Well, the summer was a whirlwind between advocating for ordinance change and attending to the garden, the bees and the chickens. We didn't even get to do any summer trips as the backyard kept us quite busy. We did enjoy some dinner picnics under the pergola enjoying tasty dishes from the fresh vegetables from the garden.

We received quiet a surprise about a month ago. Nathaniel's hen "Kick" became broody in April and we decided we would let her sit on 5 eggs I acquired. We were not positive if the eggs were fertilized or not but we thought it would be great to let her sit on them and teach the kids the process of where chickens come from. Of the five eggs, two hatched. One chick died. The boys were so sad and had a little funeral for it. The other chick that hatched was named "Peck".  Here she is......

I think and hope he is doing great! "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. I felt great about his placement because he was free to roam just as at home.

Well Kick was upset to loose her chick and went broody again. Stay tuned.....

The Beehive Update:

I took off the super to winterize the hive. I only had three and half frames in the super which were not completely full. I felt sort of bad taking the three frames but I needed to remove the super in order to prepare the bees for the winter. I left one frame that was not capped yet for the bees to forage on for the afternoon. They loved it. I removed the three frames that were not entirely built out and extracted at a fellow beekeepers home. It yielded about 14 lbs of honey to share with family, friends and neighbors. This is the private label and not for sale. It is delicious though!!! My husband, myself and the kids are looking forward to creating our Christmas label. We will show pictures of the finished product in another blog. Here is a photo (and video) of me doing the extraction -- A very educational and fun experience.

Harvest Season in the Garden:

The garden is doing amazingly well. We harvested tons of strawberries, some blueberries, alpine strawberries (my favorite), blackberries, raspberries, artichokes, apples, tomatoes, swiss chard, kale, broccoli, carrots, zucchini, squash, cucumbers, beans, peas, lettuce, basil, and figs. Here are some photos of the garden. The tomatoes were relocated this year. They did not do as well as last year, but it could be due to lack of very hot days.

  

The kids enjoyed working and romping in the garden and eating their harvest. We will post some fun videos on the website.

Advocating For Change:

In regards to advocating for the ordinance change please visit the advocacy page for an update. We will attend the next meeting on Tuesday, October 11th, 2011. I will post an update about what transpires.

Happy Harvesting,

nicole