Sewing New Cadet Caps. 5.12.2021

 Cadet caps can be ideal for someone who doesn't have a protective pad of hair on top of their head.  Like me.  For some reason, I keep hitting the top of my gead on cabinet doors and tree limbs etc.  That causes injured scalp.   Purchased baseball caps and similar often have no padding for scalp, they have a coarse, rough inside, plus have a button or rivet in the center.  Hitting ones head on that feels like being struck with a ball peen hammer, painful and causes skin tear, bleeding, and scab.

A cadet cap has a one piece fabric top.  No center rivet or button.  By adding a quilted layer to the top, it's protective.  A few months ago, I sewed a few flannel cadet caps, with quilted tops.  Those are protective and comfortable, and warm.  They are also easily washable and can go into the dryer.  Flanell does cone out a bit unkempt after laundering.  With warmer weather, I wanted some different caps.  Something less warm, but durable Nd easy to wash and dry like any other clothing.

I made this one using denim harvested from a pair of thrift store jeans.  The lining is quilting cotton, for lightness and absorption and air exchange.  However, being heavy denim this cap is still quite warm.

This denim was at the outer limit of thickness and stiffness that my sewing machine and skills can handle. I sewed the quilted top to the inside liner before sewing the liner  the outer shell.  I was not able to sew in a sweat band.  The top is a little lumpy.  However, these caps become somewhat form fitting.

I made the bill using the same heavy / semi stiff interfacing as before.  It makes a somewhat flexible bill that I like.  

During the winter I bought some duck fabric on line.  I used that to make a second cap.  This time, no hat band.  The sides of the liner are the same fabric, and the top of the liner is a sandwich of muslin / thin quilt batting / muslin.  The sides also have a thin fusible interfacing for a little stiffness.

I like this cap much better.  It's lighter and cooler.  I don't  care as much for the stitching I added to the top, but maybe that will look better on washing. I have more duck fabric, so might make another without that extra stitching.

Delicata and Pink Banana Squash Seedlings. 5.12.2021

 About a week ago, reading about squashes, I decided to plant some Delicata squash seeds.  Delicata is a pepo species squash, so on saving seeds will need isolation from Zukes which are also pepos.

One seed germinated from the packet.  I dont think they were all that old.   Maybe two or three years?  Anyway, where one seed germinates, there is hope and that can be all it takes.

One of the Pink Banana Squash attempts has finally yielded seedlings.  This is from seeds that I saved from last year's plants.  No way to know until the fruits form, if they are pure PBS.  My home saved seeds were bigger and plumper than those I bought in previous years.  Maybe that's a factor.  If the newest ones or other attempts grow, I'll also plant those seedlings.

PBS is a maxima species squash, so last years squash might have mixed with Kuri, Galeux, or Kabucha which were nearby at the time.   Those genetics will be easy to spot, if that is the case.

This is potentially a good squash year.  I already have seedlings I the ground, growing vigorously.  I didn't expect that for two or three more weeks.

Time to start thinning apples. 5.12.2021

 Some of the apples set fruit very well.  The clusters needs to be thinned so that there is one apple per cluster, and separate by about 4 to 6 inches.  Thinning makes for larger, sweeter, earlier, more flavorful apples, less limb breakage and more likely to bear next year.  It's a good reason to have small size trees or espaliers, since a big tree would be too much and possibly dangerous to work due to the need for ladders.

This is a North Pole cluster, before and after thinning.  I use a kitchen shears.  Today I thinned North Pole, Liberty, Gravenstein, and some of the pear trees.   The earlier the better, so I'll be thinning for a week or two.  I use kitchen shears.

Alstromeria beginning to grow. 5.12.2021

 A few weeks ago I dug up some Alstromeria that had been growing at the old place.  The roots and crowns remind me of daylilies, but they seem much more floppy and delicate.   Despite cate, a lot of damage was done.

Today I noticed they are growing.  They might need a year or two, but this seems like a good start.

Planting Some New Ponca Thornless Blackberries. 5.12.2021

 I bought some "Ponca" blackberries via mail order.  They were shipped from Arkansas.  This variety is described as the next best thing since sliced bread - the sweetest, most flavorful of its type, short internodes so much shorter "trees" than other types, early.   I know, every new introduction is described as incredible, then after a few years one never reads about it again.  This one sounded good and here is little lost by trying it.

The plants do not look happy about their treatment, storage, digging, and shipping.  I hope that at least one survives, maybe two.  Three is possible but it seems like a lot to hope for.

Two plants went into temporary locations.  I want to identify a couple in my Blackberry bed and possibly remove two, opening up locations for Ponca.  The best looking one went into a prime spot in the newer blackberry bed.  I soaked them an hour before planting, gave them good soil with a little Osmokote, mulched with dry leaves, watered well, and shaded the tender pale new growth.