We're seeing a lot more of middle son since he took a job nearer to us last autumn. A few times a month he spends a night here and we're enjoying seeing him more. When weather has allowed, he has seemed to enjoy helping with some outside work. And we are grateful for his help.
Yesterday he pruned our cherry tree and our peach tree. I used several youtube video tutorials to help me guide him where to cut.
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I'm guessing these trees hadn't been trimmed properly in at least a couple of years (we didn't prune last spring, I know that much). I'm not saying we pruned them properly yesterday, but we've tried to get the growth lower so fruit will be at a pickable height. It will be interesting to see if our mild winter has an effect on how (or if) these fruit trees produce fruit.
The old dying tree (below) has been taken down over the course of several of son's visits due to not having quite as big of a chain saw as he needed.
Sometime this winter:
Yesterday:
Until a bigger chain saw can be had, we're left with this:
And behind the garage is this scene:
I'm trying to make leaf mold in the pallet "bin" on the left. All the stacked wood will make some nice fires in the firepit this spring, and next fall. And lastly, there is a plastic compost bin the previous owners left. I'm not crazy about it, because it's impossible to turn what is inside. It's bottomless, though, so I can pick it up and move it and that allows for some compost to be turned, but then it's just an open pile. Maybe I just don't understand how these types of bins are supposed to work, but I consider it a pretty inconvenient way to compost. On the other hand, once we're harvesting from the garden and creating a fair amount of vegetable waste, it's nice to have a place to put the waste where it stands some kind of chance to decompose.
After a draggy-kind of winter, it feels like there's suddenly lots going on here. PT is going well, knee is slowly improving, but improving nonetheless! A unplanned doctor's visit (for yet another thing) needed to be scheduled for the day after tomorrow. Hopefully, it's nothing of serious concern, and I can soon put it out of my mind. Seeds are begging to be planted, and I'm chomping at the bit to feel like doing it. The spirit is willing; the knee, and I think my hand needs just need a bit more healing. I'm hoping and praying that everything comes together at the right time. And if it doesn't, that I'm content with what can be done.
Happy Spring!
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You have a lot of land around your home. So many lovely trees and a garden too! I hope your Dr visit is good news.
ReplyDeleteWe have just under an acre, Marsha, and I am really enjoying it. The doctor visit only netted me orders for diagnostic imaging and those things are now scheduled for next month. I suspect there will be more diagnostic and treatment procedures after that. This is likely going to be a bit of a process. Most of the time I'm able to keep positive that the chances of a worrisome outcome are fairly low for the issue I'm having, even if the issue I'm suddenly dealing with is itself worrisome. I'm choosing to be vague because it feels very personal. Any prayers and thoughts are most appreciated.
DeleteHow nice to have your son around and willing to help, Becki. I'm no tree expert but it looks good :-)
ReplyDeleteAmalia
xo
Thanks, Amalia. It will be interesting (and probably inform future prunings) to see how the trees fill in. I should probably take some pictures of them right now, and then again later when they have leaves and fruit on them.
DeleteA helpful son is a treasure. Keep watching those You Tube video. They are so helpful.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, Vee. YouTube is such a great resource. I wonder how we managed without it!
DeleteHey Becki! I love that you YouTubed it. I do the same for stuff. So helpful. Very cool that your son was able to help as well. Here's to your knee and continued healing. Hubby hurt his knee years and years ago and it comes back now and then the haunt.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the kind words about hubby and I challenging each other. Quite fun!
Ivy, for many things, I consult YouTube for tutorials before I do anything. DIYing is so much easier now than it used to be when you had to check books out of the library - IF you could find a book on your topic of need. I don't always enjoy DIYing, but when we DIY and are successful, it certainly is satisfying.
DeletePrayers for your health
ReplyDeleteHelp around the yard is wonderful!
What's left of the tree looks like a nice start to a chair... If there's no rot in it, and it gets sealed against borers and ants.
Thank you for the prayers, May. It looks like I'll be waiting 'till mid-April for some diagnostic tests. I thought the leftover tree stump looked like a chair too! :)
DeleteIsn’t it wonderful when a son can come and help with the heavier work? We used to have one of those black compost bins. I was never very impressed with it.
ReplyDeleteYes, Ruth, we have been blessed many times over having sons who can help in various ways.
DeleteChain saws scare me so good that your son is brave enough to tackle it. I can't imagine how much it would cost to have a 'tree guy' come.
ReplyDeleteWe had one of those compost bins too and never could get it to work correctly so we resorted to a pretty much open pile but were very careful what we put in it so we didn't attract unwelcome critters. Whatever was left in it the end of the summer was tilled into the garden and it finished composting there. Not ideal.
Mary Anne, last year we had several trees taken down professionally that we were concerned would eventually interfere with the septic field here. And some others that were too close to the house and would possibly compromise the structure, or the gutters. Hub thinks it was a total of 5 trees cut down, 7 stumps ground and came to approximately $2,300. The cost depends on the size of trees and how complicated a job it can be. And I believe they took away the largest parts which would have been pretty impossible for us to deal with. This little tree was easy enough for Hub and son to cut down. There's another medium size voluntary mulberry tree that is growing amongst some planted bushes that they hope to remove this spring/summer.
DeleteA number of years ago we had a storm come through and a wind shear took out the big tree that was just behind our house. Luckily it missed our brand new car, the house and the neighbour's garage. The only casualty was the neighbours clothesline. It cost us over $800 to have the pros come and deal with the tree because it was too big for hubby to even begin to think of cutting up himself.
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