Growing An Apple Tree From Seed

Happy Easter

A few months ago I started growing lemon seeds after reading about growing a lemon tree from seeds on Pinterest. My lemon tree seedling are doing fantastic. So I got to wondering if I could do the same with some organic apple seeds I had on hand. I thought why not give it a try I had nothing to loose.
I started out with five little seeds from a nice organic apple of which I do not know the type. I was using the seeds from one of my grandsons apples he had from his home. First I washed the seeds gently. Running warm water over them while rubbing between the palms of my hands. I placed them in a bowl of room temperature water and let them soak for about five days. I them planted them in potting soil. I kept the soil moist but not overly wet. It only took two weeks for the seedlings to poke their little heads through the soil. Now I thought how nice and easy that was.

Then I decided to look up instruction on how to care for my seedlings. The funny thing is there is so much information on line and each has a different point of view. Many articles say you can't grow apple trees from seeds. The idea is you need to graft your seedling onto root stock of another apple tree. The root stock is usually a stronger, hardier tree type such as a crab-apple tree. Now folks I do not claim this information is correct it is just some of what I have read.
I know for a fact that apple trees can be grow from seed with out grafting. Growing from seed is how it was originally done back a long time ago. The reason commercially grown apples are a product of engineered grafting is because everyone wants to know what taste to expect from a certain apple. The taste of fruit from apple trees grown from a seedling is not predictable.
As for the care of my seedlings. I will be potting them in individual pots that I can keep on my patio the first year. I will do this to prevent a mowing accident or a critter from munching on them. On their second year I will plant them in a protected area away from the deer who like to munch on my garden.
apple trees that are grown from seeds should be able to produce fruit on or around their sixth year of growth. If I am still in the blogging world at the time they produce fruit I will happily blog about their progress.

Could This Be The Last Snow Of The Season?

I was sitting at our window this morning watching a robin that has been hanging around for a few days now. She seems to have an injured leg. I have been watching her hopping around our pond eating little bits here and there. This morning while watching her I got to wondering if the melting snow drifts in our yard would be the last of the snow this year. I really do hope that this warm spell is here to stay. I am a little itchy to get to work in my garden.
Little Bug Stopped by for a visit today. I could tell he was feeling a little cooped up right along with his grandma. So, I decided we had better enjoy the last of the melting snow together. I gave him his sand pail and a garden spade and let him play in what little snow we had left in our back yard.

"I'm going to dig a tunnel"

"Grandma, my feet are stuck!"

"Grandma, you can't catch me!"

Little Bug's visit gave my spirits a big lift today. I hope it will last until Easter. What kind of day did you have today? Do you think we will get any more snow? Is this warm weather here to stay?

Easter Bunny Cake

While off visiting my grandsons we had the enjoyment of making an Easter Cake. My grandson loves to help when ever I am baking so he was right in their learning how to frost a cake. I don't think I have ever taught a three year old how to frost a cake before. The experience was pure joy. Now I have made many nice Easter cakes before but I think this one was so easy and fun for my grandson that I will be making another this week with my granddaughters.
We used a cake mix. I normally make my cakes from scratch but it was much easier for my grandson to use a box mix. we prepare the cake as instructed on the box. I baked the cake in a 13 x 9 inch pan. When the cake was cooled I cut to pieces for ears and the remaining cake I cut in half and stacked.

My grandson iced the cake with butter cream frosting. we then covered the cake in shredded coconut. Last, we decorated with our favorite candies.

Have you decorated any cakes lately? What dessert do you have planned for Easter?

Disney Pixar's Brave Merida Costume

My grandchildren love playing dress up. That's is why I was so excited to review the this beautiful costume from Costume Discounters. After looking over their girls costumes for hours on end my granddaughters decided their favorite costume was the Child Disney Pixar's Classic Brave Merida costume.
Can you imagine when our package arrived how happy and excited two little girls could get? I could hardly wait to see my granddaughters in this costume. The dress is a beautiful blue with sheer gold trim and has a cameo pin of Merida as an accent. With a straight neckline and diagonally cut sleeves and a flared skirt any little girl can become princess Merida.
The features I like best on the costume are the gold brocade trim on the dress bodice, the fine gold trim on the sleeves and the gold metal buckle accenting the belt.
The costume is easy for my granddaughters to wear with out help. The dress closure is Velcro and the belt is also attached with a Velcro closure.
My thoughts about the costume will be that any little girl would be thrilled to wear this costume for Halloween or dress up every day.
The costume came with a gold belt that completes the costume perfectly. We were so excited to try the costume on that we forgot to get pictures of the belt on the costume. But do not worry we got some pictures of the belt after my granddaughters were tucked into their beds.

Velcro closure at the neck.

Gold brocade hem.

Sheer gold trim on sleeves. 

Cameo pin.

Gold belt.

Being a customer at Costume Discounters has kept me informed of all the costume news on what is now trending in children and toddler's costumes. 

Everyone knows how children love to play pretend dress up. My grandchildren are no different. We all enjoy seeing our children or grandchildren playing princess, pirates or even the Easter bunny! Being able to give them many costumes to dress up and play their favorite character will encourage creativity. This will help our children to grow into creative adults. 

What activities do you encourage  to help develop creativity in your children or grandchildren?

Spring Thaw

The last two days have been warm enough to thaw our Koi pond. I was happy to see all the goldfish and Koi come up for a meal. We have got lots of young that survived the winter. I always worry about the small fry when the pond freezes over. I am thankful we did not find any dead fish when the pond thawed. Since the pond is a little over 4 feet deep we don't generally have to worry about it freezing totally. I have only seen it freeze to about three feet give or take a few inches.

They sure were hungry. Do you see all the little ones? This is the first year that I have had so many young fish. As you can see in the pictures I have got to skim the leaves off the surface. I just have been too busy spring cleaning. Now that I am thinking of it I should add cleaning the pond to my spring cleaning list! What have you been up to lately?
I will be traveling the next two weeks to visit my grandsons. I will not have much time on line. I will try to stop over your blogs but may not do this every day. Have a great weekend. 

A Spring Dress Custom Made Just For You

I just received two custom made dresses that are perfect for Easter. When I first heard about custom made dresses from eShakti I was a little skeptical that each dress could be made fit to order. Many women are unique in body size making it hard to find the perfect fit dress right off the rack. I am one of many women that is not blessed with the perfect hour glass shape. That is where eShakti comes to rescue for women like myself.
When I visited their website I was very pleased to see the large selection of dresses, tops, and skirts. They even have a great selection of custom  bridesmaids dresses.
I selected the dress styles I liked. Then I choose the sleeve type and length. Next I picked the neckline and hem length. At this point I could choose a dress size from the listing of standard sizes or input my measurements for a a custom dress made to fit me. Of course I selected to input my measurements.
The first dress is a Shirred denim chambray maxi dress. I liked the thought of a casual denim maxi that would be great for casual dress up. I added my own red blouse and shoes to complete the outfit.

 Hem

Waist

The second is a Collared floral dress in camo print. It has a wide scallop trimmed collar and floral embroidered flared skirt. I selected a calf length hem and three quarter length sleeve. I plan to wear this dress for Easter. 

Hidden zipper on the side under the sleeve. 

Elastic smocked center back waist.

Scallop trimmed collar.

Beautiful floral embroidered details on flared skirt.

I totally love both dresses. I recommend any woman having difficulties finding a dress that fits well off the rack try ordering from eShakti.  A little advice when measuring your self for a dress get help from a daughter or friend. Proper measurements are the key to a great fitting dress. I learned from my mistake of measuring my self. The maxi dress is a little long because it was hard for me to get a correct length on my own. The waist on my new floral Easter dress is also a little wide because of the same measuring problem. 

Hook up with eShakti on Facebook and Twitter. 

Disclaimer: I received the above mentioned products for an honest review. The opinions above are my own. 

Spring Cleaning Part Two

Well, my spring cleaning week is going fairly good. I am still sticking to our one rule. Just in case you haven't read my rule, " If it has not seen the light of day in the last year it's out of here!" It certainly has not been easy parting with so much of my belongings. I have made two trips to the donation box and my husband is going to make a trip to the dump this week. Over all it has been a hard but rewarding week. 
Pictures from my grandsons weekly visit.

 Very serious painter. 

Two brush painting.

We have not started teaching correct pencil grip. That is on our schedule sometime this spring. I did try to teach Little Bug how to hold his scissors and to cut. The photo above looks like he has the correct idea. Unfortunately that was not the case.  He has the will just not getting the open and close motion down yet. If you know a good technique in teaching scissors skills please share with me. It has been ages since I have taught this skill. 
How is your week going? Have you started your spring cleaning? 

Exclusive For My Readers

A special discount code GRNDMBNNES just for you! 20% off when you shop at eShakti. 

Valid now until 3/20/2013. If you are looking for an Easter dress or spring dress this is the time to try a customized dress from eShakti. 

eShakti dress review coming soon on Grandma Bonnie's Closet.

Note: (*conditions apply)

Code has to be entered in the 'Promotional Code' box. No Minimum Order Value. The discount code is not case sensitive. The code can be used any number of times until the validity period. This code can be clubbed with any other gift coupon or gift card in the same order. This discount code is not applicable on our Overstock category. Not applicable on previous purchases. 

Disclaimer: This is not a paid post. Grandma Bonnie's Closet is not and will not receive monetary compensation from this discount code. I am just sharing the savings with you.