What was your most interesting recent non solar project?

[Skypower]

Next project then:
AI does not understand that there is not supposed to be snow inside of the greenhouse
View attachment 217022

Perfect test to weed out a bot. What’s wrong with this picture in one word?

 

[OffGridForGood]

my greenhouse is 30x40 feet in plan (9m x 12m) and has a peak height in the centre of 20 feet (6m) height.
however looking up the dimensions of a full-grown olive tree - Google tells me 20-30 feet tall with some as much as 40 feet tall - (6-9m tall 12m for some). So seems fresh olives are just not practical for me, at least not in a small greenhouse.

 

[Aridom82]

my greenhouse is 30x40 feet in plan (9m x 12m) and has a peak height in the centre of 20 feet (6m) height.
however looking up the dimensions of a full-grown olive tree - Google tells me 20-30 feet tall with some as much as 40 feet tall - (6-9m tall 12m for some). So seems fresh olives are just not practical for me, at least not in a small greenhouse.

No olive tree that is grown for harvesing olives grows that big. I have never seen one that big and i have worked collecting olives from around 400 of them. Every year they are pruned in a shape that resembles a wide cylinder. I have rarely seen an olive tree taller than 4 meters.

 

[OffGridForGood]

No olive tree that is grown for harvesing olives grows that big. I have never seen one that big and i have worked collecting olives from around 400 of them. Every year they are pruned in a shape that resembles a wide cylinder. I have rarely seen an olive tree taller than 4 meters.

So I have a chance then!
is there a dwarf variety that produce well?
Would 2-3 of these produce enough fruit to make any olive oil at all? - it seems just like Maple syrup - it takes a lot of the starting material to make a small amount of the final product.

 

[Aridom82]

So I have a chance then!
is there a dwarf variety that produce well?
Would 2-3 of these produce enough fruit to make any olive oil at all? - it seems just like Maple syrup - it takes a lot of the starting material to make a small amount of the final product.

I really dont know the species that well i think that there are hundreds of them. I will conduct a little search to see what were those i worked with and i will tell you. You usually get around 12% of oil in weight. 3 fully grown trees will produce from 50 kg to 100kg in a good year, but it will take 10 years for the trees to reach their full size.
I dont think that with only 100kg a professional will process them for you unless you can join them with other small producers, so probably you will have to do it the old fashioned way, grinding them into a paste being careful of not heating it too much and them pressing it to squeeze the oil out. Some people like it filtered after, others dont.
Probably there are home appliances to do it i have never looked for it.

 

[Aridom82]

Ok, the species i worked with were called 'Frantoio' (same name of the business that processes them) and 'Moraiolo'.

 

[OffGridForGood]

Ok, the species i worked with were called 'Frantoio' (same name of the business that processes them) and 'Moraiolo'.

Thank-you @Aridom82 !! very nice of you !
If I start this year, I have ten years to plan for how to do the processing! LOL.


Edit
Interestingly: I can actually get 2-year old starters in Ontario and they are in fact called Frantoio ! who knew? likely these are grown in the south part of the Province where winters are surprisingly mild. little snow.

 

[SoggyShoes]

Apple trees can be quite cold hardy. The Macintosh Apple originated in Canada and I have seen them survive -36F without any damage. Duchess of Oldenburg is reported to be hardy to zone 2, but I do not have any personal experience with that variety. There are more apple varieties hardy to zone 3.
Some Plum and Pear trees are also hardy at those temperatures.
I would not be surprised if there are some cherry varieties that would work as well.

The Columbia George (Oregon/Washington border) has some world class Apple orchards and it gets really cold and very windy.
I used to have a co-worker that had an apple orchard at the eastern base of Mount hood. It was bitter miserable in the winter. But they grew amazing apples. Their entire market was individually wrapped apples sent ot Japan.

 

[gotbeans]

I grew a variety of arctic kiwi about 40 years ago. The vines grew very fast and were very healthy. They flowered well and set fruit, but for some reason the fruit would drop off the vine well before reaching maturity. I was never able to determine the cause. Very disappointing to lose hundreds of pounds of fruit every year.

The vines grow larger and thicker each year. They will destroy all but the strongest of lattice work. I had to rebuild my lattice after I discovered how they grew. I would suggest nothing less than a 2" x 2". The vines are similar to oriental bittersweet or a very vigorous wisteria, if you are familiar with those plants.

Probably potassium issues in your drop off, if you don't cut back vining plants they'll be unable to deliver all nutrients to every part of the plant too.
My posts are 6 inch diameter, in the picture the concrete is 8 inch diameter. I know how big they get, they're great growers I hope they do well.
The build will keep the wood 4+ inches away from the ground too so rot will be unlikely, also easy to build onto 20 years in the future if I need it
I'd say 2x2 inch is too small to be honest, minimum 4x4 post (~3.7 x 3.7 inches)

 

[gotbeans]

So I have a chance then!
is there a dwarf variety that produce well?
Would 2-3 of these produce enough fruit to make any olive oil at all? - it seems just like Maple syrup - it takes a lot of the starting material to make a small amount of the final product.

grow raspberries up that high
the Joan J variety will be thornless and produces very high yields on first year growth. So you cut it all down come fall and heavily mulch the ground / thick straw / hay it (they still last in the cold but mulch saves them even more)
They'll grow several feet during the spring/summer and produce tons of berries before the fall comes

some of them here https://www.burpee.com/raspberry-joan-j-prod001558.html
says zone 4-8, youtube videos show people grow them all over washington state and new york state etc
plenty of people do raspberries in canada as well. If you're actively cutting them come fall and bury them well you can grow it anywhere.

 

[Daddy Tanuki]

The natural trees on my property are pines, spruce fir, cedar, ash, poplar, birch, larch, maples willows elm and cherry.
The previous owner planted apple trees, and I may plant a few more for pies.

Edit: and my neighbour has pear & plumb trees they planted seem to do well.

In my post I wondered if an olive could grow in my Greenhouse - but looking up the size of a fully grown Olive tree, too big,

maybe if you carefully pruned them bonsai style to keep them short but wide? purposely bend the branches using supports to force it to spread wider. use gorund supports to support he branch and prevent cracking of the limbs when they are carrying fruit?

just some thoughts. I have seen a couple of my friends bonsai with 3+ meter branches that are only 2 meters tall.

 

[gotbeans]

Good video on cutting strong growth in favor of slower growth stems to produce more fruit yield, shorter plants, and slower growing plants

 

[OffGridForGood]

grow raspberries up that high
the Joan J variety will be thornless and produces very high yields on first year growth. So you cut it all down come fall and heavily mulch the ground / thick straw / hay it (they still last in the cold but mulch saves them even more)
They'll grow several feet during the spring/summer and produce tons of berries before the fall comes

some of them here https://www.burpee.com/raspberry-joan-j-prod001558.html
says zone 4-8, youtube videos show people grow them all over washington state and new york state etc
plenty of people do raspberries in canada as well. If you're actively cutting them come fall and bury them well you can grow it anywhere.

Raspberries are a native plant here, so they grow well all on their own! but thanks for the ideas.
-in fact, part of the area for the greenhouse was covered in raspberries that I cut down to make some room

 

[Daddy Tanuki]

Raspberries are a native plant here, so they grow well all on their own! but thanks for the ideas.
-in fact, part of the area for the greenhouse was covered in raspberries that I cut down to make some room

give them a few years they will replenish where ever you do not cut them back... and they make a damn fine jam or jelly as well.

 

[42OhmsPA]

Damned raspberries are taking over... Need to do some serious work in this bed ...

 

[Daddy Tanuki]

Damned raspberries are taking over... Need to do some serious work in this bed ...

do they flower and give fruit? cultivate them. they can be "tamed" like any other beast or plant... Excepting females.. they are like a bag of cats tossed into a bathtub...

 

[robbob2112]

Damned raspberries are taking over... Need to do some serious work in this bed ...

You have such a small amount of them I am surprised you can see them. We had just a few wild plants and over the years they have become 40ft long and 15 to 20ft wide. They flower and produce fruit.

Too bad I can't stand raspberries at all. I could collect several bushels

 

[42OhmsPA]

do they flower and give fruit? cultivate them. they can be "tamed" like any other beast or plant... Excepting females.. they are like a bag of cats tossed into a bathtub...

Yes, loads of berries for the past 3 years. Nothing better than going out in the morning and picking breakfast to make pancakes but eating so many you aren't hungry anymore. I fermented some in a delicious kefir last year as well.
I plan to cut them back and relocate some to get a good fence row started on the edges of the driveway. I keep telling myself I'm going to find land to build on and it can be the next owners project then I keep picking them the next year bitching at myself for not cutting them back...

 

[42OhmsPA]

You have such a small amount of them I am surprised you can see them. We had just a few wild plants and over the years they have become 40ft long and 15 to 20ft wide. They flower and produce fruit.

Too bad I can't stand raspberries at all. I could collect several bushels

They started as 3 or 4 small plants a friend gave me years ago, she warned me they would spread like crazy...
Someday I'll have long rows of them along with blueberries.

 

[Daddy Tanuki]

They started as 3 or 4 small plants a friend gave me years ago, she warned me they would spread like crazy...
Someday I'll have long rows of them along with blueberries.

now you just need some blackberry bushes and you have the berey style jams and jellies covered. next some peach treach and apple trees for apple butter, apple sauce and peach preserves!