North West BS Thread

When I grow up, I want to be just like you…

 

Newly planted fruit trees should put all of their energy into building a strong and vital root system with solid growth of strong branches. Growing fruit redirects a trees effort and energy to maturing the fruit. Some varieties can actually be permanently stunted. So, all of the flowers on my new trees, that have been pollinated and began to grow fruit will be pinched off this year and next

 

Hahaha, I have told people for decades that I know exactly what I want to be when I grow up......


An old old man with no memory!

and now it’s actually happening!

 

Cool. Thanks for the explanation. And it makes sense.

 

I have two hops plants growing but they were in containers until this past fall when I moved them to the ground. One was started started from a cutting from the family farm before my mother sold it and I am hoping to actually get cones soon as I think the crown is well enough established. They are way ahead compared to past years (not 10 feet tall though).

Need to look at pinching the fruit on the three trees I have as they are young and probably would benefit from concentrating more effort into their trunk and roots. Learning as I go since I don’t have the decades of experience my parents and their generation have.

 

Also, mason bees are awesome to watch work. This was the state about a month ago but now almost every hole is full and capped off.

 

What variety hops do you have? I planted Nugget, Crystal and Cascade. The new ones are also Cascade, because this hop is in most of the beers I brew.
How long have you been raising mason bees? This is our first year and we started with 3 tubes of larvae and now have 10 tubes capped. Plan to build 3 more little houses (at least).

 

Actually not 100% sure on variety but I think one is cascade and the other is centennial or comet based on color. I grow it because I love the smell of the cones, not brewing beer (yet).

Second year with mason bees. Last year we had no idea what we were doing. House was not right and we only ended up with a few cocoons. We did an online seminar this winter and got a lot smarter on the house type and process. Seems to be working! Thinking about some leaf cutter bees this summer.

 

I tried to start my DL day this morning. Got all the way through my last warmup feeling awesome.. go to start my first set of 4, and just off the ground on my 1st rep my back said nope not today. This is really getting annoying. So I guess I’ll try again tomorrow morning.
I did have a couple drinks last night but nothing excessive. Just a couple rum and Coke’s.

 

Sorry to hear about your back. Take care of it as best you can. I’ve been dealing with back troubles most of my life. Had to have a vertebrae removed a few years back and now I just try to keep moving. The original injury occurred when I was 19. 46 years ago.

 

had lots to catch up on in here. I have been busy with work, house remodel stuff and the epic cluster that was soccer tryouts earlier this month.

Unrelated I have been putting a sh!t ton of miles on the truck. This 54 mile a day commute is starting to add up. Good news I saw 18.2 for the first time lol. Not sure why everyone complains about gas mileage.

 

Ouch. Mine is a chipped disc due to a car accident from like a decade ago. I used to just take 2 Tylenol 500’s before Dl or squat day and power thru...obviously not recommended.
Now I have nothing to prove so if I hit a first rep and my back isn’t cooperating then I usually just stop and retry the next day. It’s not a strength issue..usually just some pain due to poor sleep position the night before. But being able to move in another decade or for the rest of my life is the goal.

 

I wish I could say the same. My 65 round trip nets me 13...

 

Mine is ACL replacement, followed by C6/7 Fusion from a herniated disc. Dr has no idea when it happened, just got really bad.

 

Yeah that would suck. I would definitely have a little civic or something to commute in.

 

It will be coming soon. Had to get the wife's car paid off first before I did something like that.

 

That's pretty sweet. We've got a lot of native pollinator attractors in our yard as well, and just installed a mason bee house this year.

 

I get about 16 on my to work, and about 13 on the way home (27 miles each way).

 

I wanted to buy a cheap civic or something at first. But the prices nowadays are ridiculous. So I think depending on the market next summer I may sell my truck and find a fun AWD sedan to commute in.

With my daughter playing year round soccer there is no time for any type of toys I would need a truck for. Just need to be able to drive in winter conditions.

But with my luck the week after that I’ll switch garages and go back to a 24 mile/ day commute.

 

Leaf cutter bees are cool. We have tons over here. Every alfalfa seed farmer has them to pollinate their crops. Along with alkali bees.

 

Count down to my weekend has begun, one more hour of meetings (took Friday off)!

 

Nice! Three day weekends are the best.

 

Hey random question here...anyone used the Costco tire center in Tigard? Good experiences or avoid? TIA folks!

 

Yup, month and a half count-down has begun. I'm hoping to be able to swing like 2 or 3 days in the office, home the rest. I used to take public transportation into the office pre-COVID but I have a new position starting first of the month on a new team that's in a different town so I'll be putting some time behind the windshield.

 

Can’t speak for Tigard, but have gotten tires from several Costco’s for years and always had great service

 

Hit the road this morning to check out Lake Wenatchee. Perfect day out

 

That is a great area! Camped at the state park there in summer of 2019. Enjoy it!

 

Yeah it's awesome, hardly anyone here too.
A few mosquitoes out but not bad at all.

 

Not far from there (Plain, WA) they hold a big NW overland expo in the summer. I ran into it during that trip. Hundreds of rigs setup in a big field with trail runs and a bunch of other activities.

 

Oh nice, perfect area for that.