Some first fall activities

As a beekeeper, I start preparing for the autumn/winter season innnn June/July… That would lead one to believe we’d be all finished by September? Well, that’s wrong. I’m still feeding bees -which I started doing in August- and applying oxalic acid treatments to get the varroa population down. September is one of the first months…

Will my hive make it through winter?

It’s wasn’t December yet when I made this discovery, but I think one of my nucs from this spring is going to have a hard time getting through winter. When I checked the hive by looking up through the wire-screen on the bottom, I saw hundreds of dead bees. All my other hives clean the…

Traditional Flemish witloof -Belgian endive- casserole

Witloof is a very common vegetable in Belgium and the Netherlands. Outside these two countries it’s less common, but not completely unknown. Witloof is a relative to radicchio but is grown in the dark. This is probably the reason why it’s a difficult vegetable to completely forget. Roots are given a season to grow outside…

Pumpkin, carrot and turmeric soup

Another recipe you can prepare with easy-to-grow and easy-to-preserve vegetables. I used chicken stock that I saved in the freezer from a rooster I butchered last month, but you can substitute with vegetable stock. Carrots are easy to preserve in a root cellar or in crates covered with sand. As long as a pumpkin isn’t…

Red beet and apple salad

It can be difficult, for those of us in northern climates, to maintain a diet with lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. Most methods of preserving the garden harvest require cooking, adding sugar, drying or another process that might remove nutrients from food. The inspiration for this gorgeous salad came from a recent restaurant dinner,…

Honey-walnut-almond cupcakes

These cupcakes might look plain, but they’re far from that! Cut up bits of walnut give a warm, earthy flavor and together with the cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves it makes a great, wholesomely warm fall/winter dessert. These cupcakes retain a moist texture thanks to these walnuts and lend themselves well to being decorated creatively. Begin…

Quiet in the apiary

Today I believe my bees have finally gathered into their winter cluster. The temperature is circling 10°C and as I passed by the apiary a couple times today, I didn’t see any activity. During spring and summer, when the weather is cool or rainy, I can usually see bees peeking out around the entrance. Now,…

Processing the apples

What should you do with all the apples you’ll get during the fall season? I try to make lots of applesauce each fall. Last year I found some apple pie filling recipes I liked, so I went crazy with those, but this year I’m going back to basics. I don’t know too much about daily…

Quince harvest

We are lucky enough to have an 8-year-old quince tree growing on our property. Today, quince fruits are a rare find in stores or even farmers markets, probably because you really cannot use quince fruits until you put work into them. Quince fruits were traditionally used in various dishes, mostly desserts, stews, jams, jellies and…

Apple cake squares with honey

This one is the easiest and quickest apple cake recipe I have. You can use a baking tin, but if you dress a deep standard oven tray with parchment paper, you’d be able to make a very large cake (multiply recipe by at least 2 or even 3 for this) without needing a baking tin….

Perfect fall spiced apple cake

With fall comes colder weather, short days and a lot of rain. So we might want to reach for warm flavors and something that fills the air with an amazing enough scent to drive the chill and moisture out. This cake will do just that. I used apples from our own orchard, Red Love 119…