Keeping Bees and Rainy Day Photos

What better way to spend a rainy day than taking pictures around the garden!

I would love to show off beautiful new office that is currently under construction, but the muck and mud that is surrounding it makes me shudder.

 I could never call myself a gardener again if I showed my unlandscaped yard, instead enjoy the lavender and below is some moss that grows on the fence between houses, always so green and lush when the weather is dreary.

 I do have some ideas for the landscaping though. We have chosen not to go back with grass and instead grow white clover. I am trying my hardest to get more bees into our yard. Funny thing, bees are a hobby. I absolutely love them. They are the most interesting insect to watch and study, I photograph them most everyday.

 In the next few years I am hoping to have a hive hanging in the tree out front to study them in a natural way. Taking honey in the spring, leaving honey for them through the winter so they have food to keep them nourished. No added sugar for the bees, it just doesn't see as nature intended. I also want to research and study  Colony Collapse Disorder, it interests me.

 Back to the garden. I have a set of these lovely mushrooms from the 70's hiding out and the Vinca has decided to bloom in this warmer wet weather. I have found the rain water refreshing and so have the plants.

Question: Do you keep bees? How do you keep your bees? Any tips on raising bees? and lastly, Where is a good place to start with Colony Collapse Disorder? 

Also, on a side note. Local people only, I will be posting the heirloom plants I will have ready for sale by June. I will also take orders for herbs, squash, and melons so stay tuned.

Beautiful Weather

When the weather turns spring like in the middle of February, I need to plant flowers to bring in color and cheer up a dreary garden.

I planted yellow Violas in an old wheelbarrow tire that popped while we were moving concrete on a cold morning. A bit of a story, and quite funny, I keep the tire as a reminder.

Some beautiful lavender that I planted for the bees. I have many more bee loving plants in the green house: borage, dill and more lavender. Still too small to plant outside.

My small lettuce patch is in the cast iron sink we removed from the kitchen, the screen door fell off the hinges of the back door so I repurposed it into a planter with a few rusty leftover bits I bought from a welder off Craigslist. It sits on an old ice chest that I will add a burlap skirt to later in the season so you can't see it, I will post pics when done and all the plants are planted.

  I planted cover crop this season, a green manure or plow mix as it is referred to. It contains vetch, fava bean, some other bean and something else (very specific plant names, I know, but I forgot the other seeds). I do not till the gardens so when its time to chop it down I will weed eat it and turn the soil a few times to incorporate.

An empty bird feeder. I will fill it one of these days but the cats in the neighborhood already love our yard so I don't want them getting used to an easy meal. And I don't want to deal with the mounds of finch poop that will most likely sprout and cause me to pull more weeds. For now it will remain empty and just something to look at while out in the garlic patch.

What will you plant when the weather starts warming?