What I did at my house today...

[Sow's Ear Mal]

Adding land to yours is very exciting. We have a very old orchard at the back of our property too. The trees are so large, their limbs reach up and out before curving back to the ground, they look like giant spiders. The whole orchard is choked now with hawethorne. The trees can be restored to productivity, but the internet tells me it will take time, skill and patience. Gotta find all those first!

[jharkin]

Power raking the front lawn in preparation to reseed it. Its more crabgrass than grass this year.

[oaktree]

I spent hours at the salvage place looking through tons of doors. After hours of no luck, I found two perfect matching doors with vertical recessed panels. They are the right size, open the right way, and are in great shape. Next time, I'm getting the hinges, etc. for them, and I can't wait to put them in my house with Bennington knobs! I also got a really nice threshold salvaged from an 1850 Greek Revival, and there's potential for some others from the same house.

I also worried over my floors, but they are looking better. My flooring contractors didn't patch and repair before finishing, which I knew was wrong from the start and upsets me. I'm very nervous about how it's going to come together.

[oaktree]

Adding land to yours is very exciting. We have a very old orchard at the back of our property too. The trees are so large, their limbs reach up and out before curving back to the ground, they look like giant spiders. The whole orchard is choked now with hawethorne. The trees can be restored to productivity, but the internet tells me it will take time, skill and patience. Gotta find all those first!

I have a very old orchard too! My trees are full of apples, but I haven't tasted them yet. The previous owner told me she used to make applesauce from them. We should start another thread on how to restore and care for our orchards.

[heartwood]

oaktree, sorry that your floor contractors didn't do right by you....in the photo I don't see areas that need repair...it is very difficult to find quality tradespeople who are knowledgeable and take pride in their work...I have had a slew of them in my new old house....some of us are lucky and find great people to undertake work...seems to be few and far between....
best of luck!

I had apple trees at my last house...the apples were good for applesauce, deers and bears....can I tell you the enjoyment of watching 3 little cubs literally tumble out of the woods, sit down and eat the apples off the ground under the watchful eye of their mama? and the deer with their spotted fawn reaching up to pick an apple, what a treat...

...jae

[oaktree]

oaktree, sorry that your floor contractors didn't do right by you....in the photo I don't see areas that need repair...it is very difficult to find quality tradespeople who are knowledgeable and take pride in their work...I have had a slew of them in my new old house....some of us are lucky and find great people to undertake work...seems to be few and far between....
best of luck!

I had apple trees at my last house...the apples were good for applesauce, deers and bears....can I tell you the enjoyment of watching 3 little cubs literally tumble out of the woods, sit down and eat the apples off the ground under the watchful eye of their mama? and the deer with their spotted fawn reaching up to pick an apple, what a treat...

...jae

Thanks for the encouragement, heartwood! I know this is how it goes...

Bear cubs!!! How wonderful!

[Mick_VT]

got this shutter disassembled, stripped of paint, repaired and put back together again, well ok, I started it yesterday, but got it back together today Next up will be its pair, then that will be me done with shutters this year, they are time consuming in the extreme to rebuild.

[WildGeeseLn]

Adding land to yours is very exciting. We have a very old orchard at the back of our property too. The trees are so large, their limbs reach up and out before curving back to the ground, they look like giant spiders. The whole orchard is choked now with hawethorne. The trees can be restored to productivity, but the internet tells me it will take time, skill and patience. Gotta find all those first!

I have a very old orchard too! My trees are full of apples, but I haven't tasted them yet. The previous owner told me she used to make applesauce from them. We should start another thread on how to restore and care for our orchards.

I'm a historic and cultural landscape preservationist, and I happened to have worked on historic orchard preservation projects for the park service. A great resource I found is called "A fruitful Legacy". It details the historic orchards at Capitol Reef National Park in Utah. It also has a ton of info on historic apples species (great photos of all), revitalization techniques and orchard design. I got it from the Olmsted Center for Historic Preservation, NPS, Boston, but I think it might be available for the public. If anyone is interested in historic landscapes, historic garden restoration etc. we could start a thread or private message me. It makes my day

I have a big 2 acres of what was lawn in front of my house. My plan is to turn it into a wildlife meadow with a small orchard on one side. Only problem is affording the trees.....

[WildGeeseLn]

It's actually available online
http://www.nps.gov/subjects/culturallan ... cument.pdf

[Mick_VT]

It's actually available online
http://www.nps.gov/subjects/culturallan ... cument.pdf

Woohooo! Thank you for sharing that..

You know what, this would look great in the library! <hint> <hint>