Outside
This morning I purchased two columnar apple trees as planned at Portland Nursery, 5050 SE Stark.
I drove south on I-5, took the I-85 exit, then the Cesar Chavez south to S.E. Stark, then 11 blocks to the nursery. Very busy there to-day but found a convenient parking spot by the caboose!
Followed the signs to the fruit trees, but there was no apple section. Turns out the trees I wanted were right in front. I picked a nice Golden Sentinel with top branches already going up past the trunk and a straight Scarlet Sentinel which was a little shorter.
No line to the cash register, I had to wait for like 30 seconds before I was called to the booth. $60 a tree. I paid with a credit card and approved. "Do you want these wrapped?" "I don't think so: I am just taking them home in my truck." She explained people sometimes have to lay them flat, so need the wrapping to keep the soil in. "Ok, good. I will keep them upright in the back of my truck. Thanks!"
I put them in the truck and closed the tailgate, then returned the cart to a nice man at the front who was ready to park it properly.
Then--moved the tree pots to behind the cab and got a bungee from behind the front seat. I hooked it on the side next to the driver's seat, then stretched it behind the truck walked it to the other side and secured it there. "Those trees aren't going anywhere," I said out loud as I tried to move the pot against the cord.
Drove back with only a slight slowing from I-85 to I-5: There were two flares lit from some previous accident, so the interruption from that was still sustained hours later in the traffic.
A few notes about changes:
Tom's Pizza on North Lombard is gone: construction underway.
The 7/11 on N. Lombard is closed and its sign is gone. Most likely it will join the adjacent lot with the big tree as a site of some major apartment complex.
There is a new skyscraper rising in downtown portland which will appear next to Big Pink.
I think I will have lunch before planting the trees and doing some outdoor cleanup.
Tools/materials:
* tarp to take soil removed.
* measuring tape to measure the depth of the soil/roots in the pot...then apply to the hole.
* also need to measure distance to locate the center of the hole
* wheelbarrow to move some good soil from the compost bin into the bottom of the hole.
* gloves
* hand shovel to remove and transplant wild onions...then to remove dandelions in the back yard.
* clippers to cut blackberry branch hanging in the alley.
* compost rolling bin to collect blackberry branches.
I drove south on I-5, took the I-85 exit, then the Cesar Chavez south to S.E. Stark, then 11 blocks to the nursery. Very busy there to-day but found a convenient parking spot by the caboose!
Followed the signs to the fruit trees, but there was no apple section. Turns out the trees I wanted were right in front. I picked a nice Golden Sentinel with top branches already going up past the trunk and a straight Scarlet Sentinel which was a little shorter.
No line to the cash register, I had to wait for like 30 seconds before I was called to the booth. $60 a tree. I paid with a credit card and approved. "Do you want these wrapped?" "I don't think so: I am just taking them home in my truck." She explained people sometimes have to lay them flat, so need the wrapping to keep the soil in. "Ok, good. I will keep them upright in the back of my truck. Thanks!"
I put them in the truck and closed the tailgate, then returned the cart to a nice man at the front who was ready to park it properly.
Then--moved the tree pots to behind the cab and got a bungee from behind the front seat. I hooked it on the side next to the driver's seat, then stretched it behind the truck walked it to the other side and secured it there. "Those trees aren't going anywhere," I said out loud as I tried to move the pot against the cord.
Drove back with only a slight slowing from I-85 to I-5: There were two flares lit from some previous accident, so the interruption from that was still sustained hours later in the traffic.
A few notes about changes:
Tom's Pizza on North Lombard is gone: construction underway.
The 7/11 on N. Lombard is closed and its sign is gone. Most likely it will join the adjacent lot with the big tree as a site of some major apartment complex.
There is a new skyscraper rising in downtown portland which will appear next to Big Pink.
I think I will have lunch before planting the trees and doing some outdoor cleanup.
Tools/materials:
* tarp to take soil removed.
* measuring tape to measure the depth of the soil/roots in the pot...then apply to the hole.
* also need to measure distance to locate the center of the hole
* wheelbarrow to move some good soil from the compost bin into the bottom of the hole.
* gloves
* hand shovel to remove and transplant wild onions...then to remove dandelions in the back yard.
* clippers to cut blackberry branch hanging in the alley.
* compost rolling bin to collect blackberry branches.