Hello, my name is Amanda and along with my husband Dave, we created I Damanda Homestead! Join us and see how we grow and preserve our own food on our sub urban property! We’ll learn lots together and have fun doing it!
Always sad to lose colonies, we have the same ups and downs here in the UK, we have varroa but fortunately no small hive beetles and the invasive Asian Horney is now in the country. Hope this year has been better for your colonies.
Years ago I wanted to get into bee keeping and remember deciding upon a Warre setup if I ever get the chance to do it- it just seemed like the most natural way to go. I subscribed to you channel. If you have a list of Warre book resources etc to share, that would be nice. Greetings from New England, USA 🙂
I'm guessing you don't inspect for disease (?). Couldn't you just get a normal Langstroth-type hive and not open it until you want honey? Is warre beekeeping really beekeeping, or more like providing a home for bees then taking some honey during the year?
Very informative video! I am curious, could you have put all the 4 boxes at the begining of the season so it is there for when the bees are ready to use it? Instead of adding boxes here and there?
It's actually important to only add boxes as the bees need them. This is because the bees need to keep the hive at a certain temperature and humidity and a larger empty space is harder to maintain. The bees also need to defend that space with guard bees and it's harder to do that if they are spread out and easier for wasps, etc. to get in and not be noticed! It would be awesome if you could just add them all at once but unfortunately not the best plan. Sigh! Thanks for the comment though!
Hello there! Good question! You actually don't want chlorinated water because this can inhibit the growth of yeast. So, you can buy bottled water or you can fill your bucket with chlorinated water and leave it sit open to the air for a few days for the chlorine to dissipate. If you do this you will want to add sulphur when you leave it to sit as this will prevent any other organisms from growing in there. Thanks for the comment!
Wow, my first thoughts were how weird ! Then I remembered last year my daughter made zucchini bread and it tasted similar to banana bread. Definitely going to have to try this. Both of you take care.
Hello there and thanks for the comment! I know, weird right? But, I swear it really tastes like apple pie. I have tried in on many an unsuspecting person and they never guess!
I started following your channel back when you were doing efficient wood stove burning videos. Glad I did, good to see both of your smiling faces here. Enjoy :)
I enjoyed the video. We're looking at electric netting now for our garden. Our 3-D electric fence keeps deer away but not raccoons, rabbits, etc!! What brand of fence netting is this? Why didn't you use the yellow insulators on all the t-posts, seems easier? Thanks again, JP.
Hello JP, thanks for the comment. The brand is single spike poultry netting from Ukal Canada and is from Beaumont, Product Code: 125584. As far as why I didn't use the yellow insulators it's more that I didn't have enough path space on the inside and so wanted the fence closer to the posts. Probably just poor planning on my part!
I planted a lot of Diva, produced great cucumbers, up to 6 a day from about 10 plants, then I got some damn fungus big brown spots, all the leaves died. But I had planted a month later than the Diva an Asian kind Suyo Long which hasn't caught any disease and also like Diva does not need pollination, all the flowers make fruit that are very long and can be massive if you let them grow, weird looking but delicious!
Wow, that's cool, I'll have to look up that variety! I have been growing dill cukes this year as they are less susceptible to wilt. I have also had trouble with fungal disease this year, too much rain and humidity! I had to spray a couple of times with copper and that seems to have kept it in check! Thanks for the comment!
Hello there, it does matter how much honey you add because this will result in different alcohol contents. Since I was using leftover beeswax it wasn't as easy to control how much honey was left in them. So, when I finished rinsing them out I measured the sugar level with my hydrometer and then gradually added honey until I get the 12-13% potential alcohol I want. If I was just making a regular mead I would use a recipe with a specific amount. Thanks for the comment!
1:26 "So this is how we're going to put our...blogs." If only blogs and vlogs could be used for fuel, the energy crisis would be solved by tomorrow evening.
Haha, was that a close captioning typo? I'll have to give the gears to RU-vid! But it's true if we could power the world with social media posts we'd be set! Thanks for the comment!
True! We didn't have any more problems after that! I guess when you live right by a forest you have to be prepared to defend your livestock from a host of critters! Thanks for the comment!
We get a 12-13 percent wine from this which is pretty standard. For any country wine where the flavor ingredient is not sweet I usually use 2lbs sugar to make a 1 gallon batch. Thanks for the comment!
Good question, I'm not sure because they don't last in our family! There aren't any preservatives so we do store them in the fridge and I wouldn't keep them for more than a month or two. Thanks for the comment!
I think a lot of people have the same issue! I have switched to growing dill cucumbers as they are less susceptible and I cover them in butterfly netting until they are big enough to bloom. This year I also sprayed with Surround kaolin clay spray to deter them from eating the leaves. This totally worked and I didn't have to use nearly the same amount of insecticide. Thanks for the comment!
Yes, you can! As long as you make sure to remove all plant material in the spring. Also, let the sand dry out during the summer so no mold will grow. Then you can moisten it again in the fall. Thanks for the commend!
I never did have contamination, but then again blue oysters are really vigorous and colonize fast so probably not as susceptible. If you get contamination I probably would throw out the substrate and start again. I plan to try king oysters this fall because they are top fruiting mushrooms so I'm hoping for a better size flush. Best of luck growing mushrooms!
I actually haven't noticed that at all. I have noticed that when I puree pasta sauce or soups that there are small pieces of skin but I don't mind too much. It's worth it for the amount of work it saves! Thanks for the comment!
Hello there and thanks for the comment! I have not used Surround to protect from japanese beetles but now that you mention it I haven't had any damage from them since I started using it. They used to decimate my grapevines. So, maybe it does work! Worth a try anyway!
Hello there and thanks for the comment. It does wash off eventually and if not it's easy to rinse off under the sink. However, with blackberries I might be worried about damaging the berries with washing. I would probably spray the bushes right after fruit set, so you would get the sunburn protection. Then use netting for the birds. Good luck, blackberries are yummy!
a year later... I just pulled 4 cuke plants out. Such a disappointment. Same thing. those blasted beetles had parties day and night on my cukes. I think... since they are fast growers (60-ish days)... I'm going to plant again from seed... We'll see if I have luck. Maybe they only want to party in the spring.... I may try again next spring with cukes... however, if my cukes prosper this second planting; I may just wait and plant late season cukes every year... I will put them where my garlic was; since I harvest garlic about this time of year. Maybe it'll be a win win!!!
Hello there! Yes, cucumbers and squash are a challenge with cucumber beetle and squash bugs! This year I covered mine until they started blooming. Then I sprayed with Surround kaolin spray. The bugs still came but in fewer numbers. I sprayed once with Pyrethrin in the evening to knock them back. So far, so good. Apparently the cucumber plants are more vulnerable when they're young so covering is a must. Also, dill cukes are less susceptible so I have given up on all the other types!
How many apples do you have to grow to be considered an apple grower?! My trees did not flower this season, any suggestions for fertilizer {non toxic}?
Hello there! I think if you have a single apple tree you are a grower! As far as the not flowering, I have found that if I let my trees produce too much the year before then they don't flower or set fruit the next year. So, you might try thinning the fruit next year and see if that helps with more consistency. As far as fertilizer goes I usually give them an application of compost in the early spring. Not too much though, you don't want an explosion of growth because that attracts pests and diseases. Good luck!
Hi, we ordered one from my parents but they have probleme with their fitting. could you tell me how you fixed the 90°corner we see at 1min45, the one relaying the pannel entering to the pvc pipe? is it just a normal pvc joint and you add a load of glue and it hold? or is it a fitting you found somewhere else?
Hello there, and thanks for the comment! Sorry for the delayed reply but I needed to find time to go back and look at that part of the video. The 90 degree turn is just a PVC elbow with PVC cement to hold it in place. We tested after to ensure we didn't have any leaks. We're in our second year and still no leaks despite staying up over the winter. So far so good!
Hello again! I just watched to the end and it seems that fitting did leak after all! I was thinking that so I checked the whole video! Seems we used repair epoxy and silicon tape where the leaks were and this held. You can see it at 8:12. Hope that helps!
I have always blanch ed my vegetables and I do have a vacuum sealer. I have been vacuum sealing after blanching and cooling on a large towel. Do the beans taste as good not blanching? How long will they last in the freezer?
Hello there and thanks for the comment! As far as I can tell the beans taste the same and the texture is the same. I also use a vacuum sealer and the beans last us about six to nine months in the freezer. By then we've had enough of beans for a while!
Oh my, they look soooo good. Early in the season yet here in N.S. but I’m marking this video for when the time comes. My husband just found your site while looking up SURROUND, so will have to find time to catch up! Amazing how hard it is to acquire certain products here in Canada. We finally found it from Whiffletree, a Canadian company. Thanks for your efforts. 🇨🇦
Hello there and thanks for the comment! I didn't realize that Whiffletree was selling Surround now, that's great news! I had to order mine from the states and ordered enough to last for years! The pickles are great too, usually ready in a few weeks for tasting and will last a couple of months in the freezer!
Hello there! Haskaps are a berry that is native to our area, they look like a weird shaped blueberry. They are much easier for us to grow than blueberries and have a great tart berry flavour. Good for fresh eating and for pies/jam, etc.
So true! Big trees are beautiful but there are risks. This tree isn't leaning toward the house or we would have taken it down long ago. But, seems we will have to take the rest down now. Lots or work, the thing is huge! Have a great day!
Hello there and thanks for the comment. I haven't added soap to the mix before but I do see some people talking about that online. I'm not sure what the benefit would be? Insecticide? I usually just follow the directions on the bag and it seems to work well enough. Have you tried it with soap?
