Pallet for Home

Before I begin, Just a reminder to get your comment in on The Backyard Mushroom spore Giveaway in my previous post. Deadline is May 4th, so be sure to get your name in the ring for a chance to experience your own growing of Easy edible Mushrooms!

Our bee hive has been very active. With this hive, I am able to sit within a foot and at times just inches of their entry spot. It became so fascinating to watch their activity with the most amusing being the traffic jam of having just the finger width hole for entry & exit.

If you had read my last post from setting up their hive, you will remember I placed grass in the 1/2 inch spot where my entry reducer was just a tad too short on one end. {can be seen in the picture of our hive in that post}. The "House keeper" bee's have been very busy removing it all. Rather endearing to watch a small insect pulling a long blade of grass from the hole, so determined to get it done as others were constantly walking and bumping into it. Then you have the workers... What a thrill it was to notice the many different colors of pollen on their legs. Hues of bright to mellow yellow. Dark brown oranges to almost a neon orange in color. You begin to wonder where are they traveling to? What plant have they found that gives them such a color?

Not too mention, look at all the different sizes of their pollen collection. The larger amounts almost look like Saddle bags:

The winds picked up yesterday so Frog & I walked to the back field for some camera fun. The blades of field grass were bending so beautifully. Waves across the green. The clouds were beginning to get that stormy look as well.So full with variations of white and grey. The sun brightening their back drop. One of the most beautiful things in a Spring storm is when it has a long build up like this one. Air is so warm yet the strong winds have a slight coldness as they whip through. The clouds appeared almost as though they were racing above us. A perfect time to grab a blanket and wonder out to the field for some cloud watching and allow Frog to practice picture taking. She has taken a big interest in it of late. Being 5 1/2 she has not fully comprehended all the skills but has surprised with some of her random snapshots:

Now if this recent over pour of Rain will stay away for the weekend, I may actually get the chicken coop painted with it's final coating of color. I might even get The Captain to do the post holes for my Garden fencing. Yay!

Experimenting with a potential oh so cool project this week. I had read of it's doing in a book published for Ladies in 1890. Of course deciphering  a certain material was nothing but a quick trip to my friends at Abruzzo's, my Favorite Home Brew shop. It's not what ya think, so stay tuned for a little tutorial and what to do with all those first time mini chicken eggs.

Been thinking about growing mushrooms but have not made the leap to include them in your adventures? Well then I have the PERFECT thing to help get your toes wet.

Not too long ago a reader had emailed, inviting me out to their place. She has been growing mushrooms in her backyard for a few years now. Generously she has offered to share some start up for growing our own Wine Cap & Shitake mushrooms once her 'Shrooms start to show face in the next few weeks. The more I learned of her set up the more I knew she would make a great spotlight video. If I am inspired just from our writing and her pictures, then surely you too will be hopping on the mushroom growing adventure.

 Backyard Mushroom growing will be our first Video of 2011.

So in the spirit of what is to come I contacted a Mushroom spore & supply company whom has been recommended by MANY of those I have spoken to who grow backyard mushrooms.

Field and Forest is giving away 1 two pound bag of Wine Cap spore in sawdust

{Plants 25 sq. ft of chips or sawdust 3 inches deep. Includes instructions.}

to ONE lucky reader, RIGHT HERE on my blog! Ya wont find it anywhere else people.

Your prize will be mailed to you directly from the company. You MUST provide an actual residence address if you are the lucky winner*please see small print rules below*

Wildman Steve with Wine cap Mushrooms he harvested from the wild

"Wine Caps are some of the easiest mushrooms to grow and they are really beautiful. The mushroom features a robust white stalk with a port wine colored cap. These are crisp, slightly nut flavored mushrooms that are great for cooking and grilling.Keep the beds watered to keep the chips moist but not saturated. Regular garden-style watering is usually enough. In a few weeks you should detect the strong white mycelium growing out through the wood chips. Fruiting occurs late summer through fall, then again the following year around Memorial Day. Add fresh chips to the bed after the spring fruiting to keep it fresh and create new beds periodically by transferring shovels full of inoculated chips from the established old bed to new locations. If you have a gardener’s eye you’ll soon see potential Wine Cap beds everywhere you look!"

Oh yes, of course. How can you win your very own Wine cap mushrooms?

Just leave a comment, a simple just throwing your name in the ring comment will do.

You have until midnight EASTERN time May 4th 2011 to get your comment in. Tell your fellow bloggers as well. This is a great opportunity to begin or simply experiment with Mushroom growing. Easy, fun & interesting. Not too mention...EDIBLE!

The small print "rules":

So what are you waiting for?! Leave your comment entry now!

Here at the Stone Cottage, Spring has been sharing many delights. The weeping Cherry trees are in bloom and the Weeping Willow has begun showing it's green leaves.

 

Frog & I began doing some Spring clean up. Edging the driveway was our first duty. As usual, Frog began to play around under the weeping Cherry trees and soon she found a beautiful surprise!

I assume a Nest robber has been at work since upon our inspection, there were no nests above where the ice cold egg was found. Soon we began searching the other weeping cherries and found another cold Robins egg just 2 trees over. The closest nest to where the eggs lay was a good 25 to 30 ft away. Although it does appear as though there may have been a nest in the one tree between where the eggs were found. All these rains may very well have destroyed the nest, Winds or the action of falling, causing the eggs to go in opposite directions.

Yup. Thats right. I LOVE the downtown market. It's one of my favorite markets of the year.... and now I'll be in it full time! Every Saturday you can find me with my green and white canopy set up in Pioneer Park just off the 400 S exit in downtown Salt Lake City. I'm so happy.

As soon as I had everyone tucked in, well most of them anyway, Lil Man crept in for a closer look. There were some stragglers in the screened box that would just not let go, after I "knocked" the lot into the hive.

So now we wait. 1 week before we take a peek inside to ensure the queen has been released from her marshmallow corked chamber. The problem with waiting is...I am not known for patience. Add in  inexperienced bee keeper.

No, that is not an exaggeration. It truly took 6 months from start to finish. Not because the table actually required that much work. No, it's more like I refused to brave the cold & work on it during the winter. Yes, I dislike being cold that much.

I first mentioned this Project last September, showing a beautiful upcycled barn wood table. It had a rather alluring bottom shelf for the Farm House table. LOVED IT! So begun the construction which did not end looking like the one in the picture. None the less, it is unique and huge! 8 ft long and 3 ft wide.

 I'm not Bob Villa but I am very happy with how it came out. I made it so the top sits at 34 inches high, perfect to prevent slumping over the top in normal dining chairs. Once my new dining chairs are finished with their new cushions, our old table chairs will be transformed into wood bottom {removing the cushions} for using with this table outside, under the future Arbor.

I also managed to finish tilling under the winter rye cover crop in the garden. To feel the cold soil freshly turned under my feet, was exhilarating. BUT it came with a consequence. Within 1/2 an hour I soon broke out in a massive case of itchy red skin & hives all over my body.It felt as though my skin was really crawling. I could feel a swelling in my throat & saw my limbs begin to get puffy.I grabbed the benedryl, which was followed with the antihistamine induced nap. I woke up as though I had partied the night away.Headache, sensitive stomach. Ack! Lesson learned. Do not till winter rye while barefoot.

The chickens are loving this recent turn of Mother Nature. Their coop is still awaiting it's final home INSIDE the chicken pen, but they stay with a 10 ft range of the coop despite not having barriers. Dust bathing, playing "who's got the worm now football" and of course flying in circles testing out their wings.