I keep four hives of honeybees in my back yard. I started with two, but success in keeping honey bees usually means the population grows. I also have a large vegetable garden and numerous fruit trees as part of edible landscaping (landscaping for me means 'sticking a tree wherever there is room'). Pros of honeybees: I find them fascinating. Honey Pollinators People think you are unusually brave. Cons: A fair bit of expense to set up a hive. You must be proactive to avoid the hive dying from mites, lack of food in the winter etc. In other words, you are unlikely to be successful over the long run by just plunking a hive in your yard and then ignoring it. Stings (But they usually sting those who are close to their hive, usually beekeepers who are opening the hive and being clumsy, since stinging is a defensive mechanism. If you get stung in the garden, it will probably be because you have stepped on one in bare feet or grabbed one without realizing it or got one stuck in your hair. These are rare occurrences; the bees are not out to get you. If you are not allergic, they are not possibilities worth worrying about (after all, there are wasps in your garden all the time too; if one finds the possibility of stings a serious concern, one should not garden period). Neighbors may not appreciate them (in such a case nor will you appreciate your neighbors) As for their role in your garden, it is true that mason bees will do just fine as pollinators in a backyard orchard. They are much more efficient bee for bee than honey bees. But, they are active only for a short season, after which they die, having sealed their young in the tubes you provide. They play absolutely no role in pollinating vegetable crops such as squash or cucumbers, or late blooming fruit crops (such as blackberries). But they are easy to keep and involve no large expense.

The tree on the picture had blooms last fall but the blooms did not turn into fruit for the temperature was falling so I had to take it into my kitchen. No sun and low humidity made the flowers dry and eventually dropped. I am hoping for it to bloom again at the right time this year.

Here are a couple of tasty variations in different colors: Red Lentil Soup With Lemon (NY Times 1/9/08) Time: 45 minutes 3 tablespoons olive oil, more for drizzling 1 large onion, chopped 2 garlic cloves, minced 1 tablespoon tomato paste 1 teaspoon ground cumin 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, more to taste 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper Pinch of ground chili powder or cayenne, more to taste 1 quart chicken or vegetable broth 1 cup red lentils 1 large carrot, peeled and diced Juice of 1/2 lemon, more to taste 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro. 1. In a large pot, heat 3 tablespoons oil over high heat until hot and shimmering. Add onion and garlic, and sauté until golden, about 4 minutes. 2. Stir in tomato paste, cumin, salt, black pepper and chili powder or cayenne, and sauté for 2 minutes longer. 3. Add broth, 2 cups water, lentils and carrot. Bring to a simmer, then partially cover pot and turn heat to medium-low. Simmer until lentils are soft, about 30 minutes. Taste and add salt if necessary. 4. Using an immersion or regular blender or a food processor, purée half the soup then add it back to pot. Soup should be somewhat chunky. 5. Reheat soup if necessary, then stir in lemon juice and cilantro. Serve soup drizzled with good olive oil and dusted lightly with chili powder if desired. Yield: 4 servings. ============================================================ Yellow Split Pea and Sweet Potato Soup (www.wholefoods.com) 1 cup yellow split peas 1 quart vegetable broth 1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into ½-inch slices 7 whole green cardamom pods 1Â2 tablespoons ghee (clarified butter) or canola oil 1 medium yellow onion, chopped 1 teaspoon garam masala 1/2Â1 teaspoon ground cumin lemon Cayenne pepper sea salt, to taste ground pepper, to taste Soak the peas in water to cover overnight. Drain and rinse. Bring vegetable broth to a boil in a medium pot. Add soaked peas, sweet potato slices and cardamom pods. Reduce heat to a simmer and cover. Simmer for an hour. (N.B. I skipped the soaking and gave the split peas a 15 minute head start and simmered until the peas and potato were falling apart -- less than an hour) Heat ghee in a skillet over medium heat. Add onions, garam masala and cumin and cook for 10 minutes, stirring often. When sweet potatoes and peas are tender, add the spiced onions to the pot. Stir and cook another 5 minutes. Remove cardamom pods and season the soup with lemon, cayenne, salt, and pepper, as desired. Serves 4

We remodeled our kitchen office into walk-in pantry. We used the 15" base cabinets from IKEA with the pull-out facia and slide-out shelves. In one we keep the onions, shallots and garlic on the top shelf. Oranges and grapefruits on the bottom. and squash, etc. on the middle pull-out shelf. In the other, we store the potatoes on the bottom. And miscellany above them (whatever someone decides to put in it when unpacking the groceries, including bread). We use the IKEA soft-sided baskets for separating the various fruits and vegetables. They seem to work quite well. I have a follow-up question, can the potatoes be stored BELOW the onions? ...say in the bottom basket of the pictures posted earlier? And what is the impact on shelf-life when they are BELOW? I've been looking to put the potatoes over in the bottom of the same cabinet as the onions, and then reconfigure the other cabinet so it is not such a catch all space.