Folks
I'm alive and well, doing pretty good for 72. It seems like there is never enough time to post new material. I have been doing pretty good at keeping the site catalog updated, and the new 2019 version will be out in 2 weeks. Some new stuff, particularly cutting grown Japanese maples which have been doing really well for us. Unfortunately the rare mume have taken a dive again, so they will be limited. I'm beginning to understand why you can't find them anywhere, at least cutting grown. Specimen plants continue to be a source of frustration. They seem to always be the last thing to get attention, and it's a lot of work to photograph them and get them up on the site. I am hopeful that I will be able to get more up this winter. I have a couple thousand of these wonderful trees, many 30 years in training now. I know I have been saying this for twenty years, but you just have to be patient, they are coming. I have been resistant to try to find individual plants for customer requests (unless you have a good track record for buying) because it is very labor intensive, and frustrating trying to find just the right tree only to never hear back from the customer. So, most of the time, I just tell folks, you have to wait until it gets on the specimen page. I'm just one guy trying to run a one man operation as well as care of ten acres and two rentals.
Will I still be able to do this stuff at 80? I don't know but I am going to try. I am religious about taking care of my body and staying in shape. "Use it or lose it" is not a platitude anymore. Seven years in cancer remission, with odds really low of it ever coming back for this type of cancer. I don't even consider it a possibility anymore. I am much more conerned about losing muscle strength, vision, hearing, etc. I'm pretty bionic. Cataracts removed, fake lenses which work great, and massively expensive hearing aids, as well as practically a whole makeover of my teeth should keep me going for awhile longer.
I no longer do bonsai 'gigs' , not even for our local club, except for but I do help run our small study group. I don't do shows anymore either. It just seems like too much work for so little return. Time becomes so much more valuable when the endline is seriously creeping up on you. I've been to Ryan Neil's place, it's great, but I have no interest in being a part of it, doing podcasts, etc. I am really trying to tailor the business to keep the best parts, the things I am passionate about, and doing away with things that don't sell, and trying to maintain so much inventory. So, the plant inventory is decreasing each year, but the quality continues to improve, and the specimen plants continue to get better and better, even though I am not finding the time yet to adequately market them. I envision a time not too far ahead where I am only propagating and selling the most exciting starters, and spend at least half my time getting the specimen to an even more advanced state. There's nothing more exciting and satisfying these days than to prune out a really worthy tree that I have had for years, but only showing its true self with this last hour of work. I will leave the final detail, wiring, and extensive ramification, bonsai potting, etc, to others. That gets tedious for more. But revealing the 'bones' really gets my heart thumping.
I will occasionally post here, but the days of regular participation, and the blog, I afraid, are gone.
Brent
EvergreenGardenworks.com
P.S. All the fires missed us, but there is a new normal to living in the country now. Cal Fire has been great, but PG&E and the local fire district have pretty much abandoned us.