Something new to think about and what to do with all those apples???

Our Red Delicious apple tree has never had such a crop before, the branches are bending nearly to the ground with fruit.  I seem to remember that there is a bumper crop every few years and don’t expect this to happen next year.  It must tire the tree a lot to produce so much.

I’ve begun harvesting the apples, ripe or not just to try and lighten the load of the branches.  Have been thinking of juicing them and putting the juice in the freezer for later.  Organic, no pesticides (never).   Have been looking at various budget-wise juicing machines to do this.   Where the apples are exposed to the sun, they are nice and red.  And delicious.

Yesterday I spent some time hunting in my little bean forest.   Noticed the disparity of size in these beans, all on the same stem.  Two tiny little beans growing beyond the two mature beans.    Spanish Musica.  There will be a lot of seeds for next year .. I’ll share these with friends, as always.

And again, with the tiny beans growing beyond the mature pods.  And see .. blue skies above!

Growing happily in the bean forest .. I see a squash and think (hope) it is a spaghetti squash (love them).

Here again is the Clematis that I’d pruned back a few weeks ago …it grows at least several inches every night .. soon it will be climbing like crazy over the little arbour!  I can see the plant tag still there .. easy to see now that the majority of growth has been removed.

Don’t be shy little sunflower .. it’s growing in the bean forest and knows where the sun is!  A helpful garden spider is taking a little rest on the leaves.  What adventures must be happening in this place all during the day and the night when I’m not out there to see.

Loving the difference the sunshine makes and the leaves are soaking up the energy to help the plants grow.  

I have a very tall Bay tree in the back yard.  This lovely tree provides privacy, shade and flavouring for food.   Yesterday I just stopped to admire how the sunlight created  a tiny thread of light around the leaves.

Sun and shadow create poignant works of art .. fleeting and beautiful .. happy I was standing there at that particular moment of time to see this.

Oh .. silly little bean .. trying to be art deco or something like that!  Definitely heritage seeds .. I guess there is one in every crowd, eh?  It was delicious, thank you bean!

After a relaxing chunk of time hunting and picking at all the bean plants around the yard, I came into the house with a fine harvest.  All rinsed, dried, chopped and in the freezer.  Ready for some quick meals.  And I discovered later, as I was doing this preparation, that some of the beans are definitely meant to be saved for drying.  The beans in some of the pods were becoming quite firm.   I’ll pay more attention to my garden labels next time I pick the beans.  I definitely like the Blue Lake Bush Beans and will save some seed for next year.    These beans have long, round pods, quite crunchy and delicious.  Prolific also.

Sweet and cheerful.  Planted by the birds.  Enjoyed by all.

How lovely ….gentle skies above ..

The birds are spreading this diminutive flower everywhere .. plus it self seeds like crazy.   The insects love it so I’ll let it flower and then pull them out before they start seeding again.  There are many in the yard.  They started appearing a few years ago (those birds!)

I’ve been looking at a marvellous dance site:  https://balletespressivo.com/    I was entranced with their dancing as it looks very strong and very creative.   They welcome adults, including adults who do not have ballet experience (that would be me!!!)   This type of (to me) folk-dance/ballet attracts me and if I were 3,000 miles closer, I would be very tempted to register with them.

Yesterday, they posted a fb entry which included the term “embodied cognition”.  This seemed quite interesting .. so I had to do some research and love what I found out.

There are quite a number of informative sites with information on this subject and here is a simple explanation that I found on one of them:  “Embodied Cognition is a growing research program in cognitive science that emphasizes the formative role the environment plays in the development of cognitive processes.”

Here is the excerpt from the Ballet Espressivo fb posting:  ”

From Canadian Living, August 2016: “Retrain Your Brain” by Lesley Young

” The Bad Habit – “I slouch.” …psychologists have proven there is a direct link between how tall and proud we stand and how relaxed and in control we are on the inside. It’s called embodied cognition, and it indicates how at peace we are.”

We can help you!

http://www.balletespressivo.com

and here is the link to the Canadian Living magazine article: .. http://contentsmagazine.com/articles/creating-for-the-brain-in-the-body/

 

I found this to be terribly fascinating .

Well .. on with this most marvellous sunny day!

🙂

 

 

The Universe is kind .. and now I have a manual lawnmower and a grapevine to plant, in the sun

Saturday, June 16, 2012

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So, yesterday, I spent nearly the whole day in the garden, from early morning till later afternoon.

My intention was to proceed with the clearing up of cuttings made last spring, sort plant pots.  Decided to make a pile of things to give away, including the majority of those fantastic hard styrofoam flats that are just magic for propagating those difficult things, like boxwood, bay laurel, etc.

There are about 80 cells in each flat.    Each cell is about 2 inches in diameter at the top and tapers down to about 1/2 ” .. and they are about 4 ” deep.   They offer tremendous protection throughout the seasons to encourage root formation.  And the root formation for the bay laurels are very strong.  Each time I pried up a cutting from a cell and saw the tremendous root growth .. my belief in the magic of gardening was affirmed.

So I emptied 4 of these flats, have a few more to go.   I was very strict with myself, and any cuttings that didn’t show any roots .. well, they go into the compost.

Next .. I looked at the flats of Boxwood .. what to do with these plants?  I’d originally made the cuttings  …. just to see if they would root.  And they all did!  I was going to have a plant sale, but … changed my mind.  And then the idea began, of actually using these little plants in the yard.

So, I began digging away at the back side of the yard .. at the location where I had located my gigantic leaf compost pile last year.   The soil here is very good.  Gently digging away at the area … I began planting the tiny boxwood plants.   Shook away the soill they grew in, dusted the roots with mycorrhizal fungi to encourage strong growth.

Soon, I had a little border of these plantings.  They look tiny now, but just wait a few months!  I temporarily placed some other potted plants here and there, just to see what the effects would be.  Some variegated grasses, daisies.   Irish Moss will be at the front of the row.  They add a touch of brilliant green foliage and brighten up this area.

Once I’ve determined the final shaping of this area and the little veggie place at the back (where I’ll plant those Kentucky Wonder beans!) .. then I’ll put some ground up tree branch mulching … the final remnants of some free material that I gathered from a residence, thanks to Used Victoria.

This will add a good finish to the ground, allowing a soft surface to the little paths here.   And I just don’t like the look of bare ground, anyway.  The mulch will add a sort of carpet like feel to this area.

After hours of digging, on my hands and knees, moving things here and there I was just getting a little tired, so decided to go inside, make a cup of Yorkshire Tea .. and just for the heck of it .. turned on the computer.

Went to Used Victoria and … voila . … there was an ad for a push mower, only a year old and just $10!  Plus, I was the first viewer!!!  Quickly called the owner, and I was the first contact!  So raced over there .. and made my purchase!

I’d really been wanting a push mower.  The last one I owned had been quite heavy and difficult to move, so I’d given it away.

Plus, met some lovely little doggies and some rescued ferrets.  Turns out this gentleman and his wife care greatly for these little animals.  At this time, they have 4, but in the past, they’ve had quite a few.  So inspirational to meet such lovely kind people who care for animals.

Yippee ..  my new lawn mower in my car .. time to make a few grocery purchases on the way home.  And, what do you know!  Plants are on sale at a local supermarket!   There was a lovely selection of ferns, so I chose 4 (includes a Japanese painted fern, beautiful).   Was thinking also about getting another grape-vine, but decided against it.

I’d planted a grapevine in a sort of sunny/shady area a few years ago.  It’s not grown much.  That is, it hadn’t grown much … until .. I watered EM on it!  Now it has flourished and is growing like crazy.  I wouldn’t be surprised if I was able to actually see grapes this year.

Well, wonder of wonders!  There was a grapevine in the store that was going to be discarded, and magically, it was given to me!    This one I will plant in the sun and feed it lots of EM.

How lucky am I, then?   Two wonderful items that I’d really wanted and now I have them!

Back home, I try out the mower .. works great.   The front grassy section of the yard isn’t even, so I had quite a workout and burned a few calories.  Great fun.

So, Friday was a wonderful day for gardening and so onwards and upwards, will continue today!

🙂