Harvesting the beekeeper’s elixir, sweet golden honey!

Last month, I wrote a post about my day enjoying the amazing teachings of Alf, the beekeeper, at Upper Beaconsfield Apiaries.

I had such a fantastic day and came away with a fuelled ambition to have my own hive.

Since that beautiful sunny day that introduced me to the wonder that is a colony of bees, you will often see me stood over flowers, mesmerised by the beautiful striped insect busily gathering nectar. It is safe to say I have an above average interest in these amazing creatures.

So, can you imagine my delight when I received an email from Anna inviting me join her and Alf for their latest session of honey extraction. Without hesitation their invitation was accepted.

I am fortunate that I live a short distance from Upper Beaconsfield, it is not more than a fifteen minutes drive and the route is quite picturesque, which is typical of the Dandenong Ranges.

I arrive at the Honey House, where Alf is waiting. As I open the door the smell of sweet honey fills the air. Alf greets me and encourages me in with urgency in his voice. If the local bees, and Alf has many hives, get a whiff of the golden treasure within, they will arrive on mass and fill the honey house for a feeding frenzy. I hurry on in and the door is firmly closed behind me.

Once inside I am greeted by a stack of supers, the boxes in which the bees store their honey.

Beehive supers stacked ready for the honey extraction process

The Honey house is equipped with all a beekeeper needs to quickly extract large volumes of honey from multiple beehive frames.

Alf produces organic honey from their hives, which are scattered around the Victorian countryside. It is amazing how the honey from hives placed in different areas within Victoria can taste so different. Of course Alf knows which plant blossoms allow his bees to make the tastiest honey, so he choses his sites carefully.

Removing a frame from a super

Alf takes the first honey laden frame from one of the supers. The first step is to uncap the honey. This is simply the removal of the protective wax that the bees have laid over the honey, and the method is no more complex than an electric heated knive worked over the surface of the honey comb. Alf explains how preserving the comb is important as it saves the bees having to rebuild it when the frame is reinstated in the super and added to a hive.

To confirm that I would be buying the right hive for me, I ask if I could hold the frame, and sure enough it was pretty heavy when full. So, the next question to be answered was, could I lift the super. I grip the wooden box and heave. With the super full of frames packed with honey, the answer was a definite no!

We try the same test, this time with the much shallower super of an “Ideal” hive. Success, I can lift a full super and the frame full of honey was easier to handle too. This was a worthwhile test, I would have got myself into a complete pickle if I had purchased anything other than an Ideal.

Alf sets about uncapping frames, as the hot knife glides through the honey the scent of honey in the air intensifies. He works quickly, allowing the capping to drop into a grill bottomed crate, from this any residual honey is strained through and collected for harvest.

Uncapping using a hot knife

Uncapping removes the protective wax

With this process done the Frame is inserted into the “Spinner”, a machine that uses centrifugal force to spin the honey out of the frames.

The Spinner

The hive frames in the spinner

Once the Spinner is full of frames, Alf switches it on and leaves it to do its work. He puts his ear against the drum to listen for the reducing sound of honey splattering onto the side of the spinner. After a few minutes, the machine is switched off and when a frame is lifted, it is now visibly void of honey.

The empty frames are removed from the spinner and after a quick inspection are reloaded into the super box ready to go back out onto the hive.

With a large container placed under the tap of the spinner, Alf flips open the tap and out flows the golden, viscous fluid.

Here comes the honey!

Honey flowing from the spinner's tap

From here the honey must be filtered and allowed time to settle, this lets the air bubbles clear.

The honey from the spinner going into the filtration unit

The honey slowly filtering through

Filtered honey

The only step left now is to package the honey. All this takes is a twist of the tap on the filtration unit and the sweet harvest pours into the container with ease.

The finished product

With that all done the beeswax is not wasted, it’s over to Anna to work her magic.

From simple tea lights to ornate candles

Beautiful beeswax candles

You can purchase honey and candles from vichoney.com.au

Not only can you purchase super tasty honey from Alf and Anna, but you can also spend a day on one of their Beekeeping courses.

If bees fascinate you, as they do me, even if you don’t or can’t have a hive, the day is a fabulous experience. You will learn about bees and get to don the beekeepers suit and see inside a hive. I had a truly memorable day and as soon as spring comes, my bees will be on order!

Keep life sweet honey!

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Shattered Dreams

Having fulfilled my dream of being the proud owner of a wonderful 12 x 8 foot greenhouse, I have been working away in my little sheltered paradise.

Greenhouse as at 13th November 2011

For the first time I was having great success with all sorts of plants, even my little Jacaranda tree had doubled in size!

The tomato vines had grown up to the ceiling and were ladden with good sized, green fruit. And to my huge delight I had a watermelon swelling at an enormous rate.

So, why the past tense?

Last Sunday, the 5th of February, Melbourne was hit by a storm. We suffered heavy rains and gale force winds.

All that makes the Hills beautiful in the sunshine suddenly turned into the cause of some concern. The gum trees swayed and creaked and the wind picked up leaves and spun them up into the air. Rain water gushed down the slopes carving tracks in the ground as it passed through.

As a English woman living in Australia, the sound of rain on the metal roof has taken some getting used to. We now know that when the rain is hammering down, you may as well turn off the TV or radio, you sure as hell are not going to hear it!

This Sunday, the noise of the rain on the roof was thunderous, and the arrival of a gust of wind was signalled by the sound of whistling, swirling and swishing noises.

Then, a punctuation! A massive noise that sounded much like the back of the house had been blown away.  We dashed to the window and in a flash the cause of the noise was apparent.

There it was, a huge branch from our neighbour’s tree had fallen in my greenhouse. Not on, not around, but in my greenhouse!

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On the one hand I felt grateful that the loss of the back of our house was not the cause of the noise, but on the other I was devastated to see my dream squished.

Of course, there is the sadness that I will not harvest the fruits of my labour, the upset of having put in so many hours work installing irrigation, tending to the needs of the plants, and cleaning and tidying.

There is the financial loss too, it is amazing how many dollars it takes to get established with a greenhouse, irrigation, flooring, staging, pots, compost and seeds, it soon adds up.

But, this is not the heartache for me, the heartache comes from the loss of a 12 x 8 foot sanctuary. A small space where I could loose myself, be absorbed in the wonder that is “growing things”.

By nature, I am not a patient person, and relaxation is not something I find easy. So, when I discovered that pottering in my greenhouse endowed me with the patience to work at a slower pace, the pace of nature, the pace of a seed that takes its time to germinate, the pace a plant sets as it produces its flowers and fruit, I found a sense of relaxation, an acceptance that it was okay not to be rushing, in fact it was a necessity.

My greenhouse had become a place where I could escape everyday life for a few hours, a place just for me.

So, you see, my neighbours tree has robbed me of so much more than just a garden structure.

Today, one week on, the tree cleared away, I am spending the day dismantling my mangled greenhouse and tomorrow it will be gone.

But, looking on the bright side, at least my house is still in one piece!

Basil, a very versatile herb

I have a number of herbs growing in the greenhouse and of all of these it is the basil that is the happiest and I have therefore found myself with a glut of this beautifully fragrant herb.

If there is one herb I am happy to have a glut of, it’s basil, it is such a versatile herb. From picking a few leaves for a salad through to using a big bunch for pesto, there are so many ways to use it.

Today I thought I’d have a go at using it in ways that I had, until now, not considered. My inspiration came from the wonderful blog “The Apron Archives” and her recent post for Basil and Citrus Cookies.

It was whilst making the cookies I discovered how easy it was to get a huge quantity of basil to disappear into a relatively small quantity of flour, ready to be added to pretty much anything that required flour and would benefit from the distinct flavour of basil.

I love my stick blender and it’s various attachments, and with the chopping attachment I got busy making up a good size batch of basil infused flour. The question now was…. what would I make with it?

My first choice was an obvious one….. Pasta!

Basil Linguine

We just love pasta and since discovering fresh pasta and going on to invest in a wonderful Italian Pasta Machine, we are completely addicted to the process of making it as well as the joy of eating it.

The Kitchen Gadget we adore, our Pasta Machine

Usually I make pasta dough the traditional way. A pile of flour on the kitchen bench, with a well in the centre for the eggs etc. And usually I end up in a mess, the well walls hold for a while and then the following moments are a scene of mild panic as I try to keep the contents from flowing everywhere and am scooping everything franticly into a sticky ball. Actually, this flash of chaos is pretty good fun, but it does make a mess of the kitchen bench and me.

Today, for the first time I thought I’d be lazy and see what would happen if I simply popped the ingredients into my Breville Mixer.

Ingredients for Basil Pasta Dough

In went

• 375g of Plain Flour which I had finely chopped, using my stick blender,  70g of fresh basil leaves.
• 10ml of Olive Oil
• 2 fresh eggs (at room temperature)
• 60ml of water – Add this gradually as the dough hook does its work

With all the ingredients in the bowl of my mixer, I used the dough hook to bring it all together into a ball of dough. It took no time at all and made a good, springy dough that would have taken me a fair bit of kneading had I done it my usual way. I’m not sure I’ll be playing bench top volcano games again now I know how quick and easy it is to let my mate Breville do the hard work.

One ball of Pasta Dough made in my Breville Mixer

I sprinkled flour onto the kitchen bench and gave the dough a quick knead to get rid of the slight stickiness.

I rubbed a few drops of olive oil over the ball of dough to keep it moist, wrapped it in cling film and popped it into the fridge for an hour.

All wrapped ready to do some time in the fridge!

Now for the fun bit, turning a lump of dough into delicious linguine. Time to play with the pasta machine!

Look at the wonderful colour of the basil pasta

I divided the ball of dough into four to make it easier to work with. The three pieces I am not working with straight away go back in the wrapper so they don’t dry out.

Having given the dough a quick roll with my rolling pin, I set my machine to zero and pass it through the rollers, each time I pass it through, I reduce the gap until I get to six on the dial.

The thickness at the machine’s number six setting makes a perfect linguine. So, having attached the cutter, I feed the pasta sheet through. Hubby arrives at this point, he loves using the pasta machine and is always keen to help out. He gets busy catching the freshly cut linguine and neatly hanging it on the drying rack. Pasta making is fun alone, but even better fun with two!

Freshly made linguine drying on the rack

After an hour drying on the rack it was time to get cooking.

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil, then add the pasta. It takes just a few minutes to cook, fresh pasta cooks quickly so keep an eye on it.

I served my basil linguine with sun dried tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, and finely grated parmesan. It was delicious!

And, for something sweet afterward, we had  “The Apron Archives” scrumptious Basil and Citrus Cookies.

Basil and Lemon Cookies from the recipe from The Apron Archives

Oh life is good, if not rather basil flavoured!

Growing sticks – A cheap and easy cat and bird deterring trick

My Puddy Tat "Polly"

Now before you all get worked up, I am a cat lover, I am even a slave to a house cat named Polly. But, I am a gardener and a gardener’s worst enemy is the neighbourhood cat that thinks your freshly seeded raised veggie bed is a litter tray!

About a year ago I posted my plight on the Yates Facebook Page and in no time at all fellow Yates followers had offered their advice. Some made sense, such as using white pepper powder or orange peel as a deterrent. One person actually suggested planting a toxic plant to kill the cat (and claimed to have had success with said method)….. as you can imagine the person didn’t get a good response.

By far the most successful method I have tried for deterring the local cats has been a easy system of growing sticks!

Yes, that’s right. Armed with a packet of bamboo kebab skewers, I simply snap them in half or thirds and poke them into the veggie bed.

Sticks ready for planting out!

Whilst the seeds are still considering germinating, it does look rather like I am growing sticks!

Growing Sticks

The sticks seem to visually put cats and birds off walking over the veggie bed, I rarely see foot prints or have sticks flattened.

Carrot seeds are offered protection against cats and birds by the sticks

So I am a happy gardener and no cats get harmed in the process, and that’s just as important to me!

The Ladies Only Club

No Cockerels allowed!

So, what do you need to do to become a member of the exclusive Emerald Garden Ladies Only Club?

The qualifications required for membership to the club are as follows:-

1. Ladies only
2. Eat up the veggies and grain and turn it into soil improver
3. Eat up the bugs and slugs that cause so much damage in the Emerald Garden
4. Lay an egg at least every other day.
5. And most importantly, be cute!

If you have said yes to all 5 points, then welcome you are free to join the club!

Once in the club you get to enjoy the following perks:-

• Meals served in the morning, with the occasional midday snack, but always a little treat at bedtime.
• A safe and protected club house and play area
• Fresh water served as required
• Soft clean bedding to snuggle in at night, or to sit to lay that all important egg.
• Cuddles if you are that way inclined
• Company of fellow club members, there are no unfamiliar faces in this club.

Meet the members

There are currently six members of the Ladies Only Club.

Florence – Salmon Faverolles

Florence the Faverolles

Florence is an absolute sweetheart, she is inquisitive, docile, sociable and very entertaining in her behaviour. You can guarantee that if you are doing something in or near the hen house, she’ll be there at the wire chatting away to you.

The Faverolles (yes, it has an ‘s’ even though she is our only one) are different in that they have five toes instead of the usual four and their feet are feathered.

Buffy the eggs-layer – Buff Sussex

I know, a very corny name.  You can blame my husband for that groan you found yourself making.

Buffy the eggs-layer - Buff Sussex

Buffy is a bit of a loner. She is not as keen to be around us and is often the one who makes  being put to bed at night a bit of a Benny Hill moment!

She is quite different from her fellow Sussex Alba. Alba is a Light Sussex and is a bigger built bird.

Alba – Light Sussex

Alba - Light Sussex

Alba is, along with Florence, our favourite of the bunch. She is very docile and is often under your feet as you try to go about your chores.

Alba is not bothered by the affection I dote on her, she calmly accepts the cuddles and will even let me cradle her on her back like a babe in arms!

Her biggest sin…. she is the broodiest of our flock!

Scarlet & Ruby – Wyandotte x Rhode Island Red

Ruby - Wyandotte x Rhode Island Red

Ruby is a slightly darker red than her sister Scarlet. She is a curious hen, as her picture shows. This shot was captured as she was fascinated by the beep the camera made when the focus locked.

Ruby and Scarlet - Wyandotte x RIR

Don’t ask me which one is Scarlet in this shot, the difference in the depth of their feather colour is only slight and in the shade of the passionfruit that grows over the chook run, I can’t see that difference at all.

Both girls are not really what I would call docile, they pretty much mind their own business. They are both pickles to catch too!

Olive – Wyandotte

Olive with Alba, they are both currently broody

Olive gets her name not just because she is black, she also has a slightly more compact body than the others, I wouldn’t say round, but that’s the sort of shape.

At first Glance Olive is just a plain black chook, but get her into the sunshine and her beauty becomes apparent. Her feathers shimmer with greens and  purples and the markings of the wyandotte are seen almost as shadows in the plume.  It’s as if she is oily, hence Olive!

So, why is it a ladies only club?

Most folks here keep a cockerel in their flock. We have never had a male. In England and to some extent where we lived in France, the neighbours were sensitive to the noise the cockerels make at silly-o-clock in the morning. So, for the sake of good neighbourly relationships we stuck to hens.

Despite the freedom to own a cockerel here in the Emerald Garden, we currently can’t see the point.

• The males can be incredibly aggressive and can cause terrible injury to people with the spurs on the back of their legs.
• If you let the hens hatch young, the percentage of male chicks is stupidly high, leaving you to find homes for them or having to cull the poor little chirpers.

For now then, the club will remain…..

Ladies Only!

Setting up the new Veggie Patch

Here I sit with aching back and aching arms. Actually most of my muscles feel sore. And my knees, they hurt thanks to a ill behaved wheel barrow having a game with gravity and clattering into them!

I may ache, but I do have a strong sense of satisfaction. I have moved three deep beds, built one new one and filled four with soil!

WIth the beds in place I lined the base with a thick layer of newspaper, sprinkled on some blood and bone powder in readiness for the soil.

It is as I am pushing the barrow up to the top veggie patch, digging the soil out of the old beds and then wheeling it down to the new veggie patch, that I wish we did not live in the hills, oh for a flat garden.

On my first run, I filled the barrow. But as I struggled even to lift the handles of the barrow I realised I was going to have to double the number of trips as this was way to heavy for me to handle.

I pushed and shoved to get the heavy barrow moving, then as I turned into the decline I had to hold on for dear life to stop the barrow careering down the hill. By the time I reached the new deep bed at the bottom of the garden my arms were trembling and my back was saying “Enough”.

So half loads I did from that point on. A slow but sure plod to fill the four new beds with the rich soil contained in the old beds.

By the end of the day I have finally managed to get some plants into the new beds.

• Bed 1: Round Zucchini and a sweet striped cucumber.
• Bed 2: Four tomato plants
• Bed 3: Butternut Squash
• Bed 4: Beetroot and onions

Hubby arrives to check on my progress. “It’s gone 7pm honey”, he says.

Wow, how can it be that late in the day? No wonder my tummy is grumbling.

Time for a well deserved glass of shiraz and something yummy to eat!

Getting a buzz, naturally!

Honey Bee at work. Copyright 2011 S. Edwards

Last Saturday I put a big old tick against one of my “Bucket-List” items.

On a fine, somewhat warm day I donned a white overall over my clothes, tucked it into thick white socks and pulled a net hood over my head before pulling on some leather handed gauntlets to finish the ensemble.

This was it, I was at last going to be able to get up close and personal to a colony of bees.

I have been interested in bees for a long time, their behaviour is fascinating and their colonies are a model of discipline, order and teamwork.  All-in-all a very interesting insect, and an insect that the human race cannot be without. Oh, and they make honey, and I love honey!

I have often considered whether a hive would be possible in my garden, and my answer, until now, has always been no. Taking on a colony of bees is a big responsibility, they are not something you acquire and then leave to their own devices.

Getting it wrong was my biggest fear. So, when I discovered that a local apiary offered day courses in Beekeeping I just had to sign up.

On arrival at the “Honey House” of Upper Beaconsfield Apairies  I receive a friendly welcome, and that is how it is with Anna, Sharon and Alf, friendly and welcoming.

The courses have a maximum of five participants and on this occasion there was just myself and one other, a chap who had just started with his own hive.

We started the day with a walk along the lane looking at the plants that were currently flowering and seeing for ourselves which ones the bees were favouring. The bees were beautiful, not your usual black and yellow types, these were a wonderful yellow colour. These were Alf’s bees!

We continued along the lane until we reached a paddock containing lots of beehives. We stood watching the bees fly in and out of the hives and it was a good chance to talk about how you need to carefully consider the location of your hive. You don’t want to be walking through the flight path and you don’t want the neighbours complaining that your bees are pooping on their laundry!

Back at the “Honey House” Alf explained all about bees, their anatomy, behaviour, the life cycle and so much more. It was all so interesting. Alf’s knowledge was incredible and he has a wonderful ability of passing it on in an engaging way.

Next was an introduction to the hive, this was an great chance to see how a hive is constructed and the different sizes available. I decide, based on weight, that an “Ideal” hive would suit me best.

The morning passed so quickly and before I knew it, we were off to the house for lunch.

Anna put on a wonderful spread of mixed sandwiches followed by a divine cake, all washed down with a well earned cuppa.

With our bellies fed, it was time to get into our beekeeper suits. I confess, for the first time during my day, I felt a little nervous, but excited too. It was time to put the theory we had covered during the morning session into practice.

(L to R) Michael, myself, Alf and Sharon

We walked back to the paddock full of hives. Alf showed us how to light the smoker. Then  it was time to pull on our hoods, zipper up tight and don our gaunlets.

As we made our approach I was still feeling a little apprehensive. But Alf and Sharon’s confidence soon puts me at ease. Before I knew it, there I was stood with bees buzzing all around, holding a frame that is alive with beautiful, yellow, Italian bees.

Here I am with a frame full of bees in my hands!

We open the hives one by one. We check the health of the hive, we look for the queen, we see how many brood cells are on the frames, is there nectar and pollen in the cells?

Looking for the queen

To my delight we got to see lots of shiny “about-to-be-a-bee” larvae. We even saw brand new bees poke their heads out of their cells for the very first time. Which is no mean feat with hundreds of your sisters trampling overhead.

Checking the health of each hive

It’s not until you look into a hive do you appreciate how amazing it is that this complex colony works with such order, such discipline. These girls work hard from the second they are born. Each bee has its role and that-is-that, they simply get on with it. Imagine having that many human females together in such close confines….. no let’s not!

We head back to the house, suits unzipped to cool off. Anna has a refreshing, cold drink  waiting for us. We remove our suits and socks and sit down to talk about our experience at the hives.

All too quickly the day is over. I had a brilliant experience, one I will not forget for sure.

Would I recommend the course? Yes I would, even if you are not interested in keeping your own hive. If you are simply curious to know more about the humble honey bee, then a day with Alf would be perfect.

So, am I going to become a beekeeper?

Well, the fear that I’d get it wrong has been dispelled thanks to the course, and I now know what equipment I would need. I also know that I need to prepare an area for the hive. Maybe this spring will see me picking up my new hive full of beautiful yellow Italian honey bees from Alf.

It sure will be a buzz to have my own honey!

Blushing with pride!

It’s a busy day in the garden as I tackle the building of the new veggie patch. In fact, despite the hard work it is pretty exciting to be finally getting on with it.

Whilst down the end of the garden I had a little forage in the bed that was thrown into place just to house the surplus of seed potatoes I had. This bed contains the Ruby Lou spuds.

Ruby Lou Spuds harvested on the 9th of January 2012

To my delight I quickly came across four good sized, beautifully rich pink potatoes. Sadly one had been attacked by some sort of grub and the small hole ran right into its heart, so that got chopped up and popped in the worm farm.

Ruby Lou makes excellent roast potatoes and is said to be ace for mash and chips. The decision now is, how shall I cook em!

Burning stuff on the barbie – Chargrilled Eggplant Dip

The ingredients of a very tasty dip

I love eggplant! I also love garlic, so this dip recipe suits me just fine.

What’s great about this dip is the chargrilling of the eggplant, this really enhances the flavour. I also add the smoker box to the barbie to add an extra dimension to the flavour.

Ingredients

• 1 large eggplant
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 clove of garlic
• 2 tablespoons olive oil (you can add a little more if you need to loosen the blend)
• Salt and Pepper to season to taste

First, chargrill the eggplant. To do this just cut it in half. I use the gas BBQ, starting by popping the eggplant cut side onto the grill briefly just to soften the flesh this side and to add a little flavour. Then I flip eggplant skin side down on the grill over a high heat. The aim is to burn the skin of the eggplant and cook the flesh inside until soft. It does take a little while, just keep an eye on it.

Once the eggplant is ready, take it off the heat and let it cool.

Then scrape the soft flesh off the skin.

All in the pot ready for "Brenda" my stick blender!

Put the flesh in a blender (I use a stick blender) with all the other ingredients and give it a whizz. You can have it chunky or smooth, it’s up to you.

Check the seasoning and add more if needed.

That’s it, pop it in a dish to serve.

Eggplant dip (R) served with Hummus (L)

I love it with homemade pita bread and a glass of shiraz.

Happy charring, enjoy!

Spuds Ahoy!

We live pretty close to Tesselaar Nurseries and this year I managed to get a load of seed potatoes direct from the shop, some at half price in their clearance sale.

I’m trying growing spuds in bags this year. I have grown them in large wire cages in the past and had some success, so thought the bags would be worth a go.

For the very first time I chitted the seed potatoes before planting them out. I am not sure that it really makes much difference. Next time I will do a 50/50 experiment to find out.

As I had so many seed potatoes I also popped some into two of the beds at the bottom of the garden. I used pea straw and sheep manure to cover them.

I have had a rummage about in the bags and there are a few small spuds. But it is the somewhat neglected spuds in the beds that have started to get to a good enough size to harvest.

This week I pushed aside the straw and collected four decent sized White Exton

White Exton Potatoes & Yellow Cherry Tomatoes, a photo by The Emerald Garden on Flickr.

Cooked, they turned out beautifully creamy. I mashed them with some butter and seasoning.

Delicious, I hope we have lots more to follow.