Spring Inspection

Today we carried out our spring inspection of our one remaining hive, as well as cleaning out some of the dead hives.

Looking through dead hives is always upsetting, especially as we worked so hard last year and we've lost a couple of decent bloodlines. But equally it was a relief - no signs of starvation, which would have made me feel very guilty indeed. In fact two of the three hives we looked at died in the cluster. Bees had died just hanging off the frames or digging into food, of which there was plenty. It looks like they just froze to death - no sign of any brood (the queen wouldn't have been laying if it was too cold - another good sign) and they were weak hives anyway. So it looked like it was just too cold of them. Of course we probably should have insulated them with a tarp or similar, but equally the winter was one of the harshest for the last 30 years or something. So it's nice to know that they didn't die just because of our own stupidity.

The other dead hive that we cleared out had only a very small volume of bees that were completely un-clustered. No brood. It seems the queen must have died, again maybe becuase of the cold (too cold to lay eggs > no new bees > population death > no bees to warm the queen up > no queen to lay new eggs).

However, our one remaining hive (the one we took from the barn wall last year - see the video blog) is doing absolutely splendidly! plenty of adult bees and 5 sides of brood - eggs, larvae and capped, and beautiful healthy brood it is too. They're bringing in loads of pollen and nectar, and they have stores left over too, mostly a mixture of sugar and honey unfortunately, but they still appear to be working hard. They're literally 2 feet from a 5 acre field of oil seed rape this year too, which has yet to flower, so hopefully they'll be able to build up their numbers even more to make the most of the harvest. They have plenty of room and were REALLY DOCILE - came as a bit of a shock after extracting them from the wall (they were rather angry - Dad got stung nearly 50 times on the same finger and it swelled up to the size of a golf ball just below the knuckle) but they were beautiful bees - absolutely unfussed and uninterested by the humans cooing over them adoringly!

So, after a rather large setback of massive losses, it looks like we've got off to the best start we could have expected. And fingers crossed for lots of big swarms this May!

The veggies we planted last week are up already! I'd better get preparing a space for them...

The ducks lay every day during all but the very deepest winter days. But at the moment the chickens are laying regularly too - an unexpected pleasure, as usually we spend half our lives trying to stop them being broody and attacking anything that moves in a fit of maternal rage. But despite the meat-and-dairy eaters of the house eating a lot of omelettes, we still ended up with a glut of eggs. So this week Pabi Bach made her wonderful Mexican chocolate cake (wonderfully moist every time she makes it, with spices to bring out the flavour of the chocolate. My favourite cake of all time) as well as over 40 meringues. But despite all this we still had loads of eggs to use up, so we decided to make some lemon curd. We used Delia Smith's recipe (too sweet but a good basic - next time we'll add more lemon) and ended up with 7 jars of lemon curd, some of which we've been giving away. It's incredible stuff, best eaten straight from the jar with a spoon!

However only 2 days since the great curd cooking session, the eggs are piling up again already. So I'll have to think of something else we can make this time. Any ideas leave a comment!

All those eggs...

Today it is wet and miserable. And it has been so wonderful, sunny and warm recently! No wonder us Brits are always moaning about our climate; even in summer you are never sure what you are going to get.


I don't suppose the bees will be out today very much. If at all.


Oh well. There is always a bright side i.e. with all the rain we don't have to water everything so much today.


We currently have 21 eggs, both chicken and duck, waiting to be used in our kitchen (the picture shows a mere fraction of their numbers). What with two ducks who lay like clockwork and one broody, two sporadically laying unreliable hens, you'd think we would be prepared for a glut. But we are not. So this afternoon we shall be baking numerous cakes, and making ice cream and lemon curd (lemon curd!!) and after all that will still be having omelette for supper. But it is always nice to enjoy the fruits of one's labours (not that we do much more than muck them out every once in a while, cover their legs with Vaseline when they get scaly leg and throw food at themthe rest of the time).

Today, despite the dreary weather, we have been planting. We have planted some of the vast number of nicotiana we have grown this year, as well as the rest of the tomatoes and some brassicas: mostly cabbage and broccoli, with some sprouts still left to grow on a bit before they go in. I planted so many seeds this year, thinking that not all of them would germinate, that we may not have to buy any greens for the coming year. In fact, by this time next year we will probably be sick of them.



Here is some of the stuff still waiting to go in. We had better pull our fingers out quick!

Everything that we have actually got planted in though is doing really well! Here are some pictures.

Our greenhouse, donated by some neighbours this year (the entire frame was just lifted over our garden wall. It is now occupied by a morose tortoise and a grumpy toad) is pretty much full to the brim. We planted tomatoes Moneymaker and Marmande in there, as well as a tomatillo plant (Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall uses them in chutney, so we thought we'd try it...not that our cupboards aren't already full of the stuff), cucumbers and lots of aubergines. The pathetic excuses for chilli peppers and the basil are yet to go in.

The salad bed, consisting of some cut and come again spicy oriental leaves, our second and third crops of radishes, two rows of gem lettuces, lots of weeds, and more stuff waiting to be planted out. The lettuces are my pride and joy at the moment, as we are having salad every evening for the first time ever. I planted them really thickly and now as I thin them out I just snap the roots off and use the baby leaves in salads. They're really juicy, crisp and tender, and a real treat.

My peas have rocketed. I have put pea sticks and string in but it is not enough. I cannot keep up with them. There are two varieties in there: Calibra and Oregon Sugar Pod.

Broad Beans The Sutton. These were very slow to germinate and are still looking a bit weedy, although they probably don't like the shadier patch I organised for them on the crop rotation this year. They are interplanted with marigolds which, according to my Granddad's book on companion planting (the fountain of all wisdom) will keep the black fly off.

This bed is savoy cabbages and celery, with more stuff waiting to go in.

This bed is onion, garlic and shallots that were left over from our garden in France, along with some spectacular French beetroot. Our neighbour in France, Mme Georgette (also the fountain of all wisdom) grows beetroots like nothing you've ever seen. They are the size of small planets and full of flavour. Eat too many and your pee goes reddish orange. So that's what we're aiming for.

This bed is now planted up with brassicas, but beforehand it was our storage bed.

And here are some pictures of our animals.

Badly behaved chickens in the rabbit run.

So that is all that has happened since the last post. At the weekend we are running away to Wales to go to the smallholders' show at Builth Wells. Should be interesting.