Pruning Apple Trees

I planted my first apple trees in April 2011. Now it’s time to prune my trees. When you buy an apple tree from a nursery they are already around a year or two old. So after a year in your yard, it’s time to start forming their architectural structure and create air flow.

You want your branches to angle at 10 and 2 to create the perfect shape. If they are too horizontal they may grow heavy and break. You also want the branches to grow away from the central limb. If you can throw a hat through your apple tree then you’ve done a fine job pruning.
When you trim a limb you want to make sure that you cut just above a bud and that the bud is facing outward. This way the limb that forms there will go away from the center of the tree. You want to trim the limbs that are too close together because they will rub together once the fruit forms and this could damage the tree. Remember to keep the air flow component in mind.

Make sure the tree gets plenty of water and nutrition for optimal growth. Now if you remember I also planted peach trees. We aren’t going to prune the peach trees until March. Pruning a peach too early will reduce their cold tolerance. You want to do the same kind of thing. Open up the tree, save the branches that are growing out and get rid of the ones growing down or horizontal. Give the tree room to breath and absorb the sunlight.
You can grow apple trees from seed. It’s a great kid project but you must use organic apples. My kids did this when they were 4 and 5 years old. They dried out the seed and put it in a paper cup filled with good soil and kept it watered, transplanting it when it outgrew the paper cup into a pot. (Make sure the paper cup has drainage holes) When it was big enough they planted the tree next to a neighbors apple tree so they could cross pollinate. Now our kids are 21 and 22! They can drive by our old house and still see their tree. You know what? It bears fruit.

So go out and Grow It First and Grow It Best!

Egg People Project (A great rainy day project)

My mother used to make egg people for church bazaars. She knew that small children would have 25 cents or so to spend and she would charge 5 cents for each egg person.That way they could buy something fun and still have money left over for a cookie or cupcake. These egg people are really cute and you could even make them as place cards for dinner parties if you wanted. I used to make egg angel for my kids preschool class at Christmas time. You can use brown or white eggs for this project.
First you have to blow out some eggs. You do this by taking a fork prong or other sharp object and lightly tap a small hole in the top of the egg. Then you turn the egg around and do the same thing on the other end.

Next you blow the egg through the shell making sure you have a bowl below to catch the insides. You can cook the inside of the egg later. Now you rinse the egg shells under water making sure it runs all the way through and set them aside until they are completely dry.
Next you cut the egg carton cups into individual holders. Turn them upside down and glue each egg onto the cup. You can glue the egg with the thinner side down or up. Either way helps the egg become a personality. You can attach these with Elmers glue or a hot glue gun.

I use many things to make clothes for the egg dolls. I’ve gone to the dollar store and bought visors (3 for a $1) and used those or different color felt or material I have hanging around. This one was made with a visor and the necklace was the band of the visor.

Next you glue on the hair. If you have kids helping you I’d use Elmers for this part. You can buy doll hair at craft stores or use yarn or you can go to a thrift store and buy a 50 cent doll and cut the hair off to use on this project.
Now all you have to do is add a face. Use permanent marker. I have a variety of colors and you can even add eye color if you wanted to.

So there you have it. If you don’t want to make egg people with the shells you can always compost them! They are great for the garden. Remember that checking to see if the eggs are cracked is not the only job you have while shopping. There is an expiration date on the side of the carton so be sure to check that as well. For less than 15 cents a piece eggs are incredibly edible and they can be fun too!

And the very best part is.... Anyone can do it!

Egg Art

Which came first? The chicken or the egg? According to the Bible the chicken was created on the fourth day. Did you know that the chicken was brought over in 1493 by Columbus on his second trip to the New World? I didn’t know that!
Welcome to the first of two egg segments on egg art. It’s very inexpensive and they are great family projects. The first will be making a checker board out of egg shells. You can simply break and wash the egg shells or blow them out to keep the shell whole. I prefer to blow them out if I have to spray paint them and break them when I decide to use the natural egg color.
Blowing egg shells out is easy but kind of gross. Don’t worry, it only takes a minute! You make a hole in the top and bottom on the egg without breaking it with a gentle tap from a fork prong or other small sharp object. Then you blow on one side and the egg with come out of the other. Make sure you have a bowl or other container ready to catch the egg. After you have blown the egg out you run some warm water through it and let dry.

I love using a Lazy Susan for this project and I find them at thrift stores or garage sales. You can use any flat surfaced object that you have around. An old cutting board or table is fine. I sprayed this one with Kiltz stain blocker first then coated the whole thing with red paint. Unfortunately the painted crinkled so I simply removed the shiny veneer and sprayed the ply wood base instead. It works. Then I drew a checker board pattern first in pencil and then with a fine tip permanent marker. This will get covered up later.

I cracked some eggs for the white squares and blew out some eggs to spray paint black for the other squares. Now I’m ready to work.
You’ll need an X-acto knife or other shape object and some Elmers glue. Place a small amount of glue on the first square. Next, take a small amount of shell and break it up with the X-acto onto the Elmers glue. Fit the pieces into the square and continue until the square is filled with white egg shell. I prefer to line the perimeter of the square first and work from the outside in. Continue on with the black colored egg shell using the same technique and making sure you keep with the checker board pattern.

I made a checker board with my daughter a few years ago. This is not a hurry up and get it done project. It will take you a while but it’s unique and beautiful and inexpensive. It’s Eggsactly the perfect project for you and your family.

Odds and Ends - Black skillets and Infused water

When we were fixing asparagus my son asked me how do you know where to cut the ends off? So I showed him this simple method. Hold both ends of the stalk and snap! The asparagus will separate between the tender part and the tough part. If it separates too close to the top then you’ve got an old batch of produce.

Things to remember so your skillet doesn’t end up rusty. Never clean a black skillet with soap. Instead boil water in the pan. After it’s cool, wipe it out with a paper towel. If there is still residue left behind, pour a small amount of salt into the skillet and gently scrub it off. Then drop a small amount of oil in the center of the inside of the skillet and polish with a paper towel.

Making infused water is so easy and it will help your family drink more water. I decided to make cucumber, lime and mint water. First I made ice cubes with a small amount of mint and pieces of cucumber in it. (you really don’t have to do this unless you have time). Then I simply sliced the ingredients into a pitcher and filled it with ice cubes and spring water. Next I’ll try orange and rosemary! You can also try strawberry and basil or peach and sage. No other ingredient is needed. After about two hours you can sit back and enjoy the fresh delicious taste.