It's Fair Time!

Tell me and I'll forget. Show me, and I may not remember. Involve me, and I'll understand.
~Native American Saying

One of the many fun things beekeepers get to do is volunteer to share their enthusiasm for bees with others. And in my experience, the beekeepers booth at the local county fair is hard to beat. Every year my dad and I volunteer at our local beekeeping club’s booth for a few hours for a couple days. It’s a hit with school kids and adults alike. The kids are the most enthusiastic, so eager to learn and see the queen. There is always an observation frame with bees and a queen going about their business so people can see first hand what it’s all about and what goes on inside the hive. Some are afraid of bees when they get there, but usually are no longer afraid when they leave.

In the 'box' the kids are looking at a frame of bees and their queen.  It is ventilated, and we put honey and water in daily for feed.  The frame is changed out with new bees and queen from a different hive every other day so as not to stress out the bees.  The bees are not harmed by this.

If your county fair is awesome enough to have a beekeeping booth, please stop by and learn all you can about honey bees. I think you’ll be fascinated.

In Bloom In My Garden Today: ajuga, colchicum, hardy geranium, primorse, schizostylus, pumpkin 'Baby Boo', tomato, basil, oregano, zucchini, cucumber, black mondo grass, lavender, borage, veronica, fushia, rose, nepeta, salvia, russian sage, Daphne caucasica ‘Eternal Fragrance’ and ‘Summer Ice’, echinacea, liatris, coryopsis, caryopteris, begonia, alyssum, lobelia, heather, hosta, gallardia, Star Jasmine, anise hyssop, gaura

Author's photos

The Sweetest Crop of Them All

"Well," said Pooh, "what I like best…" and then he had to stop and think. Because although eating honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn't know what it was called”.
~ A. A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh

Have you ever given much thought to the honey you buy? Like where it came from or how it was actually made? I’ve spoken about honey now and then in this blog so since now is when much of the nations honey supply is being gathered by beekeepers from coast to coast, I thought you may be interested to see how it all works.

Bees gather the flower nectars and bring them back to the hive.

They mix the nectars with enzymes from their saliva and deposit the liquid in the cells. Then they evaporate some of the moisture out of the nectar by fanning their wings in the hive. When the moisture content is just right they cap the cells with wax for lengthy storage. In the photo above, the white stuff is the wax cappings over the ripe honey. The cells in the background contain honey that still needs some evaporation and/or filling.

Then I come along and take just some of those finished frames of honey. I must leave a certain number of pounds for them to use for their winter food. If I take too much I could cause them to starve and die over the winter months. The presence of honey in the hive also helps to equalize sudden temperature changes. In the Pacific Northwest each hive will need approx 60 pounds for winter survival. I usually leave more in case of a long, cold spring.

Then I scratch off the wax cappings, put the frames in an extractor and spin the honey out by centrifugal force.

The honey is then sieved to remove bits of wax and decanted into jars.

Isn’t it beautiful? I think it is. And it is ever so sweet and wonderful to eat. Just ask Winnie the Pooh.

In Bloom In My Garden Today: green beans, tomato, basil, oregano, zucchini, cucumber, black mondo grass, lavender, borage, veronica, fushia, rose, nepeta, salvia, russian sage, Daphne caucasica ‘Eternal Fragrance’ and ‘Summer Ice’, echinacea, liatris, coryopsis, caryopteris, begonia, alyssum, lobelia, heather, hosta, gallardia, Star Jasmine, anise hyssop, gaura

Bee on Chive photo courtesy of Pat Chissus
the rest are the author's photos

Blueberry Grunt

"I prefer Hostess fruit pies to pop-up toaster tarts because they don't require as much cooking."
- Carrie Snow (comedienne, actress)

I have 2 bushes of Sunshine Blue blueberries in my garden. I’m contemplating a third. This variety is a smallish bush, reaching about 3-4 feet (1m) tall and wide. It is evergreen so is nice to look at most of the year round. The beautiful new leafy growth is bluish green leaves with pinky tinged edges.

All blueberries are shallow rooted, so good drainage, regular watering and mulch are best around the root zone for optimal performance and weed suppression. Blueberries like an acid pH soil, so your organic mulch can include spent coffee grounds and conifer needles. Your fertilizer should be an organic rhododendron or blueberry mix. Both are acidic.

Your local nurseries should carry plant varieties that will thrive in your climate and locale. There are lowbush varieties (New England), highbush varieties that grow throughout the US, and rabbiteye varieties (South and West US). Highbush like mine do not require cross-pollination but the others do, which means if you plant lowbush or rabbiteye varieties you’ll need more than one cultivar in your garden. Check with your local nurseries for specific information to your needs. They should sell you 2 year old plants or older to get a jump start on harvest. If you allow flower production on plants that are too young or too newly planted, you can slow down the root growth. A healthy root structure is so important to the plants overall health and more importantly, future fruit yield. Even removing the flowers the first year you have it will redirect the plants growing efforts back down to the roots. Patience will give you reward in the years to come.

Now for the harvest. Blueberry Grunt. What a bizarre name for a dish I thought when I first saw it, but there it is. Blueberry Grunt is like a steaming bowl of blueberries with a fluffy biscuit on top. It is yummy. It is said the sound of the simmering berries under the biscuit topping sounds like a grunt.

You can use your favorite biscuit or dumpling dough, or try my version below. Recently I’ve been experimenting with gluten free flours, so for this recipe I’m including both options. The gluten free flour mixture I used this time is Vanessa Maltin’s basic flour mix which can be found in her wonderful cookbook The Gloriously Gluten Free Cookbook.

Blueberry Grunt

In a 10 inch skillet (NOT cast iron) or an 8 inch pot, bring to a boil then turn the heat down to a simmer:
4 cups of fresh blueberries (no doubt frozen will do)
1/3 C water

Meanwhile in a separate bowl combine:
1 C all purpose flour OR
1 C of a gluten free flour mixture
½ TB baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt (I use Celtic Sea salt)
3 TB butter or butter substitute (I used Earth Balance organic buttery spread)
3 oz milk (I use soy or rice milk)

Wisk (or sift) the dry ingredients together. Cut in the butter till it’s fine and crumbly. With a light hand fold in the milk just till it’s all combined.

On top of the simmering berries, drop small spoonfuls of the dough, dotting the whole surface. Use it all up. Cover with a lid and let steam 15-20 minutes.

Enjoy immediately. It is heaven on earth in a bowl!

It’s quick, easy and ever so wonderful. You can make it sweeter by adding your favorite sweetener to the berries or serving it with whipping cream, but I find that neither is needed. You can make it dairy free, gluten free, soy free, sugar free…whatever your needs. Make your own version. There is no reason why you can’t substitute raspberries, blackberries or other in-season summer fruits for the blueberries.

Get your creative mojo going! Then tell us about your ideas in the comments.

In Bloom In My Garden Today: green beans, tomato, basil, oregano, zucchini, cucumber, black mondo grass, lavender, borage, veronica, fushia, rose, nepeta, salvia, russian sage, Daphne caucasica ‘Eternal Fragrance’ and ‘Summer Ice’, echinacea, liatris, coryopsis, caryopteris, begonia, alyssum, lobelia, heather, hosta, gallardia, Star Jasmine, anise hyssop, gaura


Authors photo