As you know, I've been cooking, baking, gardening, sewing and organizing old photos for the last 4.5 weeks of self isolation.
Without my projects, I fear my active mind would veer toward the dark side! Like the cat, I have plenty of energy and for the good of all those around us, it needs to be directed, positively and not left to its own devices, even temporarily.
You may think Im exaggerating, but this is the type of email that Google sends me each day... EACH DAY!
The question is, have I reached "rock bottom" when I fancy myself as a fertility specialist and begin experimenting with fruit trees in bloom, to fill time slots that used to belong to real estate clients?
It was 5 days before a big snow storm was to hit. My peach tree (too big to cover) was sporting excessive and impressive blossoms and so was my neighbors younger tree.
I decided the best way to help the bees this year, and to get the job done quicker, was to start moving pollen between flowers and trees, manually.
And by manually, I mean, I taped a Q-tip to a broom handle and set about dabbing inside each flower I could reach, going back and forth between trees.
2 days before snow, I repeated my efforts.
The neighbors appeared to have a mix of appreciative, humored and impressed faces. (Well... I'd like to think, impressed.)
Last year, despite copious blossoms, our tree only produced 12 peaches. All of which were "taken" by the squirrels before they ripened. The goal this year is to produce more fruit. Enough for the squirrels and I to both be happy.
Besides that, I'm embarking on a long term orchard project at my new rental on Dyer Rd and all this experimenting is going to pay long term dividends in the fruit department, as I learn and grow with the trees.
Update: We got about double the snow expected. After the foot of wet snow cleared (36 hours. Thank goodness for Colorado sunshine!) I checked on the state of the blossoms: Oh boy.
Only time will tell.
Without my projects, I fear my active mind would veer toward the dark side! Like the cat, I have plenty of energy and for the good of all those around us, it needs to be directed, positively and not left to its own devices, even temporarily.
You may think Im exaggerating, but this is the type of email that Google sends me each day... EACH DAY!
The question is, have I reached "rock bottom" when I fancy myself as a fertility specialist and begin experimenting with fruit trees in bloom, to fill time slots that used to belong to real estate clients?
It was 5 days before a big snow storm was to hit. My peach tree (too big to cover) was sporting excessive and impressive blossoms and so was my neighbors younger tree.
I decided the best way to help the bees this year, and to get the job done quicker, was to start moving pollen between flowers and trees, manually.
And by manually, I mean, I taped a Q-tip to a broom handle and set about dabbing inside each flower I could reach, going back and forth between trees.
2 days before snow, I repeated my efforts.
The neighbors appeared to have a mix of appreciative, humored and impressed faces. (Well... I'd like to think, impressed.)
Last year, despite copious blossoms, our tree only produced 12 peaches. All of which were "taken" by the squirrels before they ripened. The goal this year is to produce more fruit. Enough for the squirrels and I to both be happy.
Besides that, I'm embarking on a long term orchard project at my new rental on Dyer Rd and all this experimenting is going to pay long term dividends in the fruit department, as I learn and grow with the trees.
Update: We got about double the snow expected. After the foot of wet snow cleared (36 hours. Thank goodness for Colorado sunshine!) I checked on the state of the blossoms: Oh boy.
And then after snow storm #2 and ANOTHER 18" of wet snow...
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