How'd it go today?

Not sure Cory. I guess the story is that he read that a big cotton wood drinks hundreds of gallons a day, so he cut them down. Might have just made him feel better!

With 10 to eleven inches of precip a year, water is always a struggle, and the aquifer is spotty, so a good well is rare. The house is watered by a shallow well fed by a pond next to the house. That pond is dry from lack of rain and snow.

I can see why he did it. Now the house is hotter in the summer though.

Jim, they go in rows. About a good foot apart ( I set mine at a ½ meter apart)
Then when they grow tall, set a 2 foot post at both sides of the row and rig a string ( I use fencing wire, tight, since I have plenty of that) to support them.

I just bought 10 of a new sort, I already have a bunch of others.

Also bought 2 different blackberries and a bunch of strawberry plants ( Senga sengana, a traditional sort, here) we have plenty of another, newer sort, Polka, but I'm not very satisfied with those, so I figured; Go traditional.

Ran into a very knowledgeable gardener at the nursery, he talked me into trying a little Japanese fellow: Rubus illecebrosus
He said it was a fun thing if one had room enough, which I certainly have, but not all that tasty.

As you may remember, I lost my beloved polytunnel in a storm ( Damned thing decided it would rather live in Norway, can't blame it, really).
I didn't have the money for a new one this year, but the mail order bride got her Autorization last week and landed a job the day after, so now money is going to be less tight here
So I'll be hunting all over the net for good seeds next winter and putting up a 60 square meter polytunnel next spring.
To tell the truth, I can hardly wait.

cory said:

Rude health, I gather that means good health?

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Yes, good health, in English English it can mean vigorous and healthy.

La becasse said:

No it's new buds or something, it's in rude health.

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Far as I know, they flower on second year branches?

stig said:

Far as I know, they flower on second year branches?

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There you go then, every day's a school day.

La becasse said:

We grow all sorts to eat, my wife works full time as do I, we just decided a couple of years ago that the huge veggie beds were becoming a chore rather than a pleasure so we've cut them down a bit.

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Same here, Mick.
I am reducing the vegetable garden by half this year, that is why I bought all the berry plants.
They are easier to keep than veggies. Don't need so much weeding.

The thing I love about the polytunnel, there is NO weeding.

I put a ground cloth down in spring, cut holes in it for the plants and have absolutely no weeds.
Not true, I counted 12 the last year I had the tunnel.

I can grow stuff that will absolutely die in a normal Danish summer, and all I have to do is take a walk when I come home from work, nip the tomatoes, remove the 7 first flowers from the chilies and water the plants that look in need ( I had a hook up watering system installed)

Last year before it went North, I had 47 tomato plants of some 25 varieties. 30 Jalapeno chilies and about 20 other chilies and peppers. 13 aubergines ( Let us just let that stand, to the confusion of the Yanks) some Swiss chard, coriander/ parsley etc.
And of course 400 basil plants planted between the tomatoes and chilies.
I warned those, when you get big enough to bother your neighbours, I'll harvest you, but apparently they didn't belive me.

The new tunnel will be 14 square meters bigger than the old one, so I can make some early potatoes onions and squash and maybe a bit more of everything else.

NONE of that stuff will grow outdoors in Denmark, except potatoes, onions and squash..

My wife's in charge of veggies (except asparagus which is mine) traditional stuff mostly. I'm the flower/shrub/tree man.

Thanks for the info Stig. I was thinking about planting them in the lawn like trees, no weeding? Might be daft.....

Tell me about your poly tunnel green house. Are your plants elevated or in the ground? Why is there no weeds? Can you produce enough vegetables or do you still buy some? Could I feed a family of 5 with one that size?

The differences in our climates are strange. I can grow most of that stuff outside, but you can grow a lot of stuff we cant. You must not get as hot, or as cold.

Trying to resolve a view prune gone wrong. I took too much for the neighbor's liking (the tree owner that doesn't want to talk to anyone, and occasionally will email). Its a spruce 'hedge' that was topped multiple times, that i've been trying to train back into a hedge annually for a few years.

The whole hill that faces Mt. Rainier has the same view thing. The people up the hill, don't want the people down the hill to block their view, and lessen their property values by a considerable margin, I'd imagine.

The uphill neighbor had the 3 spruces topped when the downhill lot was vacant, with the old owner's permission . The new owner wants trees in his back yard (same guy with the fully unobstructed view of the mountain, as his down hill neighbors haven't let things grow up and block the view.

Originally, the uphill neighbor spoke to the wife after building (husband doesn't want to talk to people, seemingly), who said 'top away'. Husband was mad afterward, should have talked to him, since he was the property owner, and it turns out they were co-habitating, but not married.

Since then, we made a plan to hedge the whole thing, thinking we were at a win-win. You know, once topped, the ideal thing is not to just leave them unmanaged with 5 leaders. Lots of storm-damage with broken stuff laying across the top, and ivy, with little interior light penetration.


Trying to mend fences.

Something is bound to go sideways once in a while. Never had to deal with this before. Worst damage before was a few fence boards on a couple jobs over the years, a mowing curb around a garden bed getting cracked, and a window frame getting cracked. Easy to fix.

I can see why some people really like removals-only.

Ha ha, that last sentence!

FireFighterZero said:

Thanks for the info Stig. I was thinking about planting them in the lawn like trees, no weeding? Might be daft.....

Tell me about your poly tunnel green house. Are your plants elevated or in the ground? Why is there no weeds? Can you produce enough vegetables or do you still buy some? Could I feed a family of 5 with one that size?

The differences in our climates are strange. I can grow most of that stuff outside, but you can grow a lot of stuff we cant. You must not get as hot, or as cold.

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Don't got for the lawn thing, grass is hard on those berry bushes, the lawn mower is even harder..
Better to do it my way ( If anyone else has a better way, please, please step up)
I put a ground cloth down, like the one I use in the poly tunnel.
Cut x-es in it and plant the raspberries in those.
After a year, I take the cloth away, so they can sprout from the roots, and then I live with the weeding.

All plants in my polytunnel are growing in the ground.
I've tried elevated beds in my greenhouse, and there is no comparizon.
They grow better and yield more when in well mulched ground ( Horse manure, laid over from last year,)

In the summer, I'm not only completely self sufficient, I feed my partner, Richard, and the apprentice and help the neighbours out as well.
Then I freeze a LOT of stuff down for winter . I have a terrific recipe for freezing tomatoes down for soup.

A 60 m2 tunnel will easily feed a family of 5, here.
But, you are right, our climates are wastly different.
Especially after we lost our winters to global warming.
So things may be different for you.
That means, by no means take what I say for gospel. ( Gospel from an atheist, that'll be the day)

stig said:

Open the muffler at bit on it.
Makes a world of difference without raising the noise level much.

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Looking at the stock outlet under the deflector it looks like it's made for opening up a tad.

Yup.
Looks like they intended for us to go that way.
Take the muffler off, drill the recess out and go cut wood.

I love that saw for pruning and small takedowns.

We just cut a field maple hedge down. Richard went first with a 441 and a 30" bar, then I came after with the T150 and made it all tidy.

Had a good day. I had a community breakfast at church, was good, and saw a lot of people I hadn't in a while. Came home and did a bit of maintainence on the vehicles. Then ate lunch with my mother-in-law and off to my parents. Easter egg hunt with the kids and a great time with my brothers and the rest of the family.
And I have an 088 on hold till I get there to look at it tomorrow after work. One of the local tree guys who decided to retire at 75 YO. For $700 I figured it's worth my time to look at it. Anyone think I'm crazy? I've only ever run one once and it was at a show. From what pics of my work I've posted does anyone think it's over kill and does the price seem right?

Idk about the saw but do tell about the old timer!

He's been around forever and a day. Tough old bastid too. Him and his buddies have their wives drop them off at the bar once a week and they relive their glory days. They play pool, drink, and get loud like they were 21. He had back surgery in November and decided he can't do this kinda work anymore. Most of his work has been bucket/ crane related for the last few years. I only did one job for him. His climber showed up drunk. He fired him and was going to climb this 90 spruce and strip it out. The groundie called me and I just happened to be taking a day off. He payed OK but not worth leaving where I'm at. Good man though. I hope That I'm in as good of shape as him when I'm 75.

088s don't come around everyday, or get used much, but when you need one...

Ha, cool story, Rich, thanks!

I'll let you know how it goes. The 660 and 661 get the job done but there is also the extra wear and tear I put on them for those big cuts. It could be the novelty factor as well. To quote Tim Allen " more power".

If its clean I'd jump all over it.
Good luck with it.

Started my fence row job today. Got it about half done and my head cold started to get the better of me, too dizzy to keep at it. Just finish it tomorrow. Got the go ahead to cut the next row as soon as I finish. Maybe I'll get a full week of work.

Rich, I bet you'll regret it if you don't go for it (provided it looks good/has good compression). I let a MS660 slip through my fingers once years ago, and I still think about it. . .

Get an 88 when you can, you'll not need it often, but you'll only need one for the rest of your natural.

Worth it just to impress the clients....

Rich is clearly a top notch tree man, in the "95th percentile" no doubt. So if he needs or wants an 88, its absolutely all good. Just sayin that whenever I see an outfit with a giant saw like that, they invariably know jack fook about tree work, just posers. Idk, maybe I should get out more.

"Invariably" that's a pretty strong word. Willie has one ^^^ so you must be right Cory HAHAHAHA