It's a Little Late . . .

Snow. Snow. Snow. That's what I've been thinking about lately. Yesterday was the first day that the Midwest actually saw snow. Yes, a couple of days before that there were sprinkles of snow (which would've melted easily had the weather warmed up a bit), but yesterday and today we actually got at least a foot of snow. I actually had to shovel the sidewalk this morning. This is the latest that we've gotten snow and I think that Mother Nature has spoiled us a bit.

I'm Moving

Yes, I am moving.

I am very, very sad to be leaving my little house in the city, but I found myself a nice lake house (the picture shows the lake view I have from my home). It's quite a distance from the Twin Cities and does need some fixing up. I finally closed on the home earlier this week and have started getting bids on several things that need to be addressed. I've also started moving some of my belongings into the home too.

Overall, I'm happy with the property and I'm more than willing to put in a lot of sweat equity. I hope that in the spring you all can come out and join me for a swim at my new home.

Happy Halloween!!!

I love All Hallows Eve, also known as Halloween. I love dressing up in costume (yes, even as I get older), taking the little ones trick-or-treating, and of course handing out candy to the witches and ghouls that come a knocking. Tonight I only had 6 trick-or-treaters come by, but they made my night.

I wish everyone a wonderful, safe, and happy Halloween.

Changes

I have much going on in my life right now and it’s been a struggle to not be distracted and to be positive. Yes, I know all of the cliché lines about being positive (e.g. “Every cloud has a silver lining;” “After a storm comes a clam;” “Keep your head above water;” etc.), and I do keep them at the back of my head, but at some point I just can’t help but worry and be negative.

As of late (meaing the last couple of years), I like having some kind of stability in my life and knowing that I have some control over my life. Lately, I feel out of control and I'm trying to learn to live with several uncertainties that are coming my way. I feel very impatient, probably because I don't know what will be happening to me. Anyhow, I don't mean to be this vague and to come off as a "control freak." There are a lot of changes going on right now and I'm feeling very helpless.

I'm Still Here

Hey all. Sorry that I haven't posted for some time. Yes, I am still here. And I miss you all. I've just been busy (REALLY, REALLY busy with work) and I've been meaning to post for a while.

So how's the weather in your neck of the woods? It's been very cool here. The high has been in the low 80s (if even), and the nights have been sooo cool, that I've actually had to close my bedroom windows at night (I've even had to put on a sweatshirt this evening).

I can't believe that today is the last day of August. I know it's not officially "autumn," but in my mind, I always associate September as the beginning of autumn. This spring and summer has been very mild and cool. I think the lack of sun has affected my fruit and vegetable bounty (or the lack thereof). Anyhow, with the end of summer in sight, I still look forward to next year (e.g. picking cherries and strawberries in June, picking summer raspberries and blueberries in July) and I will continue to plan ahead as to what I will be growing next year.

Rain and Raspberries

It has been a rainy day today and I am not complaining. This spring has been quite cool, barely breaking into the 80's, but it has been very dry. When it rains, I try to capture as much of the rain water in tubs and try to use it up within a couple of days. Ultimately, my goal is to try and make my own water barrels in the next coming month or two.

I also wanted to blog about the second set of raspberry plants I purchased for my garden from a reputable online nursery. These plants are Caroline raspberries, which produce red raspberries, and it is an ever bearing variety. In my previous blog about Latham raspberries, I explained what summer bearing raspberries are, but not ever bearing raspberries. Well, ever bearing raspberries have canes that will bear two crops: one in the fall (I believe on the top half) when the cane is one year old and another in the spring (I believe on the bottom half) when the cane goes into its second year. After the second year, the canes should be pruned off. Of course, the process starts all over again, but by then the raspberry plants would have suckered and created many more raspberry plants. Another interesting fact about the Caroline raspberry plant is that it is a patented plant. This means that under the law, I cannot propogate the plant to sell or even give away (BTW, patented plants aren't solely limited to raspberry plants).

Now I know the Caroline raspberry plants look like sticks in the picture, but they were sent to me dormant. Therefore, the potential warm weather and longer days will induce the plants to send out new growth. Once more, I'll keep you posted.

Poppy Unfurled

Latham Raspberries

Earlier this spring I purchased a Latham raspberry plant (and a Heritage raspberry plant, but as the title of this blog indicates, I intend to blog about the Latham raspberry plant). I meant to be patient and planned that the one plant will, eventually over time, branch out and create more plants. Of course, I changed my mind and wanted more plants so that I might have raspberries to enjoy next spring.

So what did I do? Well, I looked around for this particular raspberry plant. Many of the online nurseries were offering it for a cheap price, but considering my last experience, I opted to look elsewhere. While conducting a search online, something from Craigslist came up. Apparently a lot of local homeowners are offering their raspberry plants for sale but the origins of these plants were either unknown or not Latham. However, there was one ad from a seller indicating that the seller had LOTS of Latham raspberry plants for sell, and of course for a very good price.

I contacted the seller and he dropped off four plants at my home this evening, to which I immediately planted. Four plants under twenty dollars, with free shipping, how much better can this get?

So now I wait (what's new, right?). The Latham raspberry plant produces red raspberries (as opposed to yellow or black raspberries) and is summer bearing (raspberry plants are either summer bearing or ever bearing), meaning that it produces fruit on second year old canes. For example, the canes that are produced this summer on my raspberry plants will fruit next year. Once the canes have fruited, then it needs to be cut down. Of course, Latham is hardy to my zone, and I believe it may have been bred in Minnesota. I've read that the fruit is a bit more crumbly, but still yummy. I guess in time I will find out.

Droplets

Rasied Beds

If you're a regular reader, you know that I've waxed on and on about growing and replacing raspberry bushes in my garden. I believe that I last wrote about my last endeavor to grow raspberries on September 15, 2008, where I planted a red rasberry plant and a yellow raspberry plant. Well, the plants didn't do too well and didn't survive the winter. In place of the raspberry plants I'm now growing a thornless Araphao blackberry. So far it appears to be doing well and I hope it will be established enough to survive this coming winter.

As for the raspberries, I still refuse to give up on the idea of growing my own raspberries. So, this time I've decided to just create raised beds and park them on the southern side of my yard. This way, my current vegetable garden and flower beds stay intact (although, I think that I may have to rearrange the layout of my yard at some point in the future), I can manage the soil in the beds, the raspberry plants will get lots of sunlight, and hopefully the raspberry plants won't sucker outside of the beds.

The beds are simply designed and made out of untreated boards I had laying around in my garage. I made my mate build the beds, and both beds were built within three hours. I dug both holes for the beds, killed off the stumps that were growing into the fence, filled the beds with amended soil (e.g. composted manure, orgainc soil, peat moss, top soil), and planted the raspberry plants. It was a lot of work, but the finished product left me feeling quite accomplished.