Notes

This is what we call in the deer-hunting trade "A Stevie Wonder Blood Trail"

"Hello. My name is Joe. I rob gut-piles"

This year, the running-average is 5.5 pints of "Zeus Gravy" per robbed gut-pile. That includes the heart and liver. If times were tough, I would include lungs, kidneys and washed rumens (a.k.a. tripe, smelly business, that).

Quicksilver thinks she is getting away with something when she steals a spoonful of "Zeus Gravy" from the jar while Mrs ERJ is feeding our dog. Mrs ERJ pretends to not see Quicksilver in the act.

Pruning

Yes, thank-you to all the readers who recommended getting a pole-saw. It is a great tool. And even if I use a standard chainsaw to cut the central leader, I can remove branches to get the direction it wants it to fall in harmony with the easiest directions to make the cuts.

I know that you guys and gals probably get really tired of hearing this, but you were ABSOLUTELY right and I am very glad that I listened to your advice and followed it.

2025 Orchard Plan continues to evolve

The current plan is to graft all pears planted on the side of the hill to Harrow Sweet, except the two at the very bottom. They will be grafted to Kieffer.

The rootstock will be Pyrus betulifolia and they should be happy on the Malcolm Loam, even if the topsoil is eroded and not very deep. I expect that I will be grafting this-and-that into the pear trees for pollinators...not that they seem to need them.

The MM-106 on that same hill will all be grafted to Liberty. Then, next year they will be grafted to a short length of dwarfing root-stock (4"-to-6") at about 5' (called an "interstem") and the fruiting variety that strikes my fancy on top of the interstem. I am forced to have my first branching that high due to the extreme pressure from browsing Whitetail Deer.

MM-106 is just a little too vigorous for 10' tree spacing. Adding the interstem reduces the vigor at the expense of more suckers. The high interstem is similar to an obsolete dwarfing method called Clark Dwarf IIRC. B-9 would be an acceptable interstem although many of the patented Geneva rootstocks would be superior...G.214 and G.210 for instance. One advantage of grafting the interstem so high is that the bending moment from wind is less due to the shorter lever-arm and that minimizes weak graft union issues.

Clark dwarf did not become obsolete because they did not work. They became obsolete due to the high labor to produce them. I work for free...at least when I am working for me.

Securing buildings

The pole-barn at The Property needs attention. Specifically, the door.

Count them, NINE screw-holes. And #9, 3" deck screws fit.

I installed a new, duplex door lock striker plate and now the door actually latches.

Next, I need to get a dead-bolt re-keyed to match the door knob. The dead-bolt is currently "ornamental" and not functional due to the key being MIA.

Another item on the agenda is to insert barrel nuts to run the hinge-screws into. The hinge screws were too short and several of them "wallowed out" and were then driven in at an angle to get them into solid wood. That is a temporary fix at best. If all goes well, I expect to write a post on the barrel nuts because I think spending $10 and making an existing installation functional is better than spending $200 and creating an interval when there is no functional door installed.

Getting outside and getting sunshine

I was dragon-asp this morning. I just wanted to take a nap.

I forced myself to get outside and start puttering around.

What a difference! I had more energy after puttering around outside for 90 minutes than when I started.

Somehow, I can forget that fact in less than 24 hours.