I am the Audience

Pots

January 8, 2015

a day in this life, bonsai

I’m still reading.

I almost bought a Mugo Pine from the sale table at a garden center this Fall, but I figure they will be available again later this year and I’m just not sure what I want, yet. I do have the Eastern Red Cedar from my yard in the pot on my deck. Since it’s only a year old, I expect it will be a while before I actually do anything besides let it get some girth.

My friend Patti has taken up pottery in her retirement and she offered to make me a pot, or possibly potS, for my little trees. I wasn’t finding an easy answer to “how big?” and asked on /Bonsai. I was directed to http://www.bonsai4me.com/AdvTech/ATChoosing%20the%20Right%20Pot%20for%20your%20Bonsai.htm and found:

The general rule of thumb is that the pots depth should be equal to the diameter of the trunk just above soil level.
For oval or rectangular pots, the length of the pot should be 2/3 the height of the tree.
For round pots, the diameter of the pot should be 1/3 the height of the tree.
For trees with especially wide canopies a wider pot can be necessary and this can be compensated by using a slightly shallower pot.
As equally, a tree with a very thick trunk (in comparison with the height of the tree) may suit a slightly deeper but narrower pot.

It’s a start.
Sweet Potatoes

January 8, 2015

a day in this life

I have started my sweet potato slips for 2015.

I always have some “fingerling” sweet potatoes left over from a harvest. In 2013, I was able to bake them and have 5 cups of sweet potato ready to use later. In 2014, the harvest was slim and there were only a half a dozen.

As I left them lying around waiting for an inspiration for what to do with them, one started to sprout. So, I stuck it in a jar of water with some toothpicks and it is making green. When they are 3 of 4 inches tall, I’ll pop them off the potato and straight into the water to form roots. Then, I’ll have them ready for planting after the last frost.

Now, the rest have little sproutlets. I wonder who I can give them to.
Welcome to Night Vale

January 7, 2015

Laughing

Welcome to Night Vale

Death is only the end if you assume the story is about you.
Mexican Sour Gherkins

December 19, 2014

a day in this life

I have decided that the cucumbers that look like teensy watermelons have to be eaten fresh or made into sour/dill pickles. They just don’t work with sugar.

The jar on the right is dill pickles.

The jar on the left is sweet pickle raisins that are too hard to use in anything. I tried simply pouring boiling sweet pickle solution over them rather than going through the “tenderizing” procedure that ordinary cucumbers require. That was no more effective than using the original method I learned from my grandmother.
My first tree

December 5, 2014

a day in this life, bonsai

I think I have accidentally done the right thing.

Last summer, I was doing some yard work and found a little cedar in a flowerbed. When I dug it up, I managed to get the whole root without any apparent damage. So, I stuck it in a large pot of dirt, where some poppies were dying, to see if it would live through being uprooted.

So far, it’s not dead.

And, from what I’ve been reading, the first thing to do when you start growing bonsai is to get them through the winter without killing them.

It looks like this:

I believe it’s an Eastern Red Cedar.

The soil it’s in is too rich for actual bonsai, but it is a good medium for getting it started. I may actually need to leave it in that pot for a couple for years before I start working the tree.

Pots

Sweet Potatoes

Welcome to Night Vale

Mexican Sour Gherkins

My first tree