(Almost) Daily Green



Granny Smith in her new home.

I did not post a Daily Green yesterday because I spent much more time outside and much less time sitting at the computer than I have done in the past weeks. I started the Daily Green partly as a gift to a friend who had expressed a desire to see the greening of spring and partly as a personal challenge to find signs of spring with the camera every day. It is still February (until after tomorrow, anyway) and it has become increasingly difficult to find new green every day. Right now, the sign of spring is the fact that I feel certain deadlines approaching.

The deadline that felt most urgent yesterday was the transplanting of a young apple tree. I bought the Granny Smith apple in the spring two years ago. It lived for a while in a pot and I am not quite sure when I actually planted it in the ground next to the stone stairs leading from our back door. Because it had been in the ground for at least 18 months, I had expected digging it up to be a monumental task, what with trying to get out long, thick and deep roots while breaking as few of them as possible.

Its root system was not nearly as large as I thought it would be -- no long tap roots leading to who knows where -- and digging it out took little time. All the tasks I did around that one had me working hard all day, though.

Since I was going to take the pickup down the hill to the main orchard, I decided to take down a bunch of rocks, as well. We have been using large rocks to train the branches of our trees. Tie twine to the branch that needs to be pulled down and tie the other end to a stone anchor.

Fortunately, we have large piles of rock and dirt from some excavation we had done a couple of years ago, but they are on top of the hill. So I loaded a bunch of rocks into the pickup bed and went down to the main orchard at the bottom of the hill. I dug a pretty large hole that I thought might still be too small to accomodate the Granny Smith's roots (since I hadn't actually dug up the tree at this point). After digging the hole and unloading the rocks, it was lunch time.

After lunch, I loaded more rocks into the pickup, dug up the Granny Smith in a surprisingly short amount of time, plus a clump of yarrow that had been growing near it, filled a couple of buckets with water, then headed down the hill. I struggled a bit with filling the hole around the little (maybe 7-foot tall) tree and dumped on some water. But the hole wasn't quite filled and I decided a rake would make moving the last bit of dirt easier. So I unloaded the rocks and went back up the hill. Loaded up some more (but not quite as many) rocks. Got more water and a rake and headed back down.

Finally, the hole that could have been much smaller if only I had known, was filled in. I watered the tree again, unloaded my third batch of rocks, then planted the yarrow near a couple of the apple trees. According to the Apple Grower Michael Phillips, herb type plants create a better soil environment for fruit tree roots than does grass. I am happy to oblige by expanding my herb gardening to the orchard areas. More yarrow and other herbs will be transplanted and/or seeded there.

I hope to harvest all these little chickweeds in a couple of weeks.

While I was inside the tree cages, I removed some small, winter weeds and found little bits of chickweed growing around the bases of the trees. As we continue pruning our trees, I will be sure to take along a basket and scissors to harvest any of the chickweed that has reached a good size. I do love this little, early wild green.

My tasks at the bottom of the hill completed, I headed back up, put away tools, and took the laundry off of the line. After those hours of digging and moving rocks, my body was not up to an hour and a half of hard yoga, so I opted for a 45-minute cardio workout. After my shower, it was time for my husband to arrive home. The evening at home went by quickly with dinner and a movie (a cute French romantic comedy, "I Do: How to Get Married and Stay Single"). Crawling into bed felt very good.

Today, I will start potting up the cabbage, broccoli, kale, cauliflower and brussels sprouts seedlings so they will be ready to go into the garden in about three weeks. Time is flying!


Sunday night's moon (without her companion planets).

Daily Green

At the store today we found Enterprise apples (organic, of course). We bought some because one of the trees that we trained and pruned yesterday was an Enterprise variety and we have not tasted them before. I have never seen them sold anywhere until today. This is a relatively new variety (introduced a decade ago or so), maybe the commercial orchards are only now getting sufficient production.
It is a tasty apple, sweet, but not super sweet, with just a little tart underneath. We are looking forward to tasting our own tree-ripened Enterprise apples.
Oh yes, my bare feet in the dirt this morning. I think it's time to be kind of spring...

Daily Green

Tulips are popping through the ground everywhere.

We pruned and trained two more apple trees today. Slow going, a bit chilly, but sunny and lovely working with my sweetheart. Then an evening spent with lovely people.

Life is good.

Daily Green

It is chilly and breezy today -- such a change from Wednesday! I went outside this morning anyway to pick a little lettuce that has just been sitting there and not growing, and to search out and harvest some chickweed.
Got a little bit of chickweed, but didn't find any more that was big enough to cut. However, I did find this little daffodil flower stalk starting up. A couple more weeks and it will be ready to bloom.

Nearby I also found these, which might be some new daffodil leaves.

Daily Green

This morning I went out with bare feet and no jacket to look for new growth in the nettle patch, and here it is. Soon the wild weeds will supplement my garden fare, bringing a burst of nutrition and vitality to my diet.

Yesterday we spent all afternoon pruning and training one apple tree (sigh). Is that a sign that we are being too picky or that we were neglectful last year? This tree had more issues than some of the others, so I hope the rest won't take as long... Anyway, I found tiny bits of chickweed growing at the base of this tree. I love this fresh green wild herb, which is usually the first that can be harvested.

OK... I confess, we did deal with a second apple tree yesterday afternoon. But it took very little time and was quite a dramatic cut. The choice was between cutting it way back, or giving up on the tree entirely and taking it out. Whether it eventually stays or goes depends on its response to the dramatic pruning. I've already got ideas on what to put in its place... Is that bad?

Daily Green

I just finished reading a post by a fellow blogger who wrote about the necessity of finding quiet moments in the chaos, of taking time for yourself, of remembering to "just breathe." Even though I don't have three children, as she does, I also sometimes find myself pushing to finish or get to projects I "should" do. Their demands on my psyche can put me into a frenzy. Those moments are when it is most important to remember to just breathe, to pause and just "Be."

When I am out in the midst of transplanting blackberries, moving compost, building a new raised bed, pruning fruit trees, trimming dead stuff out of the flower beds, weeding.... I make a point of pausing and looking upward to watch a flock of honking geese go by, to say hello to the honeybees looking for sustenance in the crocus blooms, to search for new blossoms, or pull back the dead stuff to see look for fresh leaves on the nettles. Whatever lovely moment happens, I try to pause and take it in.

My husband helps in this. While driving home from work, he has called to tell me to go out and look at a particularly beautiful sunset. He reminds me that even though I am not the one going OUT to work, that I do a lot of work and it is OK for me to take time for myself. It is OK to just breathe, to just Be. I try to do the same for him.

Whatever demands your life brings, don't believe the screaming in your head that says that they are more important than looking at the sunset, or sunrise, or talking to the bees, or smelling a rose, or hugging someone, or listening to a child's story or any moment that makes life rich and wonderful and beautiful. When you are on your deathbed, you won't wish that you had washed dishes more...

So when the laundry or dirty dishes command and you find yourself harried and frenzied and wishing for all the world just to step outside and absorb the beauty of that sunset... ask yourself, "Which would I wish to be the last memory I take with me?" Then do it and really, truly Be there.

Daily Green




Like three peas in a... row.

Planted peas today -- Sugar Sprint Snap Peas and Oregon II Sugar Pod Snow Peas. Also a little mizuna, spinach and arugula. I know... it's only February. But it's 51 degrees with a warm week in the forecast. Besides, the moon is right. And I always try to get my first peas in before the end of February. Doesn't usually mean I get peas any earlier than if I'd wait three more weeks, but it satisfies something in me. Anyway, they might come early this year.