Sustainable Buzz

     I can't believe it, they are finally here, my urban farm yard is complete.  My wife and  I drove to Summit New Jersey, to pay a visit to Patrica and Alex's bee yard.  I have to admit I was very much impressed to see the amount of hives they currently maintained on their property.  There had to be at least 20 hives which  I think I managed to count, I may have missed a few because I felt like a kid in a candy store.  What impressed me the most is how calm the bee's were.  The honey bee's did not seemed bothered by our presence.  They just kept buzzing in and out of the bee yard foraging for nectar and pollen.  Everywhere we looked a sea of  flowers.  Patrica's home is landscaped from corner to corner in an assortment of blooming purple and white wild flowers, vegetable plants and grape vines.  It resembles a country cottage, the kind you would see on a Hallmark card. 

     We had arrived at their home earlier than expected, it was a pleasant drive from Staten Island.  Patrica greeted us with the utmost hospitality and was very gracious.  She gave us a tour of their garden and then showed us through their bee yard.   She told us what she knew of about the bee's but then explained it was her husband Alex which is the gardener and beekeeper, she chuckled and said comically,  "Every time I come home, I don't know what else to expected, as Alex keeps bring something new home!"  She's then invited us to sit on their porch while we  awaited the arrival of her husband Alex. 

     As my wife and I sat there, we observed as the honey bee's buzzed by, not once did we feel threaten by their presence, it was almost zen, peaceful.   I watch as my wife sat there as clam and could be.  Not once did she go running through the hills like some mad women.  You need to understand that my wife has an extreme fear of insects.  However, I was pleasantly surprised at her stillness, as we both watched the bee's in their natural state.

     A few minutes later Alex arrived, as he walked up to the porch he greeted us as if he known us forever.  He's a most pleasant individual, he took his time with us, explaining and giving us his take on beekeeping, then he asked me what type of bee's I wanted.  He asked, "Black or Orange?"  Of course I said, "What......?"  He repeated himself, "Black of Orange?" Then I realized he was asking me if I preferred a dark color body type to light color body type.  Since I didn't want to look completely stupid, I went for the Orange color body type, because this the only bee type I know, which is the Italian bee.  He said, "Good, get your box".  As I went back to our car to retrieve the my hive box I could help but be full of gitty excitement, then Alex led both of us, my wife and I, to the bee yard.

   My wife stood about 12 feet away, just in case she needed to run, smart woman, my wife.   Yes, now that's the wife I know, I knew her stillness would not last long, it was just a matter of time.  I on the other hand,  had a front row seat smack in the middle of Alex's bee yard.  Alex asked me to open my hive box, as he lit his smoker.  He then puffed some smoke into a nuc box which contained the orange bodied bee's which I had requested.  (The Italians)   My back was turned to him as I opened my hive box to receive the bee's, so I was a bit distracted.  Then I realized I was now surrounded by  massive amounts of buzzing bee's flying passed my head and I had no bee suite or veil.  I should have been running down the street as a mad man.  But some how Alex seem to be as calm as a cucumber as he picked up a frame he then began to  point out the worker bee's and the larva.  He pointed out young bee's to distinguish them from the older ones.  Next he picked up another frame pointed out the Queen.  I have to admit this whole experience was extremely cool.  To be that close to bee's without getting stung, well  that was truly amazing. His peaceful manner in handling the bee's made me feel safe, therefore I was as calm as he was.  He then placed all four frames into my hive box puffed more smoke into the hive and soon  all the bee's settled into their new home. 

     I have to admit I was pretty excite about the whole process.   As Alex help me place the hive in the car, I could not help but to think, "I hope I can maintain these bee's as well as Alex has done".    I thanked Alex for his hospitality, we shook hands and said I would keep in touch.   As I sat in the car my wife gave me a glance,  as a reminder that we have a car full of bee's in our back seat.  We looked at each other without saying a word,  we both were thinking the same thing, "What were we thinking!"    We laughed, and said, "Well lets take the little one's home!"  And so begins our first attempt towards a sustainable honey production. 

     So I want to take the opportunity to thank both of you, Alex and Patrica, for your time and for making this beekeeping adventure possible.  For without both of you this could never have been possible.  Thank you again.

Sustainable Partnerships.

     I finally received my bee hives in the mail.  The first hive I purchased through Clear Branch Bee Supply, it is my first starter hive, I am pleased with the quality, construction and speed in which it was delivered to me.   I made a few Modifications  to  this hive in order to use it as my transporting box when I purchase the nuc later this week.  However it looks like I will many year of use from this hive, will be ordering more from them.  I put it together with the help of my 5 year old niece, who insisted on helping me.  So what would have taken me and hour and a half to finish, took me six hours with her help, but who could say no to an eagar beaver like my niece.  She's such a curious George that one.  Having to stop and explain every step in the process of building the hive, why bees live in a box, how many live in the box and when we would collect the honey!  Her curiosity is why I always allow her to participate  these kind of projects. Her interest in these projects will enabler to gain a love and  respect for nature at any early age, and hopefully through her life.  She has already asked me to order her a bee suite, so that we have it ready for her, when she helps me to harvest honey.  Theirs just one problem,  I don't even have the bee's yet!

     The other standard Langstroth type hive was order through Evens cedar bee hives.   Evens Cedar bee hives manufactures its hives using cedar wood. When it arrived in the mail I was very much pleased by the quality, materials and the cedar fragrance coming from the hive boxes.  Besides the quality of  their product, I also learned that Ryan Evens uses the proceeds of the sales of his hives to support the following causes. Evens Cedar Bee hives causes they support.  If your looking to purchase a bee hive with the added benefit of having your purchase benefit someone in need, please feel free to check out his site you wont be disappointed.

     Still my favorite site is world of beekeeping, Ron Upshaw and his collaborator Shawn  have created an all in one website. Their is enough information on this site to keep a hobby beekeeper well informed and it is ever changing and evolving.  It has a forum where like individuals with a passion for beekeeping can share their ideas, success and failer in this hobby.   Ron and Shawn  have created a beginners DVD for those considering beekeeping as a hobby which is available through their site, and they also have a second DVD to compliment their first, ready for release.   If you have ever been curious about beekeeping give their website a try.

     Starting this bee project takes me one step closer to accomplishing the goal of sustainability.    Being able to produce my very own raw honey is the best outcome of this project.    It also creates bee habitat that will benefit both the Eco system and the fruit production in my vegetable garden and that of my neighbors as well.   Hopefully I will be successful in this current endeavor, understanding that bee's are not pets, they a wild creatures and answer to no one but their Queen.  I am just a keeper, that has been allowed to participate in their daily activities.   Hopefully it will be a successful partnership between the bee's and I, where both will benefit.

 

Building from Failure.

      It is the middle of July and the heat is on,  it is literally scorching hot.  Today I have just finished building the new chicken co-op  for the ladies, as I have dubbed them.  I have to say  the chicken co-op is pretty to look at , but it is not exactly what I had envisioned when I order it.  It just looked bigger in the catalog.  Therefore, I will have make some modifications to the co-op if my girls are going to be happy in their new home.  I am even considering painting it to match our home.   When I first placed the order I was thinking of safety and easy of use, the co-op has both.  Yet it lacks in size.  I will modify the run, make it bigger and longer so they have room to exercise and spread their wings.   Needing  the co-op nightly to roost  to sleep, and a place for them to lay their eggs allowing me easy access in retrieving the eggs  .Just another one of the never ending projects here at my Urban hobby farm.

     I have also ordered the bee hives, they are being milled as I type this post.  They are going to be made of cedar.  I hear that this type of wood keeps other pest from invading the hive.  I will soon find out if its true.  I am also excited about getting the honey bees here too.  I should have done this earlier in the year.  It turns out that I am having lots of trouble in the vegetable garden.  I have the tallest tomato plants I have ever grown, but their doesn't seems to be any fruits on any of the tomato plants.  The same goes for the bell peppers and the squash.  I find it rather odd that the only vegetable which managed to set fruit is the cucumber plants.  All the cucumber plants have large cucumbers ready to harvest.   Makes me wonder if I had to depend on this back yard to feed me this season I would starve.  Well at least I have cucumbers, that's a start.
    
     However, it begs the question, whats going on? Why haven't my peppers, squash, or tomatoes set any fruit?    Then  I thought I might have a problem with insects eating the flowers buds before pollination.  So I took a closer look and found that every thing seems fine, as far as pest are concerned.  Their doesn't seem to be any that would be detrimental to the plants at any stage.  No signs of anything eating away at them.  Flower and leaves are intact.  No sign of disease.  Plants are strong, robust and flowering. Yet no fruit.   I have the lavenders growing near my vegetable beds and they get frequent visits from all sorts of butterflies, digger bees, carpenter bees, and the occasional yellow jacket looking for a protein snack.  Still, I haven't seen a honey bees, the biggest pollinator of them all.   I am wondering if this summer heats to blame.  Its been a scorcher this last couple of day's, but I have kept the veggies nice and hydrated.  Making sure the planting beds do dry out.  They have been properly fertilized and have been in the beds since March and it is just now getting truly hot.  Yet there is no fruit.  This seasons harvest is a bust.   So I am hoping that when the bees get here, they can make a difference in the fruit production for the latter part of this 2011 growing season.

     I am hoping to have them up and buzzing by the end of next week, hoping that their still time to get these veggies to set fruit.  I am not giving up hope.  I am learning as I go, so failure is part of the learning process.  In order for me to achieve success in this endvore, I also need to learn how to fail too.  And build from there.

When Sustainablilty Bites.

     Urban Farming by choice isn't the path commonly chosen by city dwellers. However, those of us that love to see patches of green will usually find the transition of urban gardening to urban farming very easily. Not to stay that the actual work is easy. No way that's far from true. It is defiantly hard work, but well worth the effort. Urban farming as it is now called, is the transition from growing a few vegetables as a hobby, and slowly migrating towards growing fruits and vegetables as a source of sustainability. It's the act of trading lawns for vegetable beds. The size of an Urban farm garden is only limited to amount of space the individual grower  has to cultivate and the amount of time allocated by the grower towards its up keep. Keeping in mind the weekly activities of this individual is important, full time careers, raising children, schoolwork, house hold chores this list get bigger and bigger. So you need to keep this in mind when planning an Urban Farm Garden.

     Yet things get a little bit more complicated when deciding to add livestock to an Urban backyard Farm. I for one have made this choice and found it an  easy decision to make.  Having backyard livestock  has its perks, free eggs, meat and manure, but this also comes with a bit of responsibility too. Having made this choice, of adding chickens as the livestock of choice in my Urban Farm, knowing all to well that it comes with the added responsibility of housing, feeding, and the over all health of hens. After all happy chickens make for better tasting eggs. Needless to say, it has been a learning process over this last year raising them. I had to take into account how these hen would survive within the co-op during the winter months. How would I get fresh water to them without it freezing in below zero weather. More to the point I had figure out how to protect them from predators. Yes, that's right. Having chicken's in your backyard not only gets the attention of your neighbors it also get the attention of your resident, raccoon, possums, and hawks.

     My first encounter with the resident raccoon was not a pleasant one. I received a phone call one evening at work from my wife as she screamed in horror, as she gave me detailed accounts of the raccoons carnage in the hen house as it killed one of our hens. It was to be our first loss. I wasn't ready for the killing of the hens.  I was content with having them for their eggs.   The idea of butchering the hens was never part of the plan, and it took a raccoon to teach me this valuable lesson.  I was saddened by the event, but not upset. I justified it as the natural order of things. I have been taking from the earth for as long as I can remember, well I guess nature wanted something back in return. Therefore, it took one of my hens as payment, I guess we are even for now. However, with this being said I was not going to have an encore performance. After that night, and every evening since this attack, the hen house has been on lock down. As soon as the sun sets, they are lock up for the night and then re- released at dawn. This routine seemed to work for a while until the attack came from above.

     It was late August, and it was a beautiful Wednesday afternoon, the sun was out, with a light breeze and a slight promise of winter to come. I had been sitting outside, on my rear stoop, as I tossed the hens some scratch grains to keep them busy. I do this a lot with them, its really relaxing to watch them in action. As I tossed the feed scratch, the hens began pecking and scratching the earth as they do in search for edible tid bits. Then suddenly in unison, they froze, like children playing a childhood game of  Simon says. Before realized what was happening they all made a mad dash to the four corners of the property.  North, South, East, and West, they ran, under the porch, under shrubs, under tables anywhere for cover. I had no idea what was coming, but I knew it wasn't good.  Then I saw the large dark shadow first. For a second there I though I should be running for cover myself.  However before I had a mental picture of what was actually happening, it was something right out of a PBS special wild life program, it appeared right out of one of my oak trees.  What seemed to me to be the most enormous hawk I have ever seen. The wing span was easily 3 feet across, and it was after my hens. I didn't have time to think just react. I keep a large rake by the rear stoops at all times for convenience . With one quick impulse I had the rake in hand waving it in the air making me appear larger then the hawk. The hawk seemed to get the point and took off. But not before it landed on my fence and looked at me as if to say, "I will be back".  I had to agree with it, I knew it would be. I may have won that round, but I know it will wait for the day when it can catch me off guard. Therefore, I can never leave my guard down. The local wildlife is opportunistic, it will adapt to its changing environment. Therefore, I will have to keep one step ahead of the local wildlife at all times.

     Not to say that I can protect my hens from everything. Mother nature will have her way. I quickly learned that chickens die.  Ether by my hand or someone else's hand.  No matter what I do some will make it, and live happy healthy lives, while others will fall pray to the local wild life or  for no other apparent reason  just die. Such is the order of the natural world. I had to learn that aspect of raising chickens in an Urban setting the hard way. For those of you who feel up to the challenge, and want to try their hand at raising chickens for eggs or a meat bird, make it a point to learn the art of humanely killing of a chicken.  It will come especially handy when one of your hens succumb to illness's. As a Urban hobby Farmer learning this aspect of farming is a must, it is not the most pleasant part of the craft, but necessary one.  This was the part of Sustainability which I found that bites.   I haven't graduated to butchering yet, and I don't know if I will ever be ready.  But as the saying goes,"knowing is half the battle".  Once I have mastered the art of butchering a chicken, I will be ready for what ever comes my way.

Sustainable in our communities.

     Summer is in full swing and I have enjoyed my first harvest of veggies from my urban farm yard. I have to admit it is a great feeling when I venture out towards my backyard and I find myself self picking the very vegetables I planted 30 day's ago. Having your family enjoy the fruit of your labor is a wonderful feeling. More importantly knowing that which you have reaped, has been a labor of love, for you and to your family. So make it a point to get out their and start growing something.

     However, I can not take all the credit. I have received some help to get to where I am. Gardening comes natural to me, its in my blood. I descend from a family of farmers. I believe it to be part of my DNA. I can not pass an empty abandoned lot with out thinking how great it would be to have it cleaned up and grow some sort of vegetables on it. I can clearly recall childhood memories on my Grandparents farm on the Island of Puerto Rico. I can remember picking and roasting coffee beans. Then later on that every evening using a hand miller to mill the coffee beans and bagging it for storage. I remember as my brother's and I chased chickens, gathered eggs, fed pigs, counted cattle, and climbed orange trees. I can still recall all the familiar smells of the farm. I didn't know it then, how blessed I had been to have spent time on that farm, but now as an adult I find myself missing those simple days on lush pastures.

     Realistically, I could never recreate my Grandparents farm on my small parcel of land here in Staten Island. However, I can apply the skills I learned from my childhood working on their farm to help me transform my urban lot into a micro farm. Therefore, I have to give thanks my Grand Father, Pacqito Miranda Rivera, and my Grand Mother, Francesca Miranda Rivera, for their love of farming and for passing the farming bug on to me. It was their love for the land and their respect for their livestock that I remember the most. They believed that livestock animals needed to be treated humanely and allowed to free range on pasture, that is what made the meat taste better. They knew then what I am relearning now.

     Growing vegetables was the easy part in my sustainable living arrangement. Buying vegetable plants from my local nursery was one way,  and starting them from seed was another. However the most powerful tool for growing anything is the Internet. I have met so many like minds via the Internet and I find myself forging my very own community of growers and hobby farmers. I have used, meetup.com and joined a few gardening groups to keep up with new trends in gardening and urban farming. I am also learning every thing I can about establishing an urban beehive. For this I have to thank Ron Upshaw of world of beekeeping. He has created a  DVD which is available through his site which is a must have for those of us with a curiosity of beekeeping.  There is also a forum where individual like myself can share their experiences in this old world hobby of beekeeping which benefits both man and animal. If you feel up to the challenge and think beekeeping may be for you give his website a try.  However, if you are looking for something a little more local for those who live within New York City area and love little history, try Doughas farm.  Doughas farms  has a very fascinating story that dates back to the Father of Our Country.  Now that's what I call history! 
     
      As I work on my urban farm yard, I find myself wondering about organizations such as these and wonder if there are any like minds out there that share my passion in sustainable living and what pit falls they have encounter. This is where garden forums such as the ones I have just listed are so invaluable.   Joining groups such as these allow me to build communities through  the Internet, sharing ideas, successes, failures and trading supplies. Within a gardening group within meetups, I met Maggie. I am grateful to Maggie, for without her help I would not been able to acquire my hens. Maggie, has been a great mentor, and has been a world of information in regards to chickens and is my go to girl on chickens when things go wrong. So Maggie, you rock! I can't imagine not having chickens in my back yard. It seems so natural to me having them around it is better than having dogs. The dog can not feed us, but egg laying chickens can. They are also so fun to watch, they seem to have all sorts of comical antics. Having backyard chickens seems the way to go for me. However, a word of caution, whenever anyone decides to join an Internet group, please do the research, never go and met anyone alone. Always remember safety first! Always make sure these groups are family friendly.

     Now having livestock in an urban backyard has been quite a conversion piece. I have met many a neighbor having them around. Having these chickens roaming my yards has left such an impression on my neighbors where they went a head and built themselves chicken coops and have acquired a few hens for themselves. It seems I may have started a trend in the neighborhood, and it wont be long before I have a well established community of urban farms up and down my street. I find that many of us are trying to get back to something more simpler, something more grounded, a connection to the Earth.

     As I harvest my vegetables this season, as look back and think about all the people I have met that have made this possible, I smile and I give thanks. I hum a familiar tune and think to myself. "Lettuce Bee Sustainable in our communities too."