Eucalyptus Seedling Update, And Starting Some Silver Dollar Eucalyptus Seeds. 5 Feb 2024.

 Here are the Lemon Bush Eucalyptus seedlings now.  I have also seen them called Corymbia citriodora. 

 They are growing nicely and will need to be moved into larger containers soon.

With that success - so far - I found some seeds of Eucalyptus cinerea.  These are what we usually think of as the classic eucalyptus oil scent and greyish / bluish round leaf shape.  My intent is to have container plants or grow far from the house, because this variety is flammable.

Per the seller's instruction, the seeds should be soaked 24 hours but I forgot and soaked 48 hours.  They were so tiny, I spooned them out of the soaking cup with small amounts of water, and poured those spoonfulls onto the pre-moistened seed starting medium.  On the warming mat, and under an LED desk lamp, they germinated in one week.

These are tiny.  So far, so good...

Finishing the Wooden Box. 5 Feb 2024

 Here's the completed project.  I did six coats of aerosol satin finish polyurethane.  It gives a nice lustre and feel.

I was thinking about lining the drawers, but opted for just using a wood conditioner.

I made a template to get the handles as uniform as possible.

I could have painted, but I enjoy looking at the natural wood grain.  I think this looks much nicer than the original box, and is perfect for the planned use.  I like the way the joinery gives structural detail, rather than being hidden or painted over.

Refinishing A Wooden Box. 24 Jan 2024

In the process of some downsizing, I got rid of a very large, heavy oak desk.  I replaced it with a table for computer and sewing, with much more legroom and which I already owned.  The oak desk had narrow drawers that were handy, and I'd like a place for wallet, glasses, and keys so I don't lose them.

I bought this wooden box on Amazon.  It's 100% wood, but I didn't like how it looked.

I don't like the holes for drawer pulls.  The stain looks dull and dirty.  There is no protective top coat over the stain.  With time, I imagine it will look even more dull and dirty.

I'd like to add some drawer pulls, and ordered them.  But on close inspection, they will look oddly placed if they cover those holes.  And they might not cover them.  Hmmm.  

What if I turn the drawers around, so the fronts are the backs and vice versa?

That actually looks better. I like the contrasting of the two colors of wood. I don't know what kind of wood this is.  It feels soft.  Maybe pine? Eucalyptus?  I don't know.

I decided to go with a darker stain for the box, something light for the drawers.  I sanded it inside and out with 220 grit sandpaper.  Then I brushed with a pre-staining wood conditioner, waited a bit, and wiped it all off, rubbing it into the wood.  Then I stained the outside box with ebony black stain.

 So far, I think this is a much nicer look.  Even though the black stain is darker than the original, the grain shows more clearly.  I debated staining the drawer fronts red (it's an option the stain rack), I couldn't find any.  I have some old "golden oak" stain, but on experimenting on some stirring sticks, it just looked murky.

The next step, after  couple of days, will be a few coats of polyurethane.  Polyurethane tends to darken wood a bit, bring out grain some more, and can develop a golden hue, so I think I won't stain the drawer fronts at all.

Starting Alstroemeria Seeds. 22 Jan 2024.

 These seeds are for the Astroemeria "Ligtu Hybrids".  (Peruvian "lily" that's not really a lily).  I hope they will be a diverse variety of nice colors.

They have  complicated stratification.  First, soak the seeds 24 hours.  Then plant them 1/4 inch deep, and keep warm for three weeks.  Then refrigerate for three weeks.  Then keep them warm again, and hope for germination.

Edit:  I forgot the seeds and wound up soaking them an extra day.  I planted them in seed starting mux, and wrote the planting date and chill date on the container.

Now they are on the warming mat until the chill date.

Planting Onion Seeds. 22 Jan 2024

 Now is about the time I start onion seeds.  I can get them to garden size and in the raised bed, before starting more tender garden seeds.

I decided not to bother with the Red Wethersfield Onion seeds from 2022, but kept them just in case.  Onion seeds are considered short lived, only a year or two, so those might not be viable.  

I'm curious to see how the saved seeds do.   I am also planting a packet of bought seeds, just in case.