A Bird Brain; Wondrous Intelligence

Thursday telephone call; A story from Maryland --

(This story was written by the Grand Mother, as told to her by the Far Fetched Son, recently retired and now busy planting orange trees and flowering shrubs in his yard in Florida.)

Our grandson, Ray, recently was installing some insulated windows. Working high on a ladder, he noticed a bird chirping nearby. The sounds got louder and more frantic. Looking around, Ray spotted a nest in a near-by tree. He could see some eggs in the nest and also saw the Mama bird nearby making all the noise. In a soothing voice, Ray spoke to Mama Bird, reassuring her he was not going to harm her nest or eggs. Still the chirping went on and grew louder and more frantic.

Ray's boss and his wife were below and had also heard all the noise. Looking up, the wife saw a snake crawling up the tree, approaching the nest. Frantically she called, “Ray, there is a snake crawling up the tree to get the bird's eggs. Can't you do something?!”

Quickly Ray looked around and soon spotted the snake slithering up the tree. Climbing down the ladder, Ray quickly climbed up the tree. When he was high enough so he could reach the snake, as quick as a flash of lightning, he grabbed the snake by the tail and flung it harshly to the ground. Ray's boss promptly killed the snake

When Ray climbed down, the wife profusely thanked him for his bravery and quick reactions. Ray's boss remarked, "Ray, you're crazy!"

Ray told his boss he wasn't really crazy as he had previously had some experience handling snakes. The boss commented, "You knew it was a Water Moccasin when you saw it, didn't you?"

"Yeah", Ray replied. I knew that, but remember I have had experience handling snakes."

"You're still crazy!" growled his boss.

Ray went back up the ladder and resumed his work. After a short while, he glanced again at the nest nearby. There sat Mama Bird, looking at him in a contented way, and perfectly quiet.

If that is an example of a bird's brain, I'd say the bird was quite intelligent.

From a Grandmother's perspective I would comment, "Ray, you better take better care of yourself or I won't let you keep you!" (Old Family Saying)

Upside-Down Tomatoes-- Week Three

Saturday Morning; South King County --

This morning, Grumpy took some "update pictures" of his tomatoes. The remaining original tomato plants, shown here, are the Sun Gold and the Yellow Pear. These two varieties are of the small, "cherry" size; Grumpy and the Grand Mother are very much looking forward to tasting them starting in mid-June or early July and continuing until frost. The leaves on these plants originally did not have the lusty, dark green color that Grumpy would like to see. However, as you can see on the leaves that have emerged from underneath the planters they are now apparently benefiting from the nutrients in the soil above them; their stems are also nicely-broadened as will be necessary when they grow their "TOPS" (underneaths?!) and have the weight of their ripening fruit hanging down. [Is Grumpy optimistic or what!!??] Grumpy watered these plants the first time when he planted them back on the 26th of April. The weather being quite damp, he hasn't watered them since until today. They have never appeared wilty -- in want of water.

The newest tomato plants (replacing the original two obtained from Heidi) are the Glacier and what Grumpy hopes is another Early Girl. These plants were purchased at McLendon's and apparently were started at about the same time as Heidi's. Both of these plants are of a variety that produces a much larger "bush" than the so-called cherry tomatoes. Hence the reader will note the very husky stem on both these plants. Grumpy also calls to your attention the flowers that are showing already on both of these tomatoes! Of course these larger fruits will take longer to grow and probably to ripen, so it may be expected that the first ripe tomatoes from these vines will be mid- to late-July. [Grumpy's mouth waters!!]

Notice that all four of the plants are still maintaining a horizontal and outward growth tendency -- see the curving stem as it comes out of the bottom of the planter. In another two weeks, the weight of the larger vines will pull the stems more vertical. The stem will continue to grow larger and stronger, maintaining the ability to support the mass of vine and fruit which will develop below it.

Besides watering both planters, Grumpy dumped about half a cup of organic fertilizer (4-5-3) in on top of each planter before pouring about a third of a gallon of water in to each. Instructions that came with the planters suggested about 1/2 cup of fertilizer every two weeks (every ten days during tomato-growing season) and watering regularly, never allowing the plants to get wilty. It says that "you cannot overwater" the upside-down planter. As the vines become larger, Grumpy will apply more water (up to a half gallon at a time) and also more frequently (eventually twice a week).

The main advantage of growing tomatoes in an upside-down planter is that it keeps the vines off the cool, damp ground. This helps the vine stay healthier and also helps the fruits to ripen better. Another advantage for Grumpy's yard is the fact that there is no place on the ground where tomatoes would have the advantage of having as much sun as they do hanging on this South corner of the house.They may also benefit from some secondary radiant heat reflected off of the walls a couple of feet away, as well as a warm convective current of air gently wafting up from the solar-heated wall of stonework below. We shall see.

Heat Pump Report: First Season Finale

End of the 2008-2009 Heating Season --
Typically, Grumpy would turn on the heating system (formerly oil furnace) on 1 October and shut it off on 1 May -- if it hadn't already run out of fuel from the 500 gallon tank, that is. Some flexibility was permitted if an exceptionally cold spell occurred before the magical October date, or after the ultimate May date. In fact such was the case in Spring 2008, when the furnace remained on until the tank went dry on about the 15th of May. The Grand Mother wisely closed the kitchen door, when she got up at her usual early hour of 4:30 or 5 o'clock, and turned on the oven! She dared the Grumpy One to say a word about her method of achieving comfort.

Of course, Grumpy had long ago determined that his Bride's comfort was more important than an argument about the uneconomical method being used to provide that comfort. Besides, there was always that hope of another Lemon Meringue Pie!!

As an earlier post had complained, the cost of our regular July fuel tank fillup reinvigorated Grumpy's trade study for the most cost-efficient method of heating his Castle. As that earlier lament revealed, a Heat Pump was the way to go. The trade study predicted an annual cost savings (at July 2008 fuel oil price) such that the $8,000 initial cost of the Heat Pump would be paid off in about 4 years.

So now, on this the 12th day of May, the heating task has dwindled down to just a half-hour or so of operation to boost the "getting up" temperature to a "coziness"of 72 degrees. Then the system goes off for the next 23 1/2 hours. Thus Grumpy declares that the heating season is over for this year and proudly presents -- The results:

• $359.26 (greater amount of electrical energy consumed compared to previous year)
• $521.25 (fuel oil consumed @ July 2008 price per gallon)
• $2,119.55 (TOTAL savings using Heat Pump in lieu of oil furnace only)

Further to the benefit of the Heat Pump has been the fact that the Grump and Bride have had the thermostat set at 72 degrees this heating season instead of 69 or 70 like the previous year. One caveat: the Grand Mother insists that she doesn't feel as warm with the Heat Pump as she did when the oil furnace was running. Grumpy will not go so far as to say it is "all in her head" -- he senses the same thing! [It is a fact that the "hot air" coming out of the registers when the oil furnace is providing the heat is 20 to 30 degrees hotter than when the Heat Pump is providing the heat. The controlled room temperature, once it is warmed up, is exactly the same however.]

Growing Upside-Down Tomatoes

Mid-Spring 2009; South King County --

Grumpy grew up on a farm in Western South Dakota; he remembers the large garden his Mother raised each year. Later in the middle of the Great Depression, when we moved to the nearest town (Dupree), Grumpy helped raise an even larger garden (including flowers!) that his Dad had laid out as terraces (to preserve the precious water that would otherwise have run off when the snow melted in the Spring). One of Grumpy's jobs was plowing the garden each Spring, using a team of horses borrowed from a neighbor. This sure beat the previous method where Grumpy used a spade to turn over every square inch of the garden area!

Grumpy's endeavors to raise much of a garden, after he moved with his little family to Seattle, have mostly been dismal failures. Two items have been spectacularly memorable successes, however: three "rescued" Zucchini plants, all of which grew lustily and produced an abundance of Zucchini (try giving away excess Zucchini and you soon lose contact with your neighbors!); the other also belonged to the squash family -- Acorn Squash. Grumpy remembers mowing around the squash vine as it extended itself out over the front lawn. By late Summer or early Fall, when Grumpy was rewarded with a dozen or so beautiful Acorn Squashes, the grass had grown so tall that Grumpy had to dig down into the growth to extract the squash. But it was worth it!

Last year, Grumpy tried growing a tomato plant using the technique of hanging the plant upside down. However, the planter box in which he planted the tomato was a home-made device that didn't have adequate soil and a means to provide consistent moisture. Although last year's attempt produced some fruit on the vine, none of it grew very large and none of it ripened by the time there was danger of frost and Grumpy had to bring it inside.

For Christmas the Grand Mother presented Grumpy with two fine planters for growing upside-down tomatoes. These planters look like the "cat's meow"; they are much deeper than Grumpy's home-made device and have a partial cover over the top to minimize the loss of moisture by evaporation. When filled with fertile soil and properly moistened with water, they are also very heavy!!

This Spring, Grumpy received four tomato plants from Heidi, his favorite Swede; they were: Early Girl, Pineapple, Sun Gold and Yellow Pear. The instructions encouraged the planting of two tomatoes in each planter. Unfortunately, Grumpy temporarily hung the Early Girl/Pineapple pair in a place where they got bumped and broken off within a few days of being hung upside down. Grumpy replaced these with what he hopes is an Early Girl and a new tomato called "Glacier" (see photo on right). We'll see what develops.

The effect of gravity on the growth of tomatoes is interesting. This first photo on the left shows the initial orientation of the original Early Girl and Pineapple a day or so after they had been transplanted from their starter pots into the upside-down planter. They are not wilted but have just not yet realized that they are now upside-down!

The second photo shows the other tomato plants (Sun Gold and Yellow Pear) beginning to curl upward and outward. They are "looking for" the sun!

The third photo further demonstrates that, as these plants grow more, they "crawl along" the bottom side of the planter, obviously "looking for" the sun and apparently still trying to "grow up". In a couple of weeks, the vines will become too large and heavy for their stems to support this sideways growth and they will begin to sag downward and continue growing as they hang below the container with their roots.

More photos will follow as the days go by, including some when the first tomato that "sets on"!