Sunday, December 18, 2022

A Slight Change of Pace

 

We haven't bothered with a natural Christmas tree since the kids were babies. Back then it was a big deal to load everyone up and head to a local tree farm to slay that perfect specimen. But after a nearly twenty year hiatus with an artificial tree, the time has come to venture out to Smithsburg and bring back a local fir for the homestead. It also gave the Number One Daughter a chance to dirty up her tires and haul an actual agricultural load in her new pick up truck.

While modern LED light strings are both energy efficient and much safer to use on live trees, I pulled out my old tree juice recipe. It was from a newspaper clipping from way back in the early 1990s.

First, cut a live tree so you know exactly how old it is and where it came from. Go ahead and have it bailed, and as soon as you get home, stick it in a five gallon bucket with a solution containing the following ingredients (mixed well):

2 gallons of hot water

1 pint of clear corn syrup (any brand will do)

4 oz of liquid bleach

2 oz of apple cider vinegar

1/2 tsp of borax powder

2 oz of liquid Woolite laundry soap

Store your tree in a protected spot out of direct sun (back patio, un-heated garage, etc.) for four to five days. It's best not to allow the bucket to freeze tight, but an overnight glaze of ice on the surface is fine. As long as the stump remains submerged in the solution.

On the day you plan to bring it inside, first cut off an inch or so of the stump to expose a fresh surface that hasn't sealed over with pitch. Then un-bail the tree and do whatever lower branch trimming is needed to fit it in your tree stand. This is also a good time to trim away rough areas and give the tree one last shake to remove loose needles and dormant critters. If you plan to keep the tree inside for more than two weeks, you also may want to spray it with an anti-desiccant like Bonide Wilt Stop. But you'll need to allow it to dry completely before moving inside. And the anti-desiccant will decrease that wonderful Christmas tree smell that is the main reason for going with a natural tree in the first place.

Once inside and in its final location, be sure to add fresh tree juice to the stand. And never let the juice level drop below the surface of the cut. If all goes to plan, the original two gallon batch should provide enough juice to get you through a two week celebration. But be ready to whip up another smaller batch (decreasing the ingredients proportionally). Or if you find yourself running out of juice with only a few days left until New Years Day, plain water is fine. Just never let the stand dry out to the point where the stump is not immersed in some kind of fluid.

Growing up in Virginia in the 1960s-70s we always put our live tree up on Christmas Eve and took it down on New Year's Day. But today people put up trees way too early. We can only hope they are using artificial trees or otherwise being very careful against fire.

Over the years we've struggled with all sorts of plastic tree stands, but this steel model is the best by far. It's beefy, and has a spike in the bottom to keep the stump from lateral movements once the four screw pins are tight. It also holds about a half gallon of tree juice.


And the final product!!! Merry Christmas!




Wednesday, November 16, 2022

Season Wrap Up 2022

 

Last of the fall crops amongst the winter rye cover 

2022 was a typical season. We had two short dry periods that required a couple of days of irrigation but no major droughts to contend with. All and all it was a good year.

However, we did have a few more visitors this season. A rabbit that required relocation and some migrating deer. If you click on this picture to enlarge and look very closely, you will see two youngsters who happened by one August morning. I was only able to grab this one pic before they bolted never to be seen again.

Beets destined for the pickle jar. And some mid summer flowers elsewhere in the yard.




 

Sunday, July 17, 2022

We got your pickled beets right here!

 

It's pickle beet time! Since the half row was doing so well and we just couldn't eat beets every night of the week, I figured it was time to make pickle. Using my mom's (and her mom's before her) recipe.

Topped.

Washed.

All the cooking and canning are done in the garage. But the pickle syrup was made in the house. Man it smelled just like grandma's house.


And there you go; four quarts and 12 pints.











Monday, March 28, 2022

More Early Spring Activities


After the initial work up last week of the winter rye cover crop, it was time to work in some mushroom soil. Here is what two yards looks like when spread out just before tilling.

And this is after two perpendicular passes with the tiller. After it sits for a week or two to give the rye time to rot in, it should be good to go.



And time to edge the strawberry bed. Once the crowns take off the sides will be filled in with straw.


The weeping cherry is in full bloom and the honey bees are really going after it.


 But it's still a bit early for the fruit cherries to be in bloom. This is a good thing as we're having a late hard freeze tonight. These are buds on the Regina tree which is now five years old and about fifteen feet tall. Unfortunately, it requires a pollinator, and the Blackgold we planted next to it died two years ago. It was replaced with two more last summer. Not sure if we'll get any fruit this season or not.

Wednesday, March 23, 2022

UPDATE: More COVID-1984

 While the COVID-1984 lockdown madness has been interesting to say the least, working from home full-time has totally changed the gardening process. The biggest change being able to keep a closer eye on things like applying organic pest control on an almost daily basis (due to poor persistence and rain shower wash-off). And slipping out at lunch time to do some daily weed pulls. This makes weekend maintenance much easier.

The first year (2020) was novel enough to keep me motivated. But as the pandemic dragged into the 2021 growing season, I got a bit lazy with secession planting and maximizing output. And I just didn't have the enthusiasm to do any posts. But as Biden-flation rears its ugly head, I hope to do a better job this season of keeping all aspects of the patch in full production.

So yesterday (March 23) was the first turn over of the over-wintered rye cover crop. The key to this process is to cut back the growth before attempting to till. Otherwise you get a mess tightly wrapped around the tiller tines and a gumming up of the whole process. I used the weed whacker to make quick work of this. Then its two rounds with the tiller.

Before and after shots.