Summer!!
First catch (and release) of the summer!!! A little white perch!
Baiting our lines
The goslings are growing
Our sweet chickens
The ladder ball champs!
Fresh brewed iced tea with mint from the herb garden
A few healthy snacks
The roses are in full bloom!
leeks
potatoes
thyme
Admittedly, I’d be insincere if I said that I love beekeeping. I do think it is extremely important to grow the bee population, and I do love our honey bees and their sweet honey. But it’s a little intimidating to work with thousands of buzzing bees flying all around me. I’ve been beekeeping for over three years now, so my confidence is growing. This past Sunday I installed a new hive near our organic garden and fruit orchard. The bees do a great job pollinating the fruit trees and their honey is so delicious. It’s also been wonderful to have local honey when a member of the family is having seasonal allergies. One teaspoon of honey in the morning can really help to alleviate the allergies. It’s amazing! I’ve been following the colony collapse in the news and feel very strongly that we all need to do our part to try and save the bees. I’ll never use pesticides and try my best to only purchase organic foods. I’ve been following a study of GMO corn and its affect on the bees, as well as corn that was sprayed with Roundup (a very toxic chemical). Most of the sugar beets are also sprayed with Roundup… I could go on and on but I know that it’s a very negative subject. So, on a more positive note, I’ve successfully installed a new organic beehive! I’m really looking forward to seeing the sweet little honey bees in the garden and on the fruit trees!
This past weekend we also hosted a little get together for my cousins, who came in from all over the world. Although most of the guests were a bit jet lagged, we had a wonderful day together tasting wine, eating delicious foods and sharing memories. We also made plenty of new memories in a secluded setting on the beautiful Chesapeake bay. I’m going to post a little sampling of photos of the foods from our lunch together (I forgot to photograph everything, I was having too much fun!).
Lobster rolls
Kale salad
Potato salad with olive oil, parsley, onions and lemon juice
Mixed greens with beets goat cheese and pecans
Pasta salad with bell peppers, cucumbers, onions, mozzarella cheese, parsley and arugula
Mom’s magic cookie bars (soooo good!)
Heirloom Tomato pizza
Pizza and wine!
peas
The strawberry patch. We’re picking ripe berries every day!
Cookie time!! We love to bake year round! Sugar cookies are a family favorite!
We love to use powdered sugar instead of flour to roll out our cookie dough, a tasty little tip!
The kids wanted to decorate the cookies with red icing. I melted a cup of organic frozen raspberries and then strained them. I mixed the powdered sugar with the raspberry juice and a teaspoon of fresh squeezed lemon juice and a few drops of vanilla extract. This makes the most delicious raspberry icing and the natural color is beautiful!
