The turkey family loves the new driveway ornament too
I would like to thank the tree gods for:
- one-stop shopping for this year’s tomato supports for me
- a neat and convenient place to practice one’s tree-climbing skills for my daughter
- a ready source of firewood for my husband
but: did that huge branch need to be so close to the house, AND did it have to happen when I was home alone in the kitchen a mere 15′ from where it fell? Not that I am truly ungrateful, I’m just saying.
Glad you came to visit!
Got something to say? Email me at fastweedpuller at gmail dot com.
fast grow the weeds 
And thanks #4: that it fell NEXT TO the house instead of ON the house. 🙂
Tree branches do make for the best garden stakes and poles. A friend of mine reminded me that if you burn the ends of the very best stakes and poles they will last for many years, I might try that next year.
Let me know if you ever want any maple tree seeds… they can be garden pole size in almost 2 years.
Ditto Emily, but I’d move it to number one. I live under giant trees, so it’s always a big fat thank you God when a giant branch misses the creatures and house.
I am having so much turkey envy . I never did go back and buy turkeys.
so, how exactly do you support your tomatoes? we have an abundance of trees, but people keep telling me that if i use poles from the woods, the weight of the tomato plant will pull the pole right over. i need to hear from someone who’s done it.
this year, we’re using the florida weave with t-posts and twine. but i’m using saplings for the peppers.
glad the branch didn’t fall on your house!
Hi Serinat! Well, all my tomatoes (save maybe 6) are indoors so they don’t have the wind/rain pressure that outdoor plants have. I simply stick two stakes in per plant; these stakes are pretty big (1-2″ in diameter at the biggest point) and about 6′ tall, and I drive them about 12-18″ into the ground. Then I tie them up. I tend to trim the plants a lot and tie them up pretty often too; I find this makes the fruit ripen quicker. T-posts and twine work great too so that sounds like a good plan for you.
Your turkeys are beatiful! I love looking at them. We live with huge old trees and randomly a branch falls here and there. So far (fingers crossed) not on the house (once the chicken house, but just the corner and we could fix it) and once on a old car (yes we have old cars…for the someday I’ll projects) and mostly in the yard. WHEW!
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com/
yikes–that would have scared the $%^& out of me! we used to live beside a giant eucalyptus and it was always creeking away, readying itself to drop a huge branch through our roof…luckily it never happened. you could also support some pole peas or build bean tepees! have fun.
gotta admit Ive been a bit jumpy ever since a hurricane helped a gorgeous old black walnut find it’s way through our roof. That was a couple of states south of here but it’s the sort of startle that sticks with you!
That would make me stop and count my blessings too. That reminds me to get out and trim the stakes I cut off the bushes.
Glad you and your house are okay! That’s quite a scare.
Now that’s some excitement! 😉
When I was in college, a giant tree fell on my parent’s house, crushing the wrap-around porch and breaking one of my bedroom windows. I was SO glad I wasn’t there for that (it was something I had always worried about). Luckily, we have no trees near our house, giving me one less thing to fret over during windstorms. Glad there was no damage!
Emily, oh yeah, that!
Mike I have my own maple seedling problem, thanks! Fortunately I taught my daughter early how to recognize them so she LOVES weeding them. And they do show up everywhere don’t they. But burning the ends does sound pretty helpful so thanks for that tip!
Pamela, despite this I guess I am not too worried about the trees; the house is surrounded by 80′ monsters. Did you ever see The World According to Garp? You know, when the plane flies into the house they had just looked at to buy and Garp says, “We’ll take it!” meaning, what’s the chance of that happening twice? But the turkeys are so sweet.
Linda, I think the turkeys know they’re pretty, but they’re fairly shy about it all. Yeah, I know what you mean about the branches. Stuff happens. I would rather have the shade and the beauty that the trees provide.
Denise, hah! Yep I certainly have more than enough for various projects now, don’t I? And nice fresh limber maple branches are pretty easy to use. But eucalyptus: that sounds so…fragrant!
Randi, I had a dog that was that way: we were camping during a monster hail-filled storm and he never got over thunder and lightning. Poor boy. But yeah, Michigan is pretty calm, natural-disaster wise; that this branch fell was a bit of excitement certainly.
Stef, yeah I feel the same way: like, there’s not enough to do? But lemons to lemonade, I guess; the garden always comes out ahead.
MC, well, it made me laugh. I called my husband (who was out at some fancy dinner in NYC at the time) and wished him goodbye!
See, Liz, that would mean “opportunity” for me, the resident architect! Sorry to hear that about your parents’ place; they must have been really spooked. So yeah I thought about it too in the whole “what-if” thing, and I have been aching for a new kitchen: the tree of course would’ve needed to crush the upstairs guest bedroom before it ever got to the kitchen, however. Sigh. Still 1960s kitchen, intact house; there are worse things.
Ah, but it was an opportunity after all. The 1930s porch on an 1880s victorian always bugged my dad. He got to rebuild the porch “right” with plenty of gingerbread and turned spindles. It was a happy ending. 🙂