Proper Rose Pruning

 
Our roses are taking off like crazy and I can say its definitely due to #1 pruning and #2 proper feeding with rose food.

I now prune the rose bushes in late winter (january) and early fall (september). This works well here in California. Your weather may vary. Cooler areas and you might be pruning in early spring instead (april/may). My basic pruning is as follows:

- remove dead or broken branches
- remove any twig branches thinner then a pencil
- prune to open up the center for light and air circulation
- select 6-8 strongest canes for new season of growth
- cut branches at least half the branch height
- cut branches at 1/4 inch above outside facing buds at a 45 degree angle

Throughout the summer, I do basic maintenance like removing spent blooms and then clipping that branch just above a leaf set of 5-7 leaves, which promotes regrowth. You wont get new buds if you clip above a 3 leaf set.

While pruning is important, make sure to buy some rose food and feed your roses regularly!

Spring Has Sprung!

Back in December I carefully trimmed & pruned our fruit trees. Its easy to do and you can do it yourself. I learned all I need to know from a book called "The Backyard Orchardist". An excellent book! Our fruit trees are really taking off now!

http://www.amazon.com/The-Backyard-Orchardist-Complete-Growing/dp/0963452037/

Saw Stop Safety System

For a few years now there has been technology available to prevent table saw injuries which add up to hundreds per day here in America and approx 11 amputations daily. This type of technology is awesome. Check out this demonstration here (using a hot dog, not a finger)...


Very cool! You can learn more and buy a table saw with this technology here...

http://www.sawstop.com/

These table saws are pricey though starting at $1500 on up. The technology was invented by Stephen Gass and he deserves credit for such an awesome invention.

There is a lot more to this whole story though. Stephen Gass is a patent attorney. He has over 90 patents related to this new saw technology so it probably wont be copied soon by other competitors (think Riyobi, Makita, Skill, Dewalt, etc).

There is a new bill being presented here in California. The link to the article is below. The new bill would require this new table saw technology to be used on new saws sold in California. Great idea until you read into these finer details like how the inventor s a patent attorney and that he hired lobbyists to lobby for this bill here! I say its dirty pool. Great idea, great technology, it will save people from injuries, pain, suffering, and medical costs, but the way it was gone about is pretty dirty.

http://articles.latimes.com/2012/sep/06/business/la-fi-saw-safety-20120906

Will I buy one of these saws in the future? Probably! Maybe after the "dust" has settled though.

Some Pics From Renovation

Im in the middle right now of renovating a couple rooms in the house. Ive spent a lot of time thinking about how I could maximize space in the house and now Im finally doing something about it. In the photo above I open the wall up first to find wires and remove or relocate them.

In the second photo, I'm removing all the plaster from the walls (yes, thats grass growing up in the wall). This eastern facing room gets really hot, so Im insulating all the walls and putting everything back together. If this was a newer home, pulling off or cutting drywall would be much less mess!

Here I am securing a late night load from the 24 hour big box hardware store. For the ceiling of my eastern room with a sloping ceiling, I'm using a 1.5" thick foam board with foil on one side to keep the suns heat out. I have it installed already and really notice an improvement!

Coincidentally, I bought this 1992 Jeep from my mom about 10 years ago. Its been a non op vehicle the last five years and for this renovation Ive cleaned it up, added a 5 inch lift with some new tires and rims and its able to tackle on anything now! Love it!

Starting New House Projects

Wifey has left for two weeks to visit family. This is the time I do some serious renovation work on the house as the dirt and dust can become quite intense.

Starting new projects, especially big ones begins months or even years in advance. This is when my mind puts together all the living spaces in the house and how to maximize the usage. Should the door go here or there? How can I remove doors to maximize wall space? If I plan for one thing, what other things need to be worked on as well? What about electrical switches and outlets?

So this is sort of my thought process long in advance of starting something. As the  time frame of working on the house gets close, I dont spend hours sketching everything out in full detail. When you open up a wall, things change and sometimes plans change on a moments notice. I go with the flow. I have a basic floorplan and then I go from there.

This time around Im opening the space between the kitchen and living room so people in the kitchen can share with whats going on in the living room also. The kitchen is so small and the living room is small too... opening them up to each other will make both feel larger.

Im working late at night every night for the next couple weeks, so dont know when I will get around to posting, but stay tuned! More to come!