I got a surprise this morning!
My SIL started sending messages, telling me they had an opportunity to get a whole bunch of haskaps, if there was somewhere to plant them.
Somewhere around 30 of them.
!!!!!
I told her we’d been preparing areas in the food forest for the past several years that had the full sun and space needed.
Long story short…
She would come over to get their pick up truck, so she could pick them up and bring them over. My brother would then come out after work to plant them.
While she was on the way out, I went to the future food forest area and started preparing it. The three rows where we once grew bush beans, with fresh garden soil added, were still there, slightly elevated from the new soil. What had been an annoyance while mowing now made it easy to find and clear them with the weed trimmer.
The old rows were marked out at 6 feet apart, while the rows themselves were about 2 feet wide and 18 feet long, leaving a 4 foot path between them.
With planting space needing to be 4 feet apart, I knew the three rows would not be enough. I weed trimmed the length of them, then extended them in a curve to match the curve of the silver buffalo berry. The plan was to leave a lane in between large enough to drive through with a truck, and the curve making it easier to change direction.
Once the weed trimming was done, I measured and marked out three rows at 20 feet, each with six poles that were 4 feet apart. I was just finishing up when my SIL arrived, so I went over to ask if she had time to see.
She was surprised. It turns out they intended to do it all themselves, expecting nothing from us to do in advance. I was feeling really good today, so I was happy to do it.
Once we got out there and I explained what I was doing, and why I was marking the way I did, I realized the curves I’d trimmed were completely off and did not match the curve of the silver buffalo berry as well as I’d though, while actually doing the trimming.
While showing there the different zones for planting I had in mind, she was quite surprised by how much we had planned out already. I told her that, with these new trees, they’re basically shaving probably 5 years off our plans!
While we were talking, my SIL noticed the gorgeously red crab apples, and we went over to check them out. The small red ones still have apples higher up and she was able to reach some. She also grabbed one from the tree with larger apples. We both enjoyed a snack of them and agreed that the smaller ones, with their sweet tart flavour, were more delicious than the larger, milder ones, though both are quite good.
As we walked back to their truck, she told me that she would drive right up to where I’d marked the rows, if I were okay with her driving through the yard. She was concerned the truck might damage the yard. We have a septic truck drive though there with no issues, so I assured her it was fine – and was exactly the sort of thing I was leaving a drivable lane open!
While she was getting the truck ready, I started heading back to continue marking rows but realized there was a bit of a problem. The huge maple by the old garden shed overhangs the entire space between the maple grove and the spruce grove, and one branch in particular was hanging low enough to be in the way while mowing the lawn. The truck would be hitting that branch.
So I headed to the garage and got the long handled pruning saw set up. The pole is designed to telescope but the wingnut that would have allowed the length to be adjusted was plastic and broken. I’d tightened it with a wrench. Ironically, that part of it held. The nut that was secured to the bottom length didn’t, coming loose while I was using it. I hadn’t put it back yet, not having needed the extra length until now. So, today, I finally worked on it and got the two lengths together again, making extra sure they were secure. Then I headed over and cut away the lowest hanging branch.
It was quite large, but I was able to drag it off to the branch pile outside the gate near the fire pit, where I left it on the ground. It was too big for me to maneuver onto the pile without over doing it. I messaged the girls and arranged for someone to come out and break it down enough to toss onto the pile, then went back to the tree.
Walking back, something dramatic caught my eye.
The dead maple near the fire pit had a pale frill around its base.
The maples get mushrooms growing on them regularly, but I’ve never seen a ring of them completely surrounding a trunk at the base like this!
Once back at the trimmed maple, I could see two other branches were hanging low enough that they would scrape the truck, so I took them down, too. Those branches were already dead and a bit smaller, so I was able to drag those over the branch pile inside the yard, for fire pit fuel. That left quite a few small broken off branches to clean up in the grass before I could continue. There was one more low hanging branch that should probably be trimmed, too, but even at its full extension, I couldn’t reach where the branch would need to be but to bring it down. There was room to drive around it, though, so it can stay for now.
Another thing I’d done was hook the garden hose back up. We have three hoses to be able to reach all of the main garden area, plus there is a fourth one added on when watering the food forest trees and bushes. While working on clearing the eavestroughs with the hose attachment, I needed only one hose length. I’d already hooked that back up again to the second length but, as I was cleaning up the broken branches, I realized I was hearing a hissing noise.
The female coupling on the second hose was leaking, under where it rotates to attach to the male coupling. I fiddled with it a bit and it got worse. I had to shut the tap off. Since we need the hose working to water the transplants, I messaged my brother and SIL, asking if they could pick up a Quick Connect repair kit, and was even able to send them a photo one I had an another hose, so they knew exactly what I was asking for. Hopefully, one of them will have a chance to swing past a hardware store along the way and get one, and I’ll etransfer them to pay them back for it. Otherwise, I’ll have to steal a hose from the front tap until I can pick one up myself.
Then it was back to marking planting spaced in a curve that match the sliver buffalo berry.
By the time I was done, lining the three rows up, I had marked 36 potential spots to plant in.
I was going to go back with the weed trimmer to clean up the corrected curves, but my alarm went off to take my afternoon pain meds, just as I was finishing the last couple of markers. I hadn’t had lunch yet, either, so I went in for both.
I still haven’t heard from cancer care, so I called my specialist’s clinic to see what I could find out. I’d called and left a message last week, but no one had called back.
The guy that answered the phone was able to look up my file and saw that cancer care had acknowledged they received my referral…
On the 24th.
I’d been expecting to get a call from them on the 17th or 18th.
Which means that, at this point, my file is most likely being assessed by the doctor(s) that will be taking my case, working out what needs to be done and finding a date for me to come in for the surgery. This is for a biopsy and to test my lymph nodes and determine what stage I’m at. Given my circumstances, it should happen quickly. Just not as quickly as my specialist expected. He then told me he would phone them right away to see what he could find out, as far as a time line.
With the longer wait, I brought up that the specialist, who was out of office today, had given me a 2 week prescription of Tramacet based on her expecting me to be in surgery around the time it ran out. I’ve got about 4 days of it left (only because I’ve taken T3s instead, while not at home). He told me that, once he had a chance to talk to cancer care, he’d be able to give the doctor enough information to know if I should get a 1 or 2 week extension on the prescription.
That done, it was past 2pm and the post office was open, so I headed out to pick up the mail and a parcel, then came back and made myself a late lunch.
Unfortunately, I seemed to have pushed myself a bit too far, as the abdominal pain started to come back, even with the painkiller. By the time my food was ready, it was still getting worse. I was going to lie down after having my lunch, but decided I was feeling well enough to write this post, instead.
As I was writing the above, I got a message from my SIL. She had messaged me earlier to tell me she had overestimated how many she could fit into the truck. She sent me some photos. She had already told me that these were from a friend who had a greenhouse and dreams of selling trees, only to become ill and recently passed away; they went to his funeral this past weekend. His family are dealing with a lot right now, of course, and she found out they were planning to throw them away. That’s why she was wanting to contact me about whether there was a place for them this morning. So these are all potted saplings. She sent me some photos of them, and the partially loaded truck. They are HUGE!! She did tell me they were starting to be neglected, so it’s possible they won’t all survive, but even if they don’t all make it, we’ll still end up with quite a lot.
She is still working out how to get them all into the truck, and it has started to rain where she is. My brother will be coming out here ahead of her and start preparing the ground for transplanting. They have a working tiller stored out there, and I now have what should be more than enough spots marked out for him to prepare. If things work out, it’s going to be quite late by the time it’s all done, but this is not something that can be set aside for later. They have “now” to do it, so it needs to be done.
Hopefully, the preparations I made will help it go faster. If nothing else, my brother won’t need to do any measuring.
With the mild fall we are having now, they should have enough time to develop a root system before the ground freezes, and they’ll survive the winter.
So that is where we are at now. Hopefully, tomorrow, I’ll be able to get some photos of a whole bunch of transplanted haskaps to share!
For now, though, I think I’ll go ahead and lie down for a bit, so that I am more likely to be feeling up to joining them outside when they get here – or at least when my brother gets here after work. For my SIL, it’ll be about a 2 hour drive from where she’s picking up the haskaps!
I love my brother and SIL. They are amazing.
This will be a HUGE boost to our food forest plans.
The Re-Farmer
Praying for you for healing and rejuvenation.
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