I'm here!! Thanks for asking!
It's very nice to know I've been thought about. Here's a little photojournalism: I thought 2024 was going to be the Year of the Apple. For the first time since 2015, my trees were covered with them. I was most excited about my beloved King Apple tree, the oldest and tallest of my trees, producing the biggest apples, so perfect for baked apples and other uses. But in July a thunderstorm took down one of the three main sections of the tree. It was super heavy with apples. This forced us to address something we'd been avoiding. All the sections of the tree grew from a base that had become hollow. A good part of the one that fell was hollow. The tallest part, at about 60 ft. and covered with hundreds of apples, was a serious hazard. So I asked my son to cut it down. That was hard (except for the actual cutting), but necessary. I may have told you about this at the time.
As for the other trees, the Macs dropped early. I made a couple of batches of somewhat tart applesauce, but the deer and turkeys got the rest. The other trees dropped later, but the animals made out well with those too.One animal I never thought about was a porcupine. When I learned they sleep in trees, I realized why I was seeing so many bites taken out of dropped apples. Of course, squirrels could have been behind it too, but one day I saw my first porcupine--about 3 feet from my porch, where I took this picture. My apples were very popular!
The chipmunks liked them too.
I did get a few apples. And my bean arch produced very well. So did the delicious honeynut squash, which I grew for the first time this year.
And my son's young Fuji apple tree produced such large apples that I cut this one in half to bake it.
Here's a drawing an artist friend did of my King apple tree in 1991.
I'll spare you the x-ray of my spine. Taken last month, it shows "severe lumbar scoliosis measuring 60 degrees" and "multilevel degenerative changes." No fractures though, thank goodness. The spine doctor thinks it may be responsible for the shortness of breath I have with even mild exertion. The lung doctor thinks that's possible too. I actually hope they're right. My cardiologist is watching a leaky aortic valve, but says he found nothing to explain the breathing problem.
I lurk at the KT from time to time but need to go back to being more active here. Not being allowed to discuss controversial current events is healthier than what I've been doing these days. I never thought of myself as an anxious person, but let's just say my nervous s ystem has been badly affected. As Martha Stewart used to say, that's not a good thing.
Other than this, my grandsons are growing, and I'm lucky to live across the road from them and have them and their parents in my daily life. I'm also lucky that my granddaughter moved back to Pennsylvania after eight years in Florida. We are thrift-shopping kindred spirits!
One more thing: a photo I took last evening:
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I'm ashamed to ask this but...
Comments (17)I started a garden this spring. I built raised beds and filled them mostly with composted horse manure I got from some people up the road for free. I layered in some chicken manure (at the bottom though, since I didn't know how long it was 'hot'), some leaves & pine needles, some coffee grounds, I think some hay & straw maybe? Whatever I could find for free. Oh yeah, for gee whiz, I did add some 'fill dirt' which seemed pretty much like sand, but again, it's what I could get. I let it sit for a couple weeks, then planted. My garden has done pretty well. I did plant some corn, which when it was small, was pretty much flattened daily by the wind. As it grew, it must have toughened up, or found something to root into, because it's doing fine. It's possible that the winds have died down some since spring, but it was blowing pretty well the other night, and the corn is fine. It may make a difference if you live where it's very rainy though. It doesn't rain often here, so my beds aren't saturated all the time. The ground here is hard and gravelly, that's why I planted in raised beds (my first). I have noticed that places I have piled stuff (temporarily, and also under the compost pile) do hold moisture, and are soft enough to dig down into a little more. Lots more worms too. I too, was skeptical, but it's worked pretty well for me. Be aware though, you will have to add material (if you use a raised bed at least) as it shrinks down a lot in a season. Mine are about 15' tall, and I filled them nearly to the top (I got tired, after hauling all that stuff by myself), and are now down 6-8" I'd guess. I added a link to a photo from last month. Please ignore some of my planning/planting flaws, I squeezed a bit too much in there...Grow & learn eh? I'm no expert, I just thought I'd share my recent experience. I hope it helps you. Here is a link that might be useful: Garden photo...See MoreGo on shoot me I'm Asking About Soil
Comments (18)JG-- The cuttings you show above that you put into your mix are normal, in my opinion. The roots you had previously are too mangled and stuck together to do much more growing in gritty mix, in my opinion. I've had some like this coming out of peat mix soils and for those, whereas others, I was able to cleanly pull apart, prune and plant as is. For yours, I'd have snipped off the roots, pulled off the leaves below the new roots and stood them in gritty mix. As you can see, forming roots in GM is not an issue, as shown by the new roots you have. A month or two like this and you have a fully established cutting. I have not used anything but Turface with GM since reading Al's posts, but it seems a lot of people claim the Napa product works just as well. Screening Turface, in my opinion, is THE most important step as those small bits can really make for a mess. The gritty mix will hold water, and despite how gritty it is, you still need to control watering. I don't think I can overwater to the point of drowning a plant to death like I could in regular potting mixes but I am certain I could overwater some succulents still, to the point of them not being at their best. Case in point: these were from two different small pots I bought where these particular cuttings were really hopeless as far as roots go. Just one small blob that I couldn't separate, so I chopped them off and put them into gritty mix with a couple other cuttings I took. I must water these once a week indoors or so and they look happy, as happy as plants can look anyway. Lol. FWIW, the mix is fir bark, screened Turface and small pebbles as I could not find chicken grit to save my life. Apparently, raising chicken is not popular in SF, haha. :-) I did find crushed granite but it was way too much dust for my liking. Good luck and I wouldn't toss the Napa stuff just yet! :-) Grace...See MoreI'm asking b/c I promised my DH I would ask
Comments (1)I keep the dying outer leaves pulled off and leave the rest alone. I think helps give plant strength, but I'm no expert here....LOL Nancy...See MoreI'm here ---- - but not here ~~~
Comments (3)OOOOUUUUCHIE! fast healing vibes to ya! Don't worry bout me, I know you'll get it done I'm not worried - it's alot of work you're doing....See More- last year
Thanks again, everyone. Your responses made me happy. Yes, nature has been a constant in my life for a lot of years. It's amusing to me to remember when we lived in midtown Manhattan and bought a little weekend house in PA, I wasn't at all sure I wanted to be in the country every weekend! But in less than five years we became full-timers, and in 1975 moved into the old farmhouse where I live still. I guess I adapted!
PattiG, I'm down to only one cat. That sounds so strange to me. For most of my years here we never had fewer than multiple cats and multiple dogs at any given time. It was relatively easy with three kids to pitch in. I still miss having a dog, but the cats have been great. This time last year I was down to two, Rocky and Scruffy, both of whom arrived as strays, separately, in 2013. I probably posted about Rocky several times. A Siamese mix, he was the most doglike of cats, so devoted, athletic, and entertaining. And vocal! But his Siamese genes made him vulnerable to anxiety and certain health issues. The vet suggested letting him outside a few years ago, and he certainly enjoyed making his rounds between my house and my son's across the road. We lost Rocky in May when he was hit on the road. He was 13. Here he is (the orange and white) with Scruffy in younger, healthier days.
Scruffy is still doing well. She's a tiny cat under all that fur, and she must have had a hard life before coming here. When she first arrived she was such a mess (hence the name) we thought she was seriously ill. She tolerated us, but just barely. We learned not to bring a hand down from above to pet her head, as she would cringe. Eleven years later, she still doesn't want to be picked up or sit in my lap, but if I lie down on the loveseat to watch TV she lies down on top of me immediately--and nose-butts me until I start petting her. She's indoors full time, loves to be warm, and loves to be brushed.Rocky loved toys, loved to chase balls and laser lights, etc., but Scruffy studiously avoided them. It wasn't until Rocky was gone that she started showing some interest--in a selective way. Balls are boring, apparently, but her absolute favorite toy is feathers dangling from a fishing rod wielded by one of the grandsons--even the 4-year-old. And when they pet her afterward: bliss!
Maire_cate, my son was just saying that about the apple wood as firewood.
Kathsgrdn, thank you again for pointing the way back to the KT.
Fun2BHere, I think of these photos as just snapshots. Don't encourage me, or I'll flood the KT with others I like better. lol
Nicole, I can see why my update turned out to be nature-based. Like many people my age (81), my circle of friends and relatives is diminishing. In the past year a significant number either died or moved away. In 2019 I was thinking I really should make an effort to make new friends because if I wasn't careful I'd end up being isolated. Then months later, the pandemic arrived.
Pudgeder, that's great! I hope you and your granddaughter will still venture out to the thrift shops when she's 33 (like mine).
Rob, ah, Jeopardy! I'll probably post separately about that, as I had something I wanted to ask the KT Jeopardy watchers.
Lily, thanks for empathizing. My fingers are crossed too, but more often it feels as though my eyes are crossed!
Suzieque, I always wished I had siblings, and I never got over that. But of course I'm grateful for what I do have. I'm glad you have wonderful friends.
- last year
Woodrose, thanks for complimenting the photo of the chickens. I hadn't thought of framing it, but now I'm thinking a nice framed print might be something my DIL would like for Christmas. They're her chickens!
Salonva, "my" porcupine was silent (except for munching the apple), but I listened to another on a YouTube video. Definitely squeaky!
Chisue, "general deterioration" sums it up nicely. 😊
Murraysmom, my friend's King apple tree drawing is a treasure indeed. It hangs right above my computer monitors, so I see it often. Another of her works hangs in a nearby room. I think this one might have been the original of a book cover or illustration. It doesn't depict anything or anyone of ours, but my friend said she was inspired by the horses, cats, and dogs we had at the time.
last year- last year
AlisandeOriginal Author