Yesterday was a "down" day for me.
Mrs ERJ had other commitments so I watched Quicksilver all day. I fed her mac-n-cheese for breakfast and Lemon Custard flavored ice cream for lunch and took her to a book store.
Quicksilver has her own fan-club. I got two phone calls yesterday but they were both for Quicksilver.
Her ability to enunciate is exploding. I was actually able to follow much of her conversation. She was telling one of her fans about "Mary standing on a snake" which sounds like gibberish. She told the story with great gusto and enthusiasm.
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| Here is Mary |
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| And if you look closely, you will see some faded green paint...and Mary standing on a serpent. |
Nope. Not gibberish. Quicksilver saw Mary standing on a snake and was impressed!
Grafting hack
Apples are pretty easy to graft. The wounds knit together quickly even if the weather is on the cool side. They really don't need any special wrapping to prevent the scion from drying out, although I do wrap my rubber band with masking tape, that is more for UV protection for the rubber band and secondarily to seal any exposed wood on the scion.
The bark of the scion (twig) is there to stop the growing layer from drying out and it does a great job as long as it isn't broken.
The buds do not open until they sense a steady source of sap, so they are not a big path for water loss.
However, the top of the scion exposes wood and the growing layers to sun and wind. I believe that it is the single largest risk to scion drying out before it has a chance to heal.
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| I use the cap from a gallon jug of milk filled with Crisco to seal the exposed tops of scions. It is short and wide and unlikely to tip over. This is what it looks like after grafting about 20 trees. |
The "hack" is to fill a cap with Crisco solid shortening and to use the cap the same way a pool player uses chalk to coat the tip of his cue.
You can coat the exposed tip of the scion after grafting or you can "Crisco up" the tip just before grafting it. The solid shortening seals the end of the twig from dehydration and it is non-toxic to plant and animal.
Most of the time it is probably not needed (at least in Michigan), but it is really cheap insurance.
Bonus images
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| Have these kids ever been hungry? |
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| "GFY" used to be totally, over-the-top hyperbole. Now the physical ability to do it will be subsidized by Canadian tax-payers. |
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| Sorry, Bro. The first panel is a communist idea and communism still doesn't work. |
Bonus video
Meth-heads or vandals stealing wire from farm equipment.Those of us who have small operations are not immune to this kind of problem.
Good tip about crisco, thanks.
ReplyDeleteWhy do I so often think I'm living inside Robert A. Heinlein’s Crazy years?
Stealing copper from working equipment...
I wonder how many farmers wait until the week before they turn it on to inspect the equipment. I think it is a fair number, especially the big, far-flung corporate operations with the accountants who begrudge every minimum wage, 1/10th hour paid.
DeleteI've seen many grafting videos (many of which were about grafting pecans), where the demonstrant used a drop of plain ol' Elmer's glue to seal the top of the scion. Personally, I wrap my grafts - union and scion - completely in Parafilm-M; that's how my mentors taught me, and I've continued that with all tree species, though as ERJ says, apples & pears probably require little in the way of 'sealant', due to the fact that they callus-in so rapidly. I have a friend who used to tag along with her grandfather, grafting apples. He wrapped his graft unions with raffia or cotton string, then slathered scion and graft union, liberally, with some fresh, semi-soupy cow manure from an old coffee can, with a wooden paint-stirring paddle. Any farm kid who's stepped in a day-old cow pie can attest to them still being moist and slippery underneath that dry and seemingly-firm crust. Same protection against dessication for the scion - possibly with some anti-fungal properties.
ReplyDeleteCorwin Davis used to graft pawpaw seedlings that were no bigger in diameter than wooden match-sticks. He swore by wrapping them with a square of toilet paper. I was never brave enough to ask what he used to make them stick to the seedling.
DeleteI had not heard of food co-ops before. It looks like there are only a few of them across the entire US. I'm curious as to the specifics of this business model. I have seen some 'member-owned' companies that can be successful, but not with someone like a food store. One thing that has taken over the market is franchising, and I don't see how that would work with a member-owned model.
ReplyDeleteI have been looking into ways to prepare for economic downturn. Things like getting to know your neighbors, focusing on your resources in the local community etc. - some of the ideas sound similar to a 'community owned food store', but less about a business model and more about a community support function.
"And She shall crush his head." Woody
ReplyDeleteChicago wants city gov. to put in community grocery stores. Walmart has fled the area. Woody
ReplyDeleteERJ, thanks for the vignette about Quicksliver. One forgets (after being away from it for a while) how quickly they sprout up and start to make connections.
ReplyDeleteDon't farmers have large fields of soft dirt, equipment that digs large holes, and a constant need for fertilizer?
ReplyDeleteDragonslayer that would be
ReplyDelete19-19-19 fertilizer.
Kids 'see and hear' a LOT more than we think...
ReplyDelete