We Need Closet Space!

-Posted by Isaac

Dan Grant was at one time the biggest beekeeper in the state. 2000 hives, pollinating everything from the Ohio River to Lake Erie, winters in Georgia, summers in Wisconsin some years, honey production by the semi load. He lives in Circleville and has since settled down to an easy couple hundred hives. He must feel like he has a lot of time on his hands because he likes to come out and talk.

Dan talks a lot.

As he talks, I've learned to keep working at whatever I'm doing and keep an ear out for Dan's precious nuggets of wisdom. Sometimes it's hard to sift through all the B.S.  Sometimes that's all there is.

This time he caught me out working on the latest project:

 And something he said rang true: "If you have some land and you happen to keep bees, you might as well put down four posts on the corners and build a roof over the whole damn thing. Even then, you'll have to buy land and add on."
Beekeeping requires equipment (sometimes called junk) and lots of space to put it. I've got the big barn jammed full of honey supers, the honey house full of honey. The extracting equipment, bottling supplies, packing materials, wax, oils, tanks, melters, trucks and trailers have to find a place somewhere.
This winter involves building on. This addition to the big barn got done this week, and a big annex to the honey house is coming soon.

 As always, we find a way to do it cheap. These are windows and doors from Grandmother Barnes' house that burned down ten years ago. The metal came from some big barn doors that got ripped off in a wind storm three years ago. All but $50 of lumber was salvaged from old barn wood.
Thing is, I'm already regretting not putting in a big overhead door. I guess I'm too cheap.
Now we can buy bulk and get that elusive reduced rate with our bottling supplies.

What child labor laws?

 The week stayed sunny and slowly warmed. By Friday the temp had hit 50 degrees and the bees rejoiced with a few hours of flight.
Mason welcomed these bees by throwing acorns at them.

By Saturday it had hit a balmy 54 degrees and we were able to sneak in our second unexpected November market. The pre-Thanksgiving crowd didn't disappoint.  I saw many North Market regulars who I won't see again for the next five months. I'll miss you! You guys can still stock up inside at the Greener Grocer.

I think my next post will be about the wax rendering process and what we do with it. From comb to cappings wax to candles.

Or to chewing gum... whatever suits your taste.

"Mom... Can I Have a Bowl of Bee Pollen?"

-posted by Jayne

My daughter asked me this last week while we were eating a pretty typical lunch... peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, some carrots, and milk.  

"You want a bowl of bee pollen for lunch?"  I asked, kind of chuckling to myself about her nonchalance in asking this question.

"Mmm-hmm."  She responded.

"Okay..."  I said, as I filled a bowl with about 3 Tablespoons of pollen and handed it to her.

I went back to cleaning the counter and doing dishes, when Mason said, "Mom, I did not get a bowl of bee pollen for lunch."

"You want a bowl of pollen, too?"  I asked.

"Yes."

"Okay, one more bowl of bee pollen, coming right up."

I love it that our kids find this as completely normal.  I'm pretty sure there aren't many other 3 and 4 year olds eating bowls of pollen along with their sandwiches for lunch.  Somebody please tell me when this will backfire and they start calling us weird hippie beekeeper parents?

I have a lot of great blog post ideas running through my head, but for lack of time, I will give you one quick and easy craft project we tried this week.  Wax Dipped Leaves!  Did you know that dipping leaves in beeswax preserves their color, and creates beautiful garlands for your Thanksgiving decorations?  Of course they won't last forever, but they will last long enough for you to enjoy the colors of fall a bit longer.

You will need:

About 1 lb. beeswax

A variety of colorful leaves

A double boiler, with a container you plan to use only for melting beeswax

Wax or Candy Thermometer

A string and some thread, if you'd like to string your leaves.

Newspaper or an old sheet to cover your work area

Directions:

1.  Melt your beeswax using a double boiler- a small saucepan containing the beeswax, sitting inside a larger pan of water. Melting beeswax over direct heat is very dangerous, as hot beeswax is flammable and can ignite. Use a thermometer to monitor the temperature of your wax. Stainless steel is recommended since copper, brass, and iron can change the color of the wax, making it look dull.

2.  When the beeswax has reached 150-160 degrees and has completely melted, you are ready to begin dipping.  Quickly and steadily dip your leaves down and up out of the beeswax.  DO NOT hold the leaf in for a long period of time, or the wax will coat the leaf completely and you won't be able to see the color of the leaves through the yellow wax. 

3.  Allow the leaf to drip over the container for a few seconds before laying it aside to dry completely.

4.  When you have finished dipping all the leaves, string them together with a needle and thread and hang in a beautiful location.  That's it!

Make sure your kids wear old clothing and understand the dangers of working with hot wax!

Another fun project I attempted was making floating beeswax candles out of acorn caps.  This worked really well, except the oak tree right outside our honey house has acorns with curly, ruffled edges, that just happen to be flammable.  Good thing they were floating in a bowl of water, right?  I am still looking for some large acorn caps that will not pose a fire hazard.  I used tea light wicks for these candles.  I do not plan to sell these, but if you wanted to buy some, I have seen them for sale in other shops on Etsy.  What a fun centerpiece for Thanksgiving!

Floating beeswax candles in acorn caps

I have a ton of other beeswax craft projects running through my mind right now.  As the weather gets colder I long for opportunities to engage my crafty side.  Can you believe it is November already??
Go out and collect some leaves for this project before they all blow away!

Ok, All Good

-Posted by Isaac

Jayne said I sounded too depressed in that last post. I needed to be more upbeat. "Why don't you reread that and tell me what you think," she said.

 Of course that invoked the response you might expect from a beekeeper in November: "I'm just telling it like it is, Honey, ...and maybe that's just how I feel... and I think it was pretty well written, thank you..."

So upon rereading, I think she's right. 

The weather really isn't all that bad, and hearing more stories about the Hurricane Sandy aftermath on the east coast, my little rainy day problems seem pretty quaint. The sun came out, I got a few runs in, I feel much better. And it's not the end of everything. In fact, yesterday marked the beginning of the Worthington Winter Market, now up at the Worthington Mall.

Thank you to Jamie, market master and farmer with Wayward Seed for the prime real estate! We're in the center of everything, right on the corner. 

What a wonderful turnout it was. I saw many many new faces and quite a few of the core regulars. You left me feeling upbeat and enthusiastic and a part of something-- this whole localvore movement happening in Columbus. Thank you!

I got to spend three hours savoring the aromas of Silver Bridge Coffee right across the walkway, and Lucky Cat Bakery sent me home with an awesome loaf of sourdough rye. 

While I was having fun, Jayne was having her own fun, I suppose. She gave a marketing talk at the Ohio State Beekeepers Fall meeting in Reynoldsburg. Last year we both did this, but I can imagine it was better received with her alone. For one, she's better looking and well spoken. Plus she didn't have me there to interrupt and carry on with beekeeping blah blah blah that has nothing to do with marketing honey.

The End. Of Everything.

-Posted by Isaac

We've had six days of no sun and it's beginning to wear on me. Not that I should complain. At least our house isn't floating into the Atlantic Ocean. We've still got electric, still got the warm stove.

I used to be spoiled and much worse. When I lived in Colorado we'd routinely have two straight weeks of brilliant blue skies and sun on the shimmering mountains. Then a cloud would pass over, it might get cold for about three minutes and I along with other complaining ski bums would let our frustrations be known. My weather sensibilities have both matured and dulled living here in the Midwest. I've come to find out that to make it here comfortably a person has to be a lot tougher and a bit more stupid. (Maizy says, "We don't say stupid!") 

Just take it as it comes, stand there in the cold rain and chew your cud.

That's why Romney and Obama spend all their time here campaigning. They know we'll show up to vote, by God, rain, sleet or snow. We just can't decide on who or what...

Well, the depressing title of this post reflects my mood right now. (Particularly after last week's awesome warm days.) The joys of Summer and Fall are coming to a close. Here are a few recent shots of the last of...

The last Summer market

The last picnic at Deer Creek

The last leafy soccer game

The last pull of Fall honey

 Incidentally I found out something funny about this bee yard up near London. It happens to be on land that was recently acquired by Bill Gates. Yes, that Bill Gates. Apparently he's in the buying up land, they're-not-making-any-more-of-it business much like Ted Turner. This farm was bought for $10,000 an acre! What a tycoon. So now I've got to somehow give Mr. Microsoft his 24 pounds of rent honey. Oh bother.

The last hurrah for the bees

This was a picture from several weeks ago but I don't think there will be any more happy honey super clean-outs for our home yard bees.

The last hay ride

Hopefully not the last bonfire.

The last of the outdoor coop

Yes, even the chickens move inside for the winter, cooped up in the barn out of the wind. For now they're still pecking around looking for the last bugs of Fall, but it won't be long. The weather has changed and like it or not, bees, chickens, people, we all have to face the music.

Or get the heck outta here.

Preserving the Harvest

-posted by Jayne

There is a catchy little song (written by a friend of ours) that goes something like this;

"We'd eat what we can, and what we couldn't eat we'd can, and what we can we eat all winter long..." 

For me, canning is a compulsive act.  I watched my mother can spaghetti sauce, chili soup, green beans, peaches, and pears every summer while I was growing up.  Canning is just "what we do", so even when there is no energy left in the body, and no time left in the day, I still somehow find a way to can what I can.  

This week, I canned tomato juice.

Canning in October is pretty wonderful because the weather outside is cool, meaning the steaming kettles and canner on the stove don't bring our house above the 100 degree mark (we don't have AC).  

I get a lot of questions about my strainer, so I thought I would post some pictures of the process.  Hot, just-boiled tomatoes from the orange bowl go in the top of the strainer.  Maizy turns the crank, and the skin and rind come out the side, while the juice and pulp land in the pan below.  It's great that the kids can help, and although it does drip a little it still makes the job quick and easy.  

Next up:  Pears.  I use the exact same strainer to make "pearsauce."  Really, I don't understand why more people don't make pearsauce.  We are blessed with a beautiful old pear tree in our yard, and some years they are simply AMAZING.  And this is one of those years!   Unfortunately the tree is over 40 feet tall, and I can't reach most of the beauties.  

To make pearsauce, I simply boil the cut and quartered pears on the stovetop until they are soft, and pass them through the strainer.  Seeds, stems, and peels come out the side, while the pearsauce falls through into the pan.

Bridger really loves helping me gather pears.  And I love that my little 11 month old is learning that food comes from the earth~ not the store.  You can simply crawl on the ground and find something amazing to eat!!

A few weeks ago we picked apples at a friend's orchard.  Look at how thick they were hanging from the tree!  I am still making applesauce and other goodies from these yellow delicious apples.

 Yes, indeed, that is a truck load of apples!

Each Fall we break out the cider press and have a little 'pressing party'.  I freeze the cider in small batches and then pull one small batch out of the freezer every week, thaw it, and enjoy warm cider all winter long.  Here you see my sister-in-laws Adrienne and Becky, and my niece and nephew Owen and Olivia (among the other children) helping to throw the apples in the hopper.  

Here is a sampling of some of this year's canning:

L-R: Pizza sauce, tomato juice, peaches, and wild black raspberry jam

 Pumpkin and squash are also a regular staple around here this time of year.  I never buy pumpkin at the store... it seems pointless when cooking up pumpkin and squash is so simple.  Two years ago I posted about how to cook pumpkin, since many of my friends had never done that before.  I keep it in the fridge, and what I can't use I simply freeze for later.  This week, we've made Pumpkin Smoothies, Pumpkin Pancakes, Pumpkin Bars, and hopefully some Pumpkin Granola later today.  You can tell it is Fall, because I am in "cooking mode" and actually have time to do this sort of thing!

Ohio is blessed with an abundant variety of local produce!  And indeed, I realize it would save me time if I simply bought my tomato juice, applesauce, cider, and pumpkin at the store, but the whole process of food preservation is a part of the cycle of the seasons for me.  It's time to stock up, get ready for winter, and enjoy the beautiful Fall weather with our family.

We will be at the North Market and The Worthington Market for our final outdoor Saturday markets of the season.  It has been so warm here in Ohio that it doesn't seem possible that the summer market season is nearing completion.  Don't worry though, we will be at the Worthington Winter Market every Saturday November - December, and every other Saturday January through February.
Hope to see you there!