Fruit Tree Grafting 2009 Round 2

My friend Dave got me some fresh cherry branches from his sister’s cherry trees a couple of weeks ago.  When I got the branches, the temperature started to climb into the 50s and even 60s.  I was getting worried and wanted to get the branches grafted as soon as I can.  I did not want to repeat what happened last year where the leaves all came out suddenly and ruin my grafting opportunity.  We had a rainy Saturday but Sunday turned out to be great so I went out and did as many grafts as I can.

Make Your Own Picture Book

(Posted for bleung)

With the rapid technological advancement of digital photography and on-demand digital printing, why not explore the possibility of creating your own hardcover picture book.  There are many places on the internet that you can create and order the picture books.  With very heavy competition, the prices are very affordable and it provides an opportunity for everyone to produce and publish your own customized picture book at a quantity of one.

Fruit Tree Grafting 2009 Round 1

After the total grafting failure in 2008, it is time to try again.  This is very early in Spring.  But the temperature had been in the 50s and 60s already.  The daffodils came up and is blooming.  I can see that some of the fruit tree flower buds are showing signs of opening up.  Temperature next week will be around 40 to 50 degrees with night temperature in the 30s.  Best time to graft is when the day time temperature is in the 50s and night temperature are in the 30s.  This will give the scions a chance to develop in the day time while the process slows down at night to give more time for the scion to be taken.

Making a Chopstick Holder

Rather than just throwing away the chopstick wrapper, here is an idea to turn it into something useful. It is also a great conversation piece and might gain you some points from your date or companions at the dinner table. Folding this chopstick holder should take less than a minute once you give it a practice or two.