The garden grows -- and so does the apiary

Corn in the top rows of the garden again -- we'll see how it does this year. We had to plan twice last year. The first planting didn't come up. Maybe we'll have more luck this year.

Sally, Jane and I put out candy corn last Friday (April 18) in the top three rows of the garden. Then we put beans in the next three rows.

This evening (April 22) we put in some tomato seeds in the western third of row 4 -- Cherokee Purple and --. The middle of that row is unplanted. Sally also replanted her peas in row 2; the first seeds seem to have stalled out.

So, the lineup in the garden looks like this so far:

• Row 1: potatoes -- bananas, Red Russet, French fingerling (March 31)
• Row 2: peas (March 31; replanted April 22); potatoes -- Yukon gold (April 7)
• Row 3: lettuce; red onions (April 7)
• Row 4: Cherokee Purple tomatoes (western third, April 22); potatoes -- Kenebec (April 12)(eastern third)
• Row 13: Beans, half-runners (April 18)
• Row 14: Peanut beans (ordered); peanut beans (horticulture) (April 18)
• Row 15: Peanut beans (local) (April 18)
• Row 16: Candy corn (April 18)
• Row 17: Candy corn (April 18)
• Row 18: Candy corn (April 18)

We still have more tomatoes, pumpkins, cantelopes, sunflowers, okra and maybe some other things to go.

In Row 1, the potatoes are springing up, and Row 3's lettuce is beginning to appear.

And there are more bees.

Coley O'Dell told me on Sunday that the nuc I ordered from him was ready, so I went to get it just as darkness was descending. I had no problem carrying it in the truck or getting it onto the hive stand. I looked inside the next morning because Coley advised putting a jar of fee in the hive rather than on the outside, and the bees had covered the inner three frames of the deep box. They sounded like they didn't want to be disturbed, too.

I checked all the hives this morning. The nuc hive is beginning to draw comb nicely. So is the swarm hive after hovering around the corners of the top box for a couple of days. The tall hive, my strongest one, seems to be doing everything it should be doing. They are drawing comb in the top box, and I hope to see honey there before long. And the re-queened hive is already putting honey in its top box.

We're getting close to the time when the beekeeper can just sit back and watch the show.