific times of the year. An orchard is not something you plant and forget till harvest. There is something to do each month and some months, there are a lot of things to do. You need to be able to devote time to the trees for watering, training, insect control and pruning.

Propagation

• You may want to propagate free stock. Any tree cultivar less than 17 years in production may be under trademark, and should not be propagated without permission and payment of royalty.
• Starting fruit trees is not hard. Root stocks are selected for their vigorous growth. The grafted stock, or scion is also easy to grow. With one root and one scion tree source, you could have hundreds of grafted trees in a period of a few years.
• Some trees and bush varieties grow directly on their own root stocks, and are easy to self propagate and share with others.
• Vines, berries, and all of the trees are readily propagated. Find examples to take terminal clippings from. The normal pruning process will yield a large quantity of new starts if wanted.

Apple tree just after planting.

Spacing

I have enjoyed walking through surrounding orchards, and observing the pruning methods, and orchard layout. The spacing would depend on the type of root stock which determines the size of the adult tree: dwarf, semi-dwarf or regular.

Fruit trees need a fair amount of space. For the small orchard like ours, I would assume you will be looking for semi-dwarf root stock varieties (where possible.)  I do not suggest you work with dwarf stock unless you really have no room for any trees. Dwarf root stock stunts the tree so badly, that you have tree health issues ongoing. We chose to lay our orchard out on a 15 foot grid. This will be just right for the semi-dwarf trees, and a bit small for the regular sized cherry trees. We decided to place the cherry's on the north side of the orchard plot so as they grow they will not shade the other trees too much. Some full sized apple trees could use a diameter of 25 feet, so know your root stock, and plan your spacing accordingly.


Orchard Planting 2012

When looking to plant our orchard, we decided to focus on trees that were hardy and disease resistant. We wanted trees that would offer a low chemical spray requirement. Our selections are as follows:

• Pear: Moonglow, Starking Delicious
• Apple: Freedom, Crimson Crisp, Galarina, Goldrush x2, Gala-like Resista
• Peach: SunHaven, Contender, Cresthaven, Glowhaven, Stellar Glowingstar, Stellar Blazingstar, Stellar Autumstar
• Plum: Sugar/German, Mount Royal
• Cherry: White Gold Sweet, Black Gold, Stella

Orchard Update 2016

The Apple trees and peach trees had their first real year last season. This year the peaches have come on thick, and it has taken days to thin out the thousands of extra peaches. The peach tree borers have been hard on the peaches. Several trees are affected, and it seems also that some of the early limb angles were not enough to prevent bark being impacted in the growing tree bark, making for what looks like very weak crotches. I will have to support these, and watch this closer with any future trees planted.

In May 2016, I planted three more threes on the west end of the rows. This will make the three rows from North to South:

1) Royalton Sweet Cherry, Sugar/German Plum, Mount Royal Plum, White Gold Sweet Cherry, Chinese Apricot, (dying) Stellar Autumstar
2) SunHaven Peach, Contender, Cresthaven, Glowhaven, Stellar Glowingstar, Stellar Blazingstar
3) Liberty Apple, Crimson Crisp, Galarina, Goldrush x2, Gala-like Resista

Orchard Update 2018

The tree layout for 2018 is by row:

• 1: Pear: Moonglow, Moonglow
• 2: Pear: Starking Delicious, Starking Delicious
• 3: Apple: Freedom, Crimson Crisp, Galarina, Goldrush x2, Gala-like Resista (not doing well)
• 4: Peach: SunHaven, Contender, Cresthaven, Glowhaven, Cresthaven, Cresthaven
• 5: Royalton Sweet Cherry, Sugar/German Plum, Mount Royal Plum, White Gold Sweet Cherry, Black Gold Cherry (new), Stella Cherry

In the perspective of time, I would not plant any apple trees again (in my area). The diseases and pests make organic apples not worth eating (in my opinion), and conventional apples are readily available in our area.

Tree planting principles

1. For maximum production, trees need deep soil ~ 3 feet deep.
2. Many areas have a clay or hardpan under the surface, and this needs to be broken up and penetrated so the roots can develop and allow for proper drainage. Prevent a hard layer or clay glaze around the hole you dig. You want the roots to penetrate out of the hole into the ground beyond.
3. When preparing the planting hole, care should be taken to not include so much mulch that the tree settles and the crown sinks below the surface of the soil line. The tree needs to be planted at the same depth as it was grown at.
4. Do not let the roots dry out in the planting process. If bare root trees can not be immediately planted, the roots should be protected from drying out, perhaps even temporarily being planted.
5. Add to the hole: mulch (leaf mould), top soil and the soil from the hole. Add some kelp powder or a small amount of sea salt for micro-nutrients. Do not fertilize a new tree.
6. Deep in the hole, place a plastic pot upside down, a section of drainage tubing, or some object which can form an air / water cavity. This is not as needed in well drained soils such as sand.
7. Add some rocks deep into the hole, but not a solid rock layer.
8. Mound up the soil contents in the center of the hole, preparing a base for the tree roots to rest on.
9. In windy and exposed areas, consider placing a large rock on top of the mound, around which with tree roots could rest and grow. The rock would serve as an anchor for the tree.
10. Plant the tree to original soil depth, filling in around it with the soil mixture already prepared.
11. Plant the graft union notch to the north east to help prevent sunburn on the graft.
12. The soil line around the tree should be 1-2 inches above the surrounding soil. This is a slight mound around the tree.
13. Water the tree with 5 gallons of water after planting to help remove excess air from the roots, and provide moisture.
14. If the soil is heavy loam or clay, care should be taken to not drown the roots with too much water. Mixing soils as mentioned should remove this danger because of the mixture of the top soil and compost into the planting mix.
15. Water the tree regularly (2 times a week may be a minimum in hot / dry weather.) The tree must be nursed to life and its roots will not be able to stand much stress. Make a circular watering basin around the tree at the perimeter of the roots and beyond to water the planting area. Do not have the water pool around the trunk.
16. Mulch the tree 3 feet around the trunk to prevent competing weeds and hold moisture. The mulch can be wood chips or other mulch material, around 6 inches in depth. Do not mulch right up to the trunk as this could encourage crown rot and harbor pests that could damage the tree.

Initial Pruning and Training

Mail order trees may be initially pruned for you. If you buy local, the initial pruning will not be done, and you must prune the trees right after planting, so the branches and leaves are cut back to the level the disturbed roots can support. Bare root trees must be pruned to survive. How you prune depends on the type of tree. You want to prune to select the apical bud that will grow outward from the tree, rather than inward to the center.

On almost all fruit, it is important to train for wide crotch angles of at least 45 degrees. This measurement is from the trunk to the branch angle. A narrow crotch angle is weaker and more prone to break under the fruit crop load. Good healthy trees have crotch angles of 45 to 90 degrees.


Resources

• Choose trees that will produce in your area (web)
• Getting started with fruit production (web)
• How to grow organic peaches (web)
• Planting and pruning guide (pdf)
• Planting and care of young fruit trees (pdf)

Beans

Beans are a favorite staple on our homestead. You can pick them young and tender for steaming and fresh eating, or let them mature in the bean pod to a dried bean which can be easily stored and cooked for consumption. Legumes have the benefit of not only being healthy for us to eat, but they can fix nitrogen with the help of bacteria in nodules on their roots.


Nutrition

Beans are high protein food. As green beans, they are perfect fresh, canned or frozen. If you let the beans dry in the pod, they store will as seeds all winter.


Planting

Plant beans two weeks before your areas last frost date, and transplant them to soil one week after your last frost date. Then sow a new patch of beans every 2 weeks for a consistent and long lasting harvest through the summer. Beans generally take 50-60 days to mature, so take this into consideration as you approach the fall season.

Sow bush bean seeds 1 1/2" deep, and 12" apart. Sow pole beans along a climbing trellis.

In our area, there are a host of reasons we don't get good success with planting directly in the field. We have  had good success planting inside, and transplanting the established plant into the field. Soil temperature is a key factor, in that beans do not germinate well when the soil is below 50 degrees F. If sowing into the field, make sure your soil temperatures have risen above 50.


Harvesting and food preservation

For fresh beans, pick them while tender, and eat them as soon after picking as possible. They are simply outstanding! If you are going to freeze the beans, soak them briefly in boiling water (called blanching) to stop the enzyme activity from lowering the bean taste and quality. Cool as quickly as possible, such as dipping into ice water, and then package for freezing. We regularly use 1 gallon freezer bags, and as we set the bag into the freezer, I try to bunch the beans into two sections of the bag, so that we can easily extract 1/2 a gallon for a specific meal without having to thaw the entire bag.


Seed saving

Most beans are self fertilizing, and are very easy to save seed from. Bees can be pollinators, and for seed purity it is suggested that you exclude bees or separate crops by one mile. On select plants that you want to save seed from, allow the pod to fully mature, or be over ripe to a tough and dry pod. Then harvest the pods, and shell the beans for storage. Make sure the beans are well dried before over winter storage. It is expected that beans will remain viable for 4 years.


Varieties we are planting in 2012

• Blue lake - bush bean 
• McCaslan - pole bean 
• Bell's Corn Bean - pole bean * 
• Gregory's favorite lima  - pole bean *

*Non commercial varieties.

Resources

• Growing Beans in the Vegetable Garden (pdf)
• A followup post on the results of our bean plantings in 2012. (web)

Exhort

The other day, I was reading Hebrews 10:25 "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some [is]; but exhorting [one another]: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching."

I was interested in the verse, because of the very end of the verse: "As ye see the day approaching." Now, what day do you think this is talking about? As I looked at the context, I believe the "day" is the coming of Jesus. The first coming of Jesus was the focus and culmination of the old testament. The second coming of Jesus is the focus and culmination of the entire Bible and the great controversy between Christ and Satan. So, I get really interested in things the Bible tells us to do more and more as the soon coming of Jesus is approaching.

If you agree with me that the coming of Jesus is soon! then what is this that we should be doing. So my attention then went toward this old English word "Exhort." The verse says as we see the coming of Jesus approaching, we need to meet together, and in this meeting or gathering, we need to exhort each other. The meetings together and the act of exhorting needs to increase as Earth's time winds down.

So we gather together, and encourage each other, we call to action, and study together the Word of God. In this we exhort each other.

Follow these select passages that use the word exhort:

• Jer 11:7 'For I earnestly exhorted your fathers in the day I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, until this day, rising early and exhorting, saying, "Obey My voice." NKJV
• Act 13:15 And after the reading of the law and the prophets the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them, saying, [Ye] men [and] brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on.
• Act 15:32 And Judas and Silas, being prophets also themselves, exhorted the brethren with many words, and confirmed [them].
• Rom 12:5-8 So we, [being] many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, [let us prophesy] according to the proportion of faith; Or ministry, [let us wait] on [our] ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching; Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, [let him do it] with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.
• Hbr 3:13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
• Hbr 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some [is]; but exhorting [one another]: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
• 1Th 2:11 As ye know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you, as a father [doth] his children,
• 2Th 3:12 Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread.
• 1Ti 4:13 Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.
• 1Ti 5:1 Do not rebuke an older man, but exhort [him] as a father, younger men as brothers, NKJV
• 1Ti 6:2 And they that have believing masters, let them not despise [them], because they are brethren; but rather do [them] service, because they are faithful and beloved, partakers of the benefit. These things teach and exhort.
• Tts 1:9 Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.
• Tts 2:12-15 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.

From these references, I get the idea that exhort is more than just preaching a cerebral teaching. It seems to also involve action on the part of the hearer. Action that is encouraged and mentored by the one exhorting. In this time of earth's history, we need to encourage and prompt each other to action like no other time. We need to gather in small groups, where we are engaged in helping each other grow and develop into the image of Christ.

My challenge to you is to exhort those in your sphere of influence.

Agent Orange Corn

I just heard of a very concerning event. The USDA is on the verge of approving a genetically engineered corn which can withstand the powerful chemical 2,4-D. This is one of the defoliant chemical components of Agent Orange. Agent Orange has been linked to "birth defects, cancer, and other health problems." (web) There is an opportunity for you to give critical feedback to the USDA by Friday, April 27, 2012. I stand in opposition of this technology being released to the gene pool.

If this gene modification is approved, a host of chemical companies are working on follow up species. The first two already in work are soy and cotton. "Of the 20 genetically engineered crops awaiting government approval, 13 are intended to be resistant to one or more herbicides." (web) Just as we saw with the exponential use of Round Up, I fear these even more powerful chemicals will dramatically rise in use. This is not the way to confront the weed problem! Already there is a weed that has shown genetic resistance to 2,4-D.

The effect is many fold:

1. Genetic modification to the plant which could stimulate allergic response just from tampering with the corn genes.
2. Increase in the use of the chemical 2,4-D is virtually guaranteed. This will build up in the environment and could affect other vegetable crops.
3. 2,4-D resistance substances made by the gene, and/or the broken down sub-components of the drenching of the plant in 2,4-D would be residuals on the corn. The inserted gene allows the plant to break down 2,4-D. Who is to say the sub parts are any better for our health? Corn is used in a lot of American food, and these substances WILL make it into the food supply.
4. 2,4-D volatilizes, and could affect land miles away from the sprayed crop as noted here. (web)

I encourage you to act.

The USDA is open to your feedback for a limited time. You can submit your feedback here:

http://www.regulations.gov/#!submitComment;D=APHIS-2010-0103-0001


Resources

• New York Times article (web)
• Tell USDA you don't want Agent Orange corn! (web form)

Onions

Onions with potatoes are a wonderful fit, both in the skillet and in the garden. We have tried yellow, white and red onions, and it seems we always come back for the yellow ones. They store better than whites or reds, and storage is a big factor for us, since we cant eat hundreds of pounds of unions all at one time.

Last year we started from onion sets, which are small onion bulbs, and had over 50% make seed pods. This year I am trying onion plants in stead. The theory here is that it takes a lot of energy to make the seed pod, and if this can be avoided, you will have larger production toward the onion bulb. Another factor is that the seed stalk rising from the onion causes it to spoil faster. Since onions go to seed on the second year, if the onion set is too large, or undergoes unusual temperature extremes, it may think the planting is the second year, and go to seed. I am hoping that using plants will completely solve the issue this year.

When onions are first planted, their growth is concentrated on new roots and green leaves or tops. The onion will first form a top and then when a specific combination of daylight, darkness, and temperature is reached, bulb formation starts.

"The size of the onion bulb is dependent upon the number and size of the green leaves or tops at the time of bulb maturity. For each leaf there will be a ring of onion; the larger the leaf, the larger the ring will be. The onion will first form a top and then, depending on the onion variety and length of daylight, start to form the bulb. Onions are characterized by day length; "long-day" onion varieties will quit forming tops and begin to form bulbs when the daylength reaches 14 to 16 hours while "short-day" onions will start making bulbs much earlier in the year when there are only 10 to 12 hours of daylight. A general rule of them is that "long-day" onions do better in northern states (north of 36th parallel) while "short-day" onions do better in states south of that line." (web)


Planting suggestions

Onion plants are hardy and can withstand temperatures as low as 20 degrees F. They should be set out 4 to 6 weeks prior to the date of the last average spring freeze. Set plants out approximately one inch deep with a 4 to 6 inch spacing. We set rows in a bed, and space the rows 8 to 12 inches apart. We mark out a 4 foot bed, and have 4 rows in the bed.

Onions are not very good at supressing weed growth, and regular weeding will be needed to protect your crop yield. We have tried adding leaf compost and another year straw to the bed. These items help, but hand weeding seem a needed action on our farm. Always hand-weed any weeds close to your onions as they are easily damaged by garden tools.


Companion plants

Onions do well in companion planting, assisting nightshades and brassicas. If you are having pest pressure on the onions themselves, carrots can help confuse attacking insects. (web)


Resources

• Onion information (web)

Potatoes

Potatoes are a staple of our family. They are perhaps my favorite vegetable, and this year, we are growing a lot of them. By planting a lot of them, I am going to have to build a root cellar this fall to store all our harvest.

We have always enjoyed potatoes from the store, but when we grew our own for the first time, it was like an explosion of soft, tender flavor. "Wow" could be heard over and over around our table. Our youngest boy wondered if he had been transported to potato paradise. "These are the best potatoes ever!" I hope I have encouraged you to try growing potatoes. They are simple to grow, and don't take a lot of work to maintain till harvest. We had no pest pressure last year, and we are moving this years planting location to the other side of the garden. We hope if there was a potato beetle that we did not see, its larva will die before finding the location of the new crop.


Varieties

There are many varieties of potatoes. We have only tried a few, and will branch out over time to try more. If you are new at potatoes, try what other area gardeners suggest works well in your area. I suggest you get certified virus free seed potatoes. It is possible to plant again from your own stock, but I hear that the size of the potatoes will diminish over time if you have virus buildup.


Our history for 2012

April 19, planted:

Yukon Gold       75#
Red Pontiac         7#

We have found that 7# of red potatoes took up 80 feet of row space (one row). Also planted 50# of Yukon Gold, and we ended up with 4 additional rows of 80 feet. We have yet 25# to plant.

July 17: Counted up the potato early harvest: 560 lbs. This represents 6/10 of our planted rows,15 bushels. We sorted all of the potatoes and only the firm, uncut and completely dry potatoes went into the seller for longer term storage. Our rows are 90' and 6 rows equals 540 feet, yielding just over a pound of potatoes per foot of planted row.

When harvesting potatoes, we found some of the seed potatoes still intact, but soft or spoiling. We took care to sort these out of our harvest, to not spoil the new harvest.

August 2: Attempted a fall planting, by planting 1/2 bu of sprouting potatoes. We will see how this goes.

November 4: The second planting survived the early October frosts with just some slight leaf burn, but were dead by the end of October. We harvested perhaps 4 bu from the second planting. They were fine potatoes, but since the plants did not die down on their own, I think an earlier planting date would have been helpful to the yield.


Planting

It is suggested that you plant your potatoes about 2 weeks before your last frost. Potatoes can withstand some cooler temps, but not prolonged or hard freezing.

Potatoes can be planted in hills or rows. Last year we tried hills, and we did not have as dense or complete production as we would have had with a row. So, after testing it out, rows is our planting format of choice from now on. You set the seed potatoes 18 to 24" apart within the row, and set the rows from 3 to 5 feet apart.

We have a 3 point implement called a "middle buster" for setting a planting furrow. It will also work perfectly for digging the potatoes in the fall. We have seen this tool demonstrated by a friend last fall. We started with a straight track in the field, and then returned for the next pass and drove the wheel down in the previous track. This resulted in the furrows being just over 3 foot apart, which is perfect for potatoes.

Prior to planting, you can chit the seed potatoes by setting them in a warmer location, out of direct sun light. this will encourage the eyes to sprout, and speed up the early growth process. If you have sprouts, point the sprouts upwards. These will be stems for the plant. If you have large potatoes with several developing eyes, you can slice the potato into sections around each eye. Then each section can be planted on its own. If you do slice the seed potatoes, allow them to sit out for several days for the cut surface to harden a scab. This will help prevent rot that may happen if the cut potato was immediately planted.


Pests

Virus blight and insects are potato crop killers. Crop rotation will help in both cases.


Companion plants

Beans, cabbage, corn, and horseradish are excellent companion plants. Some even claim these make the potatoes taste better.

Tansy, nasturtium, coriander, and catnip planted nearby repel Colorado potato beetle.

Interplant potatoes with lettuce, scallions, radishes, and spinach. All of these crops mature fast and will be harvested long before the potatoes are ready to harvest.


What not to plant with potatoes

Avoid planting potatoes with tomatoes, sunflowers, raspberries, pumpkins, squash, and cucumbers. These plants may encourage blight.

Don't plant potatoes in an area that has been planted with any other Solanaceous crops in the last three+ years. This includes tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant.


Family story

Family history has passed down this true story: My great grandfather was Irish and a potato farmer in Iowa. At harvest, he had a wagon piled high of good sized potatoes, and with his horse team he pulled the load into town. Stopping by the grocery, he inquired as to how many potatoes he could sell.

The grocer came out to the street and said, "I won't buy any of your potatoes, not a one! These large Irish potatoes have a holes in them. My customers do not like the hollow space in their potatoes, and I will buy none from you!" My great grand father as convincingly replied, "Not a one of my potatoes has a hole!"  He picked a large potato from the pile, and taking his knife, sliced the potato in half. There to his dismay was a very large void -- a hole in his potato.

The story goes that he said nothing more, but got on the wagon and drove to another grocery. I would guess he limited his claims from then on.


Resources

• Potato Growing Guide (web)
• Potato Diseases (web)

Strawberries

Strawberries are a great food for your garden. Not only are they easy to grow but they don't require a lot of space. And the strawberries are oh so tasty. I suggest you plant varieties that work well for other area farmers, as some varieties will not grow well in all areas.

Soil requirements and planting

Strawberries love a soil pH in the range of 5.5 to 6.5. Work the planting bed into a fine fluff, and mark out the plant placement.

For a matted row bed, set the plants 18 - 24 inches apart along the row. Space the rows 3 1/2 to 4 feet apart. We leave a 2 foot walking path which we keep clear of spreading strawberry plants with a rototiller.


Plant care

Strawberries have shallow roots, and they should not be allowed to dry out. They need 1-2 inches of water a week, especially when fruit is setting.

Mulching is often placed in the spring and again in the fall after the first freeze to prevent heaving of the plants out of the soil.



Varieties we have chosen to plant in 2012

Ozark Beauty   50 plants
Honeoye          50 plants
Earliglow          50 plants

Resources

• Strawberries in the home garden (web)
• Strawberry planting guide (web)