It was a real treat to have Mrs ERJ accompany me while I worked in the Upper Orchard yesterday. Not only is she excellent company and industrious, she is also pretty!
She moved the dripper buckets while I carried the water buckets. I believe that she cut my best time in half. While moving dripper buckets isn't heavy work, it takes time to dump any excess water on the target tree, find the next baby tree and then to position the bucket so it is secure and the holes are pointed in the right direction.
After watering the new apple trees in the Upper Orchard and the pears on the Hill Orchard, we found three spots where first year pears had died and marked them with stakes.
Then we marked six trees in the Upper Orchard for removal. Now that they are fruiting we can start assessing which are worth keeping. According to the scanty records available, it looks like we might have marked two Ozark Gold, two Jerseymac, one Liberty and one unknown pear variety. The Liberty tree was dying and may have been infected with Carpenter Ants which are recognizable by the fact that they whistle and carry a pencil behind their right ear. The Ozark Gold fruit is insipid and the Jerseymac season-of-ripening competes with peaches and pears...and the Jerseymac quality pales in comparison to a well-ripened, mid-season peach.
I started mowing but broke a belt five minutes later. Mrs ERJ and I made the strategic decision to end the mission and to pick up a replacement belt on the way home. We made it to the farm-store 40 minutes before they closed and they had one 1/2"-by-68" belt in stock.
Odds-and-ends
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| I completed the bottom of the rabbit jail and delivered it to Southern Belle. |
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| I was gifted some free lumber. |
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| I will see if a week of togetherness will improve the situation. I am not in a hurry to use this wood. |
"Carpenter Ants which are recognizable by the fact that they whistle and carry a pencil behind their right ear." Oh very good.
ReplyDeletePlus they look like Jesus's Dad.
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Delete.
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Fred in Texas, I have observed that moisture content will cause a board to bow. If a week doesn't help, reverse them and put them in a damp environment. If they straighten out some, use them quickly before they return to their twisted state. If they're locked into a position for years it will help then also. Inside a wall where the rest of the structure can hold them straight and they can get really dry.
ReplyDeleteAs a sawmill operator... look at the end grain (covered with price tags in photo). It looks to be no hope for those two, too much stress in the tree. You can tell which side the sun was on.
ReplyDeleteSome projects use short pieces. I have them tentatively earmarked for the verticals in the rabbit jail. Current plans are to have 16" high cell walls.
Delete...and thanks for the feedback.
DeleteERJ, when does the season come when you do not have to water by hand?
ReplyDelete"I have observed that moisture content will cause a board to bow."
ReplyDeleteYou bet: we used to "stream" planks so that they could be easily bent and incorporated into the hulls of boats. Happy boyhood days: helping first to build a substantial clinker-built rowing boat and then a carvel-built trawler. When we launched the trawler I was given a bottle of beer to mark the fact that I'd made a man's contribution to her construction. Awfully pleased, I was. But then I already knew I liked beer.