Oh no... the bugs are back!

Just looking out the window today watching the rain and I thought the tree looks a little stressed. Some of the needles getting brown and falling off. I put on a raincoat and went out to check and found those pesky European Pine Sawfly larvae were back! Not as bad as when I caught them last year, but enough to certainly annoy me and do some damage to the tree. Luckily the rain stopped and I was able to get out the spray I used last summer to give them a shower. I know, I know. I shouldn't be using chemicals, bad for the environment.... blah.... blah.... blah. Normally I would agree, but these were desperate times and needed extreme measures. We can't afford to lose another year to those gross bugs. Before I sprayed I cut some of the branches off and tossed them, with all the caterpillars, into the chicken coop next door. Take that you stupid bugs. The one bad thing about this is now I have this weird itchy feeling like something is crawling on me.

Special Visitors to The Experiment!

We had some very special visitors this week to help brighten up what has been a gloomy year at The Experiment.

David, Liz, and the Boys were here for Spring Break! Hudson and Beckett were here last summer, and just like our tree, they are getting bigger! Even though they can't talk yet, you could tell they were impressed with the way The Experiment is progressing. David and Liz have seen The Experiment since the beginning and braved a rain shower to get a close look at our tree. This summer will be the four year anniversary of The Experiment and we are going to make some major decisions this spring. It's time to eliminate some branches and really start to let the tree take shape. I think I'm also going to have to consider taking the tree out of the planter and putting it in the ground. The half barrel it's in might be just a little to snug.

 

Spring Hours: Since we have officially started Spring and daylight savings time has kicked in, we will be expanding our hours. The Experiment is open for visitors noon to six Monday-Saturday and noon to four on Sunday. Plus don't forget to reserve a spot for our annual Easter Egg Hunt and Brunch. Call the office for reservations.

Sad Day at The Experiment

The Experiment lost a good friend today with the passing of staff dog Ripken.

Ripken was with The Experiment from Day One. He was an important part of The Experiment and helped make it as successful as it has been. When things got tough and decisions had to be made, he was always there with a wagging tail and a smile on his face. I will miss him more than I can say! It is sad to think that he won't be around to see how things turn out. We will raise a glass to Rip on his birthday this May. 

Veterans Day at The Experiment

It's been a while since my last post and I figured Veteran's Day was a good time to update. All of us at The Experiment want to thank our veterans for their service to our country, and all they have done to make this the greatest nation on earth!

A quick update on The Experiment. We seem to have come through the summer OK. No more problems with bugs! And it doesn't appear they did any lasting damage. 

The only issue might be that because of the infestation and not knowing what impact it might have on the tree, I wasn't able to make any major decisions about cutting or trimming over the summer. Those decisions will now have to wait until summer 2015, which will be four years in. My thought is that the way the tree is staring to fill out and poodle up, those cuts next summer will have a major impact on the way The Experiment looks and should be pretty dramatic! Now we just have to survive another Oregon winter!

 

It is time to start thinking about holiday events and parties. If you would like to reserve The Experiment for your Thanksgiving or Christmas bash, give us a call. But act soon because space is filling up fast!

 

We will also be having our annual Christmas Caroling at The Experiment night again this year. Saturday December 13th. Everyone is welcome! There is no charge and refreshments will be served! All you have to bring is your Christmas spirit and a loud singing voice!

Special Visitors at The Experiment!

We had some special visitors at The Experiment this weekend.

My grandsons Beckett and Hudson!

The boys were in town with their parents for their Aunt Caitlin's wedding party, and couldn't pass up the chance to take a look at The Experiment! It's hard to tell from this photo but they were very impressed! I was hoping they could stay around for Breakfast at The Experiment on Thursday, but they had to skedaddle home.

Don't forget, Breakfast at The Experiment every Thursday morning at 6am. Eat breakfast and watch the sun come up thru the branches of our little tree. Call ahead for reservations.

Welcome to Summer!

June 21st marks the Summer Solstice and we like to celebrate here are The Experiment.

We seem to have survived the bug scare of last month and now can look forward to some warmer (hot?) weather and lots of sunshine. I've held off making any major decisions about trimming branches because I want to see how the needles will fill in on the branches that got eaten pretty badly by the saw-fly larvae. It looks like a lot of the needles are coming back and the damage won't be as bad as I feared.

Summer hours go into effect July 1 with The Experiment open for visitors from noon to five daily.  

We will also be holding our Breakfast at The Experiment events again starting in July. 7:00 am every Thursday you can come and enjoy breakfast and watch the sun come up through the branches of our tree! It's the perfect way to get the day started. We'll provide breakfast and coffee, you just need to call ahead and reserve your spot!

 

Special Event: We will be joining with the National Wildlife Federation to celebrate the Great American Backyard Campout, Saturday June 28th. If you would like to join The Experiment under the stars, let us know. We'll save a spot for you around the campfire!

Attack of the European Pine Sawfly Larvae!

Went out today to clip the candles on my tree. I had noticed that some of the needles were getting a little brown, but I thought that was just because of the ice storm over the winter. Boy was I wrong! On closer inspection I found that many of the branches were covered with creepy, crawly, caterpillar looking things!

Yikes! They were everywhere and I had to act fast. A little internet search found they were the larvae of the European Pine Sawfly. The sawfly lays it's eggs inside the needles of the tree and when they hatch the larvae eat the needles. Trees are seldom killed by the feeding of this insect during a single season but mortality can occur following two to three consecutive years of heavy defoliation. Plus it's just really GROSS!!

Usually, I like to be as environmentally friendly as possible but I figured this was do-or-die time at The Experiment and so I went to the garden store for some serious chemicals. Funny story, when I got there I told the guy, "I have a tree covered in worms", and he said, "...so are you." I had gotten several of the little buggers on my sweatshirt and didn't realize it. Back home, I loaded up the sprayer and gave the tree a good shower. According to my research, I'm probably going to have to hit it again in about a month. I also had to cut some branches that were covered in larvae. I did that before the spray and took them over to my neighbors chickens for a snack. At least they were happy. Hopefully this won't completely ruin The Experiment. The larvae only got to about one-quarter of the branches on the tree, so with a little creative trimming I think it's still going to work. We are coming up on year three of The Experiment, and no one said this was going to be an easy project.