Iwanagaara Appleblossom "Fantastic"

Wow - I'm impressed! Iwanagaara Appleblossom "Fantastic" didn't drop its buds, it bloomed! Nice flowers! No fragrance, but I have a cold and can't smell anything.
It's more pale than the internet photo. Maybe it will darken, and develop fragrance, in a few days. From what I've read, the first day doesn't always have the fullest color and fragrance.



This cold is miserable. Friday I felt crummy, Saturday I ignored it and did yard work, but not that much and it wore me out. Sunday I slept all day, and still felt crummy. Today I woke up feeling crummy. Maybe not as bad as yesterday. Will the blooming flower heal me?

It rained a little last night. Not a lot. The rain barrel filled up completely! That spout does drain half of the roof, so no surprise. But I was surprised, anyway.

Now I have an easy rainwater source for the orchids, and a quick water source for containers and seedlings. Cool! Now we're talking about getting a second one for increased storage capacity!

Thinning peaches and apples really gave them a boost! It's easy to compare fruit, tiny, on branches where I missed thinning, to fruit 4 times larger already, on the branches that I thinned. Apples not as dramatic as peaches.

Water Barrel

I bought this a month or more ago. We've had lots of rain since then. However, I didn't have either the time, energy, or inclination to install the barrel. This is a 57-gallon unit, so will be good for obtaining small amounts of water, but not for storing large amounts for the entire garden.

It wasn't that much effort. The hardest part was creating a level spot with the blocks. I tried many times before feeling satisfied it was level.

It was amazing, I didn't lose any parts while the barrel sat uninstalled. Well, it took some time to find everything, but there it was.

The diverter unit is simple and clever.

Now we just need some rain. With my impeccable sense of timing, I now have the rain barrel installed at the end of the rainy season.

Water from half of the roof flows via this downspout, so it should fill quickly, once it rains.

This will be especially handy for giving freshwater to the hens, and having freshwater for orchids. According to my reading, orchids don't appreciate buildup of salts from tap water, so will benefit from fresh rainwater.

Once it rains.

"Greening" the lawn

I can come up with an opinion about anything...

"Traditional" lawn maintenance burns as much gasoline in an hour as driving 100 miles, results in as much petrochemical spillage as the Exxon Valdez, causes air pollution with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and ozone, wastes water, damages waterways.


In keeping with living 'greener'-
1. We let the lawn go brown for the summer. OK, some of that was just neglect, but the front lawn was intentional. It greens up nicely when the rains start in the fall. Fortunately, we dont live in Sacramento, where citizens can be harrassed into watering their lawns during an official drought!
2. We let the lawn go 'diverse'. This was also passive, mostly. Anything that stays small (clover, small-leaf ground covers, yarrow, alyssum, violets) can stay. I do pull dandelions by hand. Those are fed either to the compost pile or to the chickens.

3. We bought this new high-tech no-emissions bio-powered mower. It uses only renewable bio-energy, does not result in toxic spills and smog (unless certain legumes have been used in the bioprocess), and provides useful calorie-burning cardio-exercise for the overweight operator. It's quiet as well as healthy to use.

Obviously, with a brown lawn, the new mower isn't needed now. I'll see how it works this fall, before giving up the more traditional rotary (but electric) mower.

Proudly called "American". Of course, the package states "made in China". sigh....

(Image at the top is copyright-expired from wikipedia commons)

Today's Green Change

Daniel's "before".

Ning's "before" = Daniel's "after".

Ning's "after".


For me, bike is absolutely better, but long hours make it impossible.
Ning has a much longer commute the improved milage will have a big impact.
The bumper sticker was mine already.

Random thoughts, learning to live greener

I started thinking about why we do the things that we do. Simple things add up, and sometimes simple things can make a difference. Like the quote from Margaret Mead. "Each snowflake in an avalanche pleads not guilty". Like this example, years of putting clothes into the dryer, even though it's in the 80s outside, dry and sunny. The dryer uses energy, generates heat (and it's already a very hot day), and pulls cool air out of the house. Is the dryer easier? Probably not much. It's not that big of a deal to hang clothes on a line. Is it faster? Who cares, it's not like we're standing there fanning the clothes. Do the clothes come out better, cleaner, neater? Not really, and for most, it doesn't matter. Do the neighbors care about clothes on the line? If the do, how obnoxious of them. Is the dryer better for clothes?" Probably not, the dryer lint suggests that dryers gradually wear clothes down. I guess there's always the bird poop issue, but how often does that happen? So why do we use the dryer instead of hanging clothes on the line? I have no idea. Just habit, I guess. Just not thinking.

That being said, it started raining after these were hung out to dry. Still, it will pass, and they'll dry soon enough.

I know, it's not like I just discovered how to make solar cells from used plastic water bottles. Still, sometimes we just need to THINK about why we do what we do. Maybe it can make a difference.

True, about 4 months out of the year, hanging clothes outside may not be an option. But there is the other 8 months. An indoor drying rack might help with the 4 rainy winter months, and humidify the house a bit when it is most needed. And not drawing heated air out of the house.

This photo is probably my great-grandmother and her daughter.

Postcard from Manilla, 1907

It's the washing, not the drying, that's so much work. You won't see me outside with a washboard, but this summer I'll try to continue this new habit, and continue working on living in a more aware manner. Not just with living greener, but other ways as well.

Bike ride

Photos to prove that we actually did it. Today Ning & I took our bikes down the the VAncouver Farmer's Market, then along the Columbia Riverfront. The last bike ride was a commute to work 2 weeks ago, on a day that I worked a half-day. Can't do it when I work 12 or 13 hours per day, anymore.

Recent green things that we have done-

Ning will turn over his Corolla to me, I'll drive it instead of the Mazda pickup. He drives a long distance, and will have a Prius in 2 weeks.

Aforementioned bike rides.

As always, gardening sustanably and organically.

Yours Truly.

Here's Ning.