Saturday, June 13, 2009

A Sick Tree and This Weeks Harvest

Welcome dirtdigger. Thanks for following my blog!


Tuesday 1:30 P.M. I get a call at work from my son... "Mom, we have a problem"....

1:06 P.M. 1/3 of the magnolia tree in the front yard came down with no warning.



Thank God no one was hurt.
It seems the tree had been rotting for some time.



The rest of the tree will need to come down. I hope it doesn't fall before it's taken out!







~Garden News~


Photo Below: June 10 Harvest



June 10
Cucumber 9.6 oz
Cherry Tomatoes 0.7 oz
Pole Beans 0.7 oz
Bush Beans 2.2 oz
Strawberries 1.7 oz
Raspberries 3.1 oz

June 11 (not pictured)
Strawberries 0.3 oz
Butterhead Lettuce 3.7 oz
Leaf Lettuce 4.7 oz
Baby Cucumber 4.9 oz

Photo Below: Todays harvest and dinner. It feels so good to be able to walk into the yard and pick your dinner.



June 13
Strawberries (1 berry) 0.4 oz
Bush Beans 1.7 oz
Pole Beans 1.8 oz
Cucumber 7.8 oz
Potatoes 7.3 oz
Garlic 0.5 oz
Basil 0.2 oz

In my last post I had said the bell peppers and the watermelons didn't seem to be doing much of anything. Well while I was watering and feeding everything this morning I noticed 2 watermelons that seem to be putting on some size and most if not all of the bell pepper plants now have at least one pepper on them. I'll take some photos this week.

I posted this photo in my last post and asked if anyone knew what it is. Well Jenn over at Gamine's Garden came through for me. The photo below is Bird's Nest Fungi. Thanks Jenn!



"A member of the Nidulariales. Each of the "nests" is barely large enough to hold a BB. The little black "eggs" in the "nests" (the eggs are technically called "peridioles") are at first covered by white membranes, but at maturity the membranes rupture, exposing the eggs to open air. Then raindrops splash the eggs out of the nest. These eggs contain spores which will germinate and form new fungal bodies. Bird's Nests are not particularly rare or exotic."
This fungi feeds on bark causing it to break down and puts nutrients back into the soil.

6 comments:

  1. Yuck for the tree. It was beautiful!

    Yeah for the harvest! Woohoo!!

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  2. Dang.....You and granny sure know how to make a harvest photo look fantastic. Sorry about the tree, and I have those fungi, too!

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  3. Ribbit,

    Thank you. I've been reading your blog and your harvest is looking great!

    Liisa

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  4. R.I.P. pretty magnolia tree. Although I lost a huge branch from a maple tree once, and I filled the hole with concrete which was reinforced with a piece of wire fencing. It was barely noticeable, as the concrete dried to about the same color as the bark, and I used a bit of paint to make it more realistic. I did clean out the rot as well as possible before I put the concrete in the hole. The tree was still alive, healthy and growing well when we cut it down and replaced it with a flowering plum.

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  5. Hi Granny,

    Thanks for the info. I never knew you could seal a wounded tree with concrete. I don't think we can save this one. It's over 45 years old and I can see signs that the rot (black mold) is up in the other branches. If the rest of it comes down on it's own it will most likely fall on a house. Hopefully our landlord will have it removed soon.

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