What's Happening Today - 2019 Edition

[ltilton]

I reuse ziplocks - better than letting all that plastic loose on the land and in the water

[PomGranny]

@hoosierbanana
Our paw paws in VA are a third of that size. WOW. That one in your hand is really something!

@maineorchard
Perfect Peaches. Mine always have spots all over them.

@thecityman
Ditto on what @k8tpayaso and everyone else said about ‘kids that do caring things for their old and soon to be decrepit parents’ . LOL. Seriously . . . that was very sweet of you - and fun for them, I’m sure.

[Bradybb]

A coworker spotted a Mantis.The first one I’ve ever seen in person and wondered if they were in Washington State.
I put him on one of my greenhouse trees.bb

[hoosierbanana]

If you are lucky, he is a she and has already mated. Some have already laid eggs here, but I get them a head start in the spring.

[californicus]

Passion fruit season here in NorCal

@Richard had a whole thread on this here. This is the fastest growing plant in our yard

July 2018 (bad lighting - finished planting after sunset)

One year later, July 2019

[Bigdoug03]

I harvested the first fig from my in ground Chicago Hardy today! This is the third year for this plant and it died back hard to the roots this winter, I thought it was dead. I had decided that it was impossible in my climate, but I guess it’s not.

For comparison though, the parent of this plant is in a 10 gallon pot that overwinters in the garage, and I’ve harvested dozens of figs from it over the last few weeks.

[Katie_didnt_Z4b]

I wonder if the younger generations just don’t appreciate because they often have less of a clue as to how hard it is to produce food! The number of family farms has gone WAY down in the last 100 years. People don’t garden like they used to because of demanding jobs, and women often have to work outside the home like men in order for the family to stay afloat. People just don’t know what it takes anymore.

Or maybe I’m just being a sensitive snowflake i am a millenial after all, barely. I used to have to utilize the food bank and i can tell you, fresh fruit made my heart happy when i found it.

[thecityman]

I think you are 100% dead on with all your conclusions- really. Like no previous generation, those in our age group today and younger really have no concept whatsoever of where food REALLY comes from. And when they do see food being grown (ie on a documentary, the news, driving by, etc) it is almost always these big giant commercial farms or orchards with thousands of trees, lots of automation, etc. Or even hydroponic greenhouses. For all of their lives, today’d generation has only had to go to the grocery store to get almost any fruit or veggie they want…and they also just assume that is what “fresh” fruits and vegs taste like.

We have a food bank in a larger town near mine, and I often go to get food that our fire department distributes to those in need on a small scale. In all the times I’ve been in there, I have never once seen any fresh fruit or veggies. I also hadn’t thought about how much people would probably like to have some…so your post about food banks and bringing that to attention will absolutely 100% result in our foodbank getting some fresh apples this week. I give a lot to our senior center, but they are not neccessarily low income and most can buy their own if they need it (and can find it) but the food bank is a great idea of a place where people might not just enjoy fresh things, but actually NEED it. Hope I can " make someone’s heart happy"

[Katie_didnt_Z4b]

People all over the place are getting your produce! You’re awesome.

[Johnnysapples]

I sat on my deck one fall day watching the squirrels drop hickory nuts from the treetops. I then thought hey I could go pick them all up so I grabbed a bucket and off I went. I just about filled a five-gallon bucket. I put it in my garage and then watched a football game. The next day I looked in the bucket and those squirrels took back their nuts!

[Johnnysapples]

I reuse my gallon size zip locks that I use for brining venison.

[thecityman]

Thanks Katie, but before I accept the compliment I have to admit it isn’t so much about me being awesome (ha) as it is about me just not wanting to see all my hard work go to waste. It goes back to what we talked about earlier- an appreciation for fresh food and especially free food- and my aversion to letting it go to waste. It just kills me to see a single apple fall and rot because I didn’t pick it soon enough, and its even worse picking it having it spoil because I didn’t do anything with it. So a lot of my gift giving and donations are just about my own desire not to have wasted all my time, money and effort on fruit that doesn’t get used. Just keeping it real. Fortunately those who end up with my fruit benefit as well.

[Katie_didnt_Z4b]

I get that. There’s an apple tree two blocks down from me that doesn’t get picked. The fruit just rots… it drives me a bit crazy I must say. And it’s not even my own tree. My trees haven’t really produced much yet but I can imagine I’ll feel even more strongly when it’s my own fruit, blood, sweat, dollars and tears.

[thecityman]

Exactly! When I see fruit laying under my trees, I just see money and work laying on the ground, which is very painful. But I also see an environment that breeds insects, fungi, and diseases that will affect that tree and others the following year. So I just can’t stand letting fruit waste. What little does, I try to at least pick up and remove from orchard.

[btle]

I have had more contact with the younger generation, not limited to any races, than a normal mother, and as a result have understood their cautious reaction to everything. With the information on the internet they know about all the chemicals available for commercials and home gardeners, and seeing all the cancer cases in the family, even with younger persons, make them limit what they want to consume. They are also very strict about the sugar intake. My daughter and her cousins and friends know I didn’t use any chemicals, still they only take home the amount of fruits they can eat because the reason is always “too sweet, too much sugar”. Sometimes the reason is they want to save the sweet treat of the day/week to buy something when going out with their friends.Their main concern now is finding a job. Many kids with college degree are doing part-time minimum wage work. My son told me sometimes ago that the older generation should retire, if they can afford, to give the kids a chance in life. That was what I did, and what my husband will do next year, even though we don’t have a lot of money. I buy a lot of trees from the local nurseries sometimes just because I can feel their desperation, or in case of the big box store, so that hopefully they will keep the workers instead of letting them go.

[Mpigg]

Just picked a few mini peaches.

[Poorwolf]

What a coincidence, I’m growing that same peach this year!

[AndySmith]

Today we finished moving the wood chip piles out of the field. 977 trees converted to 80 piles of chips and one chip mountain. Next we wait for the track hoe to pull the rest of the stumps and then I can run the sub-soiler through again to help get more roots out. Hope to be plowing and planting a cover crop in the spring and laying out mulched rows for the orchard. Then I can begin planting out what I have in the nursery bed.

[btle]

The first year we were here as refugee I wore hand out clothes to college. My father would pack for me and my brother each a bologna sandwich and half an apple for lunch. During summer I worked for $1/hr. My husband worked as a janitor to pay for college. When I got married we didn’t have much money so my sisters made the wedding dress for me. Still we were very happy because the future looked good with all the opportunities, we just had to work hard for it. That is why I feel so sad for the kids nowadays. My children do have a job and they work very hard for it. I had to stay home for a long time because my kids were sick a lot so we didn’t have much money. Still my children know that if they don’t have money to give away they can always volunteer the time to help. When my son made some money in college, the first year he bought me flowers and chocolate for Mother’s Day. The dried flowers are still displayed in my living room. The next year he asked if I wanted chocolate, or if I liked him to give money to charity. There was only one answer possible, and I have to buy chocolate by myself since then.

[thecityman]

I don’t feel like I properly acknowledged your last reply to me above where you talked about the fact that you had been from a low-income home as a kid and talked about some of your struggles and things you had to do. I just reread that response and felt compelled to say I think it says a great deal about you and your son. I was touched how he visited and got to know his grandmother often. My own mother is in her 80’s now and only lives 2 hours away and yet I don’t go visit and feel guilty about it knowing one day I will wish I had. Anyway, you already had me with your reply to me just a few paragraphs above, but now I’m sure you’re a good person who understands the value of giving.

@Btle, your own post is what made me go back and look at Steve’s, and I could say some of the same things to you. Its not easy to admit that you once were poor, but like Steve and his son, you and yours have also clearly learned the importance of giving. I think I learned it best after I got my current job and started helping our fire department deliver Toys to Tots. I knew all the kids would be thrilled to get toys even if they didn’t understand why or where they were coming from. But what I didn’t expect was the reaction of the parents, many of whom cry and apologize and tell us how embarassed they are that they had to have help just to buy their kids presents- even though in many cases its only because their factory shut down or they got hurt and can’t work or whatever- ie no fault of their own. Anyway, what you both said and I’ve finally learned my self is that it really, truly is more blessed to give than to receive. And while I’ve enjoyed selling a few apples the last few days, make no mistake- Next year I will once again give away the vast majority as long as I can find folks who want or need them!