Passing Information to Next Generation

Yesterday, Mary was able to pretty much prune trees herself. She has spent several years helping me prune trees. I tried to teach her as we went and then give her ever increasing responsibility for doing it herself. I have done that with many tasks. Some I have been better at than others. My daughter will be leaving home for college in the fall. She is very passionate about the environment and sustainable living. I hope that I have helped her with some of that.

My parents sent me off with many skills. We always had a large garden from which we canned and preserved many items. I never ate a store bought vegetable or pretty much a fruit until I went to college. Most of our meat and eggs came from my aunts and uncles farms. Boy, I was in for a shock when I started eating all store bought food. It took me a long time to adjust to eating it. I am very appreciative of the skills my parents shared with me along the way. They have come in very handy as an adult. The best part is I can still and do call them for advise on various topics.

Teaching our children basic skills will help them in the future. Even if they chose not to go along the same path as us with sustainable living. They will have the skills to come back to if they chose it in the future. Teaching children means actually letting go of tasks and having them do them. Teaching also involves sharing your knowledge; not just setting loose and saying do it. Working alongside of you from a young age is so important. Even though it takes extra time at first, it will pay off in the end.

Take some time today and look at how you interact with your children. Do you expect everything to be done perfectly so you take over tasks and do it for them? Do you just tell them to do something without providing instruction setting them up for failure or frustration? Do you spend time working along with your children? Passing on skills and beliefs to the next generation is just as important as doing them yourself. Spend time working alongside your children. Expect them to help with daily chores and responsibilities. This will help them to become consciences and capable adults.

Beautiful Day

It felt like spring here today. The sun was shining and the temperature was comfortable. After church, Mary and I worked on pruning the trees at church. We enjoyed the time together and were able to complete the task in a couple of hours. Mary is getting quite good at pruning trees.

After a little siesta to refresh ourselves, I went outside and started working on our yard some more. The weeds got away from me last year on one of my strawberry pyramids so I spent time getting the dead grass off of it. There are still some strawberry plants left but I will have to spend some time replanting this spring. I cleaned out the chicken coop and let it air out for a while. I, then simply spent time cleaning up the sticks and other things in our yard.

In between jobs, I spent time on the porch swing watching the chickens. It is so much fun to watch them play and interact with each other. I don't know what it is about chickens but they are just plain, old fashioned, good entertainment. It is interesting how many people stop on their walks to take a few minutes out of their day to watch them.

Now, night has settled in and it is time to get ready for the week. I need to pull the materials together for my lesson plan for tomorrow afternoon. We are doing our last unit on the solar system and are going to make models of comets. It has been a very relaxing day which has refreshed me for the week ahead.  

Spring Cleaning

We have had a very mild winter this year. I have had time to do a lot of flower and garden prep that I normally have to save for the spring. I have the garden composted and all the old dead plants cut back. Yesterday, I finished pruning our trees. Now, if it would just stop raining long enough so I can get my garden rototilled. That may take a little longer. In a few days if it is dry enough, I will put my lettuce and spinach seeds in my raised bed by the shed. I can just tasted those fresh greens now. I know that winter is probably not over but I can see spring just around the corner. 

Winter Crud

I apologize for being so long between posts. The winter crud invaded our house about three weeks ago. We seem to all be finally on the end of the illness. The nice thing is the weather has been very nice the past few days here. I even have had time to go prune a few trees out in the front yard. I am hoping to get to the other trees today. Then Friday, if the weather holds out, it will be time for the trees at church. With all this warm weather we are coming down to a critical point to get this done. Hopefully, we will all be back to normal soon and enjoying this pretty spring weather which even here is very early this year. 

Good Quote

Content makes poor men rich; discontent makes rich men poor.-Benjamin Franklin 

Modern Mercantile Restaurant

Tonight, we went to a new local restaurant called the Modern Mercantile on Clays Mill Road here in Lexington. We were there to celebrate our friend's son's graduation. We really enjoyed our time there. The food was unbelievably good. There was a live person playing acoustic guitar and singing but not too loud. We were able to easily have conversations with our friends around us. The service was great. The best part is this restaurant is locally owned by a husband and wife team. The atmosphere is cozy. There are also many items for sale from local artisans as well as some antiques. I am glad we tried out this local restaurant. If you live in the area, it is well worth spending some time there. 

World Hunger

For the season of Lent, our church is doing a focus on the world hunger problem. We are doing a different approach to education this year. Each week we are choosing a country where world hunger continues to be a major issue and we will learn a little bit about the country. The most interesting part is we will share some typical meal recipes from that area for people to try during the week. We are also asking people to particularly remember that country in their prayers during that week. We are then asking people to make a donation to our national church body's world hunger program or another of their choosing.

The world hunger problem continues to be a major issue. Each day 1 in 7 people go hungry in the world. That is 925 million people. Although that statistic is down somewhat from ones I have seen in past years, this is still a huge problem. This is 925 million people too many. As I do the research over the next few weeks for our church's Lenten focus, I will share the information in my blog as well.

Take some time in the next few months to learn about the world hunger problem than make a donation to help stop world hunger to an organization or your choosing. Many hands make light work a huge problem. 

Tree Pruning Season

Tree pruning season in Kentucky has arrived. The best time to prune trees is towards the end of winter before the sap starts running. This means that the ideal time varies depending on your location. The best place to find out in the United States is by contacting your local extension office. Our area is the month of February. Tree pruning is an essential part of healthy trees. It helps keep down disease and keeps the tree growing in a well formed shape.

I am not an expert on tree pruning but have gained enough knowledge that I can do a half-way decent job. Here is my technique.

1) I look at the tree for unhealthy or dead branches. I cut those off first.
2) I look for branches that are touching or crossing each other. This is the perfect place for disease to develop. Those branches go next.
3) Next, are there any suckers (branches that are growing straight up or below the general branching part of the tree. These are cut.
4) I look if the branches are high enough. Is there enough clearance for people to walk under the tree or mow around the tree?.
5) Lastly, I look at the shape of the tree. Are there any branches that need to be trimmed to make the shape of the tree look better?

When pruning, always make sure to cut the branch off at the tree collar or at the intersection with other branches. The branch collar has a natural defense against disease and insects. Cutting a branch at any other place sets your tree up for disease and insect invasion. You should not prune more than 25% of a tree at one time. Otherwise, it is too much for the tree to recover from. Make sure your pruning saw and clippers are sharp and in good shape. Do not leave branches laying on the ground. Compost them or put them in yard recycling container if you have one. Pruning is not that hard to do but an important part of tree maintenance. Take some time and prune your trees this year.