In The Garden

Not so much going on in my garden yet. Even the cold weather plants are struggling. I am guessing the garden soil has not warmed up enough yet. It sure is going to be a short growing season if this keeps up. Even the hardy pea seedling are struggling to grow.

I plan to plant my tomato seedlings next week after Mothers Day. Hopefully that will be past the last frost in this area. Pooh Bear and Little Roo are coming for a visit this week. I am looking forward to their visit. They should keep me very busy. I will share some pictures of their visit if I don't get too busy. Well, I wish you all a great week in your garden. Happy gardening.

Life Goes On

I have been doing a lot of product reviews lately and thought it was time to just stop and share a few photos of my grandchildren. They are growing so fast. Where did the summer go?


There goes my youngest grandson. He is speed crawling! He sure can crawl fast if he is planning to do something he knows he should not. Lol.

Can you tell Little Roo likes to swing?

Sweet Pea just started ballet classes. She is thrilled. 

 I am one proud Grandma and so excited!

Little Bug enjoying blueberries right off the bush!

Little Bug playing check up with Scooby.  Scooby passed his physical with flying colors! Lol.

Pooh Bear playing dress up at preschool. Can you tell that is a police hat?

Pooh Bear enjoying the last bits of summer before his bike gets put away.

Pumpkin dressed as a Bonbon for the Nutcracker. This was last winter.

Pumpkin turned in her ballet slippers for gymnastics this year. I am so excited. She looks like it comes naturally.

Well, I warned you they are growing like weeds. I am loving every moment of it. Thanks for stopping by.

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.

How to Grow a Lemon Tree From Seeds

I planted lemon seeds from a couple organic lemons I had during the Thanksgiving holiday. This is the results so far.

First, I cleaned the seeds with fresh water. I rubbed them with my fingers gently under running water. (This is very important because the acid will prevent the seeds from sprouting.)

Next, I soaked them for three days in a dish of water. 

Last, I planted the seeds in potting soil and put in a sunny window. I water them often not letting the soil dry out.

After three weeks, little sprouts started showing. 

I live in the north so I will keep my tree in a large pot that can be brought inside during the winter months. I have read that keeping it pruned back will keep it a manageable size for my patio. 

What do you think? Have you planted anything lately?