We finally have had some cool weather – Wahoooo! And, with the cool weather has come the season of working in the yard. Oh, for the days when I could work outside
six, eight hours and feel only a bit tired.
These days – four hours (tops) and I’m ready to crawl back
into the house. Standing in the shower
is a big maybe. If I sit in the shower,
I’m not sure I can get back up. And, I’m
pretty much done for the day. Done
moving much. Done thinking. Done. Done. Done.
But! Yea! I’ve accomplished quite a bit.
It’s pecan-falling-season.
Now, Did You
Know? the best way to pick up pecans (at least for me) is to crawl
around the yard. So much easier on my
back than “step-bend over-stand up-step-bend over-stand up” repeat, many times. I’ve spent a lot of the work in the yard
time, picking up pecans. Evenings are
spent shelling pecans. And, right now I’ve
got almost six gallons shelled. One more
and I’ll stop doing that.
A week ago yesterday, Estate Sale Thursday, Ellen and I went
to a sale located in Richmond (which isn’t so far – maybe 40 minutes). Honestly, not very interesting. But, there was this wonderful tree in the front
yard. A very huge, very old pecan
tree. Back in my girl scout leading
days, I’d say this was a ten-girl tree – that is, it would take 10 girls
standing shoulder to shoulder to go around the trunk.
It’s hollow from the ground up to the first branch
split. I fear it is not long for this
earth but it was still putting out pecans.
The biggest thing I’ve accomplished is the shed
conversion. Normally, the shed looks
like this . . . . .
As of today, it is no longer JUST the shed. It is now the GREENSHED.
After getting the last of it closed in, I moved in
plants. And, honest-to-god, every time I
thought – “thank the gods, that’s the last big one” – I’d look over to a
different part of the yard and there was ANOTHER one. Still, everything did fit inside and I can
actually get in to water. I set up my
plant grow lights. Set the timer to turn
said lights on/off. Still have to get
one more piece of plastic for the doorway but – it done. Bring on winter!
And what, you ask, is the Gentle Craft?
Shoemaking.
Today is St. Crispin’s Day. It is the feast day of the christian saints Crispin
and Crispinian, twins who were martyred c. 286.
The date is most famous for the battles that occurred on it, most
notably the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. Because of the St. Crispin's Day Speech in
Shakespeare's play Henry V, calling the soldiers who would fight
on that day a "band of brothers", other battles fought on Crispin's
day have been associated with this famous speech including the Battle of
Balaclava (Charge of the Light Brigade) during the Crimean War in 1854 and the
Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Pacific theatre in 1944 during which the Japanese
fleet was nearly destroyed.
25 Oct 2019
I can't believe you've already moved your plants in for the winter. I prefer waiting til the last fucking minute!
ReplyDeleteYes - I did that for years - wait until the last minute. Finally got tired of rushing around trying to get all situated in one evening, in the cold, usually in the rain.
DeleteMy god, did you have to dig up all these plants or are they in containers, which is a whole problem there, too. Is that elephant eared plant out front in a pot?
ReplyDeleteOnly had to dig up a few plumerias. The rest are in pots. Most are tropicals that don't like our mild winters.
DeleteYour GreenShed looks fantastic! I didn't know today was St Crispin's Day so thanks for the info.
ReplyDeleteYour green shed looks great and pecans too! You have been working overtime! 👍
ReplyDeleteThat is a LOT of pecans, yum :D Are your plants in the green shed delicates that won't last the winter? It's a great idea.x
ReplyDeleteYes - the ones I moved in are all tropicals that don't like even our mild winter. The shed worked well last year and this year I increased the size so all fit nicer.
DeleteI have a room inside the house that I is basically just where we keep the treadmill and a few bins full of christmas decorations. Usually I bring the potted plants in and they are kept in planting trays so that when I water them they don't seep water onto the floor. I have a grow light I attach to the ceiling fan pull and that's it. I probably won't be bringing the plants in until November. My pineapples are planted in the ground so they will just have an old blanket thrown on them when there is a frost. David went to Tractor Supply and bought a pecan pick. It looks like a heavy metal piece of a slinky soldered onto an iron rod. The pecans are picked up from the ground by pressing the slinky part over the pecan and it stays in the slinky cage until you are ready to upend it into a bucket. No bending over. I can pick up something like 6 to 10 pecans depending on their size.
ReplyDeleteI had one of those pecan picks when we lived in the country but somehow it didn't make the move. I fear, with the Demon Duo, if I moved plants into the house any time soon, plants pieces and dirt would stretch from one room to another almost immediately.
DeleteMy grandmother used to have an enormous pecan tree. My Mom gave her a Texas Inertia Nutcracker, which we all enjoyed playing with. We pulverized more than we cracked. I do miss the fresh shelled pecans. Your green shed is pretty cool.
ReplyDeleteThe fresh pecans are nice to have though I cursed the pecan trees throughout the summer as branch after branch was sloughed off. It's just what pecan trees do - drop branches when it's too hot, too wet, too dry.
ReplyDeleteI love your greenshed! We just move two plants in for the winter, our pet geraniums, Pinky & Rita.
ReplyDeleteI promise myself every year that I am not going to acquire any more plants that must be protected. Maybe next year.
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