Parsley and Isadora

We added a new hive of bees to the apiary this weekend:  3 lbs. of workers (all female bees), a couple of drones, and Queen Isadora!  The bees came in the wood and screen box that you see on the ground in front of the hive, with Isadora protected in a small queen cage inside.  They now are all in an 8 frame deep brood box, building comb using the sugar syrup I gave them to help them get over the shock of moving along with nectar from the thousands of flowers blooming all over the island right now.  Wish them luck!

The bees were not the only work this weekend.  The amazing flat leaf parsley that grows under the blueberries was getting ready to go to seed.  You can tell this is coming when the plant begins to put out a thick, elongated, central stem - this will be the seed stalk.  So, I went to work, harvesting all the fresh smelling, dark green leaves from around the stem, leaving it to go to seed to start next year's parsley plants!  Here you see the beautiful parsley, the stems left behind, and the pile of leaves only that I clipped off the stems, rinsed, and and now preparing to dry.  I love the smell of fresh parsley!

Blossoms

I just had to share three spring blossoms from my yard: Pendulous blueberries, airy plum, and colorful species tulips. This is a great time to be out in the yard and garden!

Perfectly timed rain

What a great weekend for rain. It should help the tender lettuce plants that are the only thing left from the mixed greens bed of last fall. Next weekend I will separate and replant them into a more compact section of the garden, along with some new plants for spring salads.

With new peas, carrots, beets, and potatoes in the ground, I hope this rain will help them all to germinate and peek through the soil soon. The carrots and beets and one batch of peas were planted last weekend. My first batch of peas, from two weeks ago, is up, and tall enough to see the rows from up at the house. This weekend I harvested the last of the kale and collards to make room for the potatoes and for a third planting of two rows of peas.

Here are the freshly harvested greens on the back porch, waiting to be cleaned, chopped and blanched before freezing, and for one bowl for lunch, topped with a fresh egg.