Kathy Burns-Millyard

Hi George,
I suspect drinking water pots are glazed so they don't leak. You need unglazed pots to use as a fridge so that evaporation is maximized.

Steve, the crocea pictures and info look very promising, thank you!

I suspect most of them have been dormant due to drought but I've been doing a lot of water harvesting and that may have been what made them start putting on leaves and berries. I was thrilled when I found them but I dont want to mess with them if they're dangerous. I found jimson weed/datura last fall and while beautiful I don't intend to touch it or put it into my primary food areas. Hopefully this one is more friendly

The pyracantha leaves look much longer and thinner. The leaves on this are similar to purselane. Spoon shaped and fleshy. They're smaller than the fingernail base in my pinky finger.

Some Desert-thorn and wolf berry labeled images online look close but not quite. Will look up the other names suggested here and see what I find.

I've been finding lots of these cropping up on my land in the last year or so, but I dont know what they are. Before I transplant some I'm hoping someone can help. I originally thought they might be wolf berry but now I'm not sure. They get tiny red berries on them around late summer or fall but I've never seen flowers.

Pics are from mobile, hopefully they're good enough quality.

(upload didn't seem to work so I put one if the pics on my website)
http://www.sasez.com/wp-content/uploads/wpid-2013-02-17-12.14.11.jpg

I suspect the price has more to do with drought. In southern Arizona the squares have been $15 minimum for over a year now.

Paul you can connect fb and twitter so that when you post on one it automatically posts on the other. This would let you keep active on twitter without having to mess with it.

There might even be a forum plugin that lets you automatically post to either each time you publish a forum post.

Since the flats aren't supposed to be reused I write on those with a permanent marker. I write on the glass top of my weck jars and it washes off easily for the next use.

Those are pretty but For me, plastic is about as bad as styrofoam

Hi Pam,
I just finished and posted the article here:
http://www.sasez.com/solar-power-lessons/

Please let me know what I've missed or if I can help further.
Thanks,
Kathy

Kari those are excellent points. When we started we had an led tent light, Portable media player, cell phone and netbook. The media and computer were occasional use only. We added on as we became more familiar with what our system could handle. We also pitched the inverter and went to 12 volt and usb chargers only. That helped a lot in the beginning.

We just finished upgrading our solar setup today and I'm working on writing a detailed article about it soon. In short, it's a but more complicated than it first looks. The controller is key. Basic ones that come with the kits are PWM controllers, which do not allow you to get the maximum usage out of your panels. An MPPT is MUCH better but also much more expensive.

We used the 60 watt kit for a little over 3 years. Because of the way the controller works, we estimated the system have us about 24-30 watts an hour during peak sunlight. The new system is 100 watts and so far today - with clouds, dust and haze - we're getting about 70 watts an hour. Full sunlight will likely put us very close to or at 100 watts. HUGE difference and I'm thrilled

I'll try to post more details in the next few days as I have time.