winter beet salad

Those who know me know how much I enjoy gardening. We had a long
fall, but it's almost December and gardening in Pennsylvania is pretty
much done.

A few root veggies were still in the ground in my garden: little baby
carrots and a few beets that at this point weren't going to grow much
more. But sometimes these little findings can make or add to a great
meal.

Some say that what grows together goes together. In this case it did!
I cooked and cleaned the beets. Blanched the carrots and put them over
a little romaine lettuce dressed with miso dressing. Sprinkled feta
cheese over it, and it was great!

Buen provecho!

hungry honey bees

Apiculture has always fascinated me. I find bees very intriguing, and honey is a favorite of mine.

I have a pear tree in my backyard and a few pears have been gathering on the ground around the tree. Bees, hornets, wasps and the like have been all over them. Somewhere I've read that honey bees will collect the fruit juice fromfruit they encounter.

Bob Steffes, co-founder in charge of apiary operations for Burghbees, tells me that his bees were particularly hungry this fall. Bob thinks that this season's nectar was very poor this year. He finds it unusual for his bees to go for fruit, but, whatever it takes to stock,he ponders.

As I take all of this in, and of course basing it on my limited apiculture experience, I wonder if this is only more encouragement from nature herself, to have more gardens, farms, and parks in the city.

urban farming: beekeeping

On Tuesday, August 25, I went to a Burgh Bees "Beekeeper Meet-up" on the North Side. I originally discovered Burgh Bees at the Phipps Garlic and Tomato Festival, which is a special event during the regularly scheduled farmers market that happens on the lawn at Phipps Conservatory every Wednesday. Based on the quick conversation I had with the Burgh Bees people at Phipps that day, it seems like they're trying to get as many people as possible involved in urban beekeeping to protect the hobby. I guess the idea is that the more urban hives there are, the less likely the city government is to restrict people's right to have a hive.

The lady who hosted the meet-up has a bunch of hives on her roof, and we all got to see the honeycomb and try some honey. Well--I didn't get to try any honey, but in theory I think we were all supposed to have a taste. It was really interesting to see this small but productive operation (just a few boxes of bees produce 360-400 pounds of honey!) in a regular person's urban backyard.

Naturally, I struck up a conversation with another attendee who turned out to be in the catering business, and we ended up discussing the food industry in Pittsburgh. Laura always teases me about this: wherever we go, I run into someone that I've worked with or find people who are involved in the food industry. Occupational hazard!