My Urban Farm 2011

my garden is so small compared to last years, but, it is very manicured compared to last years. i have potatoes, onions, pole beans, petite pan squash, tomatoes, bell peppers, arugula, asparagus, raspberries, and herbs. the asparagus has had it's week of picking and now it is just growing. this year i dug a trench around the garden and put flat cement bricks around to keep grass out. it has helped a lot. i also am gardening in the chicken coop wintering site. it is a fertilized soil dream. the bees live close to the garden, i hope it helps. i have the 2 hives close to each other, but not too close. there is a big galvanized bucket between them for the bees fresh water. i also put styrofoam peanuts in the water to give the bees floating islands to land on to drink. since this is their new home they have a big mason jar of sugar water shoved in each of their entrances to feed them and make them happy. i wish i could sit out there and watch them but i have to give them their room for right now. i can't wait till they are firmly established so i can sit out there and watch them fly in and out. i swear, watching my chickens outside is one of the most relaxing things i love to do, they entertain me to no end! now i have these insects i am in love with to watch. i have this small working urban farm. it makes me so happy, it makes me feel like i am doing something good for me. besides the hours of endless entertainment my chickens, bees, and garden give me, the nutritional gifts i am given in return are amazing.

Ma Bee Hive

i know i took more pictures of my family building our hives, but they must "bee" on my dad's phone. my mom, dad, the Greek and i spent from 5pm-9:15pm building our hives. 2 supers, which are the boxes, and 20 frames. there was a room full of us ham-ham-hammering away at these. my fingers were numb at the end, but i got ours done. now i need to paint them, and get my bees!

these are my empty frames, i am getting ready to wire them, then i add beeswax sheets to the wire and use a hot thing to melt the wire into the wax.

Sadness and a Lesson Learned

Clementine, who was sick a week ago, and Sourpuff died yesterday. 2/3 of my ameraucanas are dead. i moved tootsie, the living one to the big coop in hopes of companionship and warmth. please other chickens, don't kill her! i don't know if they are cold weather hardy like my others, they are originally south american chickens. it kills me to have our chickens die. it is something i have to come to terms with as a "farmer." we have lost chickens due to dogs, possums, vanishing into thin air, and now negligence on my part. i vow never to get chicks in the fall again. spring chickens are for me, raise them through the summer so they are mature for our winters. this sucks. i guess i need to start a chicken grave yard. i know i will loose more eventually. chickens are a part of my life now, i can't imagine living without them.
new creatures are coming to our "urban farm" this summer. i am taking beekeeping classes with the NEOBA. i have been wanting bees forever. i have just been scared of my hive dying. i took the leap though, i have to get over the death of my animals. More on my bee adventures...