dcarch

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

I will alocate more real estate to my allium tricoccum in my garden. Trying to ramp up spring time harvest. dcarch

I was told that people who follow kosher diet can enjoy fake shrimps, fake lobsters, and fake pork. dcarch

Asparagus Aspiration I decided to post this here, not on the Garden Forum. The very first thing that you can harvest from your garden is probably asparagus. Depends on what zone you are in, I am in z6, it is never early enough. Here is what you can do easy and cheap to push it to at least a month sooner. Cover your plot with a sheet of greenhouse plastic. Let the sun warm up the soil quicker. I have been enjoying fresh pick spears for a couple of weeks now. dcarch SV salmon, fresh asparagus and last winter's kabocha squash.

Yes, and no. :-) Consider using artificial light instead, Set it up once in a way that works for you. Use that for breakfast, lunch and dinner, winter and summer, everyday. Turn the switch on, snap, and you are done picture taking and ready to start eating. Natural light is not available half the year for dinner and breakfast, and everyday it is at a different angle. Unless you work for a food magazine. dcarch

Corel Draw. dcarch

Like DDF said. dcarch

Sanitize all you want. But when you go outside to eat, restaurants and food trucks, travel to different countries, don't count on they sanitize the way you do. dcarch

It seems that I am the only one in the whole world who microwaves cutting boards and UV boards. 1. Wood boards - Depending on size of board and power of MW, less than a minute or you can start a fire. 2. Plastic boards - a wet towel on top and bottom then MW. 3. Wood or plastic, germicidal UV lights for a few minutes, if I have to cook for other people. Interesting that microwave and UV lights are on the two extremes of the electromagnetic wave spectrum. . dcarch

Seems the blade should face the opposite way for a right handed user. dcarch

I don't know if a convection fan for a countertop oven is of much practical use. Convection is to facilitate conduction. In an electric countertop oven most of the heating is done by IR radiation. Convection has no effect on IR. dcarch