Thermostat is set at 34F, freezer chest has no auto-defrost, and the walls of the freezer do drop below freezing when the power kicks in from the plug-in thermostat. I don't think anyone has tried to store Summer apples. Keep in mind we have Fall-like Summer conditions here in Santa Cruz county, 40's to low 50's at night, 70's during the day when this apple ripens. I just found a bag of sansa and zestar apples in the cooler today, they're even better than silken, these are literally still perfect, as if fresh off the tree. As a reference point, all the gravs, pink pearls have turned to brown mush. I found some summerred apples, they still looked good but were mush inside. Several other Summer varieties including stark summer red were also pretty much toas. So silken, zestar and sansa really stand out.

Rosefolly and Friends: One of the principal differences between a chest freezer (often called a deepfreeze) and a household refrigerator is the provision for automatic defrost. All refrigerators built for the past 40 years or more have an automatic defrost feature that shuts down cooling and briefly heats the cooling coils to remove frost. Water from the melt runs down a tube to the bottom where it is evaporated by warm air circulation. The defrost cycle normally occurs twice in each 24-hour period, so the refrigerator is constantly wringing moisture out of the cabinet and removing it. Keeping a pan of water or moist towels in a refrigerator to raise humidity is futile for this reason. This is also the principal reason that the freezer section of a household refrigerator is not suitable for long-term storage -- it does not maintain a constant temperature below +10F, which is about the minimum. Most chest freezers do not have automatic defrost, although I am sure some do, and newer upright freezers often do. This is great for convenience, but not good for long-term freezer storage, which requires constant temperatures below zero. The only downside to a freezer requiring manual defrost is that you have to defrost once every year or 18 months, which usually requires removing the contents for an hour or so. The period between manual defrosts can be longer if your door gasket seals well to keep out ambient humidity and you do not open the door for frequent and prolonged periods. Automatic defrost controls can easily be bypassed, but if you do that with a refrigerator you have to be prepared for frequent manual defrosts, since most refrigerator doors are opened two-dozen times a day or more, which invites humidity into the cabinet. It is apparently possible to modify an entire chest or upright freezer for warmer storage above 32 degrees, by removing the cold control and installing a different control operating in a higher temperature range. The warmer air in the cabinet will also permit retention of higher humidity, which favors fruit storage. However, changing the control may not be equally easy in all models because of the placement of the control's sensing tube. For you, Rosefolly, if you are successful with your 12 apple trees, you will soon see the day when you are surrounded by apples. I don't see how you can get by in your relatively warm climate without an extra refrigerator to store the bounty. Cidermaking is certainly one option, and perhaps the best since you can use a lot of apples very quickly. But then you have to store the cider, and that involves a deepfreeze. I have dried a lot of apples, and it is kind of fun and produces a delicious product, but it is very labor intensive. You have to have some time on your hands to make it possible. Children do like dried apples, and they are a very healthy snack. Lots better than "energy bars", composed mostly of chemicals and corn syrup. Then, of course, there is applesauce, and we make more than 2-dozen quarts every season. But again, you need a deepfreeze to store it, or be prepared to put it up in canning jars. Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

just reading the discussion regarding saran wrap.I have used Press and Seal on about 1/2 of my stock for the last two years and have been very happy with the results. I somtimes leave two or three tubers connected to the crown the Press and Seal allows my to do this and still keep a barrier between the tubers in case one spoils. When I get tired of wrapping, I store the balance of my stock in wood chips. The wood chips do not work as well for small tubers, but seem to be okay for some of the larger or more "hearty" varietes of tubers (Tempest, O'Condah, Blue Bayou, Black Satin, Nijinsky)

Well, I am far from a pro yet maintaining my pool, this is my first summer. I spent the winter pouring over how to maintain my own pool, ran across TFP and they really helped me. (hope I don't get in trouble for talking about them) I feel very comfortable now with managing my chems. I bought my own quliaty test kit so I don't have to run back and forth to the pool store all the time and I can say that I have been very pleased with the bleach borax and baking soda method ( and of course muratic acid). It's a cinch, and when you are doing your own tests (super easy) you (well, I do) have a better feel for your pool's needs. All that said, IMHO, using the liquid chlorine instead of pucks is going to keep at least some chem problems from happening. Honestly,since I started doing the BBB method, I have not had ANY major problems. Now, I do test almost every day, but it takes literally maybe 2-3 minutes for the basics and I do all of them about once a week (tack on maybe another 5 min). I do occasionally use pucks when I am going out of town, but that's about it. That's my 2 cents, hope it helps. LBF