Mrs ERJ and I splurged this past week. One day we joined another person and ate at a fast-food establishment. One of us ordered fish. I ordered a fried pork patty. The other person ordered a burger. The bill came to $39.
Another day this past week, we took a small carry-out pizza topped with green peppers and onions and and order of bread-sticks. We dined-in at another person's house. That bill came to $24.
I remember the tab from my first date with Mrs ERJ. Her half of the tab came to $1.47.
No matter how much money you might have saved up, inflation can make that not-enough.
Peaches
One of the amazing success stories in the Upper Orchard are the five, unassuming peach seedlings that a friend in Arizona sent me. He had collected the fruit from a tree and grown them out for a year. I planted them in Michigan, not expecting much in terms of winter-hardiness since their home city is classified as USDA Zone 8b.
They handled our one night of -25F last winter and took-off like gang-busters this spring.
My friend told me that the tree that he collected the pits from had excellent fruit. Peaches, in general, tend to produce fruit that is kind-of close to their parents in terms of quality due to the degree of in-breeding and self-pollination.
I decided to hedge my bets and I budded three of them to Contender peach, just in case. I only put a bud on one vertical leader. I want to see what kind of fruit the seedlings produce and I also want to have a back-up plan. Putting one bud on one major shoot provides me with that back-up plan.
Budding trees that are actively growing make the grafter look like a genius. Trying to bud on trees that are shutting down due to low soil moisture make the grafter look like a smuck. An inch of rain is predicted for Monday. I might get lucky.
Family reunions
Our family reunion is this weekend. Some people will show up. Others will not.
My "generation" range in age from 55 to mid-70s. One family has three deceased members, two have a single deceased sibling. The fourth family still has all members who are alive.
Traveling has become increasingly difficult for some of us. Some are still working crazy hours, crazy shifts. Some people are stressed by other people in the family and will opt to stay home. The cast of characters changes year-to-year.
Fortunately, each branch of the family has one member who LIKES to travel. They show up at the reunion, collect news on the various family shoots and take it back-home to share.
That probably means I need to dust-off my 15 second, elevator sale-pitch.
Something like:
"Not running. Still walking. Still lifting weights. No animals except ducks. Dog died. No health issues. My wife still likes me. Great to be a grandparent. Garden needs weeding. Orchards are shaping-up nicely. Yes, I am going deer hunting."
On the positive side, a large percentage of the "kids" in my children's generation are in-the-family-way right now. Their children are heavily tilted toward girls...girls who take great joy in shrieking.
Budding trees that are actively growing make the grafter look like a genius. Trying to bud on trees that are shutting down due to low soil moisture make the grafter look like a smuck. An inch of rain is predicted for Monday. I might get lucky.
ReplyDeleteHow much hand watering is needed to hedge your bets and give those trees a growth spurt?
I've never figured out how much water a tree gets from a 1 inch rain.
I watered those peach trees a few days ago with four gallons each. I intend to give each of them another four gallons some time today.
DeleteThe bark "slips" on trees that are actively growing. The new cells of the cambium layer (between the sapwood and the corky region of the bark) is fragile when it is growing. If you cut a "T" and exert side pressure on the edges of the bark on the vertical, it should pop loose if the tree is growing well enough to "take".
The bark on the three trees were in the slip condition so things are looking promising.
Hope you look like a grafting genius buddy. That peach might if it continues to become a new variety for us northern peach wannabes.
Deletehttps://youtu.be/gvDu1EviOnU
DeleteAnother technique is to graft the ends of the branches of your peach tree to a super-hardy plum like Assiniboine or South Dakota. Those twigs are enough to trigger early hardening off in the fall and increase the coldhardiness by roughly 10F.
Microclimates are HUGE. A slight rise or puddling of cold air can make all of the difference in the world. Tucking the peach in next to a fence, the wall of a garage or a spruce tree immediately to the north can also make a big difference. Much heat is lost by IR radiation to deep-space on cold, clear nights.
I trimmed my peach trees a few years ago and chucked the branches with some fruit on it in the hedgerow. Now I have two nice fruit bearing trees in the back . The neighborhood kids ask permission to pick fruit from the trees and the answer is always yes..
ReplyDeleteWe have settled into a routine of going out for “Fast food Friday “ and then doing our weekly shopping. Now that we are eating out of our garden, our weekly Friday supper regularly exceeds our weekly grocery bill.
ReplyDeleteBob in Idaho
ERJ, The Ravishing Mrs. TB enjoys going out. I do not enjoy it so much, so we split the difference and go out less than she likes but more than I like to.
ReplyDeleteThat said, prices have jumped (to be fair, we do live in urban areas) by a significant amount. An average dinner without alcohol will easily run $50, not including tip and the "health care" surcharge that seems to be the fashion in certain quarters (which I guess I cannot complain about as it is voluntary for me to go out in the first place). It has definitely impacted what and where and how often we go.
Thanks for sharing TB as always, but your comment about the health-care surcharge rankles me... I remember when things like employee expenses were considered the 'cost of doing business', and a tip was 15% extra you gave for exceptional service.
DeleteI'm not blaming you, of course.
The whole thing is broken. Nothing 'functions' any more like its supposed to. Everything is twisted and manipulated to achieve an end that was never intended? You/me pay a healthcare fee on our Olive Garden tab b/c a liberal mayor in a different state wants to give it free to illegals.
WHA?!?! HUH?!??! I just wanted the free breadsticks?
Yep, costs have and will continue to rise... our income... well... Enjoy the time with family, if you can!
ReplyDeleteHad our family reunion last month. My generation is about 5 years older than yours. Descendants of my great grandparents who emigrated from Switzerland in 1870. About 45 people from 4 of thier 7 children. Last of my dad's generation passed in 2022. I live on the farm my grandfather and his brother bought in 1942 so there's a lot of history her.
ReplyDelete