Honey Bee and Gardening Talk with the Boy Scouts

My nephew Joey who is also a passionate gardener, arranged an event with his Boy Scout troop to visit the Florida Bee Farm for an educational tour and talk about Honey Bees and Gardening.  Joey and I planned the presentation so we would both talk about different aspects of Honey Bees and Gardening.  Joey was pretty knowledgeable about gardening and already knew quite a bit about Honey Bees from coming out to the Bee Farm with me.  I gave him a few "homework assignments" on topics he wasn't familiar with so he could also learn something and also pass it along and teach the other scouts.  Joey is a good teacher and mentor to the younger scouts. 

Visitors to the Florida Bee Farm

Talking about Honey Bees and langstrom Hives

While touring the gardens, one of the scouts was excited when he saw large eggplants hanging from the eggplant plant.  He said how it was one of his favorite things and how he loved eggplant so I broke a large one off and gave it to him.  He said he was going to ask his mom to fry it up as soon as he got home.

The morning was pretty overcast and cool so when we got around to seeing the bees, there were only a few brave bees out flying in the cool weather.  And a couple of shivering guard bees hanging out by the entrances.  The kids and adults were looking forward to seeing the bees so I was disappointed that the weather wasn't warmer so they could experience seeing zillions of bees zipping in and out of their hives along the bee superhighways in our yard.

A great group of scouts showed up

Honey tasting time

In charge of honey tasting

Just around this time it started sprinkling and then turned into a steady rain.  Between the shed overhang areas and the covered greenhouse there was plenty of space for everyone to hang out and stay dry.  The highlight of the day however was the honey tasting.  Several of the scouts were given a container of honey and a bag of plastic spoons to distribute to everyone for tasting.  They were able to taste all the honey they wanted and it was quite obvious that the honey was quite popular.   

All in all it was a very pleasant experience meeting some nice kids and parents and sharing the Florida Bee Farm. 

Redoing our Florida Greenhouse

The last hastily constructed Florida Greenhouse that was built did a decent job starting seeds and protecting them during the heavy relentless rainy weather.  However it really wasn't very efficient and didn't get enough sun.  As I'm going to be planting many plants from seed in the future it was time to construct a better structure that will make planting from seed more efficient.

Testing the seedling sprinklers

After considering several designs, my son came out and came up with the best solution.  Working together, we got 90% of the structure up in a little more than an hour.  The final framing and building a plant bench I completed the next day.  Additionally I created an automated irrigation system to control the moisture the seedlings get on a daily basis.  Because it gets pretty warm in the sun and you don't want to skip a day of watering if you can't get to it for some reason.  Automatic watering is the key to successful gardening I'm convinced.  Last year I often spent several hours a day watering and even then it just wasn't consistent enough.  Consistency is important.  You go out of town and skip a few days your garden will look terrible if it doesn't rain.

Last month many seeds were planted and they are all doing very well.  We planted a raised bed cucumber, bean and pumpkin section that was started with seeds and it's being watered daily with an automated watering system.  So far so good.

Florida Greenhouse (Cukes, Pumpkins & Beans on the right)

Seedlings checking out their new temporary home

Mini Greenhouse

This is the time of year in Florida where you should already have your seeds planted to get ready for the fall growing season.  Last year I tried growing various plants from seeds with mixed success and many lessons were learned the hard way (of course).

What I learned is the seeds need a place to grow where they won't get too much moisture and will get enough sunlight but not so much that it roasts them.  One option that was used put plastic covers over the containers with seedlings.  It worked somewhat ok but turn your back on this setup for a moment and you'll find cooked seedlings or seedlings covered in mold.  What I've been considering for some time is to build a miniature greenhouse type structure.  Something that will allow sunlight and also protect the seedlings from rainstorms.  A structure that's well ventilated but one that can be closed in somewhat during any cold spells that we may get in the winter.  Also the structure had to be made with all the pieces of lumber and scrap wood I had laying around the beefarm.

Mini Greenhouse

Happy seedlings

After considering dozens of designs, I ruled out a free standing structure because I didn't have enough 2x4's for that.  I could have driven to the store and picked up a couple but I wanted to get this project rolling.  And by attaching the structure to the shed, it required less lumber as it was able to use the shed for one side.  Plus the shed sheltered it from wind.  The final greenhouse came out better than I imagined and works great.  The only regret is I didn't make it 3" higher because I keep banging my head when I go in and out.  Oh well.

Greenhouse made from recycled materials

Everything is growing like mad on the BeeFarm.  Seedlings are starting out nice, Okra is over 5' tall and producing quite a bit of okra.  Moringa trees have skyrocketed so we can start harvesting Moringa.  Citrus trees are doing well and a new group of wildflowers are blooming in the Bee and Butterfly Garden. 

Bee and Butterfly Garden

Oranges

Okra growing like crazy

Papaya trees are starting to settle down after the transplant