Crabs seem right for the scenario you've presented. Good 'edible' crabs - we prefer to call them 'Lunchbox apples', include: Chestnut - a U of MN release, should be plenty hardy for you, and consistently wins taste tests in which it's pitted against larger apples. Wickson - also gets good reviews for flavor Centennial - tasty little apples and a nice ornamental, to boot. Kerr - another tasty little apple-crab Trailman - I know a person in Anchorage who grew this one, and it performed well there for them; mine hasn't fruited yet, so I can't comment first-hand Dolgo - an old Russian variety, and one of the parents of both Centennial & Kerr Whitney - this one is widely available, but I get mixed reviews from folks who've grown it - some say it's great, others say it's nothing much to write home about. You're unlikely to find many, if any, of these varieties in your big box store garden center, or even a local mom & pop type nursery(but, they *might* have them or be able to obtain them for you); you'll probably need to mail-order them as bare-root specimens, next winter, from a fruit tree nursery. Check out sources at the link provided below. Some of the ornamental crabs produce tasty apples, though they tend to be quite a bit smaller than the 2" cutoff that folks typically use to designate 'crabs'. 'Callaway' crab is a favorite, in my family, for eating out-of-hand; bears heavy crops of 1.25-1.5" apples in sizeable clusters. Apple trees, regardless of rootstock, don't/won't just get to 12 ft and 'stop' - you're ultimately responsible for how large they become(or how small you keep them). You gotta prune. Check out the info here: http://www.davewilson.com/homegrown/all_ed/teds_head06_dwarf.html Here is a link that might be useful: NAFEX Nursery/Supplier list

You might want to have a certified arborist (tree expert) check these trees. Some trees don't seem to be bothered much by having one side of their root system cut but some are much more sensitive. One worry is the lack of support from that side of the tree in the event of high winds. As far as watering is concerned, a mature tree can drink several hundred gallons of water a day during the height of summer so it might be difficult to water them deeply enough and in great enough volume to be helpful. And never fertilize a plant that is already under stress unless a specialist checks it out and recommends something specific. In this case phosphate might help the tree renew it's root system but don't apply it without professional advice. Another source of great assistance is your local Extension Agent. Your county should have an agent that will be able to give you more specific advice geared to your locality and climate. The last problem you might be on the lookout for is damage to the new sidewalk from the roots. Maples are notorious for ruining sidewalks and foundations by breaking them up with their super strong root system that is often on or near the surface of the ground. If these trees survive and renew their root systems, the sidewalk will probably only last a few years. Good luck. Let us know the outcome of this if you can. I really hate to see these beautiful old trees damaged by careless disregard for their needs. But I know the sidewalk was needed too. Quite a balancing act! Sandy

Our Extension's been slammed with requests for canning classes. We just finished a four-week preservation series to augment the gardening classes that came about because we have a brand new community garden. Our gardening/preserving/raising livestock/do-it-yourself books are always checked out. I like it. I need to start cleaning out the pantry, too. The girls at work like it because I bring in my old jams and sauces. They're happy to return the jars in time for me to make fresh, hehe.

Wow,,, This is the type of project that I love to play with. I have no doubt that one could get a few descent snapshots with a simple point & shoot camera, but to do justice and fully capture and preserve the true intimate details one needs a bit more sophisticated camera and take a number of pictures that could be put in a remembrance album. Photographing that mirrored wall presents a number of very unique problems. First off, how do we photograph the wall without ending up with a picture of ourselves holding the camera? As was mentioned above, the solution here is to shoot a picture of the wall from an angle, preferably using a wide angle lens so you can get the whole wall in one shot. (later we will follow by taking individual shots of the panels that have notes written on them). Generally a bedroom has an overhead light and that should provide more than adequate lighting while keeping the scene in its most natural mood, however, make sure you adjust the cameras "WB" (white balance) for incandescent lighting unless of course it has florescent lighting or a CFL bulb in which case you would adjust the WB for florescent lighting. (an alternative here would e to use a CFL filter on the lens, but most digital cameras have adjustable white balance). In order to preserve maximum resolution I would strongly suggest using a tripod and keep the ISO as low as possible, preferably at ISO 100 or ISO 200. For the overall shot I would set the f-stop to f-11 or f-16 to maintain maximum depth of field. (Keep in mind that the camera will be seeing the reflected image in the mirror so the overall focal distance will be equal to the distance from the camera to the wall plus the distance from that wall to the adjacent wall being reflected and the desired depth of field will be equal to the distance from the mirrored wall to the reflected adjacent wall. When using a camera on a tripod far too often we introduce shake into the picture merely from the action of pressing the shutter button. Back in the days of film cameras we overcame that by using a cable release or the self timer. With modern cameras we have a number of options here. Nearly all cameras today have a built in self timer or time delay feature. Most DSLR's allow the use of a s small inexpensive IF (infra red) remote. In addition, most DSLR's have an auxiliary input jack where you can plug in a 3 or 5ft remote shutter release cable or an electronic wireless remote that will allow you to be upwards of 100 meters from the camera. Previously it was suggested that you could set up some form of blind to conceal the camera from the reflected image. If you have an Infra Red or electronic wireless remote the camera could be set up on a table top tripod on a dresser or table on the opposite side of the room and triggered remotely, and the camera would merely look like a small room accent in the final picture. Preserving the writing on the individual mirrors can prove to be a real challenge. The problem you will encounter is that while focusing you will be seeing the reflected image in the mirror. There are a couple tricks you can try here. 1. Take a "post it" note or a small piece of paper and draw and X on it with a magic marker, then stick it on the individual mirror and focus on the X. Once you have the focus set, you can remove the note and take the shot. In this manner you can be certain you are focused on the actual mirror front, not the reflected image from across the room and you will be sure to get the writing that you want to preserve. 2. Set the camera on a tripod at a slight angle, then hang a sheet of white or colored poster paper where it will reflect in the mirror. That will make the background in the mirror a solid color rather than a reflection of the adjacent wall thus making the writing on the mirror stand out. If your camera has automatic B&W or Sepia filters you may also want to take a few shots in that mode to see if the writing stands out better. As was mentioned above, I would also use a polarizing filter for all the shots. One of the key factors in any photo assignment is take plenty of shots. You can always delete the ones you don't need, but you can never replace the one you didn't take. Back in the days of film it got a bit expensive and time consuming to shoot a dozen rolls of film a day, but in this day of erasable memory cards and rechargeable batters who cares if you shoot 100 frames, providing you get the one shot your really looking for? Taking this project to the next level. Once you have all the shots of the mirrors, I would try to find a nice portrait type photo, such as a school yearbook photo and use that as the cover page for an album, then put the pictures of his training area in the book and close out with a couple shots of him in his wrestling outfit, and preferably an action shot from a match showing the end result of the mirrored wall.