It's Cold Outside!

Well, not amazingly cold or anything like that. This is just the coldest morning that we have had since last March. I love this time of year. It really starts to feel like the holidays are upon us.

Growing up, I remember my mom would always quote the first couple of lines of a poem. I didn't remember exactly the words, but I did remember that it began with "the frost is on the punkin". And I guess she said it a lot because every time I wake up and it's cold outside, I think of that. It's a really nice memory I have of her. So this morning I decided to look it up. Turns out, it is a poem written by James Whitlcomb Riley. So here is the poem in its entirety. Enjoy! I can hear her saying it even now. I love this time of year.

WHEN the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock,
And you hear the kyouck and gobble of the struttin' turkey-cock,
And the clackin' of the guineys, and the cluckin' of the hens,
And the rooster's hallylooyer as he tiptoes on the fence;
O, it's then the time a feller is a-feelin' at his best,
With the risin' sun to greet him from a night of peaceful rest,
As he leaves the house, bareheaded, and goes out to feed the stock,
When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock.
They's something kindo' harty-like about the atmusfere
When the heat of summer's over and the coolin' fall is here—
Of course we miss the flowers, and the blossoms on the trees,
And the mumble of the hummin'-birds and buzzin' of the bees;
But the air's so appetizin'; and the landscape through the haze
Of a crisp and sunny morning of the airly autumn days
Is a pictur' that no painter has the colorin' to mock—
When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock.
The husky, rusty russel of the tossels of the corn,
And the raspin' of the tangled leaves as golden as the morn;
The stubble in the furries—kindo' lonesome-like, but still
A-preachin' sermuns to us of the barns they growed to fill;
The strawstack in the medder, and the reaper in the shed;
The hosses in theyr stalls below—the clover overhead!—
O, it sets my hart a-clickin' like the tickin' of a clock,
When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock.
Then your apples all is gethered, and the ones a feller keeps
Is poured around the cellar-floor in red and yaller heaps;
And your cider-makin's over, and your wimmern-folks is through
With theyr mince and apple-butter, and theyr souse and sausage too!...
I don't know how to tell it—but ef such a thing could be
As the angels wantin' boardin', and they'd call around on me—
I'd want to 'commodate 'em—all the whole-indurin' flock—
When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock.

I Need to Update More

Over the past few months, there have been many gardenly things happen around here that are worth writing about. It just seems that there is not enough time to post anything. We are almost never home these days. Then when I am actually home during daylight hours, I have a difficult time accomplishing even the smallest task outside. I am actually home on Saturday for once and as I sit here and write, it is raining outside. I'm not saddened by the rain. We do really need the moisture, but I think it's a little odd that it would rain today of all days. Still, I like to be able to have the time to look out the window and watch the shower and know that I don't have to water the garden or the flower beds. That's God's job and today, well, He's working overtime.

Without making this post too long to read, I will update a little about what is going on around here outside. My bees seem to have done very well through the summer and have slowed down a lot to prepare for the long winter ahead. I don't really know that I am a successful beekeeper because I've never had any experience with bees. I just really let them do what they do and leave them alone. I didn't get to share any honey with the bees and I really wasn't expecting to. Everyone I have talked to has said that for the first year, the bees try to stock up enough food for themselves for the winter. And besides, I really didn't want to have to figure out how to extract the honey this year anyway.

This is the first year that I have planted a fall vegetable garden and I have to admit, I like it. And it seems that I am a little better at it than a spring garden. I have planted green beans, peppers, tomatoes, cabbage and lettuce. The bean seeds were a couple of years old and only about 10% of them sprouted. The lettuce and cabbage is still pretty young but look very healthy. My pepper plants are the best of all. They are really growing well, and some are almost as big as you get in the grocery store. I did, however, plant the peppers and tomatoes a little too early and I nearly lost them to some late 100 degree days. But now they seem to be happy and I have lots of blooms and fruit on the tomato vines.

My First Bees

I went to Dadant in Paris, TX and got my first colony of honey bees. The people there were really nice and helpful. I purchased a nuke of bees. That's basically a young colony in a hive about half the size of a normal hive. You have to transfer the bees and frames from the nuke to their permanent residence. The guy said he would let me transfer my bees, but I said I would like to document the occasion so I let him do it. The quality of the video isn't that great, but I'm working on it. I have a bandwidth limit every month so I have to be careful. Enjoy!

It's Been a While

Wow, I can't believe it's been almost a whole year since I've posted anything. This year has been a little hectic and honestly, I haven't done much gardening this year. I do have a few projects in the works and I will share some info as well as pictures when time allows. One new thing I'm excited about is that I am taking the plunge and going to try my hand a beekeeping. I've got the hive and a place for it, but no bees as of yet. Hopefully that will come next week. I plan on picking my bees up at Dadant supply and starting the adventure. Stay tuned everyone and start checking back more often. You will see some new posts.