Gardening woes turn philosophical

We've really enjoyed watching our seeds come up!  Almost every day there is something more coming up and it's so excited.  I had just about given up on many of the tomatoes, melons, and peppers, but then we had a hot spell (hit 90) and they started popping.  Even today there were a couple more peppers coming up.  I think we've lost almost all our plants though.  They were doing great and it turned stormy after the heat.  I had to keep them in a few days for most of the day to protect them from the wind and heavy rain.  One night after putting them out for an afternoon I noticed everything seemed to have gone from a healthy green to kind of pale.  A couple of our watermelon plants did this when they first came up, they were yellow and eventually died.  They are rare heirloom species so I wasn't sure if the leaves were supposed to be yellow or not at first.  Now most of the tomatoes, some tomatillos, most cucumbers, half the flowers, and the sunflower and pumpkin all seem to be following suit.  I'm wondering if we got some bad potting soil that had a fungus in it?

I checked on my fruit trees yesterday to see if I had any cherries since I noticed the tree was all leafed out and I didn't see any more flowers on it.  It looked like an army of some insect had attacked it and just gorged themselves.  I checked the next tree and the next...all the same.  The smaller younger trees seemed spared, but all the established trees leaves' were just ripped to shreds and the fruit all had dings in them too.  Then I remembered the hail storm last week.  Nearly pea sized hail had fallen and so much that some spots of the ground looked like it had snowed and there was still some remaining in the shade in piles the next day.  So, yes I have cherries, but hardly a one not damaged by the hail.  I hadn't even thought to pray for protection for my fruit during that storm.  I was more worried about the boys and Richard that were out on a camping trip.  (They said they only got light sprinkles, so those prayers were answered.  It was so bad blowing and  hailing and raining I wondered if they would cancel the father sons and no one would show up to join them the next day.  I wouldn't have any way to reach them to tell them either because they were out of cell range.) 

Seeing that there was fruit visible on the cherry trees, I decided to check  if the petals had dropped so I could spray for fire blight.  They had on the pear trees and fruit was visible so I came in and got out the fire blight powder, only to learn as I read the instructions that I had to spray during the blossoming time, not after.  Now that there is fruit, it is too late and shouldn't be sprayed. 

I had a feeling that I shouldn't get a replacement Asian pear tree, but did anyways one day.  I planted one last year and it died almost immediately of fire blight.  I planted the new one a week or two ago and it is already showing signs of blight.  It was in blossom when I got it and should have been sprayed immediately, but I had the timing and instructions in my head mixed up.  The sprays for insects and fungicides is before blossoms show or after petal drop and little tiny fruit is visible, but the spray for fire blights is during.  The tree is showing major hail damage with little black marks all over every branch and also showing signs of the beginning of fire blight (so named because the tree begins to turn black and look like it's been scorched by a fire- it's a bacterial disease that kills the tree and is one of the most common  reasons around here for losing pear and apple trees).  I don't think my apples have bloomed yet, so at least I hope to remember to spray them. 

I'm trying to have the courage to remove my favorite cherry tree too; a Stella cherry tree.  I planted it three years ago and one branch seemed to be wilted all summer.  I called the nursery and they suggested possible poor drainage or root damage from planting and to keep an eye on it.  (They replace trees if they don't grow or die for some reason.)  Last year it bore fruit and we actually managed to keep the birds away enough to get to taste it.  (The first year there were a few cherrries, but on the morning I was going to go out and put on the bird net, the birds beat me to the cherries.  The kids said the birds basically flew in, did a fly-by, and the cherries were gone.  We had been eagerly anticipating their being ripe in the next week, but got none.) All branches looked vigorous so I thought I was out of the clear and the tree had recovered.  Then after picking the fruit, the whole tree seemed to wilt.   The leaves just always looked wilted no matter how much water I gave them.  I noticed cracks in the tree trunks in February about the same time we got a cat.  At first, I blamed the cat...I caught him red handed a couple of times.  It might have been, but now I'm thinking sunscald/frost cracks.  Anyway, I've now figured out that this tree has cytospora canker.  There is no cure as they've disallowed the chemical that used to treat it.  The canker has practically girdled the trunk and from what I've read, some years the tree may beat it back and heal a bit, but eventually it will probably kill the tree.  I've a mind to just let the tree battle it, it's so hard to lose something I've worked so hard to care for and anticipated the fruit of for so long.  It worked out so great last year...the Stella ripened and two weeks later the Bings; so I would be able to pick fruit for a month rather than a week or two by having the two different varieties.  The problem with keeping the tree is that the canker multiplies and releases spores every spring into the wind and can contaminate other cherry and peach trees.  About the time I figured out what it was last fall, my Bing tree which has really grown well, also began showing the amber ooze indicative of the canker.  And examination of the trees this February when I was getting ready to prune had a peach tree showing signs.  It might already be too late?


Still haven't figured out why my new currant bushes kept dying back.  One seems to have come back great this year after the winter, but the other 3 are still showing signs of last year's behavior: dying back, sending out new growth, leaves turn brown and fall off, repeat.

As you can tell, I am fast becoming a tree disease expert.  I'm about 2-3 years behind on the knowledge of what should have been done.  (A lot depends on the weather no matter what you do and last year and the year before were long wet springs so conditions were ripe and many trees were lost in the vallery.) I hate to think that all this work was just a practice crop and that I'll have to keep replacing trees.  I've had to grow a lot.  It is so hard to thin and prune trees.  You work so hard to afford to buy the trees, to plant them to water them, and looking forward to the fruit it is hard to pick it off and delay it's development for years even though it strengthens the tree.  Like a mother, taking a child to get a shot...it's a little hurt for a long term benefit.  There is so little in society now that isn't instant gratification that it is hard to have patience with growing things (be it trees, plants, children, people).  That is one benefit though of gardening, one of the blessings I am seeing is that you do have to think in longer terms of seconds, minutes, or even days, weeks, or months. 

I think the reason that Adam was commanded to till the earth was for that reason ... to have to work at something for a long time before seeing results and harvesting from his labors.  Raising children is this way and even waiting 3 years for fruit, might be hard, but it is faster results than children.  Men go to work and get nearly immediate rewards for their labors...something visible accomplished, even if only a check list, and in a reasonably short period of time, a paycheck.  Women raise children and I often say we don't see the results until the eternities.  That is when I'll know my work is done, when I see if my children made it to the Celestial kingdom.  There are sweet moments and little rewards and sometimes even great satisfaction watching our children grow, but the job isn't never completed in this life.  That's why I can... I can see something I created done - and it stays done/preserved the way I want it until I say so!  Although, I do have to annually replenish the canning and I can things year round; it is not like the dishes that have to be redone every few hours or a kitchen floor just mopped that only stays clean for five minutes...or a child that has to be reminded about how to treat their siblings sometims every few seconds for years before they get it! (We really never grow out of this, we all have our things Heavenly and Earthly parents have tried to teach us our whole life and we still are not getting.)  I think that's why ladies are drawn to crafting and other such hobbies.  As Elder Uchtdorf described it so well in Relief Society Conference a few years back: women need two things 1)to create 2) beauty.  Often we combine the two.  I think he was saying these two also made us God-like.  I should reread the talk to make sure I've got it straight.  We need to produce something beautiful and solid/lasting to counter the long-term nurturer role where we may not even see resulst in this life...be it nurturing our children, spouses, neighbors, friends, family, or whoever is in our lives - including ourselves.  Men were commanded to till the earth to give them a constant frustrating never-ending battle to force them to look longterm and be patient.  Anyways, that's my two bits.  And of course we are to help each other as, in my experience, men tend to deal with here and now and women tend to think more long term and plan for the future. Both views are needed in gardening and parenting.

The more I garden, the more I learn about the gospel and understand why the Savior used so many gardening parables and why we are commanded to keep a garden.  Everyone can grow something no matter when or where they live and everyone can learn about life and the gospel and better understand the gospel by growing something.

Spring Break visitors

I have several blog entries to write.  I just keep putting them off because I'm too busy and I know if I sit down to write I'll be here forever and write far more than anyone wants to read at a time.  So, I'll try to be brief yet cover everything...mind just went blank.  I guess the blog is over.  I was thinking earlier that I wish I could just post as easily as I did in facebook and lo and behold I sign in tonight and they've heard my wish...no more clicking through several screens to make a post! 

Here's what's been crackin' around here...

Over spring break some friends came to visit.  We hadn't been in touch with them for many years (like almost 10)!  They are true friends though, the kind that you just pick up where you left off no matter how long it has been...good people.  She's an inspiration to me; a very good example of what kind of mother I wish I could be.  Sam says we did as much with them in 2 days as we usually do in a year.  Monday we did some grocery shopping and touring of the commercial side of town.  The kids drove RC cars, launched rockets, made baking soda & vinegar water bottle bombs, and played in the yard.  In the evening we hosted a birthday barbecue in the evening for a friend in the Relief Society Presidency.  The whole presidency came with their families and a neighbor girl from the robotics team and maybe a neighbor boy too.  Of course, there was four wheeling despite the mud.  I managed to get out and plant the peas that soaked all weekend long in the garden boxes in the morning.

Monday morning, my teammate at the YMCA mentioned she had a milk cow.  So, I arranged with her to bring everyone out and milk her cow on Tuesday morning.  Everyone took a turn except for Matt.  He got tired of waiting for his turn and went chased the chickens.  She had new baby chicks to see too.  We now are regular milk customers and have more cream than we can use at once.  She's going to teach me how to make sour cream and mozzarella cheese.  After that, we drove a big loop out to the church orchard and around and back into Caldwell to show them some of the rual area.  Her husband stayed home sick resting and preparing for his evening job interview.  Tuesday evening was school board meeting and job interview for the men, so Maria and I took the kids to the YMCA to swim.  Wednesday, she and her husband went house hunting and I watched the kids (6 of the 7).  I paired up one of theirs with one of ours to get the housework done quickly (inspiration!) and then they played.  We made breadstick dough for lunch and everyone got a piece to play with and cook up how they liked.  Lastly, we planted seeds while they packed up and got ready to go. 

p.s.
Our friend got the job as prinicipal at the boys' school and so we are now so excited to have them move out here and get to see them more often and continue the friendships.  We are very excited to him as the new principal.  He's exactly what we need at the school and it is a real blessing that we got him.  I'm expecting great things.

FIRST Robotics Competition Trip to SLC

Sam and I spent all our spare time and then some in January and February with his FIRST Robotics Team. The competition this year was Rebound Rumble. Sam was ecstatic: basketball and robotics together! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOXsdhZZSdM We spent the middle of March in Salt Lake City for Robotics competition. It was a great learning experience for the kids. They had a lot of fun. Lots of set backs and life lessons in dealing with teamwork, succes, challenges, and disappointments. The robot was working when we sealed it up in the bag, but not working when they tried to start it up at the competetion. So instead of practicing driving and adding the programming for driving and shooting, more than half the day was spent trying to figure out why it wouldn't turn on. Finally it was diagnosed that the digital sidecar (?) was fried...the brains were dead. Nampa team had a spare they loaned us and we made it to the final practice game of the day.

Friday was competitions all day long. We were up as high as 10th place towards the end of the day and looking good for being in the finals. The end of the day also saw it looking like it may come down to a competition of whose robot still worked as, the more they ran, the more breakdowns occured. We bent steal and had to fix and replace pieces in between games. Day two saw us dropping steadily in the rankings as we could not get on the bridge and a lot of points were scored by being able to get on the bridge at the end of the game with an opponent. We dropped as low as 27th out of 43. Getting on the bridge was essential to place in the top 8 and qualify for finals because of the rubrik for "cooperitition." Because we could get over the barrier though and play defensively, several teams that were in the top rankings were interested in us for their alliance for finals. We were one of the first teams picked in the final alliance choosing that was not in the top 10. We were also the first alliance out in the quarter finals. Not bad for a first year young and inexperienced rookie team (with mostly rookie mentors too). Two of the robots we expected to win and go to nationals were out not long after us. It got pretty exciting and intense in the finals. Games were won and lost by simple things not planned for such as balls getting stuck under the bridge so the robot could not tip the bridge to get on. Robots tipped trying to get on, etc. Every game had some surprise and it got intense!

I have been so impressed with the FIRST Robotics programs. I've seen Sam grow so much and gain so many real-life skills through this experience. Even his teachers commented at the last parent teacher conferences that they had noticed he had really grown. It probably wasn't all robotics, but I think that it certainly facilitated it. Nothing like speaking their language to get them to have growing experiences they wouldn't attempt otherwise.

Here's our team in the pit with the robot.

I lost 3 lbs spending my days dancing to the music as we cheered on the robots. Rachel and Sarah came down to dance some too when they stopped in to visit. It was all over for the mascots when Rachel realized one could dance with them. She wanted them to dance with her non-stop.

We had a great time visiting family while there too, on both sides. We had pizza with my brother Josh on the way down and stayed with Richard's family and all his siblings came to visit. Richard got to spend time with his brother, Russ, at the RC track in Magna with the boy cousins. (except Sam - who was at Robotics)

Matthew and AJ finished the Book of Mormon while we were there so they could go to Leatherby's Ice Creamery for ice cream. They have such good ice cream that even their "Playdough" ice cream is yummy. Cold Stone's got nothing on them as far as flavor!

What my kids got out of the Stake Cultural Arts Festival

We went to a Cultural Arts Festival last night. It was great! The only disappointment was when they announced the Cueca (the Chilean National Dance) and the curtain lifted to about 8 girls in red sequin pants outfits. The cueca is a love story about a guy and girl. The outfits were wrong, the participants were wrong, the music was like nothing I ever heard in Chile and then the girls started tap dancing? Don't know what happened to the cueca, they never did come back to it, but the MC then came out and announced the oops! - it was an Irish dance. At least I got to hear the Chilean National Anthem before that.
I asked my kids what they liked best about it. Rachel and Sarah of course absolutely loved the dancing and sparkly costumes. All through the singing the girls kept asking if there would be more dancing and how many more dances. Sarah exclaimed about the costumes, "They are so pretty! Mommy, look, they are so pretty!" The boys' favorite was the Hallelujah Chorus at the end. Because, when they play Worms (an old favorite they've started playing again after a few years' break), there is a Hallelujah bomb that sings "Hallelujah!" followed by a boom when the bomb hits and blows up everything. So all during the song, every time they heard " Hallelujah!" they followed it up with a "boom!" sound effect in their minds. At least now they know where that came from - well, at least they know a little more of the song.
And they liked watching the polynesian haka dance. (The war dance where they slap and clap and stick their tongues out and make fearful faces to scare the enemy and pump themselves up. We have a missionary here with polynesian roots and he really got into it.) We looked up the haka again on youtube when we got home. Sarah started trying to say it and dance it. So cute! Sam said the missionary's face at the end was the best.

BSU Engineering Day

We've started a Caldwell FIRST Robotics Team. Sam is on the team and I am one of the mentors/coaches. This year's challenge is Rebound Rumble: basketball. Today we demonstrated at BSU Engineering days, working the crowd for recruits for our future lego robotics teams and summer camps while also building in preparation for this year's challenge. Near the end of the day, we got our robot shooting basketballs. Competitions will be in SLC in mid-March. Sam is really learning and growing so much with this experience and we are getting to spend a lot of time together. The time out of the house is good for me too. It's nice to be at a point where I can volunteer and be a part of the community again.

Sam's e2extreme racing restroom car

I just entered a contest with boyscouts of America. It is the boyscout version of the pinewood derby, except these are bigger and are powered by a co2 canister. I need voters for me. If I get the most votes, I will get a $100 gift card for boyscout stuff. And I will get the launcher kit for free. (a $69.99 value) If you vote you will be entered for a $25 gift certificate. And If I win, I will give the launcher kit to my troop/ward. And my car will be the only one to be advertised for the new E2exteme cars this fall. Please vote for my racing restroom. (the porta-potty). thanks (for service call 555-dump)

Happy Birthday Sammy!

Sam and his best friend playing Wii Sports Resort. Sam had saved money and bought this game before, but then tired of it and traded for another. Recently he decided he missed it and wanted it again. So that's what he got for his birthday. He had friends over and they played ball outside, wii, and pool. We served ham sandwiches, deviled eggs, soda pop, and fruit salad.

Sam's birthday cake. He was going for a waterpark theme. And again, it was chocolate mint cake, with chocolate mint frosting, chocolate mint cookies and mint chocolate chip ice cream.

Sam and the cake.

Just a cute photo of my Sam. I put this on as the screen saver on the computer today.

Still as handsome as he was when he was 10 years ago.