Bathtub Teas at Aberthau

On the way to Aberthau I saw this bumble bee in comfrey at the edge of the forest.

 Here's the set up for the bathtub tea workshop.

This is one of the easiest way to use herbs.

 I collected and dried rose petals, rosemary, lavender, hops and sage.

 I actually like using fresh rosemary, but I bought some rosemary essential oil, which eases aching muscles.

I had an accident and spilled some on the carpet, so the room is now perfumed with lavender and rosemary, which is kind of nice.

Message from the Queen Bee: Vote for the Bee Party

Well, I must say, the bumble bees must be sighing with relief now that the laburnum and horse chestnuts are blooming for them. Lots of pollen and nectar for our furry cousins. Now, at this time of the year we must remind humans that they must teach their children NOT to eat any part of the laburnum as it is extremely TOXIC. Also the clematis which is blooming right now in many forms is also poisonous and should be kept from the very young who stick all manner of things in their gooey gaping maws. Always research a plant before you put it in a children's garden to see if it is toxic and/or medicinal.

I spend a lot of time in the spring teaching bees and humans about the joys of pollen and nectar, and it is rewarding but exhausting. Which is why we really need to vote for the Bee Party--a big celebration for the bees. No, I don't mean a political party--all that humdrum democracy and bean counting is tedious. I was chosen by Divine Right to be Queen, and voting was simply not part of the process.

I vote that after all this Mother's Day nonsense is over and done with, we have a great big party, celebrating Moi-Même, the Greatest Mother of All. Celebrate by planting herbs and flowers rich with pollen and nectar for me and my unsurpassable hive. Plant poppies, cat mint, anise hyssop, sunflowers, clover, lavender, fennel, cornflowers, and all those gorgeous plants that will make our hive flourish.

 

 We were very pleased to perform a royal visit to West Point Grey, which in spite of its name, is actually quite a colorful neighborhood with some acceptable gardens.

 I was very honored with a small celebration for myself with heapings of royal jelly on scones, royal jelly and cucumber sandwiches, royal jelly drops, royal jell-oh, royal jelly roll, royal jam roly poly, and royal jelly fish. I was almost too full to toddle back to the hive and lay the rest of the day's eggs.

Great Benificent Blessings to You All,

HRH The Queen Bee

The Plight of the Lost Bumblebee

 I spent the day at Aberthau yesterday, singing with the preschool class, walking the grounds and thinking about lost bumble bees. As you can see, the rhodos and azaleas are blooming in some beautiful colours. I have a confession to make: Rhodos and their family leave me cold. I'm not a fan.

 They have a short bloom season, their value to pollinators in questionable and their nectar contains toxins. I am preparing a longer post with more information on rhodo pollination, but for now, take a look at the stamens and pistils.

Flowers go through stages: first they produce sticky chains of pollen, then they moisten their feminine parts to receive sticky chains from other flowers. Then they die. It's all very wham bam.

The spent blossoms of Rhododendrons lie about like red bloomers strewn about a boudoir above a Wild West saloon.

 The gardeners, bless them, had just mowed the lawn and top dressed the beds. This looks pretty and neat to humans, but it is disasterous to ground-dwelling bumble bees.

 I snapped this photo of a distressed queen bumble bee who has lost the  visual map to her nest hole. Ground-nesting bees and wasps have an internal map of their nest site that they develop from the flight positions above the ground. Once the points of reference has been moved or removed, the insect can get confused. I was really upset by this bee's attempts to find her nest with all its baby bees. Without her, they are helpless and will die. Top dressing closes the holes to the nests and makes them inaccessible. Bumble bees need us to leave our gardens alone, especially at this time of the year. We need to be more sensitive to their needs.

If you have a pattern of daisies like this and you build your nest  next to it, then you can see how the daisies would be reference points, changing slowly as the bud, blossom, and fade, but if one day the mower beheads the daisies, you can see how it would be disconcerting.

We all need reference points in our lives: markers, signs, mountains, trees, and such. It is hard when those markers shift and change.

Sharon Kallis and friends wove this memorial spinning wheel out of willow.

 

This giant raised bed will be planted with flax for linen production and other plants that can be used for textile dyes. Many of these plants also support the pollinators, including the bumble bees.

On the way home I saw a bumble bee queen trapped inside, flinging herself at the window. I allowed her to crawl on my finger and let her fly out. Sadly, she too will be separated from her nest and will have to start all over again from scratch.

I am reminded of a little tour a group of neighbors made to look at a stepping stone project. As we reached one part of the sidewalk a little boy named Noah guided us all around a bumble bee resting on the sidewalk. "Walk around the bumble bee," he directed. I was touched by his actions and now I teach children how to take a piece of paper, slide it under a bee and put her in the sun to warm up. Blow your warm breath on her, give her some love and we can try to save one bee and one nest at a time.

Garden Journals at Aberthau

 I love giving my garden journal workshop. My job: to provide you with all sorts of ideas, fabulous paper, tape, and rubber stamps. Your job: go crazy with it! As you can see, these woman are exceptionally talented collage artists. I was very inspired by their work.

Earth Cookies for Bees and Lady Bugs

We're getting pretty close to Earth Day, so it's a perfect time to work with clay and seeds and petals and pods. We had a wonderful group of curious kids who are going to plant seedy sculptures to grow plants for the pollinators and other beneficial insects.

 Since we were working in the kitchen, we decided these sculptures should be called Earth Cookies.

The teachers had just taken the children on a long walk to study ponds. What a busy day!

When it came time for clean up, I was amazed at how the children  tidied everything up quickly and quietly like little garden gnomes. You're all hired to be Madame Beespeaker's assistants!

Later the same day, at the edible flowers and herbs workshop, we made chocolate chai cookies sprinkled with fennel seeds.

Madame Beespeaker's Shortbread

Shortbread cookies are great for afternoon tea and using this basic recipe you can be creative using the herbs you find in your garden. Let me know what combinations you discover! The combination of lemon and lavender is nice, and if you really like lavender, infuse sugar with lavender buds and use that to make the cookies. Rosemary and lemon go well together too. If you like savoury shortbread, there are lots of recipes out there that you could also add in herbs from your garden.

The recipe is so easy:

2 cups flour,

1 cup butter, softened

1/4 cup icing sugar or 1/3 cup brown or white sugar

1/4 tsp salt

Then you add ingredients depending on your taste:

Lemon verbena: peel of one lemon, 1/2 cup chopped candied ginger, some freshly chopped lemon verbena leaves

or

just a few lavender buds to taste

1/3 cup chopped bittersweet chocolate

or

2 tbs ground chai spice (I use a locally mixed spice that includes the ground tea leaves)

1/3 cup bitterweet chopped chocolate

Cream the butter and sugar, mix in other ingredients until blended. Make dough into logs the diameter you want your cookies. Put them in the freezer or fridge to firm up. Cut them into slices and bake at 400 degrees F until the bottoms start to brown. (We dipped the chocolate chai cookies in sugar and fennel before baking). I bake them on my pizza stone.