Jeopardy Answer: Climbing Apple Trees

Jeopardy Question: What should 43 yr old women avoid doing?

I got about 7 plastic grocery bags full, but it might be a day or two before I can stand up long enough and straighten out my arms well enough to start making applesauce. OUCH!

Sure wish I could have made the swap yesterday. I don't have anything to trade, and lord knows I don't need anything more to plant, but it would have been fun to meet everyone. What is this "green elephant" event I keep hearing about? Maybe I'll have to volunteer my yard for a get-together next year. The house isn't much, but I've got LOTS of room outside for mingling and trading. :-)

Mz - this is why I have dwarf apple trees! The only problem is that the branches are low enough for my dogs to get the apples... I don't mind sharing, but, the lab has learned to position herself under the trees & pop straight up, knocking the apples off.
She's truly a fruit dog - if I could only get her to weed for me, I'd oblige her all the apples/strawberries/blueberries/boysenberries/pears/cherries she could possibly consume!
As far as something in the future - I will be dividing over the next few weeks. I'll post what I have, but are you looking for anything in particular? I don't do too much dividing in the spring - only what didn't get accomplished in the fall. But I'm game!
I hope you do have something - I'd love to do this again without the crazy schedule for September interfering.
The green elephant is in November at a church parking lot in Redmond - I'll have to look it up again for more details.
FYI: hot bath w/ Epsom salts works wonders, unless you have a hot tub.

I think my mom's trees are semi-dwarf, but even those get out of hand if you don't prune them regularly, and they weren't for years as far as I can tell. Believe me, I wouldn't have been climbing full-size apple trees at my age no matter how much I want the apples! Unfortunately even if I had a hot tub I wouldn't have enough water right now to splurge on it, but thanks for the thought Katye. lol. I'm actually not doing too bad now that I've been up and moving around for a few hours -- it's the pain of crawling out of bed that reminds you how many years have gone by.

It didn't occur to me that fall would be the time for plant swapping. I guess I was thinking about seedlings and annuals, etc. Then again, the socialization sounded like so much fun I wasn't so worried about swapping anything. I'm a little isolated out here! :-)

If people are interested in coming out this far -- it's a nice drive, but I'm about 45 minutes from Olympia -- then I'd be happy to look at hosting some sort of gathering, even if plant swapping wasn't the main objective. Good weather would be very important since I have very little indoor area, which is why I was thinking about next year. I'd just have to warn DH well ahead of time so he can find somewhere else to be -- he really doesn't like groups of more than 2 or 3.

My jeopardy question: what should ANY age woman never do? Move large rocks!
I can't believe how easy it was for me to see that they needed to be moved and where they needed to go, but the Jedi-Knight thing did not work, and I had to physically move them myself. I also talked myself into digging up some shrubs and moving them, too. I'm such an Idiot! And I am sore like I cannot describe. No hot tub at my place - just hot shower!
Springtime works - I just need to know what people are looking for. I can heel most into the veggie beds, so they will winter over well. I'm better off digging things now while the soil is not soggy, and while I'm in the mood. Okay - "in the mood" is a stretch! In a snit about the weather turning wet/cold is more like it...
Tomorrow morning I will be reminded of your tree-climbing endeavour and your comments regarding all the years that have passed, as I roll out of bed. I'm not looking forward to that - I think it's going to be an Ibuprofen night.

Katye it is clear that you simply didn't have enough coffee before the rock moving adventure. What do you mean the 'jedi knight' thing didn't work? always works for me!
Consider me a member of the over-40-and-I-cant-move club. Dug out the rest of the shade bed today and replanted after trimming back the roots from the next door neighbor's cedar trees, which suck up every bit of water and block more sun than any other plant I know. I added about a yard of compost to the soil, which raised it up considerably. I also trenched along the back of the bed and lined the trench with double plastic to keep the roots at bay. They will eventually grow through, but maybe the trees will be gone by then. Ask me if I care if cedar trees are beautiful. Just go ahead and ask.
No don't. It's rhetorical. I can barely bend my fingers. Good thing typing doesn't take much movement.
But next year, that garden is going to be glorious.
mmmm applesauce!