The RIGHT Tool

We got invited to pick cherries today! What fun! We got home a bit after noon with several lugs of pie cherries. After lunch I went scrounging in the utensil drawer for a cherry pitter (growing up there had always been several cluttering things up in the utensil drawer.) I guess in my mind they were something that always existed at the back of the drawer. Unfortunately, none were found. While we were picking I had explained to J and R how a cherry pitter worked, and how we would clean the cherries first, then pit and bag them in pie sized quantities to be frozen for later. They were all excited to get started, but alas, no pitter. We had a 4 H meeting later in the afternoon in town, so we stopped at all the usual stores looking for a pitter, but, no luck. We called all the neighbors who can fruit and no one had one. What shall we do? We can get the pits out with a knife, but it is messy, slow, and very inefficient. The right tool would really make a difference.

C says I use that as an excuse to buy new toys, but it is true. Having the right tool for the job makes everything work better, faster, and as a result everyone is happier and more gets done.

One of the other tools I am loving right now is my mini-blocker. As the temp rises, it gets harder to get things to germinate. When this happens I switch from direct seeding to seeding into mini-blocks. Its pretty fast, doesn't take up much space, and if I keep it in the house where I can control the temp better, germination is pretty good.

Friday-Making blocks

Sunday- Germination

Tuesday- Every thing's up (sorry about the bad pict)

Wednesday-Just about ready to plant out or pot up

You could do this in big pots if you had the space and soil, or in a flat if you had the time to pick them out and pot them up, but this is really fast and very efficient. Nothing like the right tool for the job!