It was a cold and damp weekend. On the way out, I stopped at one of my favorite places, Tractor Supply, and picked up some EZ Straw.
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| EZ Straw |
This is the mulch we've used the last few years on the garden. The stuff has been wonderful and this year we decided to use it on the fruit trees.
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| Mulching the raised beds |
Going to use it more to just keep down the weeds and keep them moist in the Winter since we don't go out there as often when it's cold.
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| Raised bed orchard |
I did all eight trees. It was windy but the sprinkling rain helped keep it from blowing around. Hey, you work with what nature gives you, ha. They all look much better and now we're good until next Spring. I still need to edge around the beds but it was just too wet with some standing water and that's a mess to edge in. I can do that in a week or two, no hurry. It's definitely not growing that much and if we have a freeze this week, then that's it for the season.
And finally, here is some gratuitous food:
We had some leftover beef, a bag of tortilla chips, shredded cheese and pico de gallo (tomatoes, onions, jalapeƱo). That seemed like a meal, ha.
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| Nachos |
We chopped up the meat, put everything randomly layered together in a baking dish and heated it in the oven until melted and bubbly. Then we just dished it out and topped it with some fresh cilantro. Super easy and you can do it with just about any meat (chicken, pork, beef), any kind of cheese, and whatever vegetables or seasonings you like. It certainly makes for a quick and filling dish.
We'll see if this week brings our first freeze. If it does it will be slightly early. We'll see.
Windy, cold and damp and just plain yucky out.
ReplyDeleteYour fruit trees all look so nice with fresh bedding on them. Hopefully they will survive the old temperatures we are receiving.
The Nachos look delicious.
Stay warm and have a great evening
These trees will do fine, they are all the stone fruit trees and the hardy ones, peach, apple, pear, and plum. I believe they are safe in single digits. We won't have to worry about that at least with them. The citrus though is on the porch, covered, hoping they are ok.
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ReplyDeleteHasn't The Walking Dead taken a great turn for the better?
Hey John!! Always a pleasure to hear from you. OMG I LOVE the "new" walking dead, ha. The jump forward was what the show needed I believe. It's fascinating how this show walks the line of being able to just upend storylines, eliminated favorite characters and bring in new people and it's just as good. Can't wait to see what this new future has in store for us.
DeleteI don't know which looks better, the nachos or all those beautiful young fruit trees! Of course the nachos wouldn't last long, but in a number of years those trees will have grown big enough to bear. I am picturing a beautiful orchard in your future.
ReplyDeleteAw thanks. We can't wait for the trees to mature. The raised beds are open bottom so the roots can find their way down. We figure this gives them a head start and they are indeed doing well. At some point I figure we could take the wooden sides away and just let them be mounds. We'll see. Thank you again!!
DeleteTuesday morning.
ReplyDeleteWoke up to 29 deg. and to get down to 24 deg. this evening. I am not too fond of these cold temperatures. It's colder here in Texas than it is in Ohio where my brother lives. It's 34 deg. there this morning.
Isn't that crazy? I saw on the news where Houston got snow before Boston. Go figure!!
DeleteAll those mulched trees look so neat and tidy.
ReplyDeleteThe nachos - yum! Great way to take a bit of this and a dab of that to make something delicious!
I sure was not expecting a freeze this early. It was not fun getting out in the cold to cover my key lime trees, the baby Meyer lemon tree and the still vulnerable avocado tree. Also covered the butterfly weeds because I saw some monarchs on them - for food and sometimes they will lay some late eggs on them.
I just ordered 4 more of those AgFabric 1.5 oz. plant covers - for the 2 Meyer lemons and the 2 avocados. They saved my key limes last year. I put 1 - 2 rebars on the north side of the tree, put on the AgFabric cover and zip it up. Then unzip and open up after the freeze but leave it on. For the key limes, I also added 2 blankets when it went down to 18 degrees last winter.
DeleteI hope all is good for you. I have thought of bringing the citrus back into town since they aren't in the ground yet. Then I can leave them on the balcony and bring them in during a freeze. We'll see. I hope the ag cover works great for you. And you be careful and stay warm!! Be safe!
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