Barbara Simoes

Quick update: Harvest Right just released a smaller kitchen version that is "all in one".  The pump is within the unit and it can sit on the counter.  If I had it to do again, this is the model I would have gotten, but it wasn't out at that point.  Many good upgrades: instead of a hose to drain the unit, they now have a tray that catches the melted ice.  The trays are half the size of the medium freeze-dryer, but for all of the convenience and consolidation, I would seriously consider getting one of those.  The price is also much less, so that is very attractive, too.  This will help bring it into the mainstream.

Joao, I have a simple doc to keep everything straight.  As I enter new plants, I can insert a row and that way have it alphabetized for easy reference.  I refer to it regularly!  In the first column, I have the plant, 2nd column: when planted and when fruited and 3rd column tells me where I purchased it and where I planted it on the property.  I am growing over 50 kinds of fruit, many with lots of varieties, so it was rather necessary.  I have three pages in a Word doc.
Here are my persimmon listings (the spacing never transfers but I did what I could here! CH= Cricket Hill.

Persimmon Valeen Beauty                       ’21 (fruited ’26) CH—In front, most westerly.
Persimmon- Yates                               ‘21                        CH    In stump garden—north side
Persimmon-100-46/Lehman’s Delight  x2 ’21, ‘22                CH    In front, east from other one (VB)
Persimmon--Meader                               ’21, ‘22                CH    By east pool fence in line with filter.
Persimmon--Prok                                       ‘21                        CH    In Stump garden—South side

Even from the typing draft box to the posting box, the spacing got all messed up, but I think it's enough to get the idea.

Cristobal Cristo wrote:I have one Nikita on American persimmon rootstock. It's the only that is producing in my climate so far.
I had a few American persimmons and they all died within a few months due too excessive heat.W
I also had 7 various persimmons on lotus rootstock, but they do not produce yet and suffer in the heat and 4 of them died.
I pick them when they are soft and very sweet.

With the cost of fruit trees, I can sympathize.  That is tough.  I go out and shake my one fruiting persimmon, and whatever falls, I pick up.  Most are soft, but some are not.  I tried putting them in a paper bag with an apple...hard to say whether or not that made much of a difference.  I've also been sticking them in the fridge in a single layer on a plate.  Surprisingly, that seems to be the winning strategy. It also keeps fruit flies from exploding!

My Valeen Beauty, which is planted out front, just started to fruit this year. It is the only one of six to do so. It was planted in 2021, along with most of the others.  It wasn't loaded with fruit, but I certainly have a good number; I've probably gotten 75 fruit this year.  I'm hoping that the flavor gets better with time; it's not at all bad, but it doesn't have any of the deep, rich tones or really jammy consistency  that I was hoping for. I've read that the first year or so the fruit is still sorting it all out.

The fruit itself is quite large for an American, and it is flawless--no black spots, and best of all, it is seedless, so the whole thing is edible (except for the calyx!) and you're not having to spit out lots of seeds.  I'm hoping my other trees get with the program and start fruiting soon!  I read that this variety tends to be one of the later varieties, which is fine.  It's lovely to still be harvesting fresh fruit in November!  I can't wait till I have enough to actually freeze and dehydrate.  Without seeds, that will be a breeze.  When I have enough to play with, I'd like to try just cutting some in half and dehydrating them. One, because freezer space is at a premium and two, there is no added step of having to thaw before eating and three, I think that the concentrated sugars would be really good!

Lots of pictures on Pinterest having to do with organization.  I just typed in pallets used for storing tools.  Oodles of ideas! Some of the pallets even had things hanging from the wood in front, too.

[quote=Amy Gardener

Does anyone have any clever ideas for organizing and hiding unattractive long handled cleaning tools like broom, wet mop, paint roller, floor scrubber, extension pole duster?


Yes, On Pinterest, I saw a post where they used a wooden pallet set against the wall.  The narrow opening allowed all sorts of tools like rakes, mops, etc. to be standing up inside.  I believe that there is even a divider in the middle of the pallet so that things don't topple too far from one side to the other. I'll see if I can find that post and I'll add it.

I also use old plastic medicine bottles for organizing screws, bolts, etc.  They hold a surprising amount.  Before, everything was tossed into a large coffee container, and I had to dump it all out to find one whatever!  I actually sorted it out just the other day.

I think I have eight of those large black square units with the bottom pull-up door near the bottom.  Seven of them are placed around to put weeds in and one is for my actual food scraps.  That one is located on the side of the back porch where I can easily access it in all weather.  I  try to get to sifting out what I can each fall because in the winter things freeze and get too full and I can't add anything for lack of room if I don't.  

One year, I'd put the (uncarved) Halloween pumpkin in and then paid the price all winter, hauling the compost to the next closest one, still have to trudge through snow banks for access.  That was something that taught me a valuable lesson.  The "weed" bins I have yet to empty, and they have been in place for a decade or more!  When I do, I'll use it on the lawn, not trusting that the weed seeds will have completely broken down. It is quite lovely to have quick access to bins in various beds and I find I will actually do more weeding because they are there.  Yes, I also do some chop and drop, but things that verge on invasiveness do get pulled.

Now that I've filled in the pool and made it into a garden, I guess I'll need to get another!

Ann, I saw your post about inaccessible upper cabinets.  On an episode of "This Old House" they were doing a house to make everything available to a son who was in a wheelchair.  Anyway, the upper cabinets had some sort of hinged mechanism that when opened, lowered the contents down to a very reachable height. Here's a link with some ideas: https://www.thisoldhouse.com/kitchens/kitchen-storage-design-ideas
Go down to the "Articulating Shelf for upper cabinets" to see what I was thinking.  I hope this helps!

This was the second year....!  I think I remember scarifying the seeds; I'm not sure if they were the ones that I'd had in the fridge.  I may try again with seeds from a more reputable source.  Thanks for the advice.  Do you find that they pop up all over the place, or are they pretty contained?

Ughh! I tried to plant maypop seeds along the south side of a large arbor but they never took.  I was so disappointed.  Maybe I need to start with a plant rather than seeds.  I planted shisandra on the north side and it has survived, although after two years it's still just leaves....