Friday, March 8, 2013

We Bought a Goji Plant

Today we bought an established goji plant from a local gardener who is selling her collection of plants. We're looking forward to seeing how it does this spring and summer--and how the bees like it, too, of course! I'd love to discover that we can do well enough with goji berries here that I could put my food dehydrator to good use with them.

In the meantime, when it comes to berries to eat, we'll keep buying our organic goji berries from SunFood--I actually signed up for an affiliate account with them because they have the best organic goji we've found.

Back to gardening, Trish planted peas in the garden at the end of February, as well as some potatoes. Last year the biggest success in the garden was the cucumber plant--I hope this year will be a repeat. We enjoyed Greek salads with garden cucumbers all summer.

How is your yard/garden coming along as spring is (finally!) around the corner?

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Hands off Bees in the Local News

Our local news blog, PhinneyWood, which covers the Greenwood and Phinney Ridge neighborhoods of Seattle (and nearby areas), just posted an article about Trish's backyard beekeeping and the hives she builds.

Thanks to Sarah who wrote the article, Doree who manages the blog, and everyone who is visiting the blog (and our Facebook page) as a result of reading the article!

Saturday, March 2, 2013

Growing Goji Berries

I did a bit more reading about goji berries and bees, and I started thinking that the goji berry plants could be a bee-friendly addition to our yard. Plus, the health benefits of goji honey would be good for honeybees as well as people.

I found an organic nursery in California (Peaceful Valley Farm & Garden Supply) that sells a variety of goji berry tree started from a plant in Utah. The folks at the nursery have produced a helpful video about planting and maintaining goji berries which I've embedded below. Trish and I are thinking about planting a couple in containers.

Friday, March 1, 2013

Goji Berries for People and for Bees

Trish is a great fan of goji berries. She buys the dried ones and adds them to the "green drinks" she makes in her Vitamix. Other ingredients for the green drinks include spinach, pear, and a variety of vegetables and fruits. They say these little berries have high concentrations of antioxidants, vitamin A, and all sorts of helpful compounds which we probably don't understand yet. Anyway, I got to thinking about bees and goji berries, and sure enough, the plants are a favorite of honeybees in China. Check out this page with beautiful close-up photos of bees and goji berry plants taken by Zachary Huang of Michigan State University. The author also has other articles with tips on "beetography" (or photographing bees).