12/4/23 Weekend Update

 Since last update in October, I haven't done much in the craft room. And that's by design. True, I did a few more pots, but for the most part, things have been quiet in there. I'm focusing on preparing for the spring with seeds and cuttings instead. 

Not sure if I mentioned that I have some crabapple hardwood cuttings. I pruned back the crabapples. I used the trimmings to create hardwood cuttings. I wrapped the cuttings in bundles and stuck them under the grow benches. I intend to allow them to callose up and try to grow them. Everyone says that you can't grow crabapple from hardwood cuttings, but I'm going to try anyway. 

While I was at it, I noticed the neighbor across the way trimmed back his Washington hawthorn. I grabbed the trimmings and created some cuttings. I've heard hawthorns grow from hardwood cuttings, so we'll see.

I also ordered some trident maple and ginkgo seeds. I've heard you can simply sow these seeds in the fall, so I have the ginkgo seeds outside. I intend to do the same with the trident maples. I'm going to order some vine maple seeds as well. I heard vine maples grow locally, so they should do good. Plus they look fire!

That's about it for now. 

Weekend Update 10/16/23

Just because I called it for the season doesn't mean I'm done. 

Always something to do.

Just because I'm not going out to the Pumpkin Patch until next spring doesn't mean I'm not keeping busy. 

Always crafting. 

Just because my trees outside are settling in for their winter nap doesn't mean I've got nothing to do. 

Always changing of the season.

With that in mind, here are some pictures from the craft room. 

Crescent shape/freeform pots, large size is my emphasis. Well, large for me. I've got a bunch of trees outside that will need pots in the spring. I don't know how much clay I have left, but I plan to exhaust my supply of clay this winter! I do plan to do other things of course. :)

 

Level 2 of my tropicals' winter quarters. They've been hard pruned and awaiting new foliage for next year. Yes, those are stumpy money trees! Yes, that's a Thai chili pepper that I plan to 'bonchi'. 

Level 3 of my tropicals' winter quarters. Mostly scheffleras here, with some ficus tossed in (f. religiosa and f. microcarpa). You can see the hard pruning on some trees. Moss grows everywhere here. As does the occasional hitchhiker, such as garden centipedes or slugs.

Top level of my tropicals' winter quarters. Here sits my F. microcarpa mother tree. You can see some schefflera cuttings I saved during the hard pruning. Hopefully, some will make it. 

Level 1 of my tropicals' winter quarters. The lowest level. Most of this level is taken up by Aaron's succulents/cactus. I use part of this are to grow some sedums as well. 

 

The last picture I have is a close-up of a hard-pruned schefflera. You can see where I've hard-pruned it time and again. Yes, this is one that I converted from Walmart garden center material a few years ago. 

So there it is. That's what's going on at the ole homestead. 

All for now.

Random Pictures From the Pumpkin Patch 2023

 For no particular reason, this post is just random pictures taken at the Pumpkin Patch. 

Let's just skip to the pictures, followed with a small description!

Kusamono sedum in crescent pot with companion driftwood. I like the overall composition. I like how the sedum spills out over the pot, almost hiding the pot. The driftwood adds a bit of texture and interest.

 

Pinecone Derpy fish. I enjoy making goofy looking fish. The scales on this one stick out, looking kind of like a pinecone.

 

Derpy Fish. Another example of the buggy-eyed derpy fish I make. This one features tentacles on its sides.

 

One of our happy customers with her recent score of goblin plushy.

 

One never knows what I might bring to the Pumpkin Patch. Here I have a few handmade macrame pot hangers. What else might I have? Who knows!

Great early season shot! A lot of great pieces here that have since sold.

Small pots with airplants. Arguably my favorite pieces to make. allows me to explore shapes and ideas that are floating in my head in miniature.

Early season shot of my set up at the Pumpkin Patch. This was my 'FORGOT DAY'. Forgot my table cloths. Forgot the plushies. Forgot the jewelry. Forgot my glasses. Forgot my flip flops. Forgot the hammer for the canopy stakes... Good times!

So there you have it. Some highlight pictures of the Pumpkin Patch. Kind of a 2023 Yearbook.

10/2/23 Weekend Update

Last weekend I brought in all my tropicals. I forgot to bring in my succulents, but that's not the point. The point is I was a bit rushed. Had a lot going on that weekend so I did not get a chance to trim back my scheffleras. I planned to do that over the weekend, but I got sidetracked with life. Also forgot to water my tropicals. Whoops! I did a rush watering job last night. Just brought everything out of the craft room and watered it. I took the time to clean up the growing trays. Also did some hard pruning of the scheffleras. 

I went HARD on the pruning! Mentally, it was difficult for me to hard prune. I put a lot of time and energy into growing them. It hurts to see that hard earned growth cut off. I did take the opportunity to gather the cuttings for propagation.  We'll see how that goes. 

Cause, yeah, I could totally use more growing projects.

9/25/23 Shutting It Down Until 2024

 The weather was shit, so I decided not to do the Pumpkin Patch. Again.

That's it then, I'm calling it: I'm shutting it down until next spring. Sales have been down. I have not had the time to really enjoy my trees. Weather is starting to turn so I have to bring in my tropicals. I'll need to put some supplies in storage and clean up the old growing areas. Time to put the Pumpkin Patch stuff away until next season. 

I started off by moving all my Pumpkin Patch supplies out of the craft room and into storage. 

Next, I struck down the outdoor tropical growing area and cleaned it all up. 

Finally, I set up my indoor tropical growing area in the craft room. 

This will make it more difficult to do pottery in the craft room. I may take a breather away from pottery for a little while. Doubtful though. I have a bunch of trees outside that are looking to be potted up. With Halloween and the holidays coming, fall will turn to winter quickly. New Year's Eve will be here before I realize it. 

My final glazing for the year will be fired 9/28. I'll have a few pots to pick up soon. Once I have that, I can re-assess what pottery I will need to work on over the winter. 

All for now.

9/19/23 Weekend Update

 Didn't do the Pumpkin Patch. Didn't do pottery. Spent some time with Bernadette instead. We went to some crappy circus that came to town. It was overpriced, tiny, and very much amateur hour. Still, I'm glad to see *something* came to town. When we got home, I started work on installing a new storm door, or screen door. Did a good portion of it, went to bed, then woke up and attacked the storm door again. That took half the day. We went out the rest of the day. Mostly errands and shopping. Might have hit the casino, who knows. 

I cleaned up my growing area on Sunday. Did some weeding. Took out some dead growth. Performed some heavy pruning on the evergreens - that's the mugo, Japanese black pine, and hinoki cypress. Seems like the more time I spend with the trees, the more I realize those trees I dug up in July are in much better shape than I thought! I'm going back to the Pumpkin Patch this weekend and I think I'll bring along more plants in nursery pots. 

Other than clean up, things are starting to wind down in the outside garden.

All I have for now

9/11/23 Weekend Update

 I was at the Pumpkin Patch on Saturday. Things were slow. It's expected. I was able to pick up the nursery pots on Sunday, but it was way too late to start potting up trees. I will be skipping the Pumpkin Patch next Saturday. There's a circus coming to town and Bernadette wants to go. She's off on Saturday and I want to spend time with her. 

I brought along a couple plants in nursery containers: a mugo pine and a crab apple. I had all day basically to look at the mugo pine. I worked on it a bit at a time. Picked off some branches. Cleaned up some soil. Adjust the wiring on branches. I think next time I go out, I'll bring some more unpotted trees and work on them. You never know, someone may want an unpotted bonsai tree. 

Not going to the Pumpkin Patch every Saturday does give me a bit more time to enjoy my trees. Also gives me more time to think about the coming fall. It's getting towards the end of the season. My plants and trees are starting to settle down. They know winter is coming and they are getting ready to shut down for the season. Soon the leaves will turn; Autumn is right right the corner. The guy I got the nursery pots from on Sunday seemed to know a thing about growing apple trees. He mentioned that now is the time to repot apples. I mentioned to him that I had to move my crabs out of their growing beds in July. He understood that July is the worst time to repot trees, but right about NOW is repotting season. I don't know if I fully trust this, but it's good to know that some folks repot at this time. 

Tuesday update: I managed to pot up about half of the crab apples. As a whole, they look good, though I'm likely to lose a few. I repotted the four ginkgos as well as the two Japanese black pines and the mugo pine. The mugo pine looks especially good! I may end up taking it to the Pumpkin Patch as is.  

That's all I have for now. If you'll excuse me, I have some rocks that need kicking.