In the Garden: Cherry Tree

Hubba and I planted this Montmorency Cherry Tree soon after we moved into our current house.

We've gotten a small harvest here and there, but usually the Robins devour the fruit right before it ripens.

This year, we have a pair of Crows hanging around and we do not have Robins nesting on the house.  I'm not sure if these are correlated, but it seems to be.

As such, my tree is was able to fill of ripe fruit, so we took advantage and made a pie.

Since my books are packed for the move, I used this recipe.

Then we collected and froze a few batches and shared the bounty with our neighbors.

We intend to plant a larger cherry (hopefully Rainier, because they are my favorite to eat) at the new place, once we're settled.... but this pie was so good, we may end up with a few varieties. ;-)

I hope you're having a glorious summer!

No More Christmas Tree

As much as I have enjoyed the smell of fresh greenery in the house and the gentle glow of small, white lights, I just couldn't leave it up any more.

It's two weeks until Christmas and our tree is dry and brittle.  I am paranoid about fire so it came down today.  :-(

I thought I may have been too anxious and got the tree too soon, but we cut the end off and soaked the trunk in water before putting it up in hopes of prolong it's life.  However, it wasn't taking up as much water as I think it should.

I'm surprised by how happy having a decorated tree has made me.  So I have been thinking again about getting an artificial one.  I know the aroma will not be the same, but the glow and adornment can be.

In the meantime, this one will be composting in my garden.

Merry Christmas!

Some of the Trees in our Garden

Earlier this year we planted two small pine trees and one even smaller maple tree.

I am happy to report they are all showing new growth.

I am cautiously optimistic about the maple.  She's tiny and had a tough go at first, but even she has a bit of new growth as well.

We didn't have many apple blossoms this year so I think it's a good year to prune this tree.

Finally, the climbing tree has leafed out.  :-)

Have I mentioned that I love this time of year?  :-)

Garden: Planting Trees

While the tiny bit of snow we got on Holy Saturday was melted, it was still chilly and overcast on Easter Sunday.

Hubba picked up three small trees that friends had given us.  They actually offered the trees last fall, but with travelling and winter, the trade didn't happen until now.

I'm not entirely sure what variety these trees are, so until I learn better I am calling them a Maple, a Spruce and a Norfolk.

I dug big holes, layered alpaca manure and dirt, made sure the "neck" was above the soil and gave them a long, slow drink of water.

The pine trees had been in pots for quite some time.

I'm hoping I didn't do too much damage to the roots as I separated them from the pots.

I put a fence around each of the new trees in order to protect them from the enthusiastic, teething puppies and the lawn mower that may be used later this week.

The ground was easy to dig, so I am considering picking up a few fruit trees to plant next weekend.

We Took a Walk

Last weekend, we took a walk along the Cache la Poudre River in Fort Collins.

There is a great bridge and huge cottonwood trees.

The sky was interesting.

The light was great.

It was a good walk.

Fall in my Front Yard

The Tree

We have several trees in front of our house, but this tree is very interesting to me.  I don't know what kind it is. 

The buds remind me of fuzzy caterpillars.  The leaves are similar to an aspen and the bark is a very pretty white.