KennethT

Finally got to repot 2 of the 5. The ones I repotted are both in the citrus family which means they like to dry out a bit between waterings as they are more susceptible to root rot than many other plants. This mix of coco coir and hydroton (expanded clay pebbles) in a Radicle Bag air pot should allow great drainage and superior airflow in the rootzone. The coco coir is reused from a previous crop and still has some small roots throughout. So I add some enzyme which dissolves dead cellulose to my nutrient mix which will help decompose the dead roots, leaving more air spaces for new roots.

@PedroG had talked about using rice bran oil for high temp searing of SV'd foods years ago also.... I miss his posts around here!

Looks great. Quite a bit more expensive that the CSO, but looks a lot better... I'd love to hear how you enjoy using it after you get it.... maybe a dedicated thread for it????

Note to self: I need some deeper bowls!

Homemade Thai Chicken noodle soup using some of the stock I made last week. Some crispy fried garlic, garlic oil and sawtooth coriander (not to mention roasted chili flakes on the side) are all traditional. The rau ram is not necessarily traditional in Thai noodle soups, but is tasty nonetheless - and brings is into Saigon territory a bit.

When you take the gate away, do you get a gigantic landslide?

I don't think the motor changes speed - like a computer power supply fan would - I think it's either on or off, in which case, the easiest way to control it would be a relay. I haven't taken mine apart so I don't know for sure, but it would make sense. If I could, I would test it by turning on the fan mode and try to hear a slight click when the fan turns on, which would indicate relay, but mine is currently hiding in the bedroom, which it does when we're not using it (lack of kitchen space and all that)...

For someone technically minded, it shouldn't be a difficult fix. I doubt the logic control is bad - I'd assume it would either be the motor (easy to test) or the relay on the board that brings power to the motor. That, or just a plain ol' bad connection somewhere...

Yeah, it's true - there is a lot of cool stuff out there. With a $20 Arduino plus some sensors, I can do the exact same thing with a bit of programming. That's what I'm eventually going to do with my herbs - once I move. Each herb has different watering requirements (some, like the citrus tree and curry plant (which is technically a citrus) like to dry out between waterings while others want to be constantly moist) so that will require moisture sensors in some of the plants - others may just be dosed a few times a day which may waste a bit of water/nutrient but would otherwise require another $40 sensor per plant! Also, some plants like full sun, others, like cilantro and sawtooth, like shade so I'll be getting/making new lights so I can light each group independently. I think there's nothing wrong with KISS - more often than not, it just works, but it does require more of a daily effort. Plus, I love building systems, so it's a lot of fun for me... and, I'm lazy and time constrained - I'd much rather put in a bunch of hours of work all at once when I ahve the time, then have to put in minimal time - less than 5 minutes on a daily basis afterwards than having to do 20-30 minutes every day...

You'd be surprised how much info is out there about hydroponics. Although I do think that my garden's level of sophistication for those other plants (temperature sensor, moisture sensor, humidity sensor, CO2 sensor and automated nutrient/water dosing, CO2 injection, humidity injection / dehumidification, and air conditioning) was pretty cool. Eventually, I'm going to get that back again with all of these herbs, but for now, except for the lights, all the watering is manual and I'm leaving the tent doors open since it's a comfy 75-77degF in the apartment and the light makes a bit of heat and my A/C system isn't set up yet. Plus these plants aren't really day length sensitive - so while the light is on for 14 hours (which is like a tropical summer day), getting a little bit of ambient light on them during the "night time" is no problem. It's a fun hobby for an engineer like me... too bad all those sensors are so expensive!

They all need a new pot!!!! For the first week, I wanted them to stabilize after the 6 days they spent in a box during shipping. Then I had to wait until my new chlorine filter came in because I am going to put all of them into coco coir in air pots, and coco has beneficial bacteria in it that roots love - plus, I'd be adding some more, which would all be instantly killed if watered with chlorine-y nutrient. The fabric air pots are ok but I'm not really a huge fan as the bottoms stay wet for a long time and don't drain that well. For some other indoor gardening that I've done, I used a different air pot called "Radicle Bags" which are made from food grade, UV stabilized PVC. They don't hold any moisture so allow for great drainage - and the airflow through them is amazing. The plants loved them. So I got some smaller ones, but I don't have enough yet for everything.. This weekend, I'm going to transition some of them to teh coco... definitely the lime and the curry leaf plant. I think it'll also be time to start some seeds - I want to start my cilantro (the sawtooth is doing well, but regular cilantro has its place, certainly). I also think that I'm going to grow some galangal some time soon.... that'll require a trip to the Korean H-mart... it'll be nice to have a tropical flowering ginger in the apartment, that will also provide great flavor from time to time!

I think Zabb Elee closed. Somtom Der is still open (Ave A and 5th St.) and is still really good - although it's annoying that the Isan fried chicken thigh (one of their specialties) has been certainly using a much smaller thigh than a couple years ago, and no longer comes with sticky rice... but the price didn't change. But the flavor is still really good.

Fans are not usually easily "fixed". If it's mechanical - that means the bearing seized up, and many bearings are press fit onto the shafts and can't be replaced without special equipment. Also, if the bearing seized up, the motor would have tried to draw a lot of power to move it (called a "locked rotor") and probably would have tripped the thermal overload built into most motors. Most thermal overloads are not reset-able - once they trip, it's usually cheaper to replace the motor, unless the motor is huge. If the problem is electrical, you'd need a voltmeter to first check if there's power at the fan to begin with. The issue could be with the control board relay not sending power to the fan. If there's power at teh fan but the fan doesn't turn, then see above.

One day, when things get closer to normal-ish, I have to get to Elmhurst... I am sorely missing really good Thai. Do you know anything about Ayada's branch in Manhattan? They might deliver to me...

Some new growth on the kaffir lime

I don't know how stable citric acid is.... This is unrelated - but when using acids to adjust pH of nutrient solution, it is always advised against using citric acid because while it may temporarily lower pH (as any acid would), it's not stable and the pH will go back up in a day or so... I don't know if that's helpful to you or not....

Mine was hot too yesterday - first I had to fry a large batch of onions for the biryani, then making the biryani itself while making a large batch of chicken stock! It was really hot, but worth it!

Depending on the type of soup, I love it in hot weather... reminds me of being in SE Asia...

I wish I could run into some grouse around here! By me, the best I could ask for is some pigeon - but not the tasty pigeon... Just the air-rats...

The finished stock/soup... I love making stock in the pressure cooker. Hard to tell in the photo but it's clear like consomme - this was taken just after I took the lid off. This is probably the most expensive stock I've ever made.... The store had no backs or other cheap soup/stock parts. So it was a pound of feet, a pound of wings and two leg/thighs. On the upside, I was able to pick enough meat for four meals of noodle soup! Just needs seasoning.

So after half the day in the kitchen (the other half spent making Thai Chicken stock which is almost done) Hyderabadi chicken biryani: We enjoyed this very much. More than the Thai style I made last week... But not as much as the biryani restaurant in Singapore which I LOVE!!! But it's a good starting point.

Many years ago, I had grouse in a scandinavian restaurant in NYC. I loved it. But finding it in a supermarket? Fuhgedaboudit... maybe you could find it in a meat market that specializes in game - like Ottomanelli in Manhattan, but I haven't been there in a really long time.

I decided the other day to give dum biryani a try when I realized that most of my spices are really old and need to be refreshed.... It's a good thing Kakustyan's is nearby...

Ok... Duck is not hard to find... Or wasn't.... But grouse?

I don't think you'd find that stuff in Shoprite in the best of times!