Springtime is here and we have our garden planted. Taking forward our success from last year we used starts from a local nursery rather than seeding in the greenhouse (maybe next year). We had learned a few things from our mistakes and reduced a few plantings as well as reconfiguring the garden to take plant

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Last year we ended with 70 pounds of honey and two very healthy hives. We did our best to keep both hives alive, treating them for mites in the fall and making certain we left enough honey for their own source of food over winter. We supplemented with sugar as well. Despite these efforts –

Continue Reading “2019 Spring Bee Installation”

Last fall we expanded our stable to include a third horse, this one for me. I’m a novice rider – I’ve been on a horse less than a dozen times in my life and as a heavy guy – I’m terrified of falling. So my wife spent a great deal of time looking for a

Continue Reading “Sky”

I can’t believe I haven’t updated since October so here is my offer of a quick recap of the last seven months at Ravengrove. We had a successful year and expanded the farm a bit adding a third horse for me to ride a Draft Cross red roan named Sky. We had chicks in October

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The year is winding down and we’ve been busy (as demonstrated by a lack of posts!).  Aside from the beehives, we’ve had a major garden project, horses to care for, yard to maintain, and continued renovation. Some projects made significant progress while others … ahem, fell behind. Having a small farm is an everyday project

Continue Reading “Fall”

One of our favorite places to explore in the Eugene area is the Mount Pisgah Arboretum. I especially like to visit in the fall as the park shows its diversity in the changing of the seasons. Fall in the PNW can be quick – so time your visit right to catch some of the colors!

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Our first year of beekeeping was a great success. Typically, it’s not common to harvest honey from a new hive in the first year as it takes time for a colony to mature. However, if the nectar flow is strong, keepers can harvest if they consider what the bee colony will require for winter survival.

Continue Reading “Honey Harvest 2018”

Last year we had a very small and somewhat sad garden. We certainly had space. The previous owners had a large deer fences raised bed garden area. We lacked time to do a really good job. This year we planned ahead and did some garden renovation. Our results were surprising to us. We cleared out

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