busy all around between the site stuff, other stuff, and interpersonal happenings

  • Last week was warm and this week is following the trend too. I was feeling anxious about it so I dug into the pile of wood chips that was housing a bunch of 5 gallon buckets which were in turn housing a bunch of seeds that we were stratifying over the winter. Germination had started, but just barely.

    The good news is that I caught them before the buckets became a mass of super delicate roots I’d have to tease apart. Last time I missed that window I killed 80% of the seedlings I tried to relocate, but I transferred maybe a hundred Spicebush (Lindera benzoin) seeds into one of our air prune boxes, alongside a few dozen Seaberry (Hippophae rhamnoides) that went into their own box (I’m not allowed to sell them but oh well). And scratch tests on cuttings from last fall are promising!

    The bad news is that I’m not sure if my Pawpaws (Asimina triloba) are okay, and I had really hoped I’d have a better idea about where they’re at. I’ve had issues in the past keeping them wet enough and I may have overcorrected; hopefully some will germinate and grow but I’m a little sad about having to possibly go another season before I’ll get another chance.