Craig and I are hosting another Beekeeping 101 program Saturday, September 5th, at Norrisville Library. It will be similar to previous beekeeping workshops we’ve given. Craig will tell you everything you need to know to get started with backyard beekeeping. If the weather is nice, we’ll host it in the outdoor pavilion. It’s covered and shady and has picnic tables for seating. If the weather isn’t nice, we’ll do it in the library meeting room. Starts at 2:00 p.m. More info below and here. We’re going to bring an observation hive, so everyone can spot the queen and see the bees safely up close. We’ll also bring some equipment and a Langstroth hive. Hope to see you there!
Humans have been keeping bees for thousands of years — and you can too! Experienced beekeeper Craig McCullough covers the basics of backyard beekeeping, including equipment, best practices, honeybee anatomy, and honey extraction. Enjoy a hands-on Langstroth hive demonstration, an observation hive with live bees, and a Q&A session. Weather permitting, the program will be held outside at the pavilion.
Our regular market, Hereford Farm Market, is about halfway through its season. We’re there once a month this year, which is working for us. I miss being there every week, but we had a lot of scheduling conflicts this summer, so I’ve been grateful for the Saturdays we’ve been able to sell there. We’ll be at HFM again tomorrow, September 6th from 9:00 a.m. to noon. Most of our crystallized honey is gone but we’ll have honey from this year’s harvest, as well as cut flowers (zinnias and dahlias) and the last of this year’s handstitched OOAK upcycled aprons, which can be used for cooking or gardening.
Upcoming workshops & fall fests – Come see us!
Beekeeping Workshop at Hereford Library – Sept. 13th 2-3 pm
Humans have been keeping bees and harvesting honey for thousands of years and you can too! An experienced beekeeper discusses the basics of backyard beekeeping – the equipment you’ll need, best practices and common challenges. This workshop provides a simple overview of honeybee anatomy, a hands-on demonstration of how a Langstroth hive works, tips for honey extraction and where to find more information. There is an observation hive with live honeybees, so participants can spot the queen, and a Q&A session. Weather permitting, the program may be held outside.
Craig & I + one of our queens will be the hosts for this workshop.
Canning Workshop at Norrisville Library – Sept. 16th 6-7 pm
Learn how to safely preserve fresh fruit in sealed jars using traditional water bath canning. We’ll discuss the types of fruit home canners can safely can, the process and best practices, the equipment needed to get started, how to find trustworthy recipes, and more.
I’ll be hosting this workshop solo. If you’ve ever wanted to know how to can like your granny once did, now’s your chance!
Oregon Ridge Honey Harvest Festival – Oct. 5th 10 am – 4 pm
Join us on Sunday, October 5th, for our annual family-friendly event that celebrates all things honey and nature-related in the bucolic setting of Oregon Ridge Nature Center!
Enjoy a variety of food trucks offering artisanal beer, crabcakes, burgers, donuts and ice cream. Shop from over 25 local craft vendors and honey farms offering a plethora of honey products and happy to talk about the practice of beekeeping. Visit the goats in the petting zoo or join a sing-a-long in our “1,000 Acre Woods”.
The Central Maryland Beekeepers Association will lead the honey extractions as we learn about all things honeybees – from pollinators to beeswax. Relax and listen to local musicians as your children do crafts, play lawn games or get up-close and personal with animals – from raptors to turtles to chickens. Take a tour through our historic tenant house and learn about the history of Oregon Ridge.
Craig & I + Mandi & Rob (Rosie Posie) will be sharing a table for this event. Mandi will have all sorts of colorful, fun, seasonal knit items and we’ll have lots of HONEY!!
13th Annual Harvest Day! A Family Fun Day! $10 Adult Admission Upon Arrival – FREE Entry for Kids Live Bluegrass Music from PORCH SETTERS UNION! Hayrides, pumpkins, more local vendors. Delicious Wine! BYO PICNIC/FOOD
Craig & me for this one. In past years, this has been a beautiful, laid back event. Hope to see you there – or at one of the other places we’ll be this fall!
Adding raised beds to our garden
Our biggest outdoor project this summer was building, filling, planting, and growing in raised beds. We decided to experiment with them because I thought it would help with the weeds and insane garden chaos that usually happened in years past. It worked! The beds turned out beautifully. They were a ton of work to build and fill, but planting and growing in them was much easier than when we planted directly in the ground. Our garden is still a work-in-progress, but I love the changes we made this season.
Before…
During…
After…
Other fun stuff…
After a worrisome late start, the dahlias turned out beautifully! We also grew some cactus flower zinnias. Love their “Raggedy Anne” look. Our milkweed came up again and we saw at least two caterpillars and a chrysallis. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see the chrysallis transform into a monarch. Maybe next year!
Monarch Caterpillars“Raggedy Anne” Cactus Flower ZinniaClearwing Hummingbird Moth on our Bee BalmLuna Moths mating at Ladew GardensA couple active hives in a community garden up in NYC’s Hell’s KitchenMonarch on milkweedJill, Craig, and Tugg 🙂
Hope everyone had a wonderful summer and is looking forward to a fun Fall! See you soon!!
I’m beginning the season with another post about butterflies, but I promise I’ll be back to posting about bees and honey again soon!!
Come celebrate with me this Tuesday!
Along with two other Ladew Gardens Butterfly House docents, I’m hosting a NATIVE BUTTERFLIES OF HARFORD COUNTY program at the Norrisville Library at 6:00 p.m. We’ll have lots of great info for all the pollinator fans out there. Come see some gorgeous photos of some of Maryland’s most beautiful butterflies. You can learn about their life cycle, how butterflies differ from moths, and how you can attract more of them to your own backyard, balcony, or farm. Register here.
BCPL is hosting its fifth annual “A Toast Among Ghosts” fundraiser at the Reisterstown Branch on Saturday, September 28th from 7:00-10:00 p.m.
The historic Reisterstown Branch was formerly the Franklin Academy, where in 1831, Edgar Allan Poe applied to be the headmaster. To honor his life and legacy, library supporters are remembering the anniversary of his death in a macabre way he’d truly appreciate…in a graveyard!
There will be live music, local food vendors, beer and wine, an Edgar Allan Poe impersonator, portrayals of historic Reisterstown residents, ghost stories around a fire pit, and guided tours through the moonlit historic Reisterstown Community Cemetery.
You can buy tickets at the door. (Note: A Toast Among Ghosts is a 21+ event.) For more info, click here.
