Fruit tree pruning and thinning workshop

I attended a workshop hosted by Common Ground Garden in Palo Alto. I've taken multiple workshops from them before, and always learn plenty. This one was specific to stone fruit tree pruning and thinning. Some things I learned:

• Summer pruning is more about cutting the outer canopy. The goals are to improve this year's crop, next year's harvest, and increase sun and light on the fruit.
• Do summer pruning once the fruit is set (about the size of your thumb).
• Prune out long, young whippy branches. Reduce branches with fruit to about 2-3 leaves above the fruit.
• Always prune out dead/diseased branches and fruit, any time of the year.
• Fall pruning is about shaping the tree, and you cut out more of the inner canopy. You should be able to see dappled light under the tree, rather than solid blocks of shade.
• You want to leave strong branches that will support fruit next year.
• Do fall pruning after fruit has fallen. Recent research shows that the tree will be healthier if it is done sooner rather than waiting until winter.
• Prune no more than about 30% of a tree in a year. That means that you might need to prune a neglected tree down over the span of 2 years.
• Fruit thinning is done to improve fruit size, color, and quality. It will reduce overbearing (too much weight on a particular branch) and stress on the tree. It will also help avoid heavy/light fruiting cycles.
• Do fruit thinning at the same time as summer pruning (once fruit is set).
• Remove fruit where it's growing too close together or it's too far out on the branch and might damage it.
• Practice, practice, practice.

I plan to practice on my parents' fruit trees! And on my tiny mandarin. Citrus trees can be pruned for shape at any time because they don't have a dormant season - often an individual tree never has a point in time when it doesn't have flowers and/or fruits growing.

Spinning achievement unlocked

I'm making good progress with learning to spin more quickly and evenly. I'm still working on the pastel rainbow braid of merino with silk. The silk content means than it will take a lot of spin. I switched from the 1:9 ratio to 1:13!

When I bought the Victoria, the shop asked me if I wanted to purchase the high speed flier (1:20) as well. I turned it down because I figured that it would be a long time before I was ready for that. Hmmm...

Vacation crochet projects

I got a LOT of crocheting done while on vacation in May/June.

Kreisel Fingerless Gloves: a little crooked, but I really like the pattern and this yarn shows it off well.

Celtic Cable Cowl, version 2: love it, where it frequently.

Half Double Cowl: meh. It's warm.

Spiral-cabled Hat: My new go-to beanie.

Bikini Bow Top: I don't wear bras anymore and threw out all my old ones, but then I needed something to go under thin t-shirts in the Caribbean. So I made my own.

Acacia Cloche: Not sure about the color, but I think I look cute.

Egg Basket: for bringing fresh eggs back from the coop.

Fermented chicken feed

I've seen/heard many recommendations for fermenting chicken feed. It helps keeps the chickens hydrated and supposedly increases the nutritional content of the feed. I decided to give it a try, and it's a hit.

Louët Victoria spinning wheel

Yesterday I came home with my brand new Victoria spinning wheel! The shop set it up for me and walked me through its use. They gave me 2 braids of roving and a bottle of oil with my purchase. I also bought a carrying case (which can be worn as a backpack, since this model folds up small), an extra bobbin (for 4 total, so I can do 3-ply), a nicer Lazy Kate than the one it comes with, and an extra braid of roving. I am READY for my spinning journey!

I'm going to try to spend 30 minutes each day either spinning or crocheting. (I would add sewing to that list, but you can't get anything done in 30 minutes unless you have a cat-free room in which to leave everything set out. Someday...)

It's going to be even prettier when my sister the arteest paints flowers all over it!

Chicken slaughter

My Ameraucana was my most productive layer last summer/fall. However after the winter break, she never started laying again. My chickens are livestock rather than pets, which means that they need to pull their weight on the farm. Plus, I suspected that there was a health issue underlying the lack of eggs, so I figured it was more humane to give her a quick death than let her continue getting more sick.

I had read about slaughtering chickens but I was nervous about doing it on my own. Fortunately I recently made a homesteading friend who is experienced with poultry slaughter and she was happy to guide me through the process.

First we paused to admire how beautiful this girl was.

Then we placed her in a restraining cone and I sliced her throat open. The body thrashed a few times and the blood drained into a bucket below. I got lightheaded and had to sit down for a few minutes, but I was able to chat and joke. I didn't have any problems with what I'd done, but it was still shocking to actually kill a bird you've been raising for a year.

We had a hot pot of water ready and we dunked the bird and started plucking feathers. I've heard people complain about this part but it went quickly for us. I was amazed at how easily the feathers came out. Soon we had a carcass that looked almost like a store-bought bird.

We each took a foot and cracked it at the joint, then used kitchen scissors to get them off all the way. At this point my friend took over with cutting into the bird and removing the guts and organs, which was fortunate because we soon discovered that this was not a typical bird to learn on.

The Ameraucana had a huge buildup of thick, bright yellow fat filling up her inner cavity. It was so thick that it was pretty much a solid. It encased her vital organs, and it was clearly the culprit behind the lack of eggs. After a little sleuthing my friend diagnosed this as Fatty Liver Hemorrhagic Syndrome. Left alone, it would have led to internal bleeding and certainly a painful death.

We decided to try roasting her for lunch the next day, since all the internal fat would make up for her being beyond typical roasting age. We turned out to be wrong and the meal was only so-so. Next chicken will go into the soup pot instead. Still, it was very cool to eat an animal that I had raised, and knew exactly how it had lived and what it had eaten over its lifetime.

Butterfly

The garden had a lovely visitor recently.