Jenny Wright

John Weiland wrote:

Jenny Wright wrote: .... We just trickle charge it all night using a 120v exterior outlet and if someone does a ton of driving during the day and feels nervous, there's a fast charging station that's compatible about five minutes from my husband's job (that is free).

I was keeping my eye on used Leafs sometime back on FB Marketplace but have not seen any there recently in our region.  Especially as a commuter car, it seemed very sensible.  Is the battery-swap business on these still up and running?  And how far back did they incorporate fast charging in addition to home 120/240V charging?

Hmmm... I just looked up about the battery and it looks like recently there were supply issues for replacement batteries. I was not aware of that. Ours is still under warranty and we live in a moderate climate so hopefully we won't have to deal with that for a while. With our Prius, we had to replace the battery twice- once at 10 years and again at 20 years (yeah, about two months before the accident that totaled it 🙄). I was expecting that kind of time frame for the Leaf but I guess we will see.

As for the the fast chargers, the dealership had them when we bought it but I remember the chargers going in by my husband's job about 4-5 years ago.

paul wheaton wrote:I just now saw something about nissan coming out with an all electric car called "the nissan leaf".   100 mile range and 90mph.

Interesting to see what was discussed more than a decade ago on this thread.

A year and a half ago we bought a used Nissan Leaf that was three years old- it cost us a total of $10,999 (total!! no taxes either!). It was to replace our twenty year old hybrid Toyota Prius when it was totaled in an accident (RIP 😢).

I LOVE my new(er) car. We don't have any fancy charging stuff at our house. We just trickle charge it all night using a 120v exterior outlet and if someone does a ton of driving during the day and feels nervous, there's a fast charging station that's compatible about five minutes from my husband's job (that is free).  I can comfortably travel about 120 miles which is about what it takes to get to my parents' house. They have a Leaf too and can charge our car for the return trip in a couple of hours on their faster charger.

The only annoying thing about it is that the dealership keeps sending me automatic texts telling me it's time for an oil change. I finally called them and asked, You realize you sold me an electric car, right? I thought it didn't need oil changes?" The employee replied, "Well, um, no, it doesn't but we could, um, maybe look at other, um, stuff?" 🤦‍♀️ Needless to say, we haven't needed to bring it to the service shop at all.

Lif Strand wrote: Or maybe "flexibility" is better. Coming up with solutions that will work specifically for you, that you have tested before the emergency, is the best thing you can do for yourself.[/i].

This is a really good reminder.  An emergency plan is good to have but even better to practice it so that I can do it under pressure in adverse conditions. Practicing building and using these over and over again with a variety of materials would be a helpful body of knowledge and skill to draw on, especially if disaster struck while I was not at home and got stuck somewhere and had to make do with whatever I could find.

Now to just get myself out of my brain to go and do it, whether or not it works out the first time.  I have the tendency to like to spend long hours planning before doing.

Dave Boehnlein wrote:Hey Folks!

You can grow hardy citrus outdoors in areas of Western Washington. I have attached a document about growing sub-tropicals outside in Coastal B.C. It comes from Bob & Verna Duncan at Fruit Trees & More Nursery in Sidney, B.C. I haven't been to their site, but I've heard it is going off with pomegranates, pineapple guavas, & citrus. Trying their tricks seems like it would be a good start. If you're in Canada I'd suggest supporting them by buying your plant material from them.

I looked up Bob Duncan because of your mention and found this wonderful article in memory of him which goes into great detail (with photographs) about what he was able to accomplish with his garden. The garden sounds amazing and he sounds like he was an amazing man.  The article also links to some youtube videos about his growing techniques. I thought it was valuable to add to this thread:

https://www.thepaintboxgarden.com/remembering-bob-duncan-1947-2026/

I really like the taste and texture of my liberty apple- we eat them when they are tart and crisp and we usually take a month to a month and half to eat them off the tree before we pick the rest of them.  I don't know how long or how well they keep because my kids eat several apples a day so they are gone in a couple of weeks.  It is very disease resistant- I've had some things bother my other trees and the liberty just isn't bothered.  My other trees (besides my seedlings) are Akane, Golden Delicious, and Transparent. Transparent is crisp and tart, Golden Delicious is too when you pick it early but gets sweet and stays crisp, and Akane is sweet and gets a little mealy if it's on the tree too long.

Thom Bri wrote:

Mark Wyborny wrote:The corn cross pollinates very easy that close. The trick is to plant different varieties a couple weeks apart and pay close attention to the time each variety will naturally mature. That way when the variety is tasselling wind borne pollen none of the other varieties are receptive yet. They can be grown right next to eachother if you time your planting  that way.

Agree. I can easily find cross pollinated seeds 60 feet apart. I walked 11 rows into the neighbor's field and found a few colored seeds from my corn.
I planted commercial seeds of specific varieties and found evidence that the grower did not sufficiently isolate his plots.

I guess that just confirms that I get close to zero wind over the summer. I plant purple popcorn, a yellow sweet corn, and a rainbow field corn with blue, orange and red. So the colors, texture, flavor, and size are all very different. I can plant them close, with ten feet beds between them planted with other plants and I might find five wonky kernels out of hundreds of cobs. I save my own seed and replant and it comes true. They tassel at slightly different times with a little overlap so I'm sure that helps too.

Another update:
My newest tree to fruit, its apples need to be picked at the end of August. They are still very sweet and tart but the texture is mealy, which I don't enjoy. Meanwhile a random graft I stuck on that tree surprised me with one single apple that I didn't notice. It is crispy but overly sweet with no tartness. It kinda had a flavor that reminded me of banana candy. I have long forgot what grafts I put on that tree since they were odds and ends of my first attempt at grafting at a workshop. Anyone have any idea of a red-ish apple that tastes like banana candy?

Our long producing seedling tree that we call cherry apples has not disappointed and is loaded with tiny delicious fruit. It has me looking up cider presses this afternoon because it would make amazing apple juice.

Derek Thille wrote:

I wonder if those might be better pressed, which would leave the peel behind.  That would also make them potentially more useful based on size.

I've been looking at some small presses. It would be a very fun experiment.

Christopher Weeks wrote:I have grown-from-seed 6-7 year old trees that are 12-15' tall and haven't produced any blooms yet. When do full-sized trees start making fruit?

Mine fruited as early as 3-4 years old but those ones were definitely crossed with crabapple, at least my guess from the size of the fruit. My newest one to fruit is about ten years old and looks like it's a standard apple without any crabapple traits. So maybe the crabapple genes make them fruit earlier? They are all about the same height, ~12-14' tall. My sample size is pretty small though. I started about 12 seedlings over a few years. I have four that fruited and the rest died gradually over the years (I don't water them or any other care). If yours have made it this far, I bet fruit is just around the corner for you! 🤞 🤞