Page 5 of 10

Re: Anyone Want Some Grapefruit?

Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2018 7:32 am
by Dave
Catawampus wrote:
Bookworm wrote:Because Dead Animals protect better than Lycra and Spandex.
But seeing as how the animals weren't protection enough for themselves, what with them now being dead and all, it would be more logical to wear live animals!
Naugas?

Re: Anyone Want Some Grapefruit?

Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2018 9:03 am
by DinkyInky
Must be regional Bookworm, because four decades ago riding/walking against direction of traffic was the official rule, then ten years after that, they couldn't decide and changed it every few. I also lived in the Chicagoland/NWIN area.

Re: Anyone Want Some Grapefruit?

Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2018 1:16 pm
by Bookworm
Catawampus wrote:
Bookworm wrote:Because Dead Animals protect better than Lycra and Spandex.
But seeing as how the animals weren't protection enough for themselves, what with them now being dead and all, it would be more logical to wear live animals!
They wiggle too much, and the fleas can be a problem.

Re: Anyone Want Some Grapefruit?

Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2018 1:18 pm
by Bookworm
DinkyInky wrote:Must be regional Bookworm, because four decades ago riding/walking against direction of traffic was the official rule, then ten years after that, they couldn't decide and changed it every few. I also lived in the Chicagoland/NWIN area.
Could be. I grew up in Texas.

I know it was discussed that people liked to ride against traffic so they could see what was coming, but the general consensus was that it was even MORE dangerous because of head-on issues. Just as much risk of being hit by an unobservant car, but combined with head on speed, distracting directions (bike turning against traffic at intersections, etc), and so forth.

Re: Anyone Want Some Grapefruit?

Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2018 1:22 pm
by Bookworm
http://www.biketexas.org/en/infrastruct ... cycle-laws

Some excerpts from the Texas Transportation regulations for bicycles.

Re: Anyone Want Some Grapefruit?

Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2018 2:16 pm
by TazManiac
You Walk against traffic and Ride with traffic.

Still, there are many times when it feels safer, to me, to 'see em cummin' and I ride the Wrong Way.
In such cases there's hardly any oncoming bikes and in any case I always defer and yield.

The rules I set for myself are often at odds w/ prevailing wisdom, what works for sheeple & lemmings, lowest-common-denominator-harm-prevention, and the Law.

That said, I try and follow both the Social Contract & the Golden Rule, keep the line and demonstrate predictability while traveling.

Re: Anyone Want Some Grapefruit?

Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2018 3:41 pm
by Bookworm
Dave wrote:
Catawampus wrote:
Bookworm wrote:Because Dead Animals protect better than Lycra and Spandex.
But seeing as how the animals weren't protection enough for themselves, what with them now being dead and all, it would be more logical to wear live animals!
Naugas?
https://laughingsquid.com/nauga-cute-mo ... -campaign/

Re: Anyone Want Some Grapefruit?

Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2018 4:47 pm
by Just Old Al
I remember that, oddly enough. :)

More the point, didn't we have the discussion about Naugas and Corinths (their gengineered cousins created by Chrysler - think "rich Corinthian leather") not too long ago?

Re: Anyone Want Some Grapefruit?

Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2018 8:18 pm
by jwhouk
Very so much.
Atomic wrote:I hear that in Missouri, Arkansas, and Tennessee, there a very short season for Nauga -- Thursdays in October, between 1 and 4 PM. Somehow it works, because Naugahyde has to come from somewhere...

(Throws green and orange rayon Aloha shirt into the Pun Jar)

Re: Anyone Want Some Grapefruit?

Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2018 10:30 pm
by Dave
Just Old Al wrote:More the point, didn't we have the discussion about Naugas and Corinths (their gengineered cousins created by Chrysler - think "rich Corinthian leather") not too long ago?
Yes, we did. This is one of the inevitable consequences of topic drift in a Forum. Occasionally, two threads (or very rarely three) manage to drift around to mention of the same topic, and a subject collision occurs. This is terribly inconvenient, as the resulting rubble tends to float into the shipping lanes and clog things up right during rush hour. Lloyd's of London gets rather upset when this sort of thing happens and I suppose I'll be getting a stern letter of reproach from them any time now.

Re: Anyone Want Some Grapefruit?

Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2018 11:20 am
by DinkyInky
Bookworm wrote:
DinkyInky wrote:Must be regional Bookworm, because four decades ago riding/walking against direction of traffic was the official rule, then ten years after that, they couldn't decide and changed it every few. I also lived in the Chicagoland/NWIN area.
Could be. I grew up in Texas.

I know it was discussed that people liked to ride against traffic so they could see what was coming, but the general consensus was that it was even MORE dangerous because of head-on issues. Just as much risk of being hit by an unobservant car, but combined with head on speed, distracting directions (bike turning against traffic at intersections, etc), and so forth.
Bookworm wrote:http://www.biketexas.org/en/infrastruct ... cycle-laws

Some excerpts from the Texas Transportation regulations for bicycles.
Thank you very much.

Re: Anyone Want Some Grapefruit?

Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2018 2:52 pm
by jwhouk
The tree, it's... gone.

I will post some pics later, but most of it was pruned wayyyy back, because a lot of the canopy was dead branches. I suspect that whomever was taking care of the place for the previous owner (and the previous owner herself) did not do the appropriate watering and fertilizing necessary.

The orange tree is basically a stump at the moment. The landscaper did tell me it should grow back - just need to fertilize the heck out of it (as well as the grapefruit tree).

Re: Anyone Want Some Grapefruit?

Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2018 4:35 pm
by jwhouk
The Grapefruit Tree and (what's left of) the Orange Tree: (links because of resizing)
Grapefruit
Orange

Re: Anyone Want Some Grapefruit?

Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2018 5:06 pm
by Bookworm
So, you now have flat-top bushes!

Re: Anyone Want Some Grapefruit?

Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2018 9:49 pm
by jwhouk
Basically. :/

They've both been properly fertilized, so they should be good through the summer. I'm just going to have to make sure to water them weekly for a half hour. The landscaper told me the orange tree should start to grow back in a few months.

I had a lot of people drive by the house and point and stare, because it'd been so long since the bushes or trees had been pruned back properly.

Re: Anyone Want Some Grapefruit?

Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2018 12:43 am
by Catawampus
jwhouk wrote:I had a lot of people drive by the house and point and stare, because it'd been so long since the bushes or trees had been pruned back properly.
Either that, or they're saying, "Behold, he has defaced the trees! We must gather our loved ones and flee, for the ents shall soon march in revenge!"

Re: Anyone Want Some Grapefruit?

Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2018 1:17 am
by jwhouk
I'm pretty sure that it's just the Snowbirds in the park just leaving for the summer, but yeah, I can see why you'd think that.

The Last Grapefruit

Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2018 11:59 pm
by jwhouk
I picked off the last of the grapefruit from the tree today. Nine pieces. The last batch that I had picked & put in a box are now thrown away.

I really am hopeful that the orange tree makes a comeback, as well as the grapefruit. I'm more optimistic about the grapefruit, though.

Re: The Last Grapefruit

Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2018 7:03 am
by Dave
jwhouk wrote:I really am hopeful that the orange tree makes a comeback, as well as the grapefruit. I'm more optimistic about the grapefruit, though.
One possible issue with the orange: a lot of commercial citrus trees are grafts...
one species provides the branches and fruit, and another provides the lower trunk and the roots. This allows the use of rootstock which is stronger and better suited to local conditions (eg good disease resistance) than the fruit-bearing species.

If your tree was pruned back too close to the ground (to below the graft point) all of the good fruiting wood will be gone. Any branches which might grow back would then be from the rootstock, and would not bear good edible fruit.

When you look at the stump, can you see evidence of a graft?

We had that sort of thing happen to the old plum tree on our property. The upper part died off, new branches and minor trunks grew out of the rootstock. We get a really nice display of flowers every spring, but no edible fruit at all.

Re: Anyone Want Some Grapefruit?

Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2018 10:41 pm
by TazManiac
Dave, as usual, is spot-on; buuuuuut, from the provided pictures I'd say he's still got lots of fruit bearing tree there to work with.

I'd not expect too much this next harvest as things respond to the 'Big Prune', but the year after, stuff should start kicking in.

- Feed the damn thing, esp following when to feed during the yearly cycle &

- Water, wait, Water, wait, Water, and repeat.