Category: Infrastructure

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02/10/2024 maybe also Lomatium??

This seed cover looks a lot like the carrot leaf Lomatium and it does seem to be their sprouting time. And I’m pretty sure I seeded some here in backyard concrete blocks. the fuzzy seedlings nearby are Heterotheca subaxillaris (pretty sure) and the little succulents are Sedum pulchellum.
A second suspect, sans seed cover, with two long skinny seed leaves. That wrinkly thing is my gloved finger tip.
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01/16/2024 sneaky

The plant window is backlit brightly. You can see houseplants fully visible on the top shelf and the shapes of decorations and pots on the second shelf. On the bottom cat level, Shackleton’s face is in profile as he faces east to the morning sun.
I think Shackleton thinks he is hidden as usual in the plant window. He seemed very surprised when I growled his name sternly as he tried to climb to the forbidden next shelf!! I left a thermometer in there and on the cold nights it was in the 40s F. I guess the sun is very tempting and the fleece blanket keeps the metal floor from being cold and wet as frost melts from the glass.
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01/14/2024 not very efficient plant window

Single pane glass isn’t great in this extreme weather. Fortunately most of the plants are above the thin metal bottom. in past years this has damaged tomato seedlings when we did them in the window.
Frost is pretty though. Mom fixed the stained glass cardinal for me recently! Thanks Mom!
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12/19/2023 power line easement

The mostly leafless red oak in our backyard
Our poor oak tree had to get trimmed the full 10 foot easement along the power line. The trunk is almost right at the 10 foot mark.
A big red oak with almost half its branches gone, all along the power line side.
So, there’s going to be a lot more light along the fence. Today (12/21) I cut some stalks of annual and Maximilian sunflowers, ironweed, and camphorweed to scatter along the fence in hope that their seeds will like the new amount of light there.
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12/16/2023 Maximilian sunflowers stalks in driveway

Sunflower stalks probably 6-8 feet tall tied up with a white cotton rope to keep them bundled up out of the driveway
In late fall rains, the maxes fell over. This has been pretty annoying when backing cars out of the garage or trying to put stuff in the bins. So I have preliminarily tied them up so the seedheads are still there for birds and the stalks are there for overwintering bees. But less aggravating to walk through. I might put a raffia ribbon on it or something if there are Complaints about it.
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11/26/2023 experiment for new vegetable perennials

One plant protector clipped closed by a stainless steel clip. One open with all its cells filled with water. The plastic is a translucent pale aqua color.
After reading about “wall-o-waters” in a book about gardening in the Great Plains, we eventually noticed a similar product for sale in Ellison’s Feed & Seed called Season Starters and decided to give them a try. We got 3 in one pack for about $15. They’re like mini greenhouses using water for both insulation and stability in a series of cells. We clamped ours shut with the stainless steel clips we like for holding plastic on the hoops for the greens. We put them around some new plants we ordered from California (I’Itoi bunching onions, Florida Finley bunching onions, and society garlic which is not actually a garlic though in same family). They should be fine in our winter once they’re established, but they just arrived a week or two ago.