Type 1'stars R Us

Good morning Karen, good morning everyone.
Jellybabies stayed safe from sudden death last night, I can almost hear them celebrating in the bedside container. Hope everyone else’s jellybabies have survived to party for another day.
There have been tree surgeons next door but one every day this week cutting down a number of very big leylandii; they’re working on the last one now. The cut pine smell is wafting in through the window, it’s strong but pleasant. The trees had grown to about 60 foot so it’s amazing how much more light and air there is now.
Husband felt inspired by the tree surgeons to cut down a wild cherry that shades the veg bed. I’m feeling a little sad. He’s wanted to do it for years but I resisted, it’s spring blossom was glorious and the birds ate the small red fruit. However it didn’t set fruit this year. It’s looking tired and old. I also think husband also knew we were having quiche for lunch and had to prove his manhood.
There are still lots of trees and bushes, the neighbourhood hasn’t gone all eco zero, still many places for birds and other creatures to perch, nest and hide.

I love trees and am loath to pull them out. I have gotten better about that since moving here. I really like to keep ones that flower, but we had a huge 40 foot tree taken out that's called an African Tulip, pretty orange flowers but it's an invasive species and all over the island. And it breaks easily.....and spreads easily. Huge root system. We took out a few palms too and rubber trees. But we left a large mountain apple tree just for the birds. We cut it way back but it loves to bear fruit and the birds love to eat it. Me not so much, I find the fruit fairly tasteless. We've planted a couple of papaya's, a pomegranate, I have a couple of mangoes started from seeds, and a meyer's lemon. The meyer lemon is not a meyer lemon even though the nursery guaranteed it was, we paid more for one and waited to get it. Green on the outside but tastes like regular lemon on the inside. That's so much the islands though. We have green outside and green inside, green outside and yellow inside, yellow outside and green inside, yellow outside and yellow inside and green outside and green inside that can either be a lime or a lemon. Citrus seems to be intermingled so much here.

So I ordered 2 Haas avocado trees from the internet to hopefully make sure they are Haas because the same intermingling effect is here with avocados too. And we have about 300 species. The Haas are about 1-2 feet tall and seem to be doing well in their pots for now. I ordered from two different growers and they both look identical so hopefully they are both Haas. I will love whatever they are but I really do like Haas the best.

Good morning everyone happy friday

@Marie 2 we have 5 avocado trees in our garden in pots, will need to bring them in for winter, but it's a shame I can't ship them out to you ! Lockdown meant we had time to really workout how to germinate the seeds and got quite good at it !!

Bit of a brag post but last night I got a 'free' ice cream, i had a magnum and didn't take any insulin for it, I went to the gym straight after and altho I spiked to 11 mmol/l, after the workout I came down to 8.8 mmol/l, I know that my tandem slim would of added some insulin in because of the higher reading but I didn't have to bolus on my pump for it, a huge win in my small world

Morning all, yesterday's morning walk saw me having to change all my clothes except my underwear - got caught in torrential rain in a waterproof coat which wasn't. Kitted out better today, overheated as the blue skies came across! Not, complaining, I prefer it that way round.

@Juicyj what's the secret to germinating avocados? And do you anticipate ever getting any fruit? I've no idea how big an avocado tree grows, but they're one of my favourite things.

hh1 said:

@Juicyj what's the secret to germinating avocados? And do you anticipate ever getting any fruit? I've no idea how big an avocado tree grows, but they're one of my favourite things.

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If you peel off the outer skin on the seed so leave it for a day or so to dry out so it's easier to peel off, then put 3 toothpicks in around the sides but not in the veins of the seed, then leave on a windowsill with water up to the middle in a jar, keep flushing the water so it doesn't turn green and in 1-2 months it should start to split up and a root appear at the bottom and then a shoot at the top, once you get a green leaf transfer to a pot and keep it wet !

I find avocados can also germinate in a warm old-style compost pile. Our Greek friends have germinated them using your method @Juicyj and planted them outdoors; last time I was there I was filled with envy of their 6ft trees. One’s grown in the greenhouse here, it loses its leaves during the winter but gets them all again. It’s not going to get big though unless it busts through the glass.

Thanks @Juicyj @Fairygodmother do you get any fruit on it?

hh1 said:

Thanks @Juicyj @Fairygodmother do you get any fruit on it?

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Not yet and unsure we ever will but the leaves are beautiful!!!

@Juicyj I’m jealous! I tried to germinate untold amounts of seeds here but couldn’t get them to start. I did when I was younger easily and never could figure out what to do with them then. The only place I could guarantee it was Haas was from a grocery store and wondered if something was done to them on shipping here so they wouldn’t sprout. My gardeners tried to too as they knew I wanted one. But then I got more desperate and just tried to sprout some avocados bought at farmers markets and couldn’t.

But now from your note I am wondering if I did it right. I don’t remember having to avoid veins but mostly I think I might not have given it enough time. I might have given the first ones months but they were the grocery store ones. By the time I hit the other ones I’m pretty sure I didn’t.

I didn’t know I could get them shipped as the nursery onlines wouldn’t ship them here. So I got them from smaller nursery growers. You had to have them shipped as smaller more newer sprouted ones because they had to completely come soil free, they could have some special small amount of stuff packed/wrapped but they had to be able to be inspected for bugs and no soil. So I was happy to find some smaller sellers that did it.

Mangos snd pineapples were easy to sprout lol!

@Juicyj @hh1 I gather most bear fruit but take longer if not grafted. Grafting them is easy but usually done from a tree that has proven to bear a lot of fruit. Mine won’t be grafted as they take on the species of the graft and I am hoping for a pure Haas. I will be crossing my fingers they bear fruit.

Lol I was good at killing the young 6 foot trees back then. Frost, frost and more frost and I would wrap them and try to protect them, Too hot once and 3 from a bug infestation lol. The one that survived and thrived was one that never bore fruit!

Good morning everyone have a good weekend

hh1 said:

Thanks @Juicyj @Fairygodmother do you get any fruit on it?

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Not a thing, and it’s still tiny. It’d have to grow beyond the greenhouse’s capacity to achieve flowering and fruiting. I’ve seen fruit on avocado trees in Greece, and we used to be brought bags full of gloriously large and creamy fruit from a friend who lived and worked in Kaduna. I’d also love a pomegranite but I know that wouldn’t be viable here.

Marie 2 said:

@Juicyj I’m jealous! I tried to germinate untold amounts of seeds here but couldn’t get them to start. I did when I was younger easily and never could figure out what to do with them then. The only place I could guarantee it was Haas was from a grocery store and wondered if something was done to them on shipping here so they wouldn’t sprout. My gardeners tried to too as they knew I wanted one. But then I got more desperate and just tried to sprout some avocados bought at farmers markets and couldn’t.

But now from your note I am wondering if I did it right. I don’t remember having to avoid veins but mostly I think I might not have given it enough time. I might have given the first ones months but they were the grocery store ones. By the time I hit the other ones I’m pretty sure I didn’t.

I didn’t know I could get them shipped as the nursery onlines wouldn’t ship them here. So I got them from smaller nursery growers. You had to have them shipped as smaller more newer sprouted ones because they had to completely come soil free, they could have some special small amount of stuff packed/wrapped but they had to be able to be inspected for bugs and no soil. So I was happy to find some smaller sellers that did it.

Mangos snd pineapples were easy to sprout lol!

Click to expand...

Envy, envy, and once again but louder this time, envy!

There’s a honeydew melon in the greenhouse grown from a lockdown home delivered one’s seed, and it’s fruited. The fruit’s growing. Keep the collective stars’ fingers crossed that there’ll be enough warmth for it to get big enough to eat.

I am doing the "What does watching sport do to my blood sugars" thing... I have a feeling this Women's US Open Final is going to send them up. But it's very splendid tennis and going to be worth the late night, regardless of the result.

Today's blackberrying walk included me stopping at a bench I'd rested at last week. I spotted a familiar-looking used test strip underneath it. I assumed it was probably mine, but just in case it wasn't, I carefully put a glove on before rescuing it!

New academic year is well underway - returning students are back next week. Newest to my tender mercies T1 student who is testing every boundary has already learnt the hard way I know way too much and every other member of staff will dob them into me and I will then be utterly clear to parents about how that 2.7 less than an hour after lunch was achieved. Parent entirely with me. and backed me up all the way. DSN, who has been watching the Libre chart all week, also agreed with my assessment of the situation - and I have a feeling we will be in regular contact. Student tried the weeping and wailing tactic with all of us the deeper into it all we got and got nowhere. It'll settle...

It seems watching the most excellent tennis kept me beautifully stable and landed me this morning on a 4.6 - which is currently a miracle for me. With luck, as the usual stress factors in church will not be there present, I'll maintain that equilibrium for today.

It's possibly all helped by the fact my walking routines seem to be back on an even keel, despite the fact I've accepted offers of lifts part of the way to and from work. We'd all been sticking to the areas not mixing outside of work and not being in enclosed spaces, but my regular lift-offerers and I are all in the same working area this year.

Oops... morning all!

Good morning everyone enjoy whats left of the weekend

Interesting couple of weeks, or so.. Boss & colleague both came down with COVID.
I was away on a long weekend. Both seem clear now but pretty shot away in the aftermath.?
My gaffer, can't even seem to think straight.

Me, never felt better. Keep testing, but nothing to suggest I contracted it whatsoever..
So, we got some jobs outstanding & I've just been solo steadily driving the business.

It's been rather challenging...