Category Archives: Garden

Liquid Amber Bonsai

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With Fall just around the corner, I thought that I would share a few images of my liquid amber bonsai.

I once had a massive liquid amber tree in the front yard. One year, one of its seeds found its way into a pot with only dirt in it. This is what it looked like in Fall 2011. I did absolutely nothing – it was all voluntary.

Keep in mind that a liquid amber tree will grow like mad. If you want to keep it like a bonsai tree, trimming and re-potting will be required.

Here’s the tree in Fall 2012. I had to do a bit of shaping of the branches during the Winter. Fortunately for me, my father was a bonsai enthusiast for more than 35 years, so I picked up a few tips.

This is the tree in Fall 2016. The trunk has gotten bigger and I did transplant it into a new ceramic pot. I will show you how that is done in a future post.

Let’s jump to Spring 2021. The tree was just beginning to really leaf out.

It’s really full with leaves this year, so the Fall colors should be amazing. I am going to have to wait another month to find out.

Here’s the tree later in the Fall – so beautiful!

I always look forward to Fall. For me, it’s the best season of the year!

Solar on the Go Kart – Part 2

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The deep cycle battery that I ordered for my Solar on the Go Kart finally arrived!

First thing to do was to mount the battery on the kart. The battery turned out to be bigger than I anticipated, so I had to make a bracket and remount the voltage regulator. Once that was done, I connected the regulator to the battery terminals, and the other leads to the solar panels.

I checked the yellow LED on the voltage regulator. It was illuminated, indicating that the battery was now being charged.

It took about 5 hours to fully charge the battery, with all 3 solar panels connected. Once the battery was charged, of course I had to recharge every battery-operated device that I own. That included, cell phone, tablet, electric razor, electric drill and electric lawn edger. However, the best was my bike – eBike Build.

I also decided to illuminate the wooden shed. I had a 35 year old battery-powered lantern in storage. The lantern’s two huge 6V batteries were long gone. I soldered up the wire extensions from the lantern to the battery, and connected directly across the solar battery terminals. I now have light in the shed.

I am now generating power for devices, dwellings, and transportation. I say, “Move over Elon, there’s room at the top for both of us.”