We have been tapping our maple trees for the last 6 years. It can be a lot of work, but it's worth it! You can tap almost any maple tree - in your urban yard, in the middle of a forest, or in your pasture. It doesn't matter. We started out tapping the 3 sugar … Continue reading Tapping Maple Trees for Syrup
This is the story of how we went from owning 1 cat to 7 in just three months. Sometimes, the most exciting things are surprises.... We'll start at the very beginning - 8 years ago we adopted our first cat. She is a silver/gray siberian forest cat. Big and hairy. Our children were young and … Continue reading Is there such thing as too many cats?
What is the best way to help out struggling bees and pollinators? If you aren’t a gardener or don’t have a yard, how can you help?? As beekeepers, we have an inside view on the needs of pollinators and we’ve boiled it down to 3 easy things that everyone can do to impact our pollinators. … Continue reading How you can help #savebees
This article is part of our "trees for bees" series where we feature trees/shrubs that are excellent pollinator forage Smooth Sumac and Staghorn Sumac are common "roadside" plants in North America. They are pioneer plants and quickly spread by rhizomes to colonize erosion prone areas. They are unique looking shrubs, grow without maintenance, tolerate drought … Continue reading Staghorn Sumac – A blessing to bees and humans
Black walnuts are native to the United States and grow in almost every climate/soil type. They produce edible nuts that drop in the fall. The exact time is a matter of weather. Last year, they fell in October. This year, the trees started turning yellow in late August, though it was unseasonably cool toward the … Continue reading Black Walnut trees – gathering, cracking and eating!
There is a secret to planting tree seeds -- winter sowing. The quick and dirty explanation is to plant the seed outside and the seed will naturally stratify and wake up when the timing is right. There is no guessing on "how many cold days" or "how much moisture" or "what temperature to set them … Continue reading How to grow trees from seeds – the easiest and most reliable method
Once upon a time, we actively tore out "invasive" plants. We participated as volunteers with our local soil water conservation district and with our parks department. We thought we were doing a good thing....and maybe we were....sometimes. But after a few years of helping to rid Minnesota of invasive plants, we started to realize that … Continue reading The Truth about Native and Invasive Plants
