Beekeepers Professions

[Michael Palmer]

How big is the plot? What things do you have growing?

40'x75'. I grow a bit of most vegetables, at least the ones we like to eat. Then, more of the things we put up for winter. Freeze lots of spinach, broccoli, tomatoes and others. Put potatoes, winter squash, onions, and garlic in the basement. Wish I could keep my leeks a little longer.

 

[Nannysbees]

40'x75'. I grow a bit of most vegetables, at least the ones we like to eat. Then, more of the things we put up for winter. Freeze lots of spinach, broccoli, tomatoes and others. Put potatoes, winter squash, onions, and garlic in the basement. Wish I could keep my leeks a little longer.

Very nice size plot, runner beans, carrots and peas (cucumber and toms in the greenhouse) in our garden, the majority of our garden is dedicated to flowers for the bees

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Wish I could keep my leeks a little longer.

I find the leeks, if left in the ground will easily last the whole of the winter and well past St David's day in the spring, of course, bit of a pain digging them up if there's a hard frost! But my grandfather always seemed to manage as there were always plenty of leeks available for the family every week without fail

 

[Arfermo]

Professional retiree of nearly 30 years and now a carer specialising in cooking, cleaning, pedicures, panty liners and other broader specialisations I dare not mention.

 

[Bumble Bee Slim]

I find the leeks, if left in the ground will easily last the whole of the winter and well past St David's day in the spring, of course, bit of a pain digging them up if there's a hard frost! But my grandfather always seemed to manage as there were always plenty of leeks available for the family every week without fail

I guess you lucky people aren't blessed with the presence of the dreaded Allium leaf miner ? Nor was I until a couple of years ago, I get away with growing garlic,shallots and onions uncovered but leeks whether early ,main crop or late have to be grown beneath fine mesh covering for part of the season.

 

[enrico]

I guess you lucky people aren't blessed with the presence of the dreaded Allium leaf miner ? Nor was I until a couple of years ago, I get away with growing garlic,shallots and onions uncovered but leeks whether early ,main crop or late have to be grown beneath fine mesh covering for part of the season.

No but we did get onion white rot until I started using garlic powder before the growing season, that has cleared it up completely. Smells a bit strong for a few days though

 

[Michael Palmer]

I find the leeks, if left in the ground will easily last the whole of the winter and well past St David's day in the spring, of course, bit of a pain digging them up if there's a hard frost! But my grandfather always seemed to manage as there were always plenty of leeks available for the family every week without fail

I do leave them in the ground, with heavy mulch. Still, we have much colder temperatures than you have. Much more than a hard frost. By mid winter the ground is frozen hard, as are the leeks.

 

[RichardK]

I do leave them in the ground, with heavy mulch. Still, we have much colder temperatures than you have. Much more than a hard frost. By mid winter the ground is frozen hard, as are the leeks.

What's an average morning winter temperature your way and also a really cold one for comparison?

 

[Michael Palmer]

Not sure of average. Several nights in the last few weeks have been in the -12F to -20F. Having another cold spell starting tonight. -15 to -20F with predicted wind chill -30 to -45. Spring can’t come soon enough

 

[Michael Palmer]

That's an allotm
That's an allotment and a half!!

It’s nice not having to deal with the allotment council. I own the land and can plant anything I want.

 

[Moobee]

No but we did get onion white rot until I started using garlic powder before the growing season, that has cleared it up completely. Smells a bit strong for a few days though

Neither of those but terrible rust that I can’t seem to get rid of. Affects the garlic the worst although doesn’t seem to impact the size of the bulbs.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

try WD40

 

[Cuckmere couple]

No but we did get onion white rot until I started using garlic powder before the growing season, that has cleared it up completely. Smells a bit strong for a few days though

oooh....we get that....whats the garlic powder solution?

 

[Cuckmere couple]

Neither of those but terrible rust that I can’t seem to get rid of. Affects the garlic the worst although doesn’t seem to impact the size of the bulbs.

snap....rust on garlic but doesnt seem to affect......

WD40 lol

 

[RichardK]

Not sure of average. Several nights in the last few weeks have been in the -12F to -20F. Having another cold spell starting tonight. -15 to -20F with predicted wind chill -30 to -45. Spring can’t come soon enough

That is indeed cold.....the lowest we tend to get to is +20F!

 

[enrico]

oooh....we get that....whats the garlic powder solution?

You just sprinkle garlic powder which you can get from equine suppliers on the ground that you are growing onions, garlic and leeks during the season before planting. The white rot spores start to grow on the powder but there is nothing there for them so they die. It really worked for us. Lost a whole crop one year and lost two red onions after treatment!

 

[enrico]

snap....rust on garlic but doesnt seem to affect......

WD40 lol

We get bad rust but just pick the badly affected leaves off and bin them. It rarely affects the crop!

 

[Michael Palmer]

That is indeed cold.....the lowest we tend to get to is +20F!

 

[JamezF]

I find the leeks, if left in the ground will easily last the whole of the winter and well past St David's day in the spring, of course, bit of a pain digging them up if there's a hard frost! But my grandfather always seemed to manage as there were always plenty of leeks available for the family every week without fail

Some of my leeks are already starting to flower!

Squashed half a dozen or so with a fair size sycamore tree, too. It was them or the compost bins though, and squashed leeks don't taste any different in soup. (That was a nightmare. I couldn't really get the desired angle of cut on the tree I wanted to fell because I was blocked by a larger sycamore I want to keep. Then, because it was leaning slightly against the direction I wanted it to fall, despite my ropes and winching it as much as possible the "right" way, it sat back and nipped up on the chainsaw bar when I was making the back cut, wedging the bar tight. I ended up having to make a new back cut in the 12" trunk with a hand saw. Made me sweat a bit

James

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Some of my leeks are already starting to flower!

Squashed half a dozen or so with a fair size sycamore tree, too. It was them or the compost bins though, and squashed leeks don't taste any different in soup. (That was a nightmare. I couldn't really get the desired angle of cut on the tree I wanted to fell because I was blocked by a larger sycamore I want to keep. Then, because it was leaning slightly against the direction I wanted it to fall, despite my ropes and winching it as much as possible the "right" way, it sat back and nipped up on the chainsaw bar when I was making the back cut, wedging the bar tight. I ended up having to make a new back cut in the 12" trunk with a hand saw. Made me sweat a bit

James

I remember felling a rather substantial tree where the home apiary is now, hinged it perfectly, cut through the back, saw it starting to fall (by this time it was cut straight through), moved back out of the way and it just swayed back and sat neatly back on the stump!! luckily I could get my jeep on to the adjoining land, quickly shimmied up the tree and tied a line onto it (I was younger then) threw the line over the fence, ran to the jeep and secured the line and quickly hauled it over , if the tree had gone the other way it would have landed on a vehicle parked down on a neighbouring small development!!