Wood boxes with Burkart Top

I turned these 2 boxes out of an elm log that was on the Boal Mansion property in Boalsburg PA. The log has several small (2inch diameter) pin cap burls on its surface. These are actually dormant buds that grow as the tree matures. I cut across the Burl to make the lid for the boxes. That shows off the birdseye pattern in the tops of the lids. I used Watney’s Tung Oil as a finish. The wood is still a bit damp so I hope it will dry without too much movement.

30 cu yds of compost

What a wonderful Mother's Day present! We had 30 cu yds delivered by BIG truck and put a dent in the pile this weekend. Besides continuing to plant the butternut walnuts, we cleaned up some of last year's plantings by cleaning out the tubes (when will the mesh tubes arrive?), weeding and putting a couple of buckets as mulch around them. All the black walnuts and from this year, all the hybrid poplar, some of the apples are done but we still have a long way to go. As we went we found crabs or hawthorns and dogwoods that we didn't plant but that are in a good location, so we helped them along too. The chestnuts and elm from last year in the biergarten are looking good with a layer of compost mulch. We found a couple of little elms and a hemlock by my former summer kitchen that squirrels must have planted in the rocks.
The Baron used his big machine skills to fill the RTV as I watched the steam pour out of the pile. It was hot stuff so we were careful not to let the compost touch the tree trunks. With any luck the heat and ammonia will kill the weeds and keep the deer away from our precious saplings.
We also planted sweet peppers and tomatoes with the compost as well as some dill and parsley in addition to mulching the forsythia, lilacs and choke cherries at the top of the hill. Enough for today.