Fantastic! Thanks for sharing.
Simon
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We also have a lot of deer and other wildlife, however, the deer canât get to this part of the property. The puzzling part is the chopstick stake I had in place is undisturbed.
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In our backyard in Eastern Canada, we have an ongoing war against an army of garden-eating beasts, including deers, bears, groundhogs, squirrels, chipmunks, rabbits, hares, racoons, mice, birds and dogs! Plus the insects. Yup, all observed in our garden, 25 minutes from downtown Ottawa. Our apples were all gobbled up this year, despite trapping about 14 squirrels (all relocated). We donât complain too much, the beasts come with awesome sceneryâŚ
Simon
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My son went to Carlton for 4 years and loves it there. He has moving back in his thoughts, especially when he looks at real estate prices.
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Real estate in Ottawa was OK for quite a few years, while things were going crazy on the West coast. Itâs now pretty much crazy everywhere.
Simon
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âRelocatedâ? Yeah, right. Iâll bet all those squirrels got back to your place before you did
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None on the property for a while now. I let them free in a wooded lot many miles away â they would need a GPS to find their way back 
.
Simon
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Today I harvested the first plant as it has turned totally red. First thing was to pull it up by the roots and bang it around in a tub to get the seeds off it. You get a gazillion seeds from one plant. They are smaller than the size of the head of a pin
Next, I stuffed it into a vase and poured Glycerin over it and will let the roots soak for a couple of days and then cut off the root and let it soak for a few more days and then we should be ready to make trees.
The seeds.
I need to visit the train store and get some Noch leaves.
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Can someone explain to me why the NOCH opt-out-of-cookies statement has no letter 'Sâes in it? How do you code something like that, let alone what reason is there for it?
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It just doesnât.
OK, I just had to see this for myself. Sure enough! Here it is! Very strange. Maybe this AI personality doesnât like âSâ es.
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Strange indeed. 
Rich
So I made the journey to the train store to get my Noch leaves. They were mostly sold out but had some Walthers leaves so I grabbed those. I asked about the Noch ones and he said they always sell out 10-1 over other brands. He then showed me the fine print on the Waltherâs packet which said manufactured by Noch, so I got my Noch leaves. 
I have now harvested two plants and I am experimenting with the Glycerin treatment. The owner of the train store was keen when I said I was growing my own and said he would buy some off me if I had extra as it was a good seller and he is having a hard time getting it. We will see how the Winter crop does.
This stuff is very delicate and you absolutely have to use tweezers and a magnifying aid to pull the leaves off it, however, there are not many so no big deal.
The photos below are fresh out of the planter. These are untreated and are just tiny little pieces that broke off the larger plant. I wanted to see how they looked. Canât wait to get them processed and painted and start installing my Waltherâs âŚI mean Noch leaves.
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Wow. those look great, Brent.
Better than I might have first thought.
Rich
Brent, fabulous! Nice job.
Regards, Chris
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Do you not let them dry and turn brown? The commercial stuff is dry and brown. Just wondering if thereâs a difference.
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Drying them can also make them fragile.
Letting them take up preservative like glycerin or PVA will keep them flexible and elastic for a long time. Note that this is done by letting them take the material up âfrom the rootsâ into the natural channels of circulation, like coloring carnations, not soaking them once harvested.
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I have put the root ball in to soak in glycerin on one, I have cut the root ball off of another and stuck that base in glycerin. I have also been experimenting with soaking the whole plant vs just giving it a quick spray. There are so many opinions out there on what to do I am more than happy to sacrifice a few plants to discover my own preferred method.
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