Long live the Foodsaver

I have been using a Food Saver for nearly ten years.  In case you don't know about this appliance, it vacuum seals food to maintain it's freshness for later use.  I think it's one of the greatest inventions since Pam, the non-stick cooking spray.  The good thing about needing to replace this is that they are constantly reinventing the wheel on this kind of item.

 

I like the new vertical design.  It's almost a hands free unit, put the bar down and press a button, no more holding the lid until it engages.  The options for sealing- dry, moist, delicate..I wasn't so sad that my old one died.  It's also great for storing dehydrated foods for camping.  And when you have 15 lbs of chicken that you found at the grocery store, you have a way to keep it fresh.

These blooming flowers

It seems like I wait all spring and the beginning of summer, wishing to get to this time, when all my plants are in bloom.  Then I want the clock to slow down, even start going backwards, so I can savor these weeks.

Shasta Daisies...the quintessential summer flower.

Echinacea, commonly called the Cone Flower, is a native plant from the Aster family, and can grow up to 3 1/2 feet tall.

One of my husbands favorites is the Black Eyed Susan, which can also get nearly 3 feet tall.

I'm quite pleased with the production of the Serrano Peppers.  They are surpassing all my other peppers.

And this Orchid is amazing me, it's just as beautiful and full of color as when I  posted it on June 8th, and the fifth one had not yet opened .  But the first one was at least 5 weeks old at that time.  They are still stunning.  You've got to remember, Colorado is a desert.

I have Kale growing everywhere.  All those ruffles around the edges are so pretty.  We add some to our nightly salad.  Kale is a member of the cabbage family, which in itself makes a lot of people not even want to try it.  But when it's chopped or minced, according to Wikipedia,  it's believed to have potent anti-cancer properties, due to sulforaphane.

Among other things, it's high in beta carotene, vitamins C, K, lutein, and a notable amount of calcium.

Another really cool thing about Kale is, at the end of the first growing season I cut it off at ground level and it comes up the following year. It's actually bigger and better the second year, then you need to pull the entire plant out of the ground at the end of the season.

 

I'm really dying to make Kale chips.  It seems to be in the 'good for you' buzz.  I know I am growing enough of it, just need not to have so many over 90 degree days...don't want to super heat the house just because I'm baking something.  But I will be making them soon and I'll share with you how they turned out.

More backyard views

I was walking back to the veggie garden for some tomatoes, and something in the grass caught my eye.

The teal blue was stunning.  I took a few photos and then decided to nudge him on his way.  I didn't want him to accidently get stomped on by clumsy dog feet, but he didn't really want to move.

He climbed on the piece of wood I presented and I quickly moved him to a safer place.  He's got to be the prettiest dragonfly I've ever seen. 

My first ripe peach of the season looks juicy enough to eat. 

Isn't this precious?  My girlfriend is lucky enough to have had a Blue Jay nest in her tree.  Something you never see here in Colorado.  These two little guys are just darling.

New lime tree

Today I found and brought home my new Dwarf Citrus Tree, the Bearss Seedless Lime, from a local nursery.  It  has  many names :  C. latifolia, Tahitian lime, Bearss lime, and Persian lime.  Supposedly, it's a vigorous grower, does well in pots and has consistently heavy yields.  Hope so.

Tomorrow I'll replant him into a bigger pot.  He's  got nearly two months to acclimate and enjoy outdoor living, then he'll come inside for the winter with the rest of our little citrus grove.

Just before dinner I pulled off a dozen or so of both Sun Gold tomatoes and Blue Lake green beans... and can't forget the Super Fantastic tomato. 

Triple Decker Bee Hive Condo

My neighbor put the third story on the bee hive condo.  These guys are really busy.  I've been reading more about bee keeping, and it appears there are many urban renegade beekeepers. YEAH!!   There are two hive bodies, which is common in cold winter areas.  Each body is a large wooden box, that holds ten frames of comb. Each of these ten frames hold sheets of beeswax foundation that is imprinted with the shapes of hexagonal cells.  The bees use the foundation to build combs.

He makes a can of smoke to aid in moving the bees when he needs to work on the hive.  They either crawl inside or temporarily fly away.

Now it's time to take the top off.  Remember there are 12,000 bees involved...yikes...

An excluder is put on, which keeps the Queen Bee out of the top floor,  but she still has the two hive bodies (supers) to move about. The two lower supers are for the bees to rear brood and store honey for their own use. The the third story is a shallow super with frames of comb where the bees will store surplus honey.  This is the honey that will be harvested.

 Here is one of the ten frames of comb.  According to an article by Nathalie Jordi, one pound of honey represents an estimated 50,000 miles of flight, and some figures claim that it takes an individual worker bee an entire lifetime to make only 1/12 teaspoon of honey.  Now I understand where the term 'worker bee' came from.  Supposedly, last year, the  beehive on the White House lawn produced 140 pounds of honey.  How sweet!

Bulbs and more

I really under estimated the amount of hyacinth bulbs I dug up.  Yesterday I planted 565 from the bucket, and that was only 2/3 of them.  UGH!!  The local temperature has dropped from the 90's, so I suppose I could get a few more in the ground today.

The wild blackberries are very sweet.

 

Sunflowers are starting to open.

The fern like stalks on this Bronze Fennel are between four and six feet tall.  Their stalks support clusters of tiny yellow flowers that attract butterflies and bees. 

But if you are not careful and it drops the ripened seeds before you can get to them, you will find hundreds of plants in your garden the following year.   I'm just about to cut the flowers off of this one, before I have a meadow of fennel.