Homestead mailing list

[Bill Jones <billj AT harborside.com>]

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