dcarch

Here is a little tip. Staking can be expensive and unsightly. You can get nice looking 36" long (yes, they do have 36" long) bamboo BBQ skewers cheaper. Check out Amazon, 100 skewer pack for less than $15.00. dcarch

Be careful with LED lights. Many LED lights flicker (strobe) which interferes with digital image sensor of your digital camera. They do sell special LED lights for photography. By the way, there is no such thing as "white" LEDs. The white is actually generated by a chemical on the LED. dcarch

Using the tripod: 1. It allows you to shoot at very low light level by setting the exposure long. 2. Try to use the self-timer for the sharpest image. Even on a tripod, the clicking by hand can introduce shaking. dcarch

How do you guys deal with biting insects? flies, mosquito, ticks, etc? dcarch

Crystallization can purify a compound or material. For instance to get ultra pure semiconductor material in chip making, a method known as zone refining is used. dcarch

Still have a few morel mushrooms left. dcarch Morel ravioli

A suggestion for you guys with a large garden: I don't have a huge garden, just big enough to be a pain to go from one end to the other, especially if I have to carry a lot of tools and garden supplies. So I got myself an electric mobility scooter and modified it for gardening use. So fast, even going up hill. Completely silent, and instant start. A good time saver, no sweat. dcarch

Or this: dcarch

Other than for aesthetic reasons, I have not found most weeds to be that detrimental to garden productivity. This year's weeds are next years tomatoes. More compost, weeds improve soil. dcarch

Happy Mother's Day!!! Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers out there! I hope you all had a good one. It was not a day to go out for food. So I cooked. dcarch Salmon, morel mushrooms, roasted peppers.

LOL! A Vitamix is way over priced. A router is a 4x to 5x more complicated machine than a Vitamix, yet a router is about 1/3 the price. Both Vitamix and a router use about the same motor. dcarch

Call me crazy. Not wanting to pay for a Vitamix, I simply hacked my woodworking router into a variable, reversible high power mixer. dcarch

I am not the only one - a shop blow torch. I am the only one (probably) - My shop 10" table saw with a carbide blade to cut large bones, really works. dcarch

You don't eat the whole plant. Just like asparagus, you take a few shoots from each plant. The more you take, the more robust they grow. dcarch

One of the excitement from your garden in early spring is to find things you can harvest for dinner, I don't have morel mushrooms in our area, but I have asparagus, ramps and hosta. Yes, hosta. Many of you have hosta in your garden, not realizing that in some countries, hosta is a vegetable. dcarch Hosta and SV blade steaks

Go take a bath. You are filthy and stinky. I can smell you all the way here in NY. I just came in the house to change for some dry underwear, for the fourth time. Looking at the weather report, I need to get the work done as much as I can today. A couple more hours of digging, then call pizza. A long bath and many cold beers for me. dcarch

young okra leaves are edible. dcarch

yeah! dcarch

Frantically digging to get the garden started for this year. Found some more of these surprises from last winter. Nice reward for a hard day's work. dcarch SV blade steaks

With rigid foiled insulation board, it is rigid enough to be structural. If you get 4' x 8' sheets (also come in 4' x 10'), 6 sheets will give you a 4' w x 4' D x 8' H reflective chamber. Using hot glue gun, you can create different interior setups. I am concerned about health safety with fiberglass. dcarch

Impressive setup! Did you start the strawberries from seeds? Good job! A suggestion for your next setup. Get rigid aluminum foiled insulation board. (4' x 8" x 1/2") for the chamber. Construction is easy. Cut with a knife, and use packing tape to make the box. Very strong. Comes with reflective surface. Handling fiberglass is tricky and ichy. dcarch

Or, here I used a small blower, ready to cook in a few seconds. A hair dryer will work well also. dcarch

Bull S h * t! Speaking of compost, I often wonder why is cow manure better than regular compost and more expensive? A cow eats grass, makes beef. What cannot be used to make beef is dumped. So cow manure is grass without the beef. If you compost grass, it has everything, including the ingredients that makes beef. dcarch

Important: Never use charcoal fire indoors. CO kills silently. I have an outdoor fire pit I use. After I don't need the fire anymore, I empty everything into a metal can with a tight lid. The ember soon extinguishes. The next day, I use a sieve to separate the ash and leftover charcoal. The ash makes a wonder fertilizer for your garden. dcarch

Charcoal can get hot with air blowing. Very hot! hotter than hot. I made this simple furnace to make a few knives. Not only that it melt the steel, it actually melt the cement tiles into glass. It can vaporize your wok and stir fry. :-) dcarch