Taste Test and Judging
by Alex Jokela
We have been eating the corn, cucumbers, aji pineapple peppers and, habanero peppers. The results of our unscientific "taste tests" (also known as "meals") is as follows...
Corn
The corn is sweet (there were red ants on each stalk), and tastes nice, but there have been a few draw backs. Low yield (to use corn-speak) - only one ear per stalk. Under the same low yield umbrella, the ear that does develop on the stalk, has poor kernel development with an irregular pattern. I will be planting something else next season.
Cucumbers
We cracked open the jumbo cucumber to reveal a fresh aroma of cucumber. Actually, all of the cucumbers we have picked have been delicious. The extra-jumbo-cumbers are not exactly fantastic eating, but the smaller, more normal, non-irradiated-looking cucumbers are far more tasty. And whether eaten fresh, in refrigerator pickle form or tossed into to a veggie stir fry, these cucs are good eating. This may sound like bit of a white whine, but the one noticeable annoyance is the seed size and quantity.
Aji Pineapple & Habanero Peppers
Started during last winter, both the aji pineapple and habanero peppers, obtained from Bayou Traders Pepper Mania, have been a long time coming. The aji pineapple peppers we actually grew in the house. On the window sill, above the sink, in the kitchen, we have a large pot of herbs growing. During the late winter, I pushed some of these seeds into the soil and more of less forgot about them. By early spring, the plant was about 16 inches tall, and was producing flowers but nothing else significant. By mid summer, we had lots of tiny, green peppers hanging on it. At the end of August, the peppers were maturing into ruddy-skinned, medium peppers. Very slow to grow in our less-than-tropical climate here in northern Minnesota, I would grow these again, and again, indoors. They have very slow-to-big heat, and can be quite intense. If eating just the pepper, raw, with nothing else (as I did to test them), have a beer or glass or ice milk near by; these peppers made me sweat a little, and that can be a hard thing to accomplish with peppers less than a habanero.
The habaneros were started in the house at the same time as the aji pineapple peppers. Early summer, I needed the window sill room for other things, and the peppers were moved out to the small six by six raised garden at the back of our property. The plants sort of took care of themselves, and I did little to intervene in their growth or progress. The yield was low, only three, small, bright red peppers; however, I would get seeds from the same place, again, with the caveat of just growing them inside. For the heat and intensity, these peppers are excellent. They will make your eyes water, your mouth burn and all the other things you would expect from a quality hab.
Winding Down the Season and Male Zucchini Flowers
by Alex Jokela
The honeybees seem to be going stir-crazy. The weather is hot and humid as of late -- the bees seem to be expecting a massive amount of florae to be available for foraging, but the florae, nearly done with blooming, have something else in mind: fall and winter are approaching. The last day of August, and the deciduous trees' leaves are turning orange and red; tamarack will be showing their fall colors, soon, too.
The fun part of beekeeping!
by Melissa Jokela
So, when Alex first came to me and said that he wanted to have bee hives in our backyard I was quite skeptical. Ever since getting stung in the neck many times at the cabin I have been scared of any flying, stinging creature. But knowing that he was very interested I went along for the ride.
I have only suited up once and gone into the bee yard for the hive checks but instead usually I just let him do what he needs to do and help as I can. Well, I think that things are about to change…
We were able to pick up most of our extracting supplies out in North Carolina while Alex was attending the EAS conference. This meant that we would be able to start extracting our honey and getting it ready to bottle. Now this to me seemed exciting!
On Friday night we took five test frames and I got to uncap them using the master uncapping knife. I think Alex only got to do one side because I was having so much fun that I wouldn’t give him his new toy back (although I did offer a few times).
Then last night we decided to try out our new extractor. So we set it up with the first four frames and gave it a whirl. The aroma of honey was heavenly and it was actually fun to spin the crank and know that when you opened the lid there would be honey in the bottom.
We are now in the process of filtering all of the honey so that we can bottle it and have our first small harvest of honey. The major harvest will come in a month or so and I can’t wait.
I also ordered a soap making kit so that I can try making my own soap with all of the wax that we will have.
So the lesson learned is that beekeeping isn’t all that bad…as long as Alex takes care of the outside hive part and I’ll take care of the inside honey extraction and soap making!
King of the Road & All Abuzz at EAS 2010
by Alex Jokela
Roger Miller's King of the Road played on the tape deck. My sister, Meghann, was asleep in the passenger seat. We were shooting across Montana, heading for Oregon and the left-coast. It was August 2000. I was just 19; Meghann was 22 and she had recently finished her undergraduate degree. She wanted to take a trip before starting graduate school in the fall. The trip was one of a few I took as a teenager, and it cemented my love of road trips.
Greetings from Boone, NC
by Alex Jokela
We seem to have arrived in Boone, NC, with all pieces intact. No photos, yet, but, with hope...soon. A recap of the trip here: we left Proctor, MN, on Friday, after work. We arrived at MJ's sister's in River Falls, WI. The next day, we called it quits for the driving in Lafayette, IN. We did the swanky thing of staying in Walmart #1543's parking lot along with a few eighteen wheelers; lot lizards were of no bother to us. The next morning, we headed out - south bound and loaded down - as my cousin would say.
Off on a Fantastic Voyage
by Alex Jokela
It has been a hectic month; and an event crazier week. On the 27th of July, the area was hit with heavy rain. As the evening rolled in, I was cooking dinner (sweet potatoes with quinoa and various vegetables; I have embraced being a mostly-vegetarian). Melissa was standing in the back entryway with the door open; she was watching the heavy rain come down in sheets. The back sidewalk was submerged as the water rolled down from the driveway. I continued to cut and clean vegetables. At about 5:30 PM, something hit the window above the sink; then again, and again - then a lot all at once. It was hail. Melissa watched the yard become littered with nickel-sized hail balls (15 millimetres for you metric people). Lightning flashed and without delay a tremendous crack of thunder sounded. Melissa shut the door. The storm was directly over our little town. Without warning, the wind picked up. The hail slammed against the house; more thunder and lightning.
Summer Has Arrived
by Alex Jokela
Ryan, my cousin, would not stop. "Look, a bear! Over there, deer!" Michael Bolton's "How Can We Be Lovers" played on the tape deck. My sister, Meghann, and our cousin, Michael, talked about whatever it was middle-schoolers talked about; Meg made a quick departure from the topic at hand to call Ryan a liar. My mother and her sister, Jane, were in the front; Jane was driving. My cousin, Jonathan, and I watched a VHS of "The Gospel Bill Show". Ryan continued to announce all the amazing northern Minnesota creatures he was certainly seeing in the thick woods.
Collective Roundup - Feral Bees, My Lazy Italians & Lining up More Chickens
by Alex Jokela
A week-and-a-half-ago - a bit later than normal in the evening - and the treatment for Lyme disease was underway (it is now pointing toward something else - lupus or rheumatoid arthritis - both, of which, at the age of 30, I should not have) and the not-sleeping-well and the upset-stomach were on full assault modes. An email came in from a friend; it was a forwarding from a post to the UMD Farmers' Market mailing list. Someone had a friend with a tree full of honey bees. They wanted the bees gone.
A Close Encounter...with Chickens
by Alex Jokela
For a while, I have been tacitly involved with a loose group of people who are strong supporters of urban farming. So, strong and so passionate about it, they campaigned for and successfully changed a city ordinance allowing for the keeping of chickens within the city limits of Duluth. My involvement revolved around being technical support for their website, duluthcitychickens.org.
Overthrowing the Italian Queen
by Alex Jokela
After checking the hives on June 6, 2010, it was determined, with much regret, that the Minnesota Hygienic Italian queen...must die. The warrant was signed when I located a supplier of new MHI queens, placed my order, and 5 days later, a small, buzzing package was in the mailbox. The queen arrived last Thursday, and we got home from St. Paul far too late (bad weather postponed our departure from 5:00 PM until 9:00 PM) for me to depose the monarch; it would wait until the next day.
