Finches

Through the glass of the home office window. The little point-and-shoot camera lacks the crystalline clarity of the Nikon super duper SXYZ camera. For that matter, so does the glass. Its OK. The birds don't mind. Carpodacus mexicanus.

Tale of Two Ginkgos

These 2 trees are the same age, grown from seed from the same parent. They were started from seed collected by my Dad, about 13 years ago.

This tree was planted in the ground about 11 years ago.  This is my back yard.  The tree first spent about 2 years of growing in a flower pot. I'm guessing about 20 or 25 feet tall.  It's a beautiful tree.  I'm proud of it.  This area of yard is the dogs' "restroom".  They pee and poop here daily.  The poop gets cleaned up, mostly, although some is missed.  It gets watered weekly or every other week, to rinse the grass and ground to prevent odor.  The watering, and the nitrogen from the dog urine and feces, have resulted in rapid strong growth.

This photo is taken today.  The leaves remain dark green.

The trunk is too big for my hand to reach around.

The leaves have the typical bilobar appearance for ginkgo.  As a younger tree, the leaves were larger and had a deeper cleft.

This tree is the same age, from the same source at the same time. It was kept in a container for one additional year, and planted in the front yard. It gets watered occasionally, but not nearly as often as the tree in the back yard. Like that tree, it's basically in the full sun.  No "doggie special treats."   It's much smaller than the first tree.  About 10 feet tall, so less than half as tall.

This photo is also taken today.  The leaves are already bright yellow.

I can easily grasp this trunk.  No where near the diameter as its twin.

The leaves are similar size and morphology.  Beautiful leaves.
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I think the entire difference in growth and leaf senescence is due to the doggie fertilizer and watering.      There has been no chemical fertilizer and no other difference that I can see.

Transplanted Trees

The Almaden Duke Cherry did perk up a lot. That's what a week of cool weather and rain can do. The leaves are not yet yellowing for fall. A few are damaged, but overall it took the transplanting well. With little root damage, and little loss of leaf, I think it's OK to let it bear cherries next Spring. If it chooses to do so. It will be nice to get our own fruit the first Spring here.

The Sal's Fig I moved the first week of ownership, last July. TLC and watering every week resulted in a healthy move despite the midSummer timing. These are its first figs, ever. They are very tasty. I think better than Hardy Chicago or Petite Negri. That might be my imagination.

That little Maple I moved last week. There is some sunburn of the leaves. That would not have happened if I'd waited a week, but they are about to fall off anyway. It's ready to settle in for winter.

New Chicken House

The hens will be quite happy with their new house. It's a children's play fortress. There are no children around, so it's a liability. Clever construction, didn't want to waste it. The fortress has a 2nd level, built as a deck. It did not have a roof. The floor was plain dirt. I've added joists and a floor. That will be warmer and easier to clean and keep clean.

Last weekend I added a roof. Nothing elaborate, it's just chickens. We've joked that we may build a ladder inside for the chickens to go to the 2nd level and look over their realm. For this fall we will concentrate on the more practical lower level.

Next comes windows. I have old bathroom cabinet doors left over from a remodel, the right size. Some chicken wire screen, framing, and paint remains to be applied. And a door, with a chicken door. Maybe 2 weekends of work.

Garlic and Onions: Progress report

The German Porcelain garlic has grown rapidly. These were planted 9/27. A few were visible last week. Most are 2 or 3 inches tall. Some of the multipliers (Egyptian Walking) are also about an inch above ground, but most are not.

These are the Yellow Potato Onions that I planted 9/9/12. I think roughly half are growing. Time flies. That's about one month. I'm not concerned about the ones that are not visible yet. Chances are it's too early to think about it. With fall rains starting, no need to water now. Once the plants are clearly visible, I'll weed better. I don't want to injure new sprouts. The Inchelium Red Garlic, planted 2 or 3 weeks earlier, is way behind the German Porcelain Garlic. I see one sprout, about an inch tall. I'll feel antsy until many more of them are visible.