My One Success

Over the years I have had MANY house plants. Most died within the first month of arriving home. The plants that we have now are alive due to the diligence of my darling husband. My problem? I ignore them until they wilt and then I over-water them. It's just a cycle that I haven't been able to overcome. There is one plant, however, that I have had for about 15 years. Yep, you guessed it, it's a cactus. It started as a tiny plant, a couple of inches above the soil. Now, it's a monster. It's the only plant that's been able to survive my erratic watering style. Luckily, I don't seem to have this problem with outdoor plants. If it's in the ground, it's safe. (My darling husband also helps with the watering.)

A funny Garden sign

On my way to the clinic today I saw a sign in someone's snow covered garden. It said, "Please excuse my garden. My bloomers are down for the winter." I guess it's good to have a sense of humor when it seems that there is no end to this snow.

Exciting news for the Hollow today! We found this on our front step when we got home from Hedfex.

Inside we found seeds: Sugar Snap Peas, Bee Balm, Asparagus, Black Eyed Susan Vine, Sunflower, Parsnip, White Onions and Scallions. The press-like thing is called a mini blocker. We'll use it to make tiny squares of dirt to start our seeds in. Paul and the girls used a larger one last year and it worked great.

Bees? In Minneapolis?

Beekeeping? In Minneapolis? You may be wondering how and why would we get into bees? Well, it turns out that the older I get, the more I find that I'm like my dad in more ways than I thought. When I was very young, my dad kept bees in our yard. I was too little to be involved much, but I remember him going out in his suit to tend to the hives.
As an aside, my dad also got chickens around the same time. He was going to the farm store to get a "couple of chicks" for my sister and I for Easter. He came home with 100 of them. Dad also go a horse one year while my mom was on vacation. What can I say? Farming and animal husbandry is just in our blood (much to the chagrin of our spouses sometimes).
That being said, it is actually with the enthusiasm, encouragement and complete support from Paul that we begin our bee adventure. For my birthday this year, he got me a bee hive. It's beautiful! It's called a Garden Hive and it has a shiny, peaked, copper roof. We're taking a class at Gale Woods Farm in a couple of weekends on Beekeeping, we've been reading a great book: The Backyard Beekeeper by Kim Flottum and then we're on our way! The hive and book are from Brushy Mountain Bee Farm.

An adventure into the jungle

The girls and I had an adventure into the jungle today. We needed to smell some fresh, moist air for a bit. We even brought our watercolors and painted a few pictures while we were there.

Soon to become

It seems improbable and quite impossible that this will soon become lush and green. With the sun shining and the snow beginning to melt, we've begun to get spring(and garden) fever at Honeybee Hollow. The seeds have been ordered and will get started in the basement very soon. The chickens keep clucking along, waiting for those few tasty spring greens to come up. I'm positive that they will be extremely grateful to get out of their coop!
The honeybees...well, we're working on that. Honeybees will be a new adventure for us this year. We have a hive, a good book and registration for a beekeeping class. No bees yet, but they will be joining us in short order.
For now, here's a peek at the coop cam:





























Will soon become this: