Author: Eric

  • Simple Way to Test Your Car Alternator

    Simple Way to Test Your Car Alternator

    Is your battery or alternator light on? Here’s the first step to determine if your alternator is not working.

    You will need a voltmeter – I prefer a digital one – they are all less than $20.

    Open the hood of your car/truck, set the voltmeter for 20 volts DC or whatever DC voltage setting it has between 15-25 volts DC.

    12.67 volts DC means the alternator is not charging

    Place the Black lead from the voltmeter on the negative post of the car battery – the black cable from the engine is attached to the negative side of the battery.

    Place the Red lead from the voltmeter on the positive post of the car battery – a red cable from the engine is attached to the positive side of the battery.

    Read the voltage: if it is around 12.5 volts, the alternator is not charging the battery. This may be caused by several things, it may be a loose or disconnected wire, a loose belt, the voltage regulator may be bad, or the alternator is bad. In many cars, the voltage regulator is attached to the back of, or incorporated into the alternator.

    When my Ford F150 truck battery went dead, I pulled out my voltmeter and tested the battery. I was able to tell the problem was not a loose wire or connection because soon after I started testing at the battery, the alternator started to smoke, which is a pretty good indication that it needs to be replaced.

    On many cars and trucks, if you have some mechanical ability, you can replace the alternator yourself. Look online for a discussion forum about your vehicle and search the posts for alternator replacement tips and tricks. When you go to your local parts store to pick up a new alternator, its ideal to bring in the broken one, most parts like this require a trade-in of the old part ( so they can rebuild it ) AND it is good to confirm that the new alternator is the right one. Save yourself a trip.

    Tell us your alternator stories below, be good to learn other tips and tricks from you all.

  • A New Microphone, Steampunk, & Ice Fishing : GardenFork Radio

    A New Microphone, Steampunk, & Ice Fishing : GardenFork Radio

    What began as a microphone test became an impromptu GardenFork radio where try to talk about steampunk, ice fishing, Larping, viewer mail, telescopes & astronomy. sign up for our email newsletter : [email protected]

  • Remove Rust From Cast Iron Video – GF TV

    Remove Rust From Cast Iron Video – GF TV

    I found a badly rusted cast iron pan, and wanted to show you all how remove rust from cast iron in this video. Rusty cast iron can be brought back from the dead, to clean the rust off the cast iron, it takes some elbow grease, and the pan will never be brand new, but old cast iron is great. [Note, I have posted some updated info below the video, thx!]

    Update: Use vinegar at full strength. If this method does not work, watch our video on how to strip cast iron using oven cleaner, or with a simple battery charger tank method. Plus it will be a great cast iron pot with a good story of where you found it. Let us know your tips for seasoning cast iron below the video.

    You can remove rust from cast iron, but it can take some time. Take it easy and it will work well. Check out our other cast iron videos, how to season and clean cast iron, and learn more about cast iron pots and fry pans, and all the great reasons to use them.

    We are  now using Flax Oil to season our cast iron, the result is a much harder finish than just using vegetable oil or shortening. so save the vegetable oil for the deep fryer. Watch our Best Way To Season Cast Iron video.

    remove rust from cast iron

    You can watch us use a cast iron dutch oven doing some campfire outdoor cooking in these two videos, the first is us making a banana bread recipe in a cast iron dutch oven over charcoal, then we made the classic Toad in a Hole cooked outdoors in a cast iron dutch oven as well.
    cast-iron-seasoning-instructions-7

    Soap On Cast Iron? Video               Remove Old Seasoning From Cast Iron Video

  • Homemade Spacecraft : perfect father-kid project

    Homemade Spacecraft : perfect father-kid project

    Hey! I have an idea, let’s send a camera into space!

    So a dad, Director of Photography Luke Geissbuhler, and his son, build a small spacecraft with a video camera, an iPhone and batteries, and send it up with a weather balloon.

    How cool is that?

    I’ve seen a few of this kind of project, using a weather balloon to send objects up into space or near-space. The other near space weather balloon camera rig that comes to mind we posted videos about here, done by 1337 Arts.

    Luke takes the near space weather balloon plans further by using an iPhone, which has built in GPS, making this a do-able  project for many of us.

    The weather balloon space rig is made of off-the-shelf stuff for the most part. You can do this. Watch the video Luke made below:

    Thanks to WREXLABS and TreeHugger.com for telling us about this.

  • Pardon Eric’s Mouthsounds… : GardenFork Radio

    Pardon Eric’s Mouthsounds… : GardenFork Radio

    I have a bad cold, and my microphone picked up the sounds of me having a cold. sorry bout that… Bedbugs, The Common Cold, Pork Shoulder, Cooking for French People, Lifecasters, Hackintosh, Colony Collapse, Dry Rubs, Crab Cocktail in San Fran, and Viewer Mail! More cool stuff: www.GardenFork.TV

    Dry Rub Recipes: http://www.buttrub.com/recipes.html

    Colony Collapse: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/07/science/07bees.html?_r=1&ref=dining

    The FoolProof Pie Crust http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2007/11/cooks-illustrated-foolproof-pie-dough-recipe.html

  • Slow Cooker Pork Shoulder with Beans : GardenFork.TV

    Slow Cooker Pork Shoulder with Beans : GardenFork.TV

    With a recipe idea from Chef Robert Newton of Seersucker in Brooklyn, NY , we make a braised pork shoulder in our slow cooker for friends from France. Watch what happens, and enjoy the Labrador Retrievers.


  • Las Vegas, Ox Tail, and The Cubs : GardenFork Radio

    Las Vegas, Ox Tail, and The Cubs : GardenFork Radio

    A wide ranging conversation with Monica about food, BBQ, baseball, Las Vegas, cabbage soup, pork shoulder and dogs. hear the entire archive at www.gardenfork.tv

  • Eric Visits The Shake Shake in New York City : GardenFork.TV

    Eric Visits The Shake Shake in New York City : GardenFork.TV

    Jessica Rossi, aka @burgerbaroness , said on Twitter:

    I need a double cheese burger. Oh a Double Shack burger would be perfect. #nycistoofarrightnow #shakeshackplease #teleportationdeviceneeded

    And I made a GardenFork video about the Shake Shack a while back, and it ends up I blanked on posting it to the new site. So, Jessica, here is your vicarious trip to the Shake Shack:



    Jessica is a Food blogger, burger club leader, librarian, maxfunster and KCBS certified BBQ judge, check our her food blog: http://frieswiththatshake.net

    [full disclosure: my sister works in the library industry as well]

  • Ulla Kjarval & Grass Fed Beef Farming : GardenFork Radio

    Ulla Kjarval & Grass Fed Beef Farming : GardenFork Radio

    Ulla Kjarval joins us today to talk about her farm, her dad, and the issues facing locally produced grass fed beef, outdoor cooking, social media for farmers, and more.

    Ulla’s Social Media company is Sheep Dog PD

    Ulla’s blog: http://goldilocksfindsmanhattan.blogspot.com/

    Ulla on Twitter: http://twitter.com/nycUlla

    NYFarmer, who we talked about, is here http://twitter.com/NYFarmer

    Liz’s Food Curated’s Video of Ulla and her father is here https://gardenfork.tv/raising-grass-fed-beef-in-upstate-new-york ( thx mopar )

    Ulla Kjarval

    photo by click

  • Weed Free Vegetable Gardening : GardenFork.TV

    Weed Free Vegetable Gardening : GardenFork.TV

    Want a weed free garden? Learn how to prevent weeds in your vegetable garden as we tour our neighbor’s vegetable garden where they use a weed barrier fabric and get great results.

    You can buy this plastic mesh weed fabric online or at a local greenhouse supply. This fabric was sewn together by a neighbor to create a large wide piece of fabric that is rolled up at the end of the year and stored in the garage. You get what you pay for with this material. Make sure it is UV stable. You can see how the fabric has held up in our natural weed control update video.

    watch more videos weed farbric2

    Weed free vegetable garden

    As you can see in the above photo, if you just cut the mesh, it will fray eventually. Using a torch to make holes for planting works much better.

    Some people have asked about crop rotation, and this weed fabric holes have been created such that if you rotate the big piece of fabric, the holes will be in a different place each year. So you are not planting in the same place every year. This has worked well for our neighbors.

    Each spring they till in a time release fertilizer and then pull the weed fabric across. It is anchored down with cement blocks along the edges and bricks in between rows of plants. Weed free vegetable garden

    You do get a few weeds peeking out of the plant holes, but this is so much easier than pulling weeds out of a open soil garden. Keeps your clothes a lot cleaner too.

    The fabric is not great for planting salad greens or bulb plants like beets or onions, though you could lay narrow strips of this between the rows to keep down weeds. I’ve found its best for transplants or large seed plants like squash, peppers, tomatoes, etc.

    Have you used weed barrier fabric or do you have another weed free garden tip? Let us know below and thanks for watching!

  • Repairing a hole or damage in drywall or sheetrock

    Repairing a hole or damage in drywall or sheetrock

    I helped a friend of mine close up an  inlet in his chimney, and we then needed to patch the dyrwall hole that the metal chimney stack originally went thru.

    This is the how to repair holes in drywall method that I used, there are others. If you have a good drywall how to, please tell us below.

    drywall repair
    This method works well for damage drywall also

    To repair a hole in drywall, you cut a replacement piece of drywall that fits inside the hole. I prefer to use drywall that is slightly thinner than the drywall we are repairing. So if we are repairing 5/8″ sheetrock, I like to use 1/2″ sheetrock.

    The reason for the slightly narrower sheetrock is I find it allows you do a better repair that is less noticeable. If you use a piece of same width sheetrock, the joint compound you apply over the repair is more obvious.

    drywall and sheetrock repair
    screw in a piece of scrap wood as a support

    Find a piece of scrap wood that is about 4″ wider than the hole you need to repair in the sheetrock. Slip this wood in behind the existing sheetrock, and using drywall screws, screw the wood support in.

    sheetrock repair replacement
    cut a piece of sheetrock to fit the repair

    cut a piece of sheetrock that fits just inside the hole you are repairing. Home improvement stores sell 2’x2′ repair pieces, or you can find a piece of scrap at a construction site.

    drywall repair patch
    screw the patch into the support

    After the the drywall is screwed in, use well stirred drywall compound with a little plaster added , and using the most flexible wide blade you can find, lay an initial layer of joint compound over the patch. let this dry completely, and go over it with 2 more layers. The smoother the layers, the better it will look.

    When its all dry give it a light sand to even out any ridges or marks. Prime the repair then paint with the wall paint.

    How do you repair sheetrock or drywall? Let us know below.

  • Build an Outdoor Shower

    Build an Outdoor Shower

    As the temperature drops here and we move into fall, what do I start thinking about? Outdoor shower plans, of course. Here are some photos of an outdoor shower a friend of mine built at his house.
    (also see the neat  DIY wood stove tile floor protector they built, link at end of this post)

    a simple stone floor works. note the low tech valves.

    The walls are slatted cedar I believe, which you can buy, or perhaps salvage from someone residing their old house. The floor is a few flat stones found in the woods. The shower valves are simple to assemble. you may be able to find a utility sink valve setup that may work, or just solder two valves with a T for the shower head. I would not use PVC or PEX for this.

    it doesn’t have to be fancy

    Most important is that the outdoor shower has cut off valves inside the house where you can turn off the flow of water to the outside shower and drain the water that is in the shower pipes. If you don’t drain the pipes, the water will freeze and burst the pipes. Not a good thing.

    door handle of found wood

    homemade-wood-stove-floor-protector-5

    See the neat DIY wood stove floor protector here.

  • My Smoker Has No Fire In It : GardenFork Radio

    My Smoker Has No Fire In It : GardenFork Radio

    Eric wings it solo, as Mike is busy with the real world of work. We talk about salt water fishing inspired by an article by Keith Wagstaff of EdibleBrooklyn on East River Fishing &  Ben Sargent of brooklynchowdersurfer.com . A lengthy honeybee & beekeeping update, Daniel Delaney’s new venture, EatersDigestNYC.com a weekly email about food events in New York City, Tracy skypes in to talk about single serving brownies, Julie and Tim Kirby call in to talk about bees, home made liquor, and harvesting berries. Julie’s website is http://www.fiddlesticks.uk.net

    Single Serve Brownie
    2 tablespoons butter
    2 tablespoons cocoa
    4 tablespoons sugar
    2 tablespoons  beaten egg  (give the leftover beaten egg to your dog)
    1/4 teaspoon vanilla
    2 tablespoons flour
    1 pinch salt
    2 tablespoons chopped nuts
    ·          Melt the butter in the microwave.
    ·          Add the cocoa, mix until blended.
    ·          Add the sugar and mix well. 4 Stir in the egg substitute and the vanilla.
    ·          Add the flour and salt and stir until just blended.
    ·         Add nuts if desired.
    ·         Pour batter into a greased ramekin ( I use a 5 inch round, 1 inch deep terra cotta bowl – makes a thin but tasty brownie!). Bake at 350 for 10 – 15 minutes. Top will be shiny and the sides of the brownie will start to pull away from the edge of the pan when it is done.

    recipe ©2010 all rights reserved

  • Chicago Italian Beef, that’s ours… : GardenFork Radio

    Chicago Italian Beef, that’s ours… : GardenFork Radio

    This week: weather is the #2 search term, Brooklyn tornadoes, Chicago Italian beef, honeybees, alternators, cooking politeness, food photography, dog photography, filareefarm.com, localharvest.org, and Eric on driving the Ford Escape Hybrid

    photo by WallyG

  • Cheese Curds Anywhere You Want : GardenFork Radio

    Cheese Curds Anywhere You Want : GardenFork Radio

    Daniel Delaney of The Hungry Pedaler and Vendr TV joins us to talk about apple butter and pie crusts, Maritime Donairs, and we discuss Anne Raver’s NY Times article about using newspaper to smother weeds in a new garden bed, and where one can buy cheese curds.

    our song of the week is How Far, Jamison Young’s website is JamYoung.net

    Jozi’s post on Maritime Donairs is here

    photo from kconnors

  • Ingimundur & Ulla Kjarval Raising Grass Fed Beef by Food Curate

    Ingimundur & Ulla Kjarval Raising Grass Fed Beef by Food Curate

    When the stars are in the right alignment, ( or whenver I can get my act together to schedule it ) Ulla Kjarval will be on GardenFork Radio. In the meantime, here is a great video about Ullah, her dad Ingimundur and their farm, Spring Lake Farm in Meredith, NY , by Liza de Guia, who blogs about food and makes great videos at her site, Food Curated.

    To me, Ullah is one of a few people who walks the talk; she has her feet in both the ‘social media food world’ and the ‘farm world’. Ullah is an advocate for grass fed meat, who farms and blogs. You can read more on her blog: Goldilock’s Farm Notes . She also runs a social media company, Sheep Dog PD.

    Liza’s site, Food Curated, is a great example of how people can use off the shelf technology to get out the message about a topic or issue they are passionate about. Liza’s energy clearly shows here, and she tells great stories. If you want to make videos and put them on the web, Food Curated is how to do it.

    Follow Ullah on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/nyculla

    Follow Liza on Twitter: http://twitter.com/SkeeterNYC

  • Do They Have Gyros in NYC? : GardenFork Radio

    Do They Have Gyros in NYC? : GardenFork Radio

    Why did Mike ask this? You’ll have to listen to Eric’s answer. Then we talk about Pinball again… Then: we talk a bit about 9/11 and what we learned about being prepared for emergencies

    Ready.gov

    mushroom hunting

    snapping bolts on your truck

    preparing honey bees for winter

    dealing with wasps

    doug welch  welchwrite.com A Gardeners Notebook and his great video on GardenFork
    Tillamook cheese

    Steve’s CooksGarden you tube show

    thrifty and green blog

    anne raver and ken druse

    electronics recycling

    painting ceilings