Good stuff! I seeded out a tray of ramps this morning myself (it only took two years of trying to break dormancy)
I had to wear snowshoes just to get to the fruit trees for winter pruning =D
I know what you mean - our average last frost date isn't for another three months
[Image Description: a red plum seedling reaches for the sunlight through a window]
[Image Description: Seedling Bing cherries ready to be potted up for the growing season fit in the palm of my hand.]
We have sixteen cherry pots and five red plum pots so far. Twenty three other species of trees and shrubs to go, not counting herbaceous perennials and annuals.
There's still three feet of snow outside.
Anyone else getting a crazy head start this year?
Is the inner pot holding the roots sitting on the bottom of the larger pot? That would be contributing to the issue if it is. Some stones or another material to lift the inner pot off the bottom will allow the orchid to drain more readily.
I can't really tell you about your situation, but my wife and I did the math for our ROI on a set of roof mounted panels by assuming that the power company would continue raising rates. We averaged the delivery increases and generation cost increases over the number of years we had been in our home, then ran that annual increase over the lifespan of the panels. Rather than being a twelve year break even point it worked out to about seven. In our case, Maine has okay laws about net metering so check what your state and municipality's regulations about it are. Look at your overall financial picture. If you can't do it without a loan, shop for your own loan rather than just taking the installer's.
To answer your question anecdotally, this past summer we were very happy to only pay our grid connection fee of $18 monthly while our neighbors complained about $300 (or higher) each month. You might not hit your full generation needs, but you might make enough of a dent to make it worth your investment
All is well, far less free time now than this time last year when she was sleeping for eighteen hours.
I'm glad it was better! Fwiw my wife and I did a bunch of eye rolling during the snack breaks and on the ride home from several of the classes.
Our kiddo is doing really well, we hit 1y4m last week - she has all teeth except her 2 year molars (tons of fun), is transitioning from two to one nap a day (tons of fun), and is doing her darndest to use words for things, which is actually fun.
That's awful. We were lucky enough to take a course from a doula who worked out of the hospital system we did our birth care through. I still have all of our materials plus an unused code for an informational app, and would be more than happy to send you a little care package if that would help in any way
Changed up my whole approach to a writing project - I'm finally making progress again and being a little less down on myself as a result.
That's actually the handle for holding it while you eat. Far fewer stringy bits get in the way if you pinch the bottom of it and split the peel from that end
[Image description: a two panel meme. The first panel says "if you don't love me at my" over an image of leaves yellowing. The second panel says "you don't deserve me at my" over an image of bright yellow flowers, one of which is being visited by a bumblebee]
[Image description: a father and daughter have their backs to the camera while cutting elderberry stems for propagation. They are both on grass despite a seat being in the picture]
Juniper is still a little young to work the snips but she was instrumental in helping me pick which stem should be processed next
[Image description: a picture of a stroller on the edge of a street with a child in the seat. In the tray of the stroller is a pair of secateurs, while several young beaked hazelnut bushes spill out from the bin on the bottom of the stroller]
Yesterday I took my daughter out to harvest some beaked hazelnut (Corylus cornuta var. cornuta) bushes from a naturally occurring stand on the side of our street. We took ten rooted cuttings from a patch of several dozen established bushes, all from within the range of the town's flail mower. They've since been planted into a hedge on one of the boundaries of our property, never to be mowed down again.
[Image description: five muscovy adolescents hang out together under some shade]
[Image description: two ducklings nibble my toes while their siblings look on to see if I'm scary or not]
The toe nibbling is a nightly affair with their mother, Shadé, but tonight marked the first time the kids have joined in. I find that this life stage is the easiest to get them comfortable with hands, and even managed to give some chest scritches and back pets while some were nibbling on my fingers.
[Image description: a toad, sitting upright, in a small nursery pot, is shaded from the midday sun by the leaves of a young echinacea]
I kept finding a dug-out section in this one particular pot, with all of the potting mulch pushed to one side. At least they're vigilant
[image description: in the background, two groups of ducklings lay normally while sunning themselves on a black driveway. In the foreground is one duckling laying on its back with legs outstretched, while gently lifting its head to watch me take its picture]
I swear, there's always one odd duck in a clutch. The laying on the back is a new twist though.
[Image description: a picture of a bumblebee drinking nectar from a purple bee balm flower. The venation of the wings is clearly visible.
[Image description: a dozen muscovy ducklings form an interlocking mass of bodies and bills during a nap pile on a bit of driveway. In the foreground, their mother keeps a watchful eye on the sky]
A few of them took an opportunity to investigate me but were still a little hand-shy. In another week or two they will be trying to bully me.
My Ceanothus americanus is flowering and absolutely crawling with insects. Below are pictures of the star-shaped flower buds before bloom and then some more of the blooms themselves
We've also harvested a ton of cherries this week, along with snap peas and a second round of lettuce. Our trap tomatoes are growing a little slowly but our production ones are beginning to set fruits.
What's growing on with you all?
This is my next tattoo. I've got one on my left forearm of C. americanus in the same botanical illustration style, this one will be going on my right arm (my daughter is Juniper)