I'm not dogmatic about any gardening practice. My usual reaction is "do nothing except maintain optimal water and see what is really needed". I practice "IPM" ... I use whatever will have the least impact and still get the job done in a reasonable length of time. If the garden sprouts a nest of fire ants, I'm opening the Amdro, not messing around with home remedies. The wasp nest in my tool shed, OTOH, will get the soapy water treatment tonight. She's right on the handle of my pole saw! http://www.epa.gov/opp00001/factsheets/ipm.htm http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/GENERAL/whatisipm.html For weeds, it may mean a scuffle hoe or hand-pulling, it may mean one application of glyphosate (better than multiple doses of AvengerAG or SummerSet AllDown because it kills the roots of perennials like Bermudagrass). http://www.summersetproducts.com/assets/AllDown_Concentrate_label.pdf http://www.summersetproducts.com/assets/AllDown_Concentrate_msds.pdf http://www.avengerorganics.com/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=A4SpfYmxDWQ%3d&tabid=81 We tried corn gluten meal as a pre-emergent. The quail loved it. So did the doves. The two main purchased additives I use are soil sulfur and Ironite ... because this is alkaline desert dirt. The compost and mulch is all home-grown.

Here's the link to the company under the Optional Link below-- should have linked it to begin with, sorry. I'll try slicing them thinner, and not going so long. I'm certainly ready to believe mine have been overdried. The ones from this company are sort of the opposite of other commercially dried fruits, though-- it's all very dry. Even their raisins are light and crispy. I much prefer home-dried, too-- that's why I'm trying to find something that my daughter can handle (without losing patience, which happens quickly!). Commerical raisins and craisins have been fine, but commercially dried apples, mango, pineapple etc. are either too chewy or have way too much added sugar. I pulled some of the banana off today when it was mostly done but still a bit squishy, and that went over pretty well. Kinda the opposite of what I was going for, but maybe I can partially dry them and store in the fridge (although that fails to meet the objective of having something I can tote around for a few days at room temp). Spray drying?! I'm sure you're right, not doable at home-- but what is it? Here is a link that might be useful: Just Fruit

My new Excalibur 9 tray model was delivered yesterday. My first experiment to see if I want to do anymore is orange peels from this morning's juice. I probably would have done it differently but I didn't have time this morning since one of the girls had to be at school early. I scooped out the insides after getting back home this sliced the pith off. Then I zested a lime, peeled the pith off and sliced it. It is going now and my kitchen smells really good. I decided not to slice the limes whole because I made marmalade from limes from this same tree by slicing them whole and hated it b/c it was so bitter. I have a crisper full of limes and loads of lemons from my neighbors ponderosa lemon tree. They are a cross between citron and lemon and are huge with thick pith. I've frozen zest in cubes with a little juice to hold them together and I've frozen juice in cubes but the freezer is pretty full so I'm hoping that zest and slices work out ok. Also bunches of oranges that we will juice and satsumas that we eat. Not to mention the grapefruit tree that hangs over our fence. I've been putting peels in vinegar for nice smelling cleaning vinegar. But since I have a gallon and 1/2 already I thought I would try something different. When I am feeling lazy I just toss the peels in the compost.

AM, I have an Excalibur, it's a great machine. I use mine for jerky, for dehydrating garlic, chopped onions and herbs, for apple slices, for making "gummy worms" out of zucchini. I dehydrate zucchini for soup too, and Elery dries a lot of hot peppers. We used a mix of dried peppers and herbs and made our own chili powder this year and if I get a bunch of morel mushrooms or even find mushrooms on sale, I'll stick them into the dehydrator to keep on hand. I threw some morels into the food processor after they were dried, ground them to powder and added salt for a "morel salt". It added a nice flavor when I didn't really have enough mushrooms to make anything else. I've not been happy with a couple of items. Like you, I've found that bananas just stay chewy and sticky and no one in my family will eat them, the consistency is just bad. I've dried tomatoes for tomato powder but they never seem to get crisp enough to powder. If I put them in the food processor and "powder" them, they just solidify into one giant brick. Ugh. A waste of time and product for me. Dried watermelon wasn't exactly my best idea either, LOL. The kids love this "zucchini candy", though, and no one ever knows that it's zucchini. I got the recipe from Linda Lou at Harvest and it's not exactly healthy with sugar and koolaid, but it's probably better than gummy worms. BASIC ZUCCHINI CANDY FRUIT 10 cups peeled diced zucchini 1/2 inch cubes or "worms" 3 cups water 2 pkgs. unsweetened Koolaid 2 1/2 cups sugar Peel zucchini,cut in half, removing seeds. Dice in cubes. Mix the liquid syrup together. Add zucchini. Bring to a boil and them simmer for 25 min. Drain. Put on dehydrator trays. Dry 14 hours at 125 degrees. Turn pieces over and dry another 4 hours. This will feel dry and not sticky when done. Store in jars or other tightly sealed containers.If you dip in sugar when you turn them, they will be more like "gum drops" on the outside. PINEAPPLE CANDY FRUIT You can do the same thing with the zucchini but use : 48 oz. pineapple juice 2 T. pineapple extract 2 1/2 cups sugar 1/4 cup lemon juice BLUEBERRY CANDY FRUIT 10 cups peeled, cut zucchini, about 1/2 inch cubes 1 -16 oz. can wild blueberries ( mashed and strained through cheese cloth) 1 qt. fresh blueberries ( mashed and strained through cheese cloth) 1 cup water 2 cups sugar 1/2 cup lemon juice ( optional) Follow the directions for basic recipe. HINTS: When turning your zucchini, dip in sugar to coat them, making them more like "gumdrops". Or you could make fruit leather, kids always seem to like those. Annie This post was edited by annie1992 on Sun, Jan 26, 14 at 19:23