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.

Backyard Orchard

This time of year I feel very excited. We are almost to the statistical last frost date, probably far past it. Small fruits have formed on most of the trees. It's now time to prepare the fruit to optimize the crop.

Strawberries are not tree fruit, so may not count as "orchard". However, they are fruit, and have been very productive in past years. Currently neglected, but blooming like crazy, so I expect a good crop in a few weeks.

Ponderosa peach. This tiny tree is about 1 1/2 feet tall. It blood way to early - while the covering was still in place. It will have a few peaches, so I will get a taste.

I've learned my lesson. Don't be greedy. If a branch has 20 peaches, it won't support them, they'll be late, small, and not as sweet. I can't eat that many, anyway. I've been thinning them to about 4 inches apart. In general, the little branches are about 6 inches long, so I'm leaving one to 2 peaches per branch. That will still mean about 100 peaches per tree, if they all develop. I see in this photo that I missed some, so will need to go out and thin them. Initially I used scizzors to cut off the little peaches, but I found that it's easier to twist them off with my fingers.

You can see that peach leaf curl is present. The late rains, after I removed the covers, resulted in some leaf curl, but not too bad. I lost a few small branchlets on the peach trees, but overall they look great!

Sweet cherries don't need thinning. Each year, they set more fruit. Backyard Orchard Culture definitely works for sweet cherries.

Surefire tart cherry. This is its second year. The fruit set was much better than the sweet cherries, probably due to the later bloom, avoiding frost. There won't be enough for a pie, but we'll get several handfuls to taste.

Hollywood plum. Also in its 2nd season. It's a lot to ask, to get a crop at this point. The prolific flowers gave me a false sense of hope. But none set. Today I pruned, to open the center, and keep it small, the central tenant of backyard orchard culture.

Oh wait - a plum! One isn't much for most people to get excited about, but for me it will be a treat getting to taste it! Cool! The leaf:fruit ration is probably several hundred to one, so there is plenty of photosynthetic surplus to make it juicy and sweet. We'll see.

I wonder if the red leaves will fool the birds, keeping them away from the fruit? I'll cover it soon.

Grapes are getting ready to bloom. Still one of the most reliable and prolific fruits in my yard.

The new apple, Karmijn (see prior entries). Despite having few roots, here it is. I've noted that new fruit trees often have deformed leaves at first. It doesn't bother me, later leaves usually grow nicely. It's mulched with some lawn trimmings.

These small trees may take 3 or 4 years to bear. Gives me something to look forward to. I'm already thinking about what I'll add next Spring - there is room for a couple of columnar trees, such as Golden Sentinel or Scarlet Sentinel. There is still a long time to cogitate over it.

Honeycrisp apple. It had even fewer roots. It's growing. It will need water during the summer, sue to the small root mass. I'm happy to see it grow.

I've been thinning the apples to one per flower cluster. The clusters generally have 4 to 6 blossoms, most of which set fruit, so this means removing 4 or 5 fruitlets per cluster. I might be too early. It will take a while to thin apples on all of the trees. Again, I feel a little concerned I'm starting too early. I've bagged the apples with bags, bought from Raintree. These are like lady's nylons, maybe that's what they used to be! The idea is, the bags keep moths from laying eggs on the forming apples, so the apples won't have worms. It's another "we'll see" situation.

My Buddy Charlie

Before his latest haircut. He was starting to overheat, so time for a trim.

After. He's showing his age, now more slate grey instead of ebony black. Not as lively.

Baigou isn't by my side all of the time, like Charlie. He keeps to himself. WHen Im gone, the two of them sleep together. Half way through Baigou's haircut, the clippers quit working. Hence, the somewhat punk haircut.

Cattleyas and Dendrobium

Two new additions. I keep saying I don't have room for more. That is correct. Still, during a hard week, it gives me something to look forward to.

I'm very impressed with Hausermann Orchids. This is my 3rd order from them - or is it the 4th? Each time, the plants were in great shape, carefully wrapped, nice root systems. This time, one was in bud, so if it doesn's suffer too much from shipping, and my treatment, I'll see flowers. That's very, very cool! I'm just very impressed.

Here's the plant in bud, Iwanagara Appleblossom "Fantastic". This is also called Iwanagaara, and in some cases Apple Blossom is split into 2 words. Plus, with renaming, it may not even be Iwanagaara - I'll add more later. Regardless, it's said to be a versatile and fairly easy, compact, attractive, and fragrant.

I repotted, as I have been doing when adding any orchids. Doing so gives me a chance to inspect the roots, trim off dead roots, convert to the same medium as the others, and transfer them into the pots with side openings. I almost didnt repot the Iwanagaara, due to the buds - but then decided to do so. Then sprayed with neem oil, as a 'tonic'.

Iwanagaara Appleblossom "Fantastic". Picture from Hausermann orchids. I chose this variety because of the stated bloom time, and it was described as compact.

I decided to add a traditional Cattleya, so here it is. This is Cattleya Hawaiian Wedding "Virgin". Photo from Hausermann Orchids.

Here's the plant. As with the Iwanagaara, I repotted it. Also an impressive plant, with a stalk indicating prior bloom. That means, to me, a chance that it could bloom next cycle. I can't ask for more.

Can't forget, this Dendrobium nobile NOID is starting to bloom. Not the massive plant-hiding mass of flowers, but I think I like it better like this. It's the first Dendrobium that I've had bloom under my care, so that's cool.

tree peony

Fortunately, I had the branches tied to posts. Without support, branches broke with only one or 2 flowers. This year it would have killd itself from the weight of the flowers.

Tree peony is the national flower of China. Ning is quite happy with it.