2026 CW24 - Garden Redemption
Tree Tree, Go Away!
By far the story of the week is that we have FINALLY gotten the tree removed from the garage roof! A big shout out to Freedom Wood Company for their professional service! They took extra care to ensure that the yard and garden received as little damage as possible, despite the incredible mass of their 40,000lb+ crane used to pull the trunk from the roof. This Manitou MRT 2660 is capable of grabbing, cutting, and hoisting tens of thousands of pounds. This was the perfect machine for the job, enabling the crew to safely remove the remaining vertical sections of the tree before moving on to extracting the portion which fell on the roof.
Our back yard may be relatively large (~100ft wide and ~150ft deep), but this heavy equipment makes it look TINY! As you can see from these screenshots (provided by some of my Reolink POE security cameras) the Manitou and Peterbilt Chip Truck absolutely dwarf the garden and raised beds. Again, I am super grateful for the care that Freedom Wood Company took to leave as much of our in-ground crops intact as possible and avoid damaging the raised beds. I know this took some extra time, and we are super appreciative.
As a demonstration of the versatility of this incredible purpose-built machine, check out this image I captured of the team making the final cut of the trunk. The Manitou was able to grip the remaining portion of the trunk while a cut was made to separate it from the stump. This ~2000lb chunk was effortlessly lifted and gently set into the dump trailer in the background, bringing this tree removal to an end! Hopefully in the next week or two I will be able to provide another update once the stump grinder arrives to completely remove any trace of this devastating Water Oak from our yard.
Checking In: Mom’s Jasmine Swings
One of this week’s accomplishments was the hanging of a few swings on our Mother’s Day Gift first covered in the Week 20 Garden Blog where we covered the construction of the structure. Since then, Mom has planted her Jasmine and we have hung a few Cypress Swings. In the coming months and years we’ll also add a day bed, watch the Jasmine take over the structure, and possibly add a trellis roof!
Things are HEATING UP!
And I’m not just talking about the weather! I am not sure that I have ever shared our Compost Bins on here before, but here they are now! Currently, we have two 3’x3’x3’ bins made of extra fence pickets, with plans to add a few more of these modular bins. We deposit loads of organic material in these bins from weekly grass clippings to pruning waste from the garden. These bins have been super productive lately, with the most active reaching almost 160 Degrees Fahrenheit! This is pretty much the ideal temperature range for composting, resulting in a very fast breakdown of the material without risking death of the beneficial bacteria responsible for the composting process!
Eggcelent Eggplant!
Not quite ready for the compost bins just yet, the Eggplant plants in the garden are really enjoying all of the rain and heat of the last few weeks. These plants have set their first fruit of the season, with deep purple fruits mixed amongst light purple/white variegated varieties.
Pepper Preservation Palooza
My big accomplishment for the week? Harvesting, preparing, and preserving a massive haul of Bell Peppers and Jalapeño Peppers. These plants are really coming into their prime as the summer heats up, with a full basket of both being pulled this week. Some of the Jalapeños have even been allowed to ripen. A few exemplary examples include a gorgeous display of Corking where the skin begins to split as the interior of the pepper grows faster than the exterior. These peppers represent something you will almost never find in a store and is considered ideal by many pepper enthusiasts for their consistency of heat and depth of flavor.
After harvesting the peppers are washed and cored. Here you can see a sink full of Bell Peppers ready to be washed and rinsed before moving over to the kitchen island. There, the peppers are cored (an apple core removal tool is exceptionally well suited for this task) and the seeds/ribs are removed.
Next, the peppers are sliced into a mountain of gorgeous green slivers. The aroma filling the house during this process is incredible and one which no candle could dream of replicating. For the Bell Peppers, destined to be flash frozen and vacuum sealed, the next step is laying these all out on trays to dry thoroughly. Drying them thoroughly before freezing ensures that they are not freezer burnt in the next step of the process.
Once dry, the slices (placed on parchment paper to avoid “welding” to the metal pans) are spread in an even layer and placed into the freezer for a few hours. This process, known as Flash Freezing, ensures that the pepper slices do not stick together and not crushed by the vacuum sealer.
To finish off the Bell Peppers, the flash frozen slices are loaded into vacuum bags, vacuum sealed, and deposited into the freezer. Bell Peppers are unique amongst vegetables in that they do not require blanching prior to freezing. Being preserved in this manner, Bell Peppers are safe for 10~12 moths of storage, securing our supply all the way into next season. For the Jalapeño Peppers, destined for pickling, the next steps involve cooking a brine (White Vinegar, Water, Sugar, and Salt brought to a boil). Once this brine is brought to a boil, it is poured over the peppers in mason jars (with spices like garlic, peppercorn, and dill in the bottom) and allowed to cool to room temperature. These jars are then sealed and stored in the freezer. These jars will be good for 2~3 months in the refrigerator. If an extended storage period were needed, you could pressure can these in the jars to make them “Shelf Stable” (I will be doing this in the coming weeks).
Ornamental Summarization
The past weeks’ blogs have been dominated by ornamentals, but I did not want to skip these completely this week. In an effort to provide some updates. Here are a few pictures of what’s new and ongoing around the yard with our favorite displays of aesthetic blooms and foliage.
This week saw the opening of a new lily in the beds north of the house, Sara’s Orange Echinacea in a grow bag is putting out new blooms every day, a new hanging Elephant Ear planter, more Dahlia blooms, and a continuing onslaught of Pink Knockout Roses around the yard.
Garden Friends bid Farewell to the Downed Tree
The tree falling on the garage may have been disastrous, but the cats wasted no time in taking advantage of their new backyard playground! This week, Yoda went on one last climb the day before the tree was removed. We’ll have to consider building some large format cat furniture in the backyard to replace this Water Oak.
