We now have a beehive in the garden - stay tuned for updates on the hive.
Here's part 1, setting up the hive
And part 2, moving the bees in
Part 3: First inspection
The hive arrives, in the care of Chad, our beekeeper...
Busy as...........
Honeycombs
All hail the Queen! (See red arrow)
Hot stuff! Comin' through!
Snack time
PHS honored Bel Arbor, among 12 "Keystone Gardens" at this year's Philadelphia International Flower Show at the annual city gardens brunch. Awardees went home with a beautiful witch hazel plant and a certificate noting that a tree had been planted in Bel Arbor's honor as part of the Million Tree initiative.
Jon accepted the award for Bel Arbor.
Brochures have been placed in the bulletin board at our main entrance.
Anyone who brings compost from home to the front compost bin owes a big thank you to Stanley, our resident compost - emptying/turning expert.
There is a "leaf barrel" next to the compost bin at main entrance.
If you use the compost bin, please add some leaves from the bin each time you put your compost in. This will help the decomposition process.
(Thank you, Stanley, for recently emptying the bin.)
In cleaning out your gardens, remember 2 things:
1. No diseased, bug-infested plants go in the compost
2. DO NOT throw entire plants into the compost pile.
Cut up any plants into smaller pieces, 12" or less. Makes it much, much easier to turn this pile, i.e., makes it much, much easier for Stanley, who has taken on this task.
The water MUST be turned off at the blue pump after you are finished, whether it is early morning or in the evening. There are a couple of leaky connections at a few places, when the pump is on. So if you are the last one to use the water, a.m. or p.m., turn it off at the pump.
Bel Arbor Community Garden took 2nd place in the Community Combination garden category The Awards Ceremony takes place this coming Sat. Sept 24 at the Fall Garden Festival at the Navy Yard. 2 p.m. in the Gardeners' Studio Tent on the parade grounds. There are usualy kiosks with pictures of all award winners, from community gardens, to individual back yards and patios, to parks---always fun to look at.
Here are someof the plants for City Harvest this spring...
Bel arbor wins first place!
See the video fro the awards presentation»
I finally got one of the little yellow buggers on film (pixels)
Our resident garter snake made an appearance last weekend while we were moving compost around. He (she) is about 24" long now, and has been blinded in the left eye - probably an encounter with a cat.
The watering system is in operation now - email me if you see any significant leaks.
I have been experimenting with my camera and night shooting and got off a shot of the International Space Station (ISS) passing overhead Sunday night. It is the streak above the condos in the photo.
NASA has a schedule online so you'll know when to look...
Ith ISS appears as a bright object (no flashing lights - those are planes) that moves quickly from SW to NE. If you have good binoculars on a clear night, you'll be able to see the details on the Space Station.
The new composter is in place and working. Instructions on how to use it coming soon!
Photo of the grasses taken in February
Bel Arbor Tree Tenders Tree Planting of TreeVitalize trees took place on Saturday, November 15th
Note sfrom the end of the year meeting»
Our very own Julie Snell has been involved in the production of a series of TV spots with the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society and Channel 10 that have been playing all over the country. Here she is with Laurie Delgado and crew in the garden filming a spot about fall garden projects. The segments are called "Watch Your Garden Grow" and appear during NBC 10 newscasts during the 6:30 show on Friday mornings and at 9 a.m. on Sunday mornings.
See a video clip of the filming >>
New garden maps are available at the entrance bulletin board - help yourself. You can view/download a PDF version here. (This is password protected to keep the information safe from automated web bots. I have emailed everyone the password, if you didn't get it, email me and I'll send it to you).
I've finally gotten around to updating the photo page.
The wildflower meadow is looking great this summer - thanks to all of the attention and labor of Carla!
Yes Virginia, there was a raccoon in the neighborhoodProof right here....
Read about the program in a City Paper article, and PHS's web page about the program.
Snapshots of Tom's memorial in the garden can be viewed here
WINNERS!We have won FIRST PLACE in the City Gardens Contest for 2006 in the Large Mixed Garden (Veg. and flower) category. The awards ceremony will be at the Kimmel Center on Sunday, Oct. 1st at 2 pm.
See some snapshots of "camping" in the garden
Carla took som pictures too - see them here
The City Garden Plot has produced its first yield: 4 1/2 lbs of bok choy and 2 lbs of mustard greens. The Stiffel Center picked it up yesterday.
Penn State now has an organic horticultural researcher. She has put
together these URLs to help organic growers:
http: //hortweb.cas.psu.edu/dept/faculty/sanchez/sustainable_horticulture/
The site includes The Organic Grower's Guide to Penn State, Sanchez'
Organic Way columns in Penn State publication, Fact Sheets & Articles
and Vegetable and Small Fruit Publications
Weed Management in Organic Cropping Systems PDF by Professor of Weed
Science William Curran can be found here:
http: //pubs.cas.psu.edu/freepubs/pdfs/uc187.pdf