The tree is gone.

I was going o wait for hubby to do it for me, but i think it would have been weeks to wait.  So i decided that since our chain saw is a small sized version, i could handle cutting down a  tree that size.

It really was starting to look bad. No fruit and the leaves looked small and water-starved.

I took off one of the larger limbs first, then removed the white post and cut it from the upper part where it bent.

Hubby came home shortly after i used the lopper to trim the branches off the felled part and helped me move the stuff out of the way. Then we took the other post made from another tree out.  While we were getting that out of the ground we noticed that the  stump of the apple tree was very loose in the ground. I was actually able to push it down with very little effort. The roots were not even holding it up. It did have a tap root that was still hanging on a bit, but i used the loppers on that.  If it was that weak this spring, i think a hot summer then a hard winter would kill it.

So there is the little tree, in full sun now.  I pruned off some watersprouts and hubby propped it with the post to wait until we put the post in the ground.

It needs more thinning where i can't reach without a ladder, but i'll get out there in the next few days and clean things up more.  Maybe even set that post and tie up the tree.

Then i did use the Bonide on it.  I had actually started out to do just that earlier.  But when i got out there and took a close look at the big tree, it was obviously struggling too much. And why spray a tree that was coming down?
The rain went by  without touching us and the sky is cloudy and windless so it was a good day to spray.

Another task that i am glad is finished.

Radish picking

Lifted the end of the row cover

Looks ready

The average size was about the length of my thumb, but fatter

The Hailstones were starting to be ready too, just 3 of those:

Probably about 20 or more radishes out of maybe 3 feet of row. A few have hollow centers, which is annoying

But most of them were sound

They weren't as mild as i expected and i think that is because of the warm spring and the row covers making it especially warm.  I will have to plan for that next year. I will be able to get radishes in earlier than i did this year and they will be out in time to plant things like green beans and such. But they will be put in a row that won't get a cover.

Plants are very much bug-free this year. I'm amazed.  Even the melons and cucumbers are being left alone very much. I see a few flea beetle nibbles on some of the cuke leaves, but that is it and it stopped before any real damage happened.  Here are the better growing plants in that row.

Bird house gourd:

I think this is Pony Yellow, i tried to remember the order i took the pictures in, but i just can't.

 This is Long Island Cheese, an heirloom winter squash. Its a very pretty and classic looking fruit:

I need to find out what these are.  Some sort of rose?  They smell incredible and bloom just beyond our fence every year. They are in the scrubby wasted areas.  I used to smell them in the years before we added this lot to ours, but i was never close enough to see what was making that smell.

 I meant to photograph it last year but the blooms were gone before i could.


The apples are starting to get larger, some are already being bothered by pests.  I need to spray again, but where things have been going on it hasn't happened and the rain has narrowed my chances a little more. Today would have been a good day to get it done, but the radar has shown rain close by for hours, its not getting here fast, but it will.

We are going to take out that big tree. I can't remember if i already logged that decision, but we will. Whenever hubby gets to it.  There is no room for 2 trees only 4 feet apart and since the big tree is doing poorly, its the one to go. The little tree is doing well despite crowding. Hubby wants me to replace the big tree with something like it, so i will eventually. But it will be planted farther than 4 feet away!

I really want to take those row covers off!  They are doing an awesome job keeping the bugs at bay and warming the soil and slowing evaporation of rain... but it makes going out to weed a bit of a hassle. The covers have to be removed or pinned up first and putting them back is an added step.  It really is worth having them on, but i have to balance my annoyance with its effectiveness.

Here are some pics of the rows under cover for comparison

Brassica Row:

Roots and Beans Row:

Tomato Row

But see what i mean about the weeds?

Parsnip seedlings- so i remember next year:

And carrots....  you can see how the seed tape made pretty decent spacing

But they germinated so odd, some are already 3"-5" high and others are just sprouting.  Same with the parsnips. I wonder if i got seeds that weren't so fresh or if i wasn't as thorough with watering as i tried to be.

I  just got the Topsy Turvy planted.

Pain. In. The. Butt.

The issues are that they are very heavy when filled with soil.  They need to be hung someplace where sun will reach the plant- which means that they can't be under the overhang on the side of the house because there will only be full sun maybe 3 hours a day to reach it. The shed is out because the trim is not sturdy enough.  So i decided the basketball hoop was my best bet,  this will put the plant at eye level.  But the planter will be too high to fill with dirt when it is up there, so it needs to be filled on the ground, then lifted.
I don't know what hubby (or myself for that matter) did with my rope so i couldn't pulley it up.
Its really hard to fill a container with a plant on its bottom without squishing the plant.  The tomato plant had to be inserted before the dirt goes in. I tried hooking it onto a table, but my "S" hook wouldn't catch the edge, the wheelbarrow handles were too low, the saw horses were too low, any other items were too light and would have been dragged over
I finally set it on a cinder block with the tomato dangling inside the hole, then i filled the thing with dirt.

I used the same cinder block to boost me up to hook the planter to the basketball hoop.

Scrawny tomato...  But it should catch up.  We'll see if it was worth the effort.

I got my tracking number from Burpee's, my last two grape plants will be in Monday, so i am happy for that.

Its been a long week with farewell activities for my Grandfather, but it was comforting to see so many people show up to say goodbye. Actually it was amazing.

The peonies were all in bloom this week so many of the arrangements were made using the flowers from family plants, many of them were Grampy's. It seems poignant that he left just as his favorite blooms were coming in. I think God has perfect timing when He comforts us in these ways.

Well, i think the radishes are ready to harvest, i was temped to pull a few last week, so they must be waiting for me now. It looks like it is going to rain out so i either need to go pick them soon or wait until it dries out.  Tomorrow i am going to get those seedlings to my parents and get them planted. My big sister and her hubby are up from California and i'd like to rope them into planting too, i don't think it will be too hard to convince them to ;o)