![]() The time to start planting has finally come! I finished installing the irrigation system, we had a big soaking rain last week that softened the ground, and temperatures are slowly starting to come down. The perfect conditions for planting some trees! The boys grabbed their shovels and did their best to help out by digging, squishing chince bugs, and watering. They worked really hard, and I'm so proud of both of them. This will be their orchard too, and I know they'll be so proud knowing that they helped get it started. I was thinking about how I could photograph and document the new trees as they grow, when I had a really cool idea. The other day I found my old iPhone with a cracked screen just sitting in a drawer. The camera still worked fine, and I realized that if I could position it somewhere dry and figure out the timing, I could use it to make a time lapse video of the trees growing throughout the year. Conveniently, I found a time lapse photography app that does just that, so setting everything up was really easy. I set up the phone on a mini tripod in a window overlooking the back yard, and set the app to take one picture everyday at 1:00 pm. If I can resist messing with it, it will be really interesting to see how it turns out. ![]() I haven't posted anything in a long time, but don't think I've been lazing around doing nothing. Between two active kids, a new job, and a new house, I've been swamped. I also haven't felt like I've had anything interesting to write about. I'm starting over from scratch at the new house, which means I've been running water lines and other grunt work, but nothing that I would think anyone would care to see or read about. That may all change before too long. I'm almost finished rigging up the irrigation lines, I've placed orders for strawberries and blackberries, and Mary Cummings over at RCW Nursery set me up with a whole new collection of citrus trees. As soon as it cools off a little it will be time to start planting. At this new house, I'm going to try to be a little less crazy about tree density, and make an effort to give each tree enough space to maximize its potential, even if that means planting fewer trees over all. Regarding the blog, I just don't have as much time for posting regular articles anymore, so I'm just going to post when I feel like it. I haven't yet decided if I'm going to chronicle my new orchard on this site, or if I should start another one, but this site will remain up regardless. Too much work went into it to take it down. Starting a new blog would give me a chance to be a little less one-dimensional, and post about my other interests like running, swimming, music, cooking, etc. Here's the tentative list of trees I plan to plant at the new place:
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Clayton Bell
I'm a geologist in Houston, Texas who loves growing fruit trees.
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