I live in New york, and it is now May. and DH decided to paint our deck. (it's the only thing we are responsible for at our condo. Well, anyone who lived around here knows it has been raining for 2 weeks. DH went out between raindrops to paint the deck. now he can't figure out why the paint has become white. It's like chalk which has come up from the paint. But, I pick my battles, and he wanted to paint so I didn't stop him. Of course, when he got tired, he came in and didn't close the paint can, so now I have to buy more paint because the can got full of water. Oh Well, it's a cheap enough fix. What bothers me is that I will probably have to finish this job when the weather finally clears (if it ever does because he'll be moving on to his next project, raking the non existant leaves, or moving his rocks around the edging. he collests rocks from wherever he can and puts hem in rows around the bushes. I'm sure the condo doesn't like it but who cares, he spends an hour or so playing with his rocks, then goes to sleep content instead of frustrated because he has nothing to do. I agree with picking your battles. Oh please let this rain stop.
Joan - if the soil is that hard, soak it first. We have lived where the soil is clay - can't even get a shovel into it. I would go out a couple hours before and turn the hose on a trickle. Never could figure out how the plant thrived in it.
Or you could do it the way they made holes to plant fruit trees in California's Central Valley -- lay down a stick of dynamite, light the fuse, and run like crazy.
Joan, you are fortunate that Sid can do it, and that he liked to do it! Everything that they can do to feel that they are still participating in taking care of things, the better we all are for it!
Yes, I know I am fortunate that he can still do gardening, although the whole idea of moving into this development was that he wouldn't have to do it. He finished it this morning in no time with the help of a friend and his pick ax. The plants look gorgeous - 5 more plants and the whole front section will be lush and full. The landscape people will are not supposed to tend to anything we plant ourselves, but our plants are right in front of the bushes they planted, so I'm sure they will weed and rake ours while they are doing the others.
Shanteuse, I was born and raised in San Jose, and lived on a 20-acre prune ranch, so I am familiar with the type of soil there, which is not much different from the Central Valley. So I am not surprised...that clay is like concrete. Luckily, we had a D-7 Caterpiller tractor whose discs could handle that stuff when preparing the orchard for irrigating.
TexasJoe, I'm going to show my ignorance here...at least you won't be able to see my face red from embarassment...but isn't a prune a dried plum? So, wouldn't it be a plum ranch? Or did you dry them and package them and ship them as prunes?
Joan, you are fortunate that the landscape people will maintain for you! Me....I have to water, de-weed, fertilize, and mulch. Oh well, the flowers are so lovely that they are worth it!
Mary - plums and prunes are two different fruits. When I grew up every fall we would pick the Italian Prunes up the road from us. We had a tree on our place and the house we owned in Covington, WA had an Italian Prune tree in the front yard. the neighbor kids would sneak up to get them until I told them they were welcome to them. I bet constipation was not a problem for them during that time!! :-)
I love them vs a plum. I do not like them dried though. You will occasionally see them in the stores but they are not a fruit that keeps well for store sales. I usually will see them at Farmers Markets.
Joan you are lucky to have a lovely garden without a whole lot of work. I don't know how you would do it otherwise with all your other commitments. Prior to moving to our present house we had a huge vegetable garden with raised beds and elaborate watering system put in by my husband. He wanted the same in this house and again he built the beds, put in the watering system, then Ad struck. For the first few years he continued to work with me and the garden was manageable. Now he still wants his tomotoes etc. but it's all up to me. I seed them and care for them like babies, I plant them and water and fertilize etc. so that he can enjoy the tomatoes and other vegetables he loves. I prune the fruit trees, I cover the shrubs so the raccoons don't eat the berries before we can get them and do the same when the fruit starts on the 2 pear trees. I try to involve my husband as much as he is willing but it takes a lot of patience which I don't always have. Thankfully he can still use the lawn mower if I start it so at least that's one job I don't have to do. Summers are very busy here!
Well, this just proves we never stop learning. I never knew a plum tree was not a prune tree. I, too, thought all prunes were dired plums. Are you going to tell me that raisins are not dried grapes? ... and that there are raisin vines somewhere?
Sorry to disappoint you - but raisins can come from grapes. But they now make craisins (dried cranberries), braisins (dried blueberries) and probably other fruit is dried to eat like grapes.
O.k., here's the deal. In San Jose we called them French prune trees. When they got ripe enough, they would begin to fall to the ground, and then be picked up by hand. I spent many a late summer picking prunes. The lugs (boxes) of prunes are taken to a drying facility that will either dry them on huge wooden trays in the sun, or in ovens that were like a huge outdoor multi-layer pizza oven. For some reason they put sulphur on the prunes in the ovens, and one day as I was walking by one, they were unloading the trays and I got a large whiff of the sulphur and thought I was going to die. I couldn't breathe! That was a scary experience. Plums, like Satsuma plums are red and round. Prunes are oblong and purple. So yeah, they are different animals. Class dismissed.
I also thought prunes were dried plums. Is it possible there are two different kinds of prunes. I googled the work and most of the sites I found said they are dried plums.
This is so interesting. I know there is plum jam, but have you ever heard of prune jam? There are dried prunes, but have you ever seen dried plums in the store? There are plums (fresh, or 'raw') to buy along with oranges, etc., but have you ever seen fresh prunes? Not me. I think I will look up both of them in my old 1970's World Book encyclopedia and see what that says.
Got it.....you are right, Janet. I thought we grew French prunes, but I guess the people who 'educated' me on this in California told me wrong. They are French plums, that when dried, are now called prunes. So its a semantics thing. All prunes are plums, but not all plums become prunes. For instance an oriental variety of plum is never dried into prunes. So I've been wrong all my life! Bummer! Thanks for making me do this research. You learn something new (or I should say 'correct') every day.
I just might put together a MySpace page so I can share all my photos of our gardening efforts over the years here at StoneCrop Park. EVERYTHING is in bloom and I've just noticed little plums, peaches and pears and apples on our trees. Wish I had someone to enjoy it all with me. There are outdoor chairs and swings all over the property with the most beautiful views of the pastures and lanes lined with iris, pionies and lilac (not to mention the ponies and horses). Before John left and was placed in the nursing home in FL he used to help me by driving the little lawn tractor and pulling the wagon with all the gardening equipment and plantings in it. He could do some things and felt helpful.
Well the Prune/Plum/Prune - whichever comes first - sounds like an Abbott and Costello routine. Who knew???? Only Texas Joe, and Charlotte had the facts. I'll never be able to look a plum in the stem again without remembering this conversation.
StuntGirl, your place sounds beautiful. Please do try to make pictures available somehow. I for one would love to see it all in person, but that being impossible, pictures would be great.
Question - is there any other way to upload pictures here other than having a website? I would like to put our picture in my profile, but don't know how to do it. I have a scanner for the PC, and of course a digital camera, but am not a techi so am pretty ignorant about all this.
Nancy, have you ever wondered why there is apricot nectar but no apricot juice, and apple juice but no apple nectar? Deep thoughts. I just thought of the answer...the thickness of the fluid. Now I really feel stupid!
Re: Putting pictures in profile. Nikki posted this some time back and I had copied it so I'd know how to do it.
Up at the top, you see the 4 blue squares, discussions/catergories/search/account
Go to account
on the left hand side, click on personal information
Scroll down to where you see account picture
where the picture has to have a valid URL, you can't just upload from your pictures you have to use a website that will transfer it into this format
I use tiny pictures - is very simple! http://tinypic.com/index.php
On tinypictures site, click browse....find photo in your pictures or saved file
then just copy the picture from tinypictures, paste it in the account picture...tada :) The direct link for layouts is the easiest to use ( but you can use any of them, just make sure the "code" starts with the http)
Once you enter your picture ... make sure to scroll to the bottom and click save.
I have a recipe for purple prune plum pie. So I always thought that the oval plums that are used to make prunes were called prune plums. So everyone is right.
Stuntgirl: Your place does indeed sound beautiful, you obviously have some wonderful memories. I've noticed that your postings in the last day or so seem more upbeat. I'm glad; I think a lot of us were worried about you. Tell us more about Stone Crop Park. It will be good for us and maybe good for you.
Actually, pamsc, you are absolutely correct. The encyclopedia did say that...oval plums dried to become prunes ARE called 'prune plums'. So now the world knows the truth. We can all sleep tight tonight!
You all had me laughing at the prune/plum discussion/discovery and now I'm thinking this group could probably come up with the final answer on the chicken/egg issue. Got me to thinking about all those other confusing things, like why we drive on a parkway but park on a driveway...