the long "end" the short of it: back on earth

Well, no, I didn't fall from the face of the earth, just crazy busy.

We are near the end of our busiest shipping days. Kind of. In a couple of weeks, most of the perennials we planted this spring will be ready to ship. At least we will have some stude

nts in to help. As much as possible, the Hombres (Mexicans) have been doing nursery work. This entails things like: pruning what needs it, spacing what needs it, condensing other blocks that have been decimated by shipping, moving to free up more houses, and of course potting new crops.

I have also been promoted to Assistant Propagator. A new challenge is always welcome for me, as this means more hands-on experience. I have done other propagation in greenhouses, (geranium, chrysanthemum, poinsettia etc.) but never in the nursery. Yet. I will now get to learn perennial, flowering shrub, and hard-wood/softwood rooting and maintenance.

And of course grafting in the winter. Coincidentally I seem to have worked up the ladder in an odd fashion. Things seem to have gotten lighter! First I was on the Main Farm, shipping and learning nursery work. (the smallest pot-size was a one gallon, all the way up to a twenty five gallon container.) Mid-summer I was transferred to the Home Farm where I am now. Most of our containers are one gallon, but no more than a three gallon, ornamental grasses in a five gallon excepted. Now I will be handling trays of 18 pack, and jiffy trays.