 A utility knife was my primary tool, however, my blade was brand new and sprayed with a bleach/water solution.
 A very technical diagram of how I cut the receiving tree and the scion for the graft.
 Black electrical tape serves to hold the graft union together and resist moisture loss through the open wound.
 The Gala scion grafted to the McIntosh tree as it was in late March.
 The graft as it is now in May, about a month and a half later. You can see the buds breaking and new leaves forming.
To scroll through the slideshow click next above the picture.
So… last year we bought a McIntosh apple and promptly filled up the rest of the yard to the point that we didn’t feel like we had enough space for another semi-dwarf tree, nor do we need that many apples. The problem is that apples need a different variety nearby in order to set their best fruit and we aren’t sure if there are any other apples or crab apples that would be close enough to do the job (sweet cherries, pears and others have similar needs).
The solution?…… Two varieties on a single tree! Continue reading The Art of the Homemade Graft
Juliette | April 27th, 2010
 Two large air stones for the bottom.
 The "T" connection for the air stones.
 Paint filter bag.
 The small air stone for the bag with the compost.
 A dual output air pump.
 Not too full to avoid overflows.
 Bubble out the chlorine if you are using tap water.
 Molasses and brown rice flour.
 Adding the molasses.
 A small handful of brown rice flour.
 Stir it up a bit.
 Gather the compost in the filter bag.
 Put the air stone into the compost bag.
 Secure the bag to the lid.
 The compost filter stays attached to the lid.
 Air holes allow the pumped air to escape the bucket.
 The tea turns a rich brown color.
 The compost stays in the filter bag.
 The tea brews for 12 more hours without the compost.
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In the pictures above you can see my version of an Actively Aerated Compost Tea brewer which was based upon a design by Bruce Deuley which you can see HERE. The cat, Lane, was determined to help.
My design is slightly different in that I have only one bubbler in the bag with the compost and I made the hole at the top big enough to feed the bag through so it can hang from the lid itself. Continue reading Cheap Actively Aerated Compost Tea
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