The first thing you want to do is clean out the hive. Remove the dead bodies, any mold that has grown or any bugs that have moved in. You have a few options at this point and they depend on whether you are going to get bees again or not. If you are going to get bees again, you may want to consider saving any of the frames with honey in them for your next hive. These frames of honey will help them grow faster the following season because they have more resources. If you go thi

2.16.18 Getting Nerdy about the Soil Wow! I received the interesting soil test results from Michigan State University and read about what my soil has too much of and what it lacks. Since I am pretty clueless regarding what the results really indicate, I called the MSU Extension Gardening Hotline 1.888.678.3464 and spoke with Danielle, who is a bubbly bundle of gardening knowledge, and of course a Master Gardener. Here are the results: Phosphorus (P) 266 ppm T

Planning a garden when the landscape is covered in snow is not something I have done before. My typical garden “plan” happens in the aisles of River Street Flowerland as I fill my cart with “this should work” vegetables, herbs, and seed packets. This year, I’m doing the necessary research and planning with the idea that an organized and informed gardener should have more success than the “winging it” gardener. I have planned the garden and shared a photo. After reading about