This week I did more than build a beehive :) August 31, 2012

http://www.youtube.com/user/growingyourgreens?feature=relchannel

This guy, John ( a.k.a. growingyourgreens on youtube), recommended this place for heirloom seeds in one of his videos.

http://www.bountifulgardens.org/

I decided to check them out and ordered:

BFSP-8610 Butterfly Mix, Special Purpose Wildflower Mix

FSP-8630 Hummingbird Mix, Special Purpose Wildflower Mix

FSP-8650 Wildflower Mix, Super Low-Growing

MCU-6320 Flower, Cuting Flowers Mix

MTO-6450 Tomato Mix

LPE-6732 Permaculture Collection

They also have a beneficial insect flower mix but I didn’t see it until after I had placed my order.

He also mentioned http://rareseeds.com/  and I have a catalog coming but haven’t ordered from them yet.

I also ordered Giant Italian Tree Tomato seeds after seeing an amazing picture of one on facebook.  http://www.ebay.com/itm/221106785389?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649#ht_1903wt_1271

I plan on ordering more seeds but have not decided on which varieties of everything just yet.  Most of the permaculture collection can be started now and I plan on getting some of the wildflowers going as soon as they get here.  My little clearing in the rear of the property is going to become a wildflower meadow for the honeybees that will inhabit my hive.  There is so much to do between now and spring.  In this part of South Carolina spring planting starts in March and I will be starting seeds inside as early as January.  I do not have a single bed constructed but as the weather cools off I will be able to get much more work done.  I hope I can get some work done over the holiday weekend without battling extreme heat or extreme rain.

Organic Beekeeping Group

Organic Beekeeping Group

Vanishing of the Bees

Vanishing of the Bees

How to Make a Skin-Nourishing Herbal Salve

herban lifestyle

If you have a yard, chances are you are growing the ingredients for a skin soothing herbal infusion without even trying! Plantain (Plantago major) is considered a weed, but it also contains natural constituents that are wonderful for your skin. Violet (Viola odorata) leaves are in the same category (not to mention that the flowers are delicious in salads or syrups!).

Violet is moisturizing, toning, healing, and great for sore nipples. Plantain is good for eczema, acne, minor cuts, stings, insect bites, poison ivy itch, and diaper rash.

The basis of a skin-nourishing herbal salve is an herbal oil infusion. Gather about 4 cups of plantain and violet leaves, making sure to choose ones that are fresh and green looking, with no major brown spots, rotten areas, or major insect damage. And make sure that they have not been sprayed with chemicals of any kind.

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Homemade sunburn cream

Ingredients:

3-4 inch piece off an aloe vera plant, slice open and scrape the gel from inside. You will be using the gel and get rid of the skin. You can substitute 1 Tbsp of pure aloe gel if you do not have an aloe plant.

1 Tbsp coconut oil(unrefined, organic if you can find it), warm enough to be liquid(goes liquid around 76 F)

1 tsp raw honey

10 drops lavender essential oil

Directions:
Whip aloe, coconut oil, and honey together in a small glass bowl with a small whisk.  Add in Lavender EO and stir.  Cover entire area of burn liberally.  To store for later use put a cover over it (plastic wrap would do) and set it in the fridge.  Use within a week.  This does wonders for a sunburn or any other minor burn.

Almost finished August 29, 2012

If you go into the blog homepage there are more pictures and you can see the progress.  In this picture it has a fresh coat of tung oil.  Unfortunately it is raining already now.  I have the hive under the umbrella on the patio.  It was still tacky when it started raining.  I’m not sure what the effect on the finish will be so wish me luck 🙂

Tbh gets legs

Here are the legs for my top bar hive.

Beginning of top bar hive construction August 26, 2012

Another progress report August 21, 2012

Giant fly? August 20, 2012

A big thanks to Nicole for helping me ID him.  It is a locust/cycadia

Baby assassin

This baby Assassin Bug is really tiny so it is hard to get a good picture.  This picture shows him much larger than life.  These eat any insect they can get and were feasting on spider mites here on this passion flower leaf.

Progress August 19, 2012

As seems to often be the case with large projects done on small budgets, progress is slow.  Today when I go out I am going to take pictures from the street again so everyone can see what is done so far though.  I think being able to compare it to previous pictures will really show how much progress has been made in the doing part of the project.  In reality most of the progress is mental and I cannot take a picture of that.  Researching and figuring and deciding is the part I can do anytime from anywhere so I do.  Every spare moment is spent looking up information on building, gardening, beekeeping, or some other task that I will need to know how to perform for this whole project to come together.  I was looking up community gardens on facebook and accidentally found http://www.facebook.com/groups/267375930041730/ Charleston Community Apiary and Garden.  It is a new project and I am getting in from the very first official meeting, which will be in September.  Members of this small group also overlap with another facebook group http://www.facebook.com/groups/charlestonbees/  which is the Charleston Area Beekeepers Association.  As a larger group, their facebook page seems to be a good place to ask questions.  Based on all of the information I have gathered I am going to haul home the 1x12s from the site in Ravenel and use them to build a top bar hive in my North Charleston yard, where there is electricity to run a circular saw.  This will give me a good project for during the week next week so that I feel like I am getting something done instead of having to wait until I go out to the land to make good progress on one of my goals.  It is almost 7 and finally getting light out so it is almost time for me to start organizing and loading up for the day.

My new (used) french doors August 16, 2012

A great find from Sustainable Warehouse http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sustainable-Warehouse/89590392052 for $75.  They are really tall and quite heavy.  David and I had a rough time unloading them.

My nemesis

TIMBER! (Well hopefully anyway.) August 10, 2012

I just got off the phone with a guy that has a small sawmill and would be interested in clearing out the huge pines on my property.  He will come take a look to make sure it is worth his time and then hopefully he will take down the big pines and remove them.  He doesn’t have a way to deal with the stumps but that is ok.  I will take them into account when placing buildings and overtime they will decompose.  I let him know that it was fine for him to leave the tops, crooked parts, branches etc.  Those will actually be perfect for what I need.  The huge logs would be way too much for me to handle and it would be such a shame for such lovely trees to be cut into cordwood instead of being used as poles or lumber.  He says he needs to build a barn and this will make it so he won’t have to cut so many trees on his own place.  If all goes as planned it should be of benefit to everyone involved.  I LOVE BARTERING!

“I’m going back to the start.”