But Farmer B pulled out the big guns and I got the Gardening Motherload for Mother's Day.
They had me close my eyes and walk out to the garage, where I first saw this:
A big beautiful orange tree. In my first ever blog post, I mentioned our almost dead baby orange tree. Of course it has since died and I've always felt bad about that since it was a present to my husband from my mother. Now we've got a new orange tree to take its place and I'm determined to force this one to go against its natural instincts and live. I'll actually try and feed this orange tree and water it - and all the other stuff you're supposed to do to make trees live and not die.
Then I noticed a big brown box in the corner and realized that it was a real-live composter!! The kind that you can turn periodically with a handle!! Look how happy this woman looks in her white pants and straw hat. That's gonna be me soon! I can dream, right?
Not that my homemade garbage can-composter isn't awesome, but it's next to impossible to turn the compost so it just sits there getting heavier every day. Now I've got two composters, which I think will be perfect! This thing has an assembly book as big as a phone book, so I think it'll take us a full day to put it together next weekend.
And just when I was giddy with my new tree and new composter I noticed three little plants on the floor. I am now the proud owner of a blueberry plant, a raspberry plant and a blackberry plant. EEEEK!
I have plans of building a raised bed along the side of our well where we already have a trellis in place (more so to hide the well) and planting the three new plants and some existing strawberries that aren't doing too well. I realize I'll need to cover the plants with chicken wire to keep out the Great White Beast, but I'm excited about the whole shebang.
Did Farmer B give me a great Mother's Day or what???
Excellent, and a belated happy Mother's Day. The tree is beautiful. Next year I may be getting my wife the same gift, as our current orange tree is on its last legs.
ReplyDeleteI'd say you had a fantastic Mother's day.
ReplyDeleteEven with any one of those awesome gifts it would have been great! But 5!! F-A-N-T-A-S-T-I-C!!
So jealous.
Anna
Hey, Kate, I'll trade you two Mr. Grannys for one Farmer B! Deal?
ReplyDeleteKate that is awesome!!!!
ReplyDeleteWow that is the motherload. Plants and a new composter. I just laugh about the lady in the white pants though. Oh that could never be me.
ReplyDeleteAwesome!
ReplyDeleteOutstanding! Nice Hubby! He knows how to treat a gal!
ReplyDeleteFantastic! Now, can you match that for Father's Day?
ReplyDeleteDang...you hit the jackpot! You're gonna have an entire orchard before long, and i'm sure you'll enjoy the new composter!
ReplyDeleteI'm with Daphne....that lady in the white pants must be on painkillers or something. Ha!
LOL Glad you guys loved the pic of the woman on the compost box. Instead of a model wearing white pants and a fitted pink shirt, they should show a mom with a bagful of soggy kitchen scraps opening up the lid and turning her head away to stop the flies from zooming up her nose when she dumps the scraps in - LOL.
ReplyDeleteOh and Ribbit - I'm soooooo screwed for Father's Day. How on earth do I top THIS? or even match it??? Yeah, I had better come up with a plan and fast!
My kudos to Farmer B and your children. I get, via the web, your joy and their love.
ReplyDeleteI want your orange to thrive. I'm in So Cal and you are in Florida, both citrus areas. My experience with citrus is they are very very sensitive to having their roots messed with. I had one Valencia orange sulk for a year before it began really growing. It's now really healthy. With that experience I throughly prepared the two holes for a new mandarin and navel orange I planted from 15 gal pots this winter. I had everything in place, backfill soil, etc., before I actually removed the tree from it's pot. I held it up by its trunk while a helper knocked the pot downward. Instantly into the hole and filled. The roots were exposed to the air for maybe 30 seconds. These two just sat there for about a month and then started flushing out new growth.
I know you know that citrus (and any fruit tree) does not like wet feet. Citrus likes even moisture. Not dry, wet, dry, wet. Do you have clay soil? If so you must build a raised bed for your citrus. Citrus like well draining soil.
Do not over-fertilize or over-irrigate. Too much well-intentioned TLC will kill a tree. Easy and steady does it with citrus.
Best,
Tony
How much fun! Great gifts...check to see if the blueberry needs a pollinator..
ReplyDeleteI must say, that is a gift after my own heart. I was just thinking this morning that I'd rather have a new barn than a diamond from Tiffany's. In a heartbeat.
ReplyDeleteI wish you well with your plants! Give the blueberry lots of weed-free room.