It has been a long time since I last made a post. We've been getting lots of rain. Normally, we don't get much during the summer expect when a hurricane makes an appearance in the Gulf of Mexico. It certainly is a strange weather season. Unfortunately, all this rain we are getting is coming in large gulps. More than an inch or two at a time is not really that beneficial. In my front yard, I've been working on getting rid of this nasty Arizona ash tree, which is an unpleasant nonnative tree that developers plop in the ground when they build homes. This one, which was 30 feet tall when I cut it down, was planted much later. These trees grow very fast. My grandfather planted some Arizona ashes at the home he had built in 1955. These monsters were 60 feet tall and falling apart from disease when my 80-plus-year-old grandfather climbed up in at least one of the trees and cut it down branch by branch. That's pretty much how I cut my ash tree. Now, I'm digging up the bulk of its main roots. Eventually, I'm going to get rid of all the grass in this part of the front yard and make it just one large planting bed of mostly native plants. Near the ash tree, I have two 'Mission' olive trees planted. I'm hoping to one day squeeze some of my own olive oil. I read that you can use a cider press to do that. First, the trees have to produce olives.
