2012 Potpourri

As the sun set on another year I took a look back at my compilation of photos. I like doing this because it jogs my memory of things I'd forgotten to share, mostly things that didn't require an entire post but in some way merit mentioning. There is never a dull moment on an urban farm.

Sometimes things happen. One fine summer day while working in the garden, hens clucking and scratching for bugs, I noticed one trying to lay her egg on the ground in the run. I figured no big deal, I'll just let her do her thing. Hours passed and still poor little hen had not passed that pesky egg. So I headed to the house and to Google to see if I could find any information on why she might be acting in this manner. The results was unmistakably "egg bound" so I followed instructions giving my hen a nice warm water bath and a thorough abdomen massage but to no avail. After two hours I dried her off tucking her away in a small dog kennel with a heating pad placed on "low" for the night. In the morning my poor little girl had passed from exhaustion. I can't explain this phenomenon but it happens. It was a sad day.

On a happier note, I learned how to fly fish! I'm not sure if I can be sustained with the tiny fish I caught (these were catch and release) but I sure had fun. We stayed at Canyon River Ranch and used guides from Red's Fly Shop who are located on the property next door. Both have excellent facilities and many activities to keep you entertained.

There was another passing in our family as well. One of my hives died out. I don't know the cause, I can only rule things out. It wasn't mites and it wasn't starvation. The colony was a little weak in numbers and in the end I believe it was moisture but that may have just been a symptom of a weak colony not being able to properly ventilate the hive. My colleagues at Snoqualmie Valley Beekeepers (of which I am now the Secretary) tell me that a new beekeeper can expect a 50% loss the first year. I don't like those numbers but, in my case, they ring true. The upside of this loss is that I got to harvest the honey that they left behind. Well, not all of it. Most of it and the empty combs are in the freezer awaiting to be used for the surviving colony and for the new colonies I will purchase for delivery in the Spring. This will give them a head start on building up for the busy gathering they'll be doing come nectar flow. So what to do with the honey we harvested? We used some for eating, some for experimenting (think adding flavors), and some to make mead. The bottle above is just about ready to rack. We won't know for a few months if it's worth drinking!

The island of Maui in December. A world away from the cold and pre-Christmas chaos. Just what the doctor ordered to wrap up a fabulous and prosperous year. My family's Christmas present, we spent twelve days exploring this diverse island. Surfing Goat Dairy, Ali'i Kula Lavender Farm, and Tedeschi Winery were stopping points on our eco-tour of upcountry Maui. Other days were spent on a small patch of beach in the photo above. Out in the distance past the large stretch of sand you can spot a road traversing a large lava flow that pours into the Pacific. That's the King's road. At the head of that road you can spot a white dot of sand. THAT was our Paradise. The area surrounding that magnificent lava flow (about 1790) is an underwater preserve where no boats are allowed. No cars or foot traffic are allowed in and among the lava flow. It was here, just outside the preserve boundary that I gathered a gallon of pure Ahihi Bay water. I took this water to our rental house in Haiku and dehydrated it into pure flakes of white salt. I've made salt from waters of the Puget Sound too. You can see the process here. It is quite easy. 

So, besides all the other projects and happenings around UrbanTerra (did you notice the name change?) these were tucked in among them rounding out a rather productive year. Tonight as I write this, snuggled by the fire and sipping a dram of fabulous Scotch, I am dreaming and scheming of new projects to start as soon as the ground thaws. 

Honey Harvest

Nothing on this earth can compare to the aroma of honey. Sweet and heady with a slight spicy note, it fills the air in the apiary come August. The combs are full of ripe nectar, capped and prepared for winter when the honey bees will tap into this sustaining liquid gold.

My harvest was small this year, only four combs, but the honey was dark and rich late season nectar flow from blackberry and knotweed. Because I keep Top Bar hives the comb is cut from the bars using a sharp knife leaving behind a wax "guide" for the new combs that will be built this coming spring. Any errant combs veering from a straight path will be cleaned up as to avoid any cross combing when the building begins again.

With natural comb the crush and strain method is used unless you are using a Langstroth hive (the typical square box hive) with the foundationless method where instead of using pre-formed wax foundation sheets you allow the bees to fill in the frames with natural comb. In this case you can still use an extractor which uses centrifugal force to spin the honey out of it's cells. 

The capped honey is referred to as "ripe". The uncapped cells are in the process of dehumidification to around 17- 18% which the bees know and then cap the cell to prevent the honey from absorbing any more moisture. Unripe honey will ferment essentially becoming mead. The worker bees will keep the hive around 92 degrees by flapping there wings, this warm air movement dries out the honey and once it reaches the perfect stage the cell is capped. Honey is hygroscopic so it is important to store honey in airtight containers so that it will not absorb the moisture in the air. If you find your honey crystallizing this is what is happening. You can bring your honey back to a liquid form by gently heating it but this will destroy many of it's inherent beneficial properties. The best thing to do with your crystallized honey is to make Creamed Honey with it.

Creamed Honey recipe:

3 cups liquid honey

1/3 cup crystallized honey

Use an electric mixer to combine the two honeys completely until the mixture has no tongue detectable crystals. Bottle the honey immediately in a one piece lidded jar (not a cap and ring), place the jar upside down for two hours to allow any trapped air to rise to the bottom of the jar. Then flip the jar over and one large air bubble will rise to the top of the jar leaving your creamed honey with a smooth surface. Now store the jar in in a cool room (55 degrees) undisturbed for one week or until the honey has solidified. Tilt the jar a little, if the honey moves it is not set. It is possible to make flavored creamed honey as well using fruit, herbs, and spices. How about jalapeno, rosemary, or lemon? Just be careful not to bring the moisture level of the honey above 18%. Using powders or freeze dried fruits (powdered) will keep you safe without resorting to a refractometer.

Creamed honey is a wonderful spread for muffins, toast, or meats!

The crush and strain method is just what it sounds like. Place a large colander over a deep bowl or food grade bucket and crush the comb with a potato masher. The honey will drain through the colander slowly. I stirred the mixture a few times to help the process along. After an hour all that remained was the wax.

To process the wax I used a simple water method. I placed extra comb and crushed comb into a large aluminum pot then poured near boiling water over the top to cover and float the wax. I then heated the pot to near boiling so the wax separated from the cocoons and the cocoons started to float. And here I will divert into a side note for those of you wondering about the cocoons. When the queen lays an egg into a cell it develops into a larvae which in turns spins a cocoon as it goes through metamorphosis, similarly to a butterfly. When the baby bee emerges it leaves behind on the cell wall it's cocoon. The nurse bee then cleans and polishes the cocoon lined cell with wax and a piece of propolis. This ensures the cell is now sanitary for the next egg. There may be hundreds of eggs laid in that cell per rearing season. Once rearing is done most of these cells are filled with honey or pollen for winter stores. This is why new comb is pure white and old comb is dark brown. It is essential for the health of the colony for the beekeeper to rotate out the brood comb regularly as the cells become smaller and smaller. Old comb also creates an invitation to the wax moth larvae who thrive on old comb. In the wild the wax moth is natures way of ridding feral hives of old comb as the larvae cannot digest new comb but a managed hive should try it's best to be wax moth free. So to get the nice white comb back the wax needs to be rendered from the cocoons and other contaminates. 

Stirring the wax/water mixture insures that all the wax is melted. Then the mixture is poured through a sieve or mesh screen into a clean bucket. The cocoons are left in the sieve, the water and wax are in the bucket. I let this cool and then lifted the now solidified round disk of wax off the water. This process can be repeated using finer and finer filters to further clean the wax.

I wanted to try preserving some comb honey as well. I cut out two small squares of capped honey and then poured some liquid honey over that. I think it looks rather pretty although a lighter colored honey say from maple nectar would make it much more dramatic. Maybe some decorative jars too? All comb honey should be put into the freezer to kill any wax moth larvae that may be present. If this step is skipped you might open up a jar to find little creatures a crawlin'! This is why taking comb honey from nice new white comb is best!

Honey is at it's best taken from a treatment free hive (no chemicals or antibiotics used to treat bee diseases and pests), non-filtered nor heat treated. Honey is naturally free from bad bacteria. It is anti-fungal, antibacterial, and a natural antibiotic. It is used for stomach ailments such as ulcers and is used on open wounds. It has been found to heal faster with less scaring on open wounds and acne. It has also been found that consuming local honey (never feed honey to children under the age of 1year) can lessen the effects of pollen allergies and build immunity.

Eat honey, my son, for it is good; honey from the comb is sweet to your taste. Proverbs 24:13

Lavender Harvest

My favorite use for lavender is making jelly. Intensely aromatic and mildly flavored it graces biscuits, scones and shortbread elegantly. Nothing can compare!

"Hanged up in houses,

it doth very well attemper the aire,

coole and make the place to delight

and comfort of such as are within."

~John Gerard, 1597~

Lavender has been used for centuries for it's aromatic and culinary benefits so it makes sense to include this herb in your urban homestead plan. Not only is it useful to humans but the bees love it too. This is why I decided to install 25 plants (three different varieties) near my hives. I chose the English Lavender 'Sachet' for it's excellent oil quality to use in sachets for the dryer and potpourri. It was developed in Oregon so it is a good choice for my growing zone. 

I also planted the French lavender 'Provence'. It will tolerate damp soil well and will be used for making Herbs de Provence, jelly, cookies and other sweets as it is not as spicy as other lavenders. Also, with it's extremely long stems it is ideal for cutting.

The third variety I chose was Lavandula x intermedia 'Fred Boutin' for it's lovely grey green foliage and because it flowers late in the summer and into fall giving my bees a little snack before settling into the hive for winter. It also keeps it's color well when dried and has long, slender stems for crafting.

Lavender needs sun and sandy well drained soil. Humidity and wet soils rather than cold will be the death of it. Do plenty of research before choosing a variety and planting area to insure a long lived, thriving plant. The larger varieties can be pruned by as much as one-third in springtime and the smaller varieties only a few inches. Shape into mounds keeping pruning methods in mind as you harvest. Lavenders that flower in the early spring and are harvested may have a bonus rebloom in late summer. 

When choosing varieties for your landscape consider site, bloom time (aiming for successive bloom times), and intended uses. Following these guidelines will help you have a successful lavender garden!