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  • From: Bill Jones <billj AT harborside.com>
  • To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Homestead] Notes From The Farm (Winter 2007)
  • Date: Sun, 28 Jan 2007 08:28:08 -0800

Lisa K.V. Perry wrote:

On 1/26/07, Bill Jones <billj AT harborside.com> wrote:

I just couldn't cope with the barrage of apples this year. (snip) One
invention that really helped was the "trampoline".
I took a 20' PVC pipe and bent it in a circle. It stays put when you
connect one end to the other, so I really just borrowed it, since it's
not glued. Then I stretched an old blanket across the circle, and
secured pairs of opposite corners to each other with two perpendicular
bungy cords. This allows me to knock apples out of the trees without
them splattering on the ground, after laying down four old sheets as
tarps. Actually, it could benefit from a rope handle attached to the
edge, since at my great height, the steep slope created still allowed
the apples to roll too fast.



I love this idea! We need to borrow your idea under our large, 100+ y.o.
Stayman Winesap. Hubby and I have schemed and haven't in six years come up
with something as simple and as ingenious as your idea...


With two people doing it, there's probably a better way. The trampoline evolved as way for me to pick apples alone.

With two, we used to roll up a stick in each end of a sheet, like a scroll. With one person holding onto each stick, you have so much more control. You can catch most of the apples in the "scroll" and dump them right into a plastic trash can, or let them roll gracefully onto the ground (sometimes falling apples will smack into the ones already on the scroll, so it's best if they don't accumulate).

Basically I just found a way to stretch out a cloth like the scroll, but with only one person to hold one end. At first I put a chair under the far side, to simulate the other person holding it, but I had the same accumulation problem, with no easy way to dump it. So now the far edge of the trampoline just rests on the ground, allowing apples to roll off. If the slope is too steep, they'll still smack each other, or roll too far off the tarps. So I just need a way to hold my end a little lower. I'm sure someone could probably find a way to improve it, but for now this is the best way I've found to do it all by myself.

Bill
S. Oregon coast






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