Posted on 06/01/2026 6:10:43 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
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Greetings from southern New Hampshire! Yesterday, I moved the second swarm into Hive #2n(A pretty small one) repairing comb to frame problems as I did. Then, I checked the hive containing swarm #1, repairing comb as I checked. This colony is really strong and growing. Lots of capped brood, eggs and young larva, honey, nectar and pollen. Heck, I even spotted the queen!
Life in our garden area with the addition of the apiary is getting better.
On a sad note, we had two of our cats take to the Rainbow Road between May 13th and June 12th. Buddy left us in May on our 15th wedding anniversary and last Friday, Blossom, the last of the “California Cats” followed him. Buddy was 15, we think….Jack brought him home from the Tractor Supply in Milford, where he worked when he found him in the pet food section…and Blossom was 20 years old. I used to call her “The Raging Bitch From Hell”, but she mellowed out to become an affectionate member of our family.
We are now down to four indoor cats and a stray who adopted us over the winter and has her own hooch on our back deck. She is an affectionate talker I named Tabitha and a welcomed addition to our motley crew.
Lots of raised bed work this week along with building more frames for our horizontal (Laydens) hives and traps.
Have a great week, All!
If you are getting a tall, lush plant and no blooms, your Marigold is overdosing on Nitrogen on the ‘NPK’ scale.
You need to give them Phosphorus (middle number) for bloom set and blooming.
What have you been using for fertilizer?
What a thrill to have spotted the Queen! Your beekeeping sounds so interesting. I regret not taking ‘all the parts’ from my BIL when he offered them to me years ago.
Sorry about your cats...but that’s nice of you to take in Tabitha, too. :)
The normal sized marigolds were from a flat I bought from a nursery, the monsters are all from seeds I planted. This little "swing planter box" I started this year just inches away from where the rabbits were digging up my lawn last year.
The marigolds are supposed to chase the rabbits away, the cucumbers get a trellis away from everything else.
I'm going to transplant them to allow the cucumbers some light.
Yikes thanks for the pic. Amazing!
Spinach Gratin / turns everyday spinach into a gourmet treat
Ing 1 lb spinach leaves (use kale or Swiss Chard), Buttered b/dish
1 tbl whole grain mustard 1 3/4 c h/cream, grated Parm to cover, s/p
Method: Set slightly wilted spinach leaves in buttered b/dish Pour over combined
cream/mustard/s/p, cover w/ Parm. Bake 350 deg 35-40 min to a honey-hued light crust.
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After I finally figured out how to post pictures again, I decided to go crazy.
Upper left shows 2 rain barrels, garlic, apple trees and lots of lettuce (automatic drip irrigation on lettuce and spinach from barrel).
Upper right shows Dill, lots of onions, horseradish, parsley, lovage, japanese sweet potatoes, some extra roma tomatos, pineapple sage, borage, and the transplanted giant marigolds.
Lower right shows my self irrigated planter fully enclosed this year (no squirrels allowed), different tomatoes, peppers, onions, parsnips, chickweed, the radishes were already harvested.
Lower left some hanging flowers and the swing planter for cucumbers.
‘Crackerjack’ was a guess, but so was ‘First Lady’ if it blooms in yellow. ;)
It looks healthy and happy. Keep doing what you’re doing. :)
Very nice! You are making great use of space. :)
Very nice and well kept!
On the other hand, I would describe my yard maintenance style as a bit better than "Old farmyard!"
Augie; I may pull beets tomorrow. I am at the end of the lettuce. Have pulled all the turnips. I am not sure If I will plant them again. Mrs. Pete does not like them and they result in a lot of intestinal discomfort.
What type of beets did you use? I used Boro hybrid and Bohan. Bohan are still growing.
I was looking for new-to-me Crock Pot recipes for Summer cooking, when you don’t want to turn on the stove or the oven.
This looked SO GOOD!
Mexican Street Corn Soup
https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/mexican-street-corn-chowder/
Nutella Cheesecake / No Bake
A triple hit of Nutella: cream cheese filling, ganache topping, drizzle garnish.
Ing Crust: 7 oz Oreos, 4 tbl melted unsalted butter. Nutella mousse filling: 3 tsp gelatin 1/4 c water lb cream cheese 1/2 c conf 1 c Nutella 1 c h/cream. Nutella ganache: 1/2 c h/cream 1/2 c Nutella 1/4 c choc/chips Toppings: 1/4 c toasted chp hazelnuts, 1/2 c h/cream 3 tbsp Nutella , warmed
Method Line bottom of 8" buttered springform w/ Oreos in fine crumbs mixed w/ butter. Nutella mousse filling: sprinkle gelatin across water surface. Stir to partly dissolve. Set 5 min. Micro 15 sec, stir, then cool 5 min. Nutella Filling: Beat smooth cr/cheese, Nutella, conf. Add cooled gelatin liquid; beat 30 sec. Add 1/3 whipped cream in stiff peaks; gently fold til just combined. Fold in next 1/3 cream same way. Then fold in rest cream. Pour into Crust, fridge 1 hour to set.
Nutella ganache: Micro cream, Nutella, choc/chips in two 30-sec bursts, stir smooth in between; cool 5 min, then pour over cheesecake. Tilt pan to spread evenly. Fridge 3 hours. Garnish: Sprinkle w/ hazelnuts. Pipe whipped cream rosettes at edges, drizzle w/ warm Nutella. Serve in wedges.
Taunus hybrid. They're one of the cylindrical varieties. I prefer those over the round varieties for pickling - uniform slices pack better than the round ones.
I used to plant Cylindra but haven't seen them for sale over the last couple of years. Chiogga is my favorite for eating fresh or boiled, but I'm the only one here that really likes them that way so for me there's not much point in planting two varieties.
Johnny's has a cylindrical variety called Formanova but I haven't tried them. I just now found Cylindra seed for sale at Eden Brothers, but I buy from Jung's or Johnny's for the most part. It doesn't make sense to pay shipping from four or five vendors unless there's something really special that isn't available from your go-to.
We got 1/10" rain yesterday, and it's raining again this morning. ugh
Thanks for supporting my retirement from Jung’s - one seed packet at a time, LOL!
If you really want Cylindra Check out PineTree Seeds. https://www.superseeds.com/collections/beet-seeds
You are doing a great job with your garden! Keep it up!
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