The hour-per-day gardening project continues. I have gotten busy in the garden over the last two weeks, but once one gets behind, it is hard to catch up, except where one has thought ahead and used cardboard as sheet mulch! The Neighbor’s Plot The peas, oats, and flax are doing well, with the peas already … More Hour-Per-Day Gardening Continues
Every year I get an email from the Bee Informed Partnership. They’re asking for beekeepers to fill out a 20- to 30-minute survey on our practices and results in our bee yards. As far as I know, this is the most comprehensive and popular survey of beekeeping in the US, netting an estimated 11 percent … More Bee Informed Partnership Releases Study Results
A few weeks ago, we got a call from the institute’s treasurer, Paula, who works at Historic Wagner Farm in a suburb of Chicago. Wagner Farm was originally outside of the metro area and then Chicagoland grew up around it and the Village of Glenview decided to turn this working farm into a city park. … More Welcome New Chickens!
The hour-per-day gardening project continues. It has been two months since my last update to this project. Unfortunately, I haven’t been as diligent as I’d like to have been, as the Sustainability Skill Share was coming up on June 1 and 2. Since then, it has been a busy time, getting starts transplanted in the … More Striving Towards Hour-Per-Day Gardening
I’ve been splitting hives since I started keeping bees 4 years ago and I’m still on my original line of bees (meaning I bought one nuc four years ago and am still going). This Saturday afternoon at 3:00 P.M. I’m going to start splitting my hives. The weather is cool, but I don’t want to … More Come Learn to Split Beehives This Weekend: 3 p.m. Saturday
Mushrooms are a great source of nutrition and a wonderful addition to any garden. Garden enthusiasts can easily grow many varieties of mushrooms in a shady spot in their backyards. During this workshop we will demonstrate several easy-to-learn techniques for adding edible mushrooms to diversify your garden experience. You’ll also learn about the live cycle … More Skill Share Workshops: Log-Grown Shiitake and Wincaps in Woodchips
The hour-per-day gardening project continues. Spring is the busiest time of year, followed by fall harvesting. With the addition a part of our neighbor’s plot, we have more work and space than ever. It has been cool and a little wet, but dry enough to get some seeds in the ground. The Neighbor’s Plot This … More Hour-Per-Day Gardening Continues
It is springtime and I see gardens being put in around the village. Did you go out to your garden shed and find that a tool you need broke? Are you looking for a quicker way to plant even rows of seeds? Do you want to try a new tool before buying it? Check out … More Borrow Garden Tools from the Tool Library
The institute’s tagline is “housing, clothing, and feeding ourselves in a post-fossil-fuel world,” but we give short shrift to the “clothing” part as we work on gardening and construction projects. We were lucky enough to be offered some growing space near the institute and in addition to growing chicken feed, we thought it would be … More How Hard Could It Be to Make a Shirt?
We have a big garden and try to grow an increasing percentage of our own food. We’ve still got potatoes and some canned vegetables from last year in the larder. People often comment on how large the garden is and how much work and time it must take to keep up, so again this year, … More One-Hour-Per-Day Gardening is Back
