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Troy Bilt Flex Review, One Engine Goes A Long Way

Here’s my Troy Bilt Flex review after using the Flex Power Base and the Wide Area Mower and Pressure Washer around the GardenFork Testing Grounds. The testing grounds, otherwise known as my yard, are typical of what your average homeowner has: grass, trees, some weeds, dogs.

Full Disclosure: Troy Bilt has compensated me for my time and provided me with their products. Opinions are mine own, and I don’t work with companies that aren’t a good fit for me or the GardenFork audience. More info here.

I’ve known the Troy-Bilt brand for many years. Their rear tine rototillers are the best, I think, and make life easy, especially if you’ve ever wrestled with a front tine tiller.

So when I was asked if I’d like to try out Troy Bilt’s new Flex system, I signed on. The delivery truck brought 3 boxes of Flex components, and I got 4 free wood pallets from the truck driver. Neat.

Attachments snap on to Flex Power Base

The Troy-Bilt Flex Review

Here’s the way I describe the Flex system: Its all based on a power unit that a bunch of different tools snap onto. The Flex base is like the rear half of a walk behind self propelled snowblower with a PTO out the front that snaps into several different attachments. I like the idea of having one power source and a bunch of outdoor equipment attachments. So I only have to maintain one engine, not an engine for every outdoor power tool in the garage. Plus, you save on garage storage space – the attachments have a smaller footprint – making it all easier to store.

Power Base on left, Mower deck on right

If you’ve ever been on a working farm, all the tractors have a PTO (power take off) shaft on the back and sometimes front to run different machines, this is the same concept for the Flex line.

Right now Troy-Bilt has mower, snow thrower, pressure washer, and leaf blower attachments for the power base, I’m told a log splitter and a few other attachments are in the works. I’d really like that log splitter, it would make fast work of the pines I’ve been dropping for next winter’s sap season.

I chose the Wide Area Mower and the Pressure Washer attachments to test out. The back of my clapboard house has mold growing on it, so this was perfect. We’ll be making a video showing the power washing and mowing this summer.

First I snapped on the mower deck.

What I like about the Troy-Bilt Flex Wide Area Mower:

It feels solid. This is kinda intangible, I know, but you know how some mowers just feel cheap? This doesn’t, it has good feel and nice power.

The power wheels are better, they are pnuematic, meaning they have air in them instead of solid plastic wheels of many self-propelled walk behinds. The rig powers nicely through the lawn. The drive system is robust, unlike many self-propelled mowers that have a small belt that powers the wheels.

The mower deck is 28″ wide, so I’m already saving time from my 20″ wide walk behind mower. Rough math tells me that every 3 passes with the Flex is 4 passes with my smaller mower.

The front wheels spin free, so you can make surprisingly tight turns for such a large mower deck. You can also lock the wheels for when you are mowing on hills for better control.

Front wheels free spin or lock straight

The Flex powers through the yard at a nice clip with enough power to go up a moderate hill. The lever that controls the speed of the wheels takes a few minutes to master, the low end of the range is short, so when you grab the lever, it starts moving faster than you expect at first. You should wear ear protection, the Flex mower isn’t super loud, but it all adds up.

For additonal info on the Flex mower and more, check out their website here.

28″ wide deck = less mowing

I then worked with the Pressure Washer attachment. Here’s where the advantages of the Flex system become clear. I don’t have to own a pressure washer that has its own engine, this pressure washer just snaps onto the Flex base. One less engine to maintain.

The pressure washer comes with 5 spray nozzles and 40′ of hose, plenty to get up to the 2nd floor of your house and wash the siding. It pumps 3,000 psi, which is more than enough for what you all are doing around the house. I used a friend’s power washer a while back and it was made mostly of plastic, this isn’t. Plus I like the hose rack, its large enough to store all of the hose, unlike some other washers I’ve used where the hose storage never works.

I know GardenFork is all about ‘done is better than perfect’, but sometimes the details matter, and the photo below makes that clear to me. When I put gas in the Flex tank, I saw the cap was chained, and the chain was metal, not plastic. It’s not something many would notice, but that tells me the people who designed this designed it to last.

I’ll be doing a Troy Bilt Flex Review video this summer, where we power wash one of the plywood boats, wash the back of the house, and power through my lawn in 2/3 the time it takes with the smaller mower I own.

UPDATE: here’s the video review of the FLEX:

To read more about the Troy Bilt Flex and other outdoor power equipment, here is their website, plus:

Rochelle of Pith + Vigor reviewed Troy-Bilt’s new Bronco Axis Vertical Tine tiller, which I tested out, and its a nice one.

Kenny of Veggie Gardening Tips also wrote a Troy Bilt Flex review here.

Erin of The Impatient Gardener wrote about the Troy Bilt XP Horse Lawn Tractor. Note the cup holder. nice.

Kim of Sand and Sisal reviewed the Troy Bilt 4 cycle trimmer that has a ton of attachments. I got to use this gear when we went to meet Troy Bilt, and its a nice set of tools.

How To Sharpen Lawn Mower Blades – GF Video

June 9, 2015
Best House Cleaning Tip For Dog Hair
With two Yellow Labs in our house, here is my best house cleaning tip for dog hair. Its a battery powered lightweight vacuum. Dog hair is a constantly falling onto our floors. Whenever the dogs shake, there it goes. With this vacuum, I can keep on top of the mess.

I have a regular canister style vacuum, but its a pain to pull out of the closet, unwrap the cord, empty the bag, plug it in, etc. It does do a good job, but its a project to make it all happen.

I’m a little obsessed about the tumbleweeds of dog hair that seem to appear out of nowhere on the floor, or pile up in corners, under chair legs, or just everywhere.

With this Dyson cordless vacuum, I just hit the floor running. The battery powered vacuum sits in the corner of the kitchen, already charged, so when I need it, its there. Gone are those rolling balls of fur.

Here’s why I like the Dyson Cordless Vacuum.
- Cordless: I don’t have to wrangle with plugging it in.
- Bagless: I easily dump the dog hair and dirt into the trash.
- Lightweight: Makes for quick cleaning, easy to store in the kitchen.
- Powered Floor Head: it has a roller bar to pull up the dirt.
- Built Well: Its just a smartly designed machine.
I read reviews that suggested I buy the bare floor attachment, and that was a mistake. I keep the power roller head on it all the time. It goes pretty good on carpet, and very well on floors. Of course, a full size vacuum is going to do carpet better, but its pain to pull that rig out of the basement. What is super handy is the ability to attach the power head right to the vacuum body, this way you can vacuum stairs and couches. Or dog beds.

A full charge will vacuum about 1,000 sq ft of house. You can buy additional batteries, and Dyson has a hanging rack to store it while it charges.

I’ve had this unit several years and it has worked great. Once the roller bar stopped working, but all I had to do is remove the roller and clean it up. It went back together very easily. One thing you have to remember to do is clean the filter. Do this one thing and you are good to go.

What I love is how the this rig allows spontaneous cleaning to happen quickly. I see the dog hair on the floor, hit it with the cordless vacuum, and its done. So yeah, this is the best house cleaning tip for dog hair.

Dyson has several models, they keep upgrading them. You can shop for them on Amazon here.

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June 2, 2015
More Brick Pizza Oven Plans & Photos

Here are additional photos of our DIY brick pizza plans. Easy to make and break down, you can build a pizza oven in a few hours and be making pizza in the oven tonight. Note the sturdy table the brick oven is on, this thing is heavy!

I used two pieces of tile backer board on top of a 1″ plywood base for the pizza oven. Use the cleanest bricks you have for the floor of the oven.

Recycled bed frames are become the angle iron to hold up the roof of the oven. The paint on the metal angle iron will burn off quickly.

Detail of how the angle iron sits on top of the side walls.

The back of the oven can be confusing, I used some extra brick to provide extra support.

I made a DIY pizza peel for our DIY pizza oven! Watch the Pizza Peel video here.

Use hardwood to fire the oven, charcoal will not work. Leave some logs burning as you cook the pizzas, you need the constant heat from the wood fire to cook the pizzas.

See More Pizza Oven Assembly Photos Here

Watch all of our pizza oven and pizza dough recipes here

Our backyard pizza oven is based on one in the book Bread , Earth, & Fire by Stuart Silverstein. Stuart’s book has a bunch of plans and info on building backyard ovens, go buy it here. it is available as an ebook or paperback. Read Stuart’s blog here.

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May 21, 2015
Washing Machine Valve DIY Repair

Here’s a washing machine valve DIY repair I did when I had to move a washing machine last week. I took some photos of how I did it to show you all.

Behind most washing machines is a set of valves called the washing machine shutoff valves. This makes it easy to hook up a washing machine to the house water supply. There are two shut off valves, for the hot and cold water. Hint: when connecting or disconnecting the hoses from these valves, mark which hose is hot and cold. I often switch them and have to redo the hookup.

As I was ready to disconnect one of the shutoff valves, I discovered the valve was leaking. It wouldn’t shut off, and water sprayed when I attempted to remove the supply hose. Bad thing. I went into the basement and found the supply pipes leading to the washing machine valves, and shut them off.

I then tried to remove the broken valve from the pipe coming up through the shutoff housing, but it wouldn’t turn. So I carefully cut out some of the drywall below the valve so I could see if the pipe was soldered on or was threaded. Thankfully it was threaded, and I could slip a wrench in and remove the valve and the stub of pipe.

Note how I used a utility knife to cut down on two sides and pried open the drywall. This allowed me to use the bottom of the drywall piece as a hinge and put it back in place easily. Some hole filler took care of it after that. This rig sits behind the washing machine, so the repair doesn’t have to look amazing.

Once I got this out of the housing, I could get two wrenches on it and remove the broken valve. I replaced the broken valve with what I call a boiler drain valve, but it works perfect for this application, it has the same garden hose style threads, and its made of brass. Some teflon tape and pipe thread paste, and its was back in its place.

May 4, 2015
Easy Birdhouse Plans Video

Here’s our easy birdhouse plans video, this is based on a few designs, and uses common pine lumber. This birdhouse is a good children’s woodworking project, as you can use hand tools to build it.

I’m big on using scrap wood to build birdhouses, and this house can be made with scrap or recycled lumber or pallets. The design can be scaled up for larger birds and be adapted for many birds: Bluebirds, Chickadees, Woodpeckers, Wrens, Nuthatches. I call it the Bauhaus birdhouse, as its a very simple and clean design that works well for a variety of birds.

One of the most important things when building a bird house is to make sure the interior wall below the entrance hole is very rough or has screening on it. The young birds will need to climb up this inner wall to get out of the nest, and if the inner wall is too smooth, like most finished lumber, they can’t get out of the nest.

Baby Birds Can’t Climb Up Smooth Wood

You can build a birdhouse like we do here, or take this birdhouse design and make your own changes to the plans. These will last longer if you paint them. The wood is best primed first, then with a few topcoats of an outdoor latex paint. Do Not Paint The Interior! I don’t think the color should be bright, but I’m not an ornithologist…

For bluebirds we use an elongated hole in the basic birdhouse plan but you can also drill or cut a regular circular entrance. Go buy a set of good quality wood spade bits and pick the diameter that matches the kind of birds you are hoping to attract. A coping saw is inexpensive if you plan on doing more woodworking projects, with which you can cut elongated or circular entrances.

Using a coping saw to cut the entrance.

We drill several holes in the bottom of the birdhouse, and have a vent at the top. This is one reason we cut one of the sides shorter. It allows the side to hinge for cleaning, and also serves as a top vent for the house. You don’t want the young birds to overheat in their house.

Its important that birdhouses be varmint proof. If you are going to put them on a stake or pole, use one of the varmint proofing methods to keep them from crawling up the post and eating the young birds.

Watch more of our birdhouse videos here:

here is the link to the North Dakota Fish and Game birdhouse plans that we based our birdhouses on.

April 22, 2015
Squirrel Proof Birdhouse How To – DIY Project

Have big holes in a birdhouse? Here’s how to make a squirrel proof birdhouse or repair an existing one. Early spring means its time for birdhouse repair in our yard. The yard is dotted with birdhouses made from our how to make a birdhouse video, and some of them have had squirrels chew open the entrances. Here’s how to make a damaged birdhouse squirrel proof and build new ones that will thwart squirrels. Its pretty simple.

Squirrels like birdhouses for the same reasons birds do, they are nice dry places to raise young, and squirrels need a winter home as well. The problem with wood birdhouses is squirrels can easily chew open the entrances. Most of my birdhouses are built for small birds like chickadees, and one would think a squirrel would realize that birdhouse is too small, but they rip open the entrance anyway. See our easy birdhouse plans video here.

Once it has a big hole, birds don’t like it, as the large hole makes it easy for predators to rob their nest.

I’ve seen a number of squirrel proof birdhouse solutions, this one I’ve adopted is the simplest, and works well in my yard.

Pick up a roll of thin metal flashing in the roofing department of your hardware store. Our store sells a roll that is painted brown on one side, white on the other. This is great, as the brown blends in with the wood tone of the birdhouse. You can also use scrap sheet metal you have in the shop – use what you got – but the thinner flashing is easier to deal with. This stuff is handy to have on hand for all sorts of repairs.

You can use it for a DIY exhaust or muffler repair.

You will drill a hole in the metal flashing that is the same diameter as the entrance of the birdhouse. I use a hole saw, which is an add name for a drill bit, but it is what it is. Pick up a hole saw kit here, they are handy to have. Don’t use a spade bit on metal, you will ruin the bit. If doing a repair, the hole diameter should also match the original hole, you can find a link to birdhouse plans and proper hole diameters here.

I used small brad nails to attach the metal to the birdhouse, the flashing is thin enough to nail through. If you are using sheet metal, you’ll need to drill some holes for the nails or screws.

Be careful when handling metal, it can cut you, and wear safety goggles when drilling the hole.

April 20, 2015
Roasted Cherry Tomatoes and Polenta Recipe Video
When you buy too many of those cherry tomatoes at the big store, make this roasted cherry tomatoes and polenta recipe. This recipe takes tired, older cherry tomatoes and concentrates their flavor, drop them on top of a quick pot of polenta, and you have dinner, or part of a big dinner.

I had bought a large package of cherry tomatoes at the warehouse style food store, the place where you eyes get big and you want to buy lots of stuff because you think its all a good deal, except that you have to cook it all. I have found that buying dried fruits and nuts at the warehouse store is a good deal. I keep them in zipper storage bags and put the nuts in the fridge, they last longer that way.

The tomatoes sat on the counter for a week – don’t keep them in the fridge – and started to get soft and a bit wrinkled. I cut them in half, put them in an oiled pan, and sprinkled the magic ingredients over them, olive oil and salt. In the oven for 20-30 min, and out come something completely different that what went in there.

The polenta is based on our quick stovetop polenta recipe, using the secret ingredient to cook the polenta faster. Add in some butter, and its a brilliant dish.

You can top the cherry tomatoes with dried oregano or a mix of italian seasonings, it makes them that much better with little effort. I like to buy the larger container of italian seasoning, it goes on top of lots of foods in our house. Don’t use the best olive oil you have for this, as it is heated, so any subtle flavors are out the window. Use fine salt, not the course kind, as some salt might remain, and not everyone likes to bite down on chunks of salt, ok?
Roasted Cherry Tomatoes and Polenta Recipe Video

Author: Eric Rochow

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 30 mins

Total time: 40 mins

Smart use of cherry tomatoes that are getting a bit old on the countertop. This transforms them into a new delicious thing.
Ingredients

1 package of cherry tomatoes

Olive Oil

Fine Salt

Dried Italian Seasoning Herb mix or Oregano

1 batch of stovetop or microwave polenta, link is above

Hard cheese like Romano or Parmesan
Instructions

Slice all the cherry tomatoes in half.

Place them in a lined and/or oiled sheet pan, ideally they will fill up tray.

Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle salt and seasonings on tomatoes.

Roast for 20-40 minutes at 425F. Keep an eye on them.

Cook a batch of the stove top or microwave polenta.

When the tomatoes are oozing liquid and starting to collapse, they are done.

Spoon polenta into serving bowls and top with tomatoes.

You can drizzle more olive oil over the dish.

Grate cheese over top.
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April 16, 2015
Homemade Maple Syrup Evaporator Plans

This is a homemade maple syrup evaporator made out of a metal filing cabinet. It is brilliant and works really well for how simple it is. Using free or almost free stuff, you can make a DIY evaporator. Most of the items I had around the garage or shop.

Couple of things first:
• Use this information at your own risk.
• Wear the proper eye, hand, mouth, ear protection when using power tools and assembling any DIY project.

If you haven’t already, watch the two videos we made about the file cabinet evaporator. One is a time lapse of the evaporator build, the other is a walk through of how to use the DIy evaporator to make maple syrup. Then go through the photos and info below.

Tools you will need:

Cordless drill, having a flip bit is real handy.

Right angle grinder with a metal cutting blade. Have several spares on hand.

New metal cutting drill bits slightly smaller than the screws you are using.

Self tapping screws #8 x 3/4

Angle Iron or a metal bed frame you can cut up.

2 hinges – almost anything will work, I recycled some I had laying around.

Metal hasp for fire door

4″ vent pipe 4′ – 6′ long

4″ to heat vent metal duct to connect chimney to cabinet

4″ metal vent elbow

Full size steam table trays

Zip screws for sheet metal

Terra Cotta garden pots or firebrick or some other heat resistant objects

Steel grate the width and length of the cabinet. This one is 12″ x 48″

After you build this, fill the pans with water and fire it up. Let it burn for an hour or however long it takes for the paint to blister. I scraped the blistered paint off and put it in the trash.

Some paint will remain, as you can see in the photos.

I tried different lengths of pipe for the chimney. It helps if the chimney is higher than your head, so you get less smoke in your eyes.

The steam table trays need the angle iron to suspend them over the fire. Do a dry fit with all the angle iron and pans in place before screwing them in.

In the video, I attached a bathroom fan to the evaporator. I discovered I did not need to use the fan, as I was burning scrap lumber, which burns hot and fast. If you are burning firewood, you may want to attach one. Its better if you attach the fan to the front of the evaporator rather than the side like I did.

I did not have an adjustable air intake, I found if I kept the door slightly open, that worked very well.

I used terra cotta pots and steel grating to raise the fire up closer to the pans. I found this worked well for me. I did not line the evaporator with firebrick. Though I could see lining it would make it easier to stand next to the rig and carry the heat better. If the fire died down, the boil did too. Firebrick may have helped that.

For Version 2.0 of this homemade maple syrup evaporator, I will move the pans closer to the chimney, and have that extra space that I filled in with a piece of drawer right above the firebox door. The area right near the front door was not nearly as hot as the rear of the box.

This design is based on one by Mike Bell of the Hinkel Garton Farmstead, I learned of it by listening to Annie Corrigan on Earth Eats, a WFIU radio show and podcast. Here is a set of photos on their Flickr page

Check out how I improved the original design in this video:

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Watch all our Maple Syrup How To Videos here.

April 10, 2015
Troy-Bilt teams with GardenFork this summer!

Back in the middle of winter I got an email from Troy-Bilt asking if I would like to work with them this year. I’ve known Troy-Bilt for their rototillers, which are the Mack truck of garden power equipment, for as long as I can remember. My neighbors have Troy-Bilt equipment from 40 years ago that works to this day.

So yeah, I said yes.

In early March Troy-Bilt flew me and 5 other DIY – Garden bloggers to Charleston, SC for a 3 day get together. Why Charleston? Because when I got off the plane it was 80F outside. What a change from freezing New England. Sap season hadn’t even started and I’m in a t-shirt testing out mowers and tillers.

I got to meet people from Troy Bilt and their media agency, plus the 5 other bloggers, we are called The Saturday6. We toured Charleston, which is a beautiful city full of history, and had several great dinners.

Really humbling was meeting Katie Stagliano, a 14 year old who founded her own non-profit, Katie’s Krops, to grow food for America’s hungry. Troy-Bilt works with her organization, which inspires and helps kids start vegetable gardens to grow food for the hungry. The Saturday6 will be working with Katie’s Krops this summer.

Yes, My eyes are closed.

We spent a morning learning the history of Troy-Bilt, and their plans for the future, and the new products they have for this summer. More on the new products here soon, plus some videos demonstrating their gear.

Then after lunch we went outside and tested the new gear. I’ll be making videos about Troy-Bilt outdoor power equipment and writing about their gear this summer, but in short, they have some great new tools:

The Mustang Pivot is a zero turn riding mower that doesn’t cost a fortune. I was skeptical until I drove it around in Charleston, but it does what the name says.

The Flex system is a power unit with multiple accessories – mower, power washer, snow blower, leaf blower.

The Bronco Axis. A Troy Bilt walk behind tiller with blades that turn vertically. Think of a kitchen egg beater made of steel.

Erin testing out the Axis Tiller

Vertical tines like an egg beater. This rig doesn’t jump around like a regular tiller will.

I’ll be posting more about Troy-Bilt over the summer. You can read what Erin Schanen wrote about the new products here.

I had a great time in Charleston, here are the other garden & DIY bloggers that are part of the Troy-Bilt Saturday6 team this summer:

Erin Schanen theimpatientgardener.com

Kenny Point veggiegardeningtips.com

Rochelle Greayer pithandvigor.com

Teresa O’Connor seasonalwisdom.com

Kim Wilson sandandsisal.com

Full Disclosure, I am being compensated by Troy-Bilt, plus they are giving me some of their products. I wouldn’t work with them if I didn’t truly like their products and the company behind them. As usual, i’ll be open and honest with my opinions about Troy-Bilt and life in general.

March 31, 2015
Outdoor Dusk To Dawn Light Install
At a friend’s house, they had a broken motion sensor light over the back door. They wanted to repair or replace the motion sensor, and I suggested getting rid of the motion sensor light and install do an outdoor dusk to dawn light install instead. Motion sensor lights always seem to break. And the light fixture is always high enough you need a ladder to repair or replace them.

Broken Motion Sensor is replaced by dusk to dawn light

The reasons behind my idea to to an outdoor dusk to dawn light install
- The existing motion sensor fixture used halogen bulbs, which use a bit of energy to run, and burn out easily, I think.
- Use good quality LED lights in the dusk to down light fixture. A
- well light back door all night, and it would turn off automatically, and probably last a lot longer than the typical motion sensor light.
Full Disclosure, I am a big fan of LED lights. I use them everywhere I can.

Black unit on right is the dusk to dawn sensor, easy to replace.

I chose a dusk to dawn light that was similar in design to their existing light, and made sure it was one that you could replace the light sensor on. This way, if the sensor breaks, you can replace it and not the whole light fixture again.

The usual rule of working with electricity apply here. Turn off the power that feeds the outdoor light, and use a non contact voltage tester to make sure the power is off in the fixture mount. Exercise extreme caution when working with wires and electricity. I think you are capable of doing this, but be sure to follow all directions that come with the light.

Tools you will need for this job are:
- Good quality wire strippers
- Non-Contact Voltage Tester
- wire nuts – these are usually come with the new light
- 6 in 1 screwdriver
  – my favorite tool ever
March 26, 2015
Using Tubing for Tapping Sugar Maples, Some Thoughts

I am using plastic tubing for tapping sugar maples, and learned a hard lesson this weekend. When you only tap maple trees once a year, you forget stuff. And when you’re working in 2′ of snow and the wind is howling, your brain takes a hit.

I tapped our sugar maples a week ago using tubing, I find it works better for me than sap buckets, which you have to empty every day the sap runs. I’m only able to work on this on the weekends, so I run tubing to a large collection barrel that can collect several days of sap. You can buy maple tapping supplies here.

So last weekend I tapped the sugar maples, and ran the lateral lines to the barrels. But I made a mistake. The lateral lines where close to level with the tapping spouts, so the tubing connecting the spout to the lateral line looped down below the lateral. I didn’t think this was a big deal until the temperature dropped, and the sap in the loop of tubing below the lateral line froze.

The wrong way to tap sugar maple trees

The problem here is that sugar maple sap will run even when its near freezing, but if the tubing has frozen sap in it, the sap stays in the tree.

So as a reminder to myself and a lesson for you all, you want your taps and the tubing to be above the lateral line. So the sap drains to the barrel, not collect in the tube and freeze.

Tap spouts above the lateral line, the right way to tap maple trees.

Watch our How To Make Maple Syrup Videos here

March 23, 2015
Barrel Style DIY Maple Syrup Evaporator

Here’s a DIY maple syrup evaporator made out of an old metal barrel with a few enhancement you can easily put together from spare parts or a scrap yard. I ran across the homemade evaporator at my friend Priscilla’s house. She has upgraded to a stainless steel commercial evaporator, but this was sitting next to the barn, so I had to check it out.

The evaporator tray on this DIY maple syrup evaporator is an old turkey roasting pan, perfect for the wide surface area you need when boiling down sugar maple sap. The wider and larger your tray is the better. The whole idea is to boil off the water to make maple syrup.

I’m not sure where the firedoor came from, you might find one at a welding shop, or you can buy a kit online that will turn a barrel into a wood stove here. After you attach the fire door and the stovepipe, you cut out an opening for the evaporator tray, and you are good to go.

Couple things to remember using a DIY Maple Syrup Evaporator:

Maple sap becomes maple syrup when it reaches 7.5 F degrees above the local water boiling point. Water boils at 212F at sea level, so boil some water on your stove and use your digital thermometer to see what temperature it is boiling at. The temp will probably be lower than 212. Our water boils at 210F, as we are at about 1700′ in elevation.

Don’t let the syrup get overheated. I do the final boil in the stovetop in my kitchen in a big pasta pot. Its hard to control the temp on a wood fired barrel stove.

You don’t have to boil all the sap down at once. You can let the fire die down with sap in the tray, and just start up again the next day.

Store your sap in the cold. I keep it in clean plastic trash can buried in snow.

You can buy maple tapping supplies here.

Check out our other how to make maple syrup videos here:

March 2, 2015
Mini Greenhouse Seed Starting Pots

We have all sorts seed starting pots, but how about seed starters that have their own roofs? A neat idea that includes a solution for plastic bottles that function as a mini greenhouse for each seed starting pot. Jeremy sent me this photo and email about making these mini greenhouses with recycled bottles.

“I just want to thank you for all you have done for everyone over the years. You have been a huge help to me and an inspiration since last spring when I started gardening again after the loss of my mother.It was the best therapy I could ever hope for and You helped me more than you would ever imagine. Now I want to try and help you out if possible.

While starting my seeds this last week I had come up with a cheap way to make a little green house by just getting a 2 piece disposable baking pan with large dome lid for a dollar at the dollar store and the smaller peat pots that you could fit 16 of them into each pan. Well I had a little too much moisture in there and had to open it up and kill the fungus on a few of the pots and it got me thinking.

I drink bottled water a lot and I grabbed an empty bottle cut the top off and it fits perfectly over the peat pot and has a resting ledge on the ribbing of the bottle where it stops making each pot have it’s own personal mini green house.

You can set them on a window sill if you are low on space and line the whole thing with them. If it works out well I was thinking it would also be a good way to keep infestations contained to one or two seedlings instead of a whole tray. Here are some Pictures in case you wanted to see it and give it a try. It’s a great way to recycle some of the water bottles and keep them out of a landfill. “

Beautifully simple and something I had never thought of. I am always wanting to over-engineer everything, and make it bigger than it needs to be. A big thank you to Jeremy for taking the time to send that. Do you make seed starting pots? Let me know in the comments below!

If you live in the northern areas of the world, its time to start seed starting pots with sugar snap peas, and then some tomatoes too. Below are links to check out our how to make seed starting pots and how to start seeds videos.

March 2, 2015
Batter Bread Sandwich Loaf Recipe – GF Video

This batter bread sandwich loaf recipe is similar to the no knead bread recipe we have done, but its even easier. Plus it makes a sandwich loaf bread, which is a lot easier to use for making sandwiches than artisan bread.

Batter Breads have been around for a long time, but recent recipes by Fleischmann’s and Cooks Illustrated have offered some improvements, our recipe is adapted from them.

1 1/2 cups bread flour 9 ozs 260 grams

3/4 cup whole wheat flour 3.4 ozs 96 grams

1 packet or 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast

1 1/4 cups hot water 10 ozs 283 grams

1 tablespoon honey

2 tablespoons melted butter

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons hot water

1 egg optional egg wash before baking

2 tablespoons wheat germ or bran optional

Add the bread flour, whole wheat flour and yeast into a standing mixer with a dough mixer blade attached. Put in the wheat germ/bran if you want to use it.

Mix in standing mixer for one minute on low speed.

Add in the melted butter, honey, and 1 1/4 cups hot water, not boiling, just 100 – 120F hot, OK?

Then mix the batter for 4 minutes on medium speed. If the dough sticks to the sides too much, stop halfway through and scrape down the sides.

Be careful about putting the spatula in the mixer bowl while it is running. Learn from me.

Detach the dough blade from the mixer and remove it and the bowl from the mixer. Scrape the dough off the dough blade, but let the blade sit in the dough in the bowl.

Cover the bowl and blade with a towel. Let rise for 20 minutes in a warm place. I use the oven that I have preheated for a few minutes. A warm furnace room, or a hot sunny window works also.

Put the mixer bowl back on the mixer. Dissolve the salt into the 2 tablespoons of warm water then add to bowl of dough, mix on low speed to incorporate.

Use vegetable oil spray to coat a 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 loaf pan. This is the more narrow kind of loaf pan, it will give a higher rise.

Pour the bread dough into the loaf pan.

Cover the pan with plastic wrap that has been sprayed with oil. When the dough has risen to just below the lip of the loaf pan, remove the plastic wrap and let the dough rise to just above the rim of the loaf pan.

Optional: you can glaze the dough with an egg wash at this point. Scramble the one egg and apply lightly.

Bake in a 375F oven for about 45 minutes, when the internal temp of the loaf is about 208 – 210 degrees, its done.

After putting on a cooling rack, unwrap the end of a stick of butter and rub it over the top of the loaf to give it a sheen and more flavor.

February 27, 2015
Straw Bale House Construction by Jas. Townsend

Straw bale house construction has always been on my bucket list, and I recently discovered Jonathan Townsend’s YouTube channel where he makes videos about 18th century lifestyle.
Jonathan and his wife have built 2 straw bale houses, and he recently posted 2 videos about straw bale construction, and I wanted to share them with you here.

Now I want to build a straw bale house!

Some of the key points of straw bale construction makes:

• Use straw, not hay. Stray is the stem of wheat, and hay is a mix of grasses baled together.
• Have a large overhang, so the bales have no chance of getting wet from roof runoff
• Stucco over the straw bales inside and out.

Wikipedia states the insulation R value of a straw bale can range from R17-R55 depending on construction factors, so lets say R35 could be considered an average R value. Not bad for any house.
The construction method used in this straw bale house is a pole barn with straw side walls. Columns are set in place, then a standard roof is built on top, then the straw bales are used to fill in the walls. Note in this video the large roof overhang to protect the stucco from rain.
Wire mesh is placed over the bales and a cement stucco is applied.

I don’t know what issues one would have with some local zoning ordinances. There are parts of the US where you have few zoning regs, and would be an ideal place for a straw bale house.

I love it for the renewable resource walls and simple construction with substantial insulation properties. Plus you can build most of it yourself.

If you are interested in more alternative house building, check out our GardenFork Radio talk with Deek of RelaxShacks, one of the experts on the Tiny House Movement.

And read this post about Deek’s Tiny House Plans here.

Tiny House Plans for a simple A frame

You can learn more about Jonothan on his YouTube channel and on his online store for historical reenactors looking for clothing and goods from 1750-1840.

February 18, 2015
Rooftop Pizza Oven in Cambodia

Tony wanted to make a brick pizza oven, and he found our pizza oven videos, and then made his own version. On a rooftop in Cambodia, of all places. How cool is that?

Pizza Oven 2.0 from ConceptuallySpeaking.
Tony writes:

“I’ve been meaning to re-visit your site since it provided the perfect solution I was looking for in 2013 when I wanted to build a pizza oven on my roof here in Cambodia.

I stacked and built mine on a custom made angle iron table with the angle iron bars ($40). Then I found these perfect 2 inch think angled cement pieces to put under the oven ($10). Once I found the place to buy the old bricks from the French Colonial buildings being dismantled at a price of $1 for 4, things got a lot easier – but finding the bricks was not an easy task given the language barrier and neither did the fact that it’s a 5 story building with no elevator. Although I did get a great workout bring it up and continue to do so with each or cord of wood. One original modification on made on your design was not to stack the bricks vertically but instead all of them flat.

I have now re-built the oven three times, replacing cracked bricks and modifying the design slightly. I originally had a chimney in the back but found it was really non-essential. One nice feature I added was an elevated level in the front for cooking the pizza on. I also built it up two brick levels higher over all as the brick price is pretty inconsequential here. I use terra cotta tiles to cook on in the oven and on top of the oven to keep the pizzas warm, help the dough rise and get the crust a bit crispier.

Thanks for the inspiring solution. If you are ever in Phnom Penh, Cambodia come over for a pizza with one of the best views in town.”

Not only are they good for making pizza, but our DIY Pizza Oven Plans make for a good workout when you are hauling brick up four flights of stairs!

Interesting that T0ny also found that one does not need a chimney for this pizza oven. I have had many people ask about that.

Watch all our DIY pizza oven plans videos here.

February 14, 2015
Cabbage & Apples with Salmon Recipe – From The Fridge

I’m trying to cook more from the refrigerator, as I always have something in there I can cook with. If I was more organized I could plan dinners, but that happens rarely. Instead I keep a stock of stuff I like to cook with, and go from there. But the fridge was looking kinda empty and there was this half a cabbage in there with some apples that were going soft.

So I put some chopped onion into the pan and then added in the apple and cabbage. The apples will disappear in the mix, adding that applesauce kind of taste to the dish. I remembered from a Facebook conversation we had awhile ago, some people suggested caraway seed, and I had that from a bread baking experiment.

I first covered the pan of cabbage to let it steam and break down the leaves a bit. This also softened the apples. And I could walk around doing other stuff, as the water that sweats out keeps the pan from burning. After the cabbage has broken down nicely you can remove the lid and let it start to brown.

I read recently where you shouldn’t let cabbage cook too long or it will have a mustardy smell, I have not experienced that.

I always keep frozen salmon in the freezer. It defrosts quickly using our How To Defrost Meat Quickly video technique. I put it under the broiler for a few minutes. I am good at over-cooking salmon, so I have to focus, which can be a challenge.

Cabbage With Apples Recipe

1/2 head cabbage, chopped up

2 apples, sliced with skin on, its OK if they are soft

1 medium onion, roughly chopped up

2 teaspoons caraway seeds.

Put a few glugs of oil into your pan. You want the whole pan to be covered with about 1/8″ of oil.

Drop in the onions and cook down a bit until you can they become kinda transparent.

Add in the cabbage and the apples, scatter some salt on it, mix it all up, and cover.

Set on medium or low heat, depending on how your stove works. You want the dish to steam-cook, not burn.

Give the dish a stir every 5 minutes or so, chopping up any hunks of cabbage.

When the cabbage has broken down to your liking, take off the lid and brown the cabbage.

Taste for salt, it may need more, and then you’re done.

February 12, 2015
Oatmeal No Knead Bread Recipe – GF Video

I love the simplicity and versatility of the no knead bread recipe, this no knead bread variation being a great example of taking the basic recipe, adding a few tweaks, and baking an artisan bread that rivals those in the bakery.

I don’t often use steel cut oats for anything, but I saw this recipe and I thought, wow that’s a great reason to buy some steel cut oats. After we made this recipe, I cooked the steel cut oats in the pressure cooker, making a nutty oatmeal that was a lot of fun.

This recipe is based on one on the Breadtopia website, a great source for all sorts of bread baking info and tools. Go check them out, the site is run by a web food guy named Eric, so you know its good.

But back to the no knead bread recipe. I’ve become a big convert to using a digital scale for measuring out the flour for recipes. I’ve learned that it makes a big difference and I talk about it in this video: Five No Knead Bread Tips
Pay attention when you’re toasting the steel cut oats on your stovetop. Use a nonstick pan or cast-iron pan. You want to heat this up, but stay right there while it’s toasting. I burnt the first batch of these because I walked away, the oats go from toasted to burnt in very short order. So watch out for that; once again, learn for me.

But once you get those toasted oats into the bread dough, it’s a great thing. It adds a neat texture and flavor. It’s subtle, it’s not like super oatmeal bread ,but I think it’s just enough. I also added whole wheat flour – I’m trying to eat more whole grains rather than refined flour. I think it works really well here. you can watch our other no knead bread videos here

Let me know your thoughts, have you made the artisan bread recipes or the no knead bread?

Oatmeal No Knead Bread Recipe

10 ozs (2 1/4 cups) bread flour

3 oz (3/4 cups) whole wheat flour

3 oz (1/2 cup) steel cut oats

1 tablespoon coarse salt

heaping 1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast

1 5/8 cups water filtered preferably

Toast the oats in a pan on the stove, you want them toasted, not burnt.

Add the flour, salt, yeast, and oats in a large bowl and stir together

Pour in the water, (warm water is best, I think) and mix.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in a warm area overnight. 12-18 hours.

Flour a board or counter and shape the risen dough into a ball. Turn the ball into itself several times as shown in the video.

Place the dough on a piece of parchment paper larger than your dutch oven.

Place this in a bowl and cover with a towel, let rise for about an hour.

Preheat the oven and dutch oven at 500F for 30 minutes.

Dust the dough with flour if you like, and cut a design into the top, as shown in the video.

Use the parchment paper to lift the dough out of the bowl, and place in the hot dutch oven.

Cover and bake for 30 minutes at 450F. Take off the lid and bake an additional 15-2o minutes.

You want the crust browned and the internal temperature to be about 190F.

Remove from the dutch oven and cool on a wire rack. Do not cut it right away, let it cool.

February 3, 2015