Pruning and Building a Seed Rack.

So regardless of the continuing snow, wind, and cold weather, Sarah and I have begun preparing for spring.  A couple weekends ago we took a pruning class together at Cornell Plantations.  The guy that taught it was awesome, and Sarah had met him in another class she took on gardening.  The class lasted most of the day and began inside with a detailed account of the four defense systems of a tree and how they relate to each other and to pruning.  We went outside then and about 12 or so of us were turned loose on the shrubs and trees along the main pathway into the building!  Needless to say, we all started out relatively hesitantly.  We snipped little pieces here and there.  By the end, we were suggesting the removal of large limbs and even entire conflicting trunks!  It was great.  Sarah and I couldn't wait to get home and put our newly developed skills to use.

This shrub came with the house.  We like it, but obviously it was getting overgrown.  Time for a trim.

One of the rules of pruning is not to remove more than a third of the overall mass of the plant.  With this one, we decided to cut back the canopy and cut out some of the older and conflicting branches.

Yer supposed to be able to throw your hat through an apple tree when you're done pruning it.  With good aim and the right hat, I think this one would fit the bill.

This one we're pruning more for it's aesthetic.  When we bought the house, this poor guy was completely overwhelmed by pricker bushes.  We cut them back and now the tree has a pretty cool bonzai-like look to it.

With the pruning done, we turned our sites on the garden.  We're still a couple months from the last frost, so we headed inside.

 The shop got filled up again.  I wish there was more space and a dedicated place to work, but I have to admit, like everything else around this little homestead, I have a soft spot for it.

 

Sarah and I had drawn up and agreed upon a plan together and then went to Lowes or Home Depot for the wood and hardware.  I stopped at AgWay for some free pallets to finish off the shelves and save some money.

 

While I worked on cutting the cross beams to length and screwing on support sections Sarah put on all the brackets.

 

It was great to work together on the project and there's something about a woman with tools that gets my heart racing.

 

Especially when her work is on the level!

 

For no fee and a little elbow grease we got many square feet of wood for the shelves.  I had to remove a few nails first.

 

Some of the pieces needed to be squared up a little.  Honestly, they needed it.  It had nothing to do with my fixation of the shk shhhhk of a sharp No. 5 Stanley plane.

 

As always, we had lots of help and supervision.

 

And there she is.  Ready to go.  In the off season, she's sturdy enough to be used as bunk beds!