more acorns

Yesterday I planted out the sweetspire, on the larger slope. And trimmed berries off the nandina. Mixed firepit ash into the vermicompost and spread on both front and back lawns (most of it on the front, as I think the back lawn gets nutrients that wash downslope out of the garden beds). 

Sorted this pile of acorns out of the baskets, that were starting to split

and got this much good stuff out of them

Today even more looked ready- hard to tell in the photo, but the plate was heaped a lot higher.

I didn't take a photo of the ones that had exposed nutmeats, putting them directly into the freezer once I had half a dozen open- but here's all the ones that got shelled and still had skins on- left those for the end, as they wouldn't start to go bad as quickly.

It still felt like more than half were rotten inside or eaten by the grubs (they're not really acorn worms, though I've been calling them that. They're the grubs of the acorn weevil. Acorn worm is a different species entirely that lives in the ocean, named after the shape of its head I think). 

But felt satisfying that after splitting all those in the last picture, and putting the good ones in the freezer, to find I've now filled a quart bag completely.

And I'm down to two baskets of acorns, to continue shelling and splitting as they dry out.

plant swap!

I made this bench on the front porch (some of the legs a bit wonky, it's not nearly as sturdy as I'd like, but it does the job of holding up whatever I need to set down for a moment)

and here it is with plants ready to go to the swap. I took two rue, four pots of echinacea, the mini geranium, some coleus, three potted catnip, and some aloe vera babies. But nobody wanted the catnip, I had to bring it home again. And I'd had it identified wrong all this time- I thought I was growing catmint, but it's catnip- no wonder it seemed too tall, and the flowers not-quite-right. I was corrected at the swap.

and what I brought home! Here's some, plus more pics below of individual detail- the one lower front left is buttonweed. Not even sure I'll plant that one now, having discovered it's considered a difficult-to-control lawn weed . . . 

The rest I'm pretty happy about. I got slender mountain mint-

'Shrubby' St. john's wort- Hypericum prolificum-

Elephantopus carolinianus or Elephant's foot (referring to the root) makes small purple flowers, in the aster family. Seemed interesting!

A sedum that looks different from the ones I already have-

Virginia sweetspire

Also a small rosemary plant, two New England aster (yes, trying that again even though every time they disappear. I think get eaten) and a wild bergamot (monarda, or bee balm) why do plants have so many names for the same thing. And- shining sumac! I have wanted a sumac for many years, although I was hoping to eventually find a stahorn sumac, this will do for starters.

American beautyberry!! Very excited about this one.

and a good-sized rosemary that someone had obviously just pulled out of the ground, so maybe I'll have one that gets through the winter at last. It's as tall as my hip.

Plus a few little houseplants- two little succulents, Haworthia and a dwarf snake plant, plus this one with purplish tint that wasn't labeled- it looks like another begonia variety to me, but I'm probably wrong on that.

and three bags of iris bulbs- 'Black Gamecock' Louisiana Iris, 'Pallida' and 'Victoria Falls' both a tall bearded iris. I've never grown iris before but I have a damp area I think they'd do well in.

time to joyfully plant stuff