Well, folks. It’s that time again.  The summer is upon us and the sun is out. It seems like the crazy projects are coming out of the woodwork and on an insane timeline for completion.  Here are the things happening around Priddy Acres.

We have once again begun having our forge nights on Tuesdays. What this really means is my buddy Paul comes over and we start banging on some metal, while chatting and eating whatever goodies Michelle cooks up that night.  This past week, Paul and I started work on a cook stand for a campfire.  It will have a main vertical piece of metal with a foot that comes out from the main piece about 10 inches from the ground, which will stabilize it when a pot is dangling from it.  There will be an arm that, by means of gravity and the weight of the pot, goes out horizontally from the main bar and can be removed.  So far all we did was start the main vertical piece.  We started with one-inch square stock and have gotten a point forged on one end, which will be driven into the ground.  Next time, we are going to start working on drawing out the one-inch square stock to about 3/4 inch round stock.  Once that is finished, we are going to forge weld the arm onto the bottom. Finally, we will construct the pot holding arm by making a loop on one end (which will go around the main stand) and a hook on the other (to hold the pot).  It feels good to be out in the shop forging again after such a long hiatus. We still intend to make a new coal forge, but that has to wait until I get the power cable which feeds the shop, fixed.  Apparently, it has a cut in it somewhere (it’s underground) and my shop is down to having 110v instead of 220v, which I need to run my welder.  I am planning to replace that cable next month, but the cost will not be insignificant.  I think it is around $3.00 a foot for the cable and it will likely be around 150 feet making the total cost of the cable around $450.  Add in the rental of the trenching machine, which is $175, and you can see how that project might get out of hand.  Whatever I do, I will get that done this summer. The garden is also coming right along.

We went out to the nursery a while ago and bought a bunch of plant starts. I took the tractor and knocked down all the grass that had grown up around the pods we put together.  The “pods”, as I call them, are simply spots where Michelle has laid out the sugar bags (from making bee fondant) on the ground and we covered them with grass clippings and leaves.  The hope is that the bags will help keep the weeds down in the growing areas and we can just mow around them with the bagging mower.  It seems to be working pretty well.  I also noticed that the ground beneath the pods was much more pliable than the soil that was not under a pod.  I figure this is due to both moisture retention and composting that is happening under the bags.  Anyway, I dug holes through the pods so Michelle could plant everything and we are pretty happy with the results.  Michelle’s mom goes out and waters them twice a day (early in the day and late in the evening) so we don’t have to run all the soaker hoses we had last year, which were a nightmare for several reasons.  We are really looking forward to the plants starting to yield some tasty veggies! The bees are also working hard to get their brood boxes full of wax.

We are up to two deep supers on each of the hives, with the exception of one which seems to be struggling to get going.  I froze all of the frames that we had stored from last year for three days, in case they had gotten infested with something, and pulled out any comb that looked beyond the bees repairing capability. I see a lot of new beekeepers wondering about using old frames when the comb is dark and there is mold on the comb.  As long as there are no parasites on the frames, which freezing gets rid of, the bees will clean up almost anything.  Once you put the frames in, you will start to see a buildup of a dust looking material near the hive entrance.  This is old wax that the bees are throwing out. They are perfectly happy with the environment we have provided for them. No swarming. No absconding. So don’t worry about using old stuff as long as you give it the proper treatment (torch hive bodies, freeze frames with wax, etc.). They have been slurping up the 1:1 sugar syrup Michelle makes for them and building as fast as they can.  We also happen to be collecting pollen for the first time.  We were really surprised at the speed at which the pollen piles up.  We have actually taken the pollen traps off the hives for the time being because we have collected more pollen than we can feasibly use or sell.  I am also hoping to have quite a bit of honey this year; due to the overwintered hives and the seemingly high amount of traffic we have been seeing in the hives so far. We are also throwing yet another wedding, this month, and have another one scheduled for next August.

This month, my middle son Elijah is getting married. I have begun trying to get the property ready for it by finishing the woodshed remodel. There is still quite a bit of work to do on it.  It’s really nice to have Michelle out working with me on those late nights after my 9 to 5.  Last week, we spent a couple nights out in the woodshed hanging insulation in preparation for the sheetrock guys to come on Sunday.  I had initially planned to hang the sheetrock myself, but with the condensed timeline for this wedding I just didn’t have the time to do it.  Luckily, I hooked up with a buddy from high school and he had the time and knowledge to come out and do the hanging and finishing.  Saturday, we finished up what was left of the insulation, got all of the wiring buttoned up, installed the doors and windows, moved the temporary bar we set up in there last summer out to the shop, and put in a few more concrete anchors. We ended up finishing our work just before midnight.  The next morning, the sheetrock guys got to work at 7 AM and Geoff and I went to work on the gable ends and soffits.  Michelle and Carrie went to the basement to finish up some painting.  We were able to get the gable ends and the gable soffits put on, while the basement got the paint finished.  We still have a bit to do, but it’s mostly cosmetic. The north side soffits still need installed, the siding seams need caulk and batting, the inside needs primed and painted, and we need to reconnect the woodshed subpanel supply line.  The sheetrock guys will be back on Friday to put on the second mud coat and Saturday to do the texture.  I’m hoping to have pretty much everything done on that building by the end of next weekend.  There will still be concrete leveler to do and an epoxy coat to put on, but I will do that after the wedding.  It will be perfectly fine for now. Needless to say, Michelle and I have been really blessed with some great friends who are willing and able to sacrifice quite a bit of time they could be spending elsewhere, helping us get our projects complete.  Geoff, Carrie, Paul, and Cassie:  You guys are the best!

I guess that is it from Priddy Acres. Time to get out and do a little more work! Have an awesome day.