Been a big bounce in my steps for the past 38 hours or so, let me tell ya'all. I really have to get some sleep, tomorrow is ramping up to being a very busy day on many fronts, personally and professionally. But, if I don't get these photos up, they just get backlogged. And that gets all too gnarley to deal with. So, let's roll.
Photo Set from Southeast Logan Square Grapevine Nursery
(The ever-popular Senor Rhubarbsky.)
(Photo indicating tremendous growth of the Willamette Beer Hops.)
(Second photo of Willamette Beer Hops.)
(The original Mars Seedless grape vine planted in September of 2009. The buds are ready to burst, they look so pregnant. Just had to snap a photo. This is also my first year pruning this particular vine. I will be very enthused if this one pulls through the winter with green leaves and shoots. After a summer of Rat poison, if this one reports a healthy condition and indicates vigor, a bottle of sparkling wine needs to be released.)
Photo Set #2 from Southeast Logan Square Grapevine Nursery
(One of the best pieces of evidence/news to come upon in the past 38 hours: developing roots.)
(Amazing roommate helping me with transplanting the Russian Mammoth Sunflower seedlings to larger containers. The Russian Mammoth Sunflowers have already outgrown their container that I planted the seeds in only 14-16 days ago. Had to be done. Whipped up a concoction of Barbeque pit ashes, Top Soil, Potting Soil, and Compost. Blended it all together in 5-Gallon buckets and troweled the product into new containers for the sunflowers and the developing grapevine cuttings.)
(Image of growth on cuttings.)
(And, another shot of the growth.)
(More evidence of growth on a few cuttings.)
Photo Set #3 from Southeast Logan Square Grapevine Nursery
(Developing roots on a grapevine cutting.)
(Another shot of developing roots from a grapevine cutting.)
(This little photo reveals how roots developed early on with this particular cutting. Indicates considerable vigor already.)
(Workstation photo #1)
(Workstation photo #2)
The temps reached 41 degrees as an average from many locations. There was also a significant wind to consider, so I decided to transplant on the landing inside the back porch of my apartment. It was warmer for me. I made the soil mixtures in the backyard. Myself and my roommate were pretty bundled up to thwart the cool air.
Photo Set from Grayslake Illinois Grapevine Nursery
(Photo from Grayslake, Illinois grapevine nursery on Monday A.M. April 18, 2011. Received 2 inches of snow overnight. Words taste chewy from previous blog posting. Chew, chew, chew.)
(A shot taken from car eastbound on Hwy 120/Belvidere Road indicating snow cover in Grayslake, Illinois/Wildwood, Illinois.)
I think the message is that April is not entirely safe in this region of the world for transplanting.
(Idea for a cheap planting container. Resourceful and re-useable product. Doesn't impinge on the 'Broke-Ass' wallet. Note the polka-dot material in the right-back of the photo. This is one of the markers being used to distinguish one varietal of grapevine from another. Picked up from the local feedstore in downtown Grayslake Illinois. Brilliant idea on part of partner-in-crime, Lisa.)
(Bottom end of cheap planting container coupled with reusing a salad or mushroom container. The mushroom container's bottom-half becomes the 'Catch Pan, or Saucer'. Nothing is left to waste.)
(Product of brainstorming for ways to come up with cheap planting containers. There are many possibilities in this world.)
(Again, another option for planting a cutting, or anything else. Plant can be easily extracted if the mouthpiece/spout is cut off initially before putting soil in device.)
More to tell from the Grayslake Grapevine Nursery, but I need more time and I need sleep.
