Yes, even the bees get a special treat for Thanksgiving. At this time of the year they need fattening up for the winter and there is not a lot of fall forage out there. There are cosmos, Jerusalem artichokes, some sunflowers and asters, but let's face it, the sources of pollen and nectar are dwindling. So we mix up two parts sugar (4 c) to one part water (2 c) and blend in a pollen patty. As you can see, the bees are hungry and they immediately slurp up the smoothie with their tongues.
We are worried about our bees because when we checked them two weeks ago they had lost yet another queen. They had made three good queen cells so our fingers are crossed that one strong queen will hatch and help them make it through the winter. We've had really bad luck with our queens this year. I hope next year will be better.
I am drying the fennel and hops from the front of our house, but most of the hops grew way up beyond our reach. I need a trained squirrel to harvest them.
My amaranth fell over after the rain, so I've been stringing them up. I brought one head inside to see if the seeds will ripen.
I harvested some fennel twigs for school art projects.
After a lovely warm day working in the garden it was time for the human's Thanksgiving feast: squash, brussel sprouts, turkey with stuffing, cranberry jelly and my pumpkin pie made from scratch. I think the bees would have liked the German dessert wine we had with the pie. Happy Thanksgiving!
On Saturday I went to the final UBC Farm market for the year. The winter squash was lovely and I wished I had a half ton truck to cart some home. I bought some honey crisp apples from an organic farm in Summerland and some tomatilloes from the Mayan gardeners. I am still cooking up recipes using a pumpkin I bought at Home Grow-In. This morning we had pumpkin pancakes with maple syrup and pecans. I really wanted some whipped cream. Whipped cream and pumpkins are BFF.
Yes, even the bees get a special treat for Thanksgiving. At this time of the year they need fattening up for the winter and there is not a lot of fall forage out there. There are cosmos, Jerusalem artichokes, some sunflowers and asters, but let's face it, the sources of pollen and nectar are dwindling. So we mix up two parts sugar (4 c) to one part water (2 c) and blend in a pollen patty. As you can see, the bees are hungry and they immediately slurp up the smoothie with their tongues.
We are worried about our bees because when we checked them two weeks ago they had lost yet another queen. They had made three good queen cells so our fingers are crossed that one strong queen will hatch and help them make it through the winter. We've had really bad luck with our queens this year. I hope next year will be better.
I am drying the fennel and hops from the front of our house, but most of the hops grew way up beyond our reach. I need a trained squirrel to harvest them.
My amaranth fell over after the rain, so I've been stringing them up. I brought one head inside to see if the seeds will ripen.
I harvested some fennel twigs for school art projects.
After a lovely warm day working in the garden it was time for the human's Thanksgiving feast: squash, brussel sprouts, turkey with stuffing, cranberry jelly and my pumpkin pie made from scratch. I think the bees would have liked the German dessert wine we had with the pie. Happy Thanksgiving!
