GardenFork – Eclectic DIY

  • What is Green Manure? – GF Radio 348

    Today we explain what is green manure, how to grow it, and what to do to it. Responding to two viewer mails in one week, we figured we might as well talk a bit about gardening and the use of green manure. Buckwheat is often used for green manure, but there are also other plants you can use.

    You can buy green manures from the Organic Grower Supply division of Fedco Seeds.

    what-is-green-manureBut first we have to talk about how to behave on an airplane. Eric tells of a recent flight and the antics he got to watch and endure. Rick has his opinion, of course.

    And we talk a bit more about geothermal energy, with an email from KC and using a lake as a heat sink to cool building.

    But Eric wants to hear from you about how to behave on a flight, and how to moderate the behavior of other passengers.

  • Cool Your House In Summer – GF Radio 347

    We talk about how to cool your house in summer on GardenFork Radio, reducing your use of air conditioning and lowering the electric bill. And we talk about baking with the no knead bread recipe first, but most of the show is devoted to methods to cool your house in the summer heat.

    We asked on the GardenFork Facebook Page for fans to tell us their methods to cool your house, and we got a ton of responses. Neat.

    Cool Your House Tips from our Facebook Page:

    ‪cool-your-houseGinger‬ My great-Uncle Tom, who lived in Thorp WI, used to keep the shades drawn accept for about 3inches on both top & bottom – then he would crack the window that width too — it would let the breeze in but allow the hotter air out. Don’t remember ever seeing an AC in his house or even a fan. Sometimes it was cool enough to put a shawl on

    ‪Stacy‬ I open all my windows at night to let the cool air in, then keep them closed and blinds/curtains closed during the day. House will stay noticeably cooler than the outside on most days.

    ‪Kevin‬ Open all the windows at night to cool the house, then close them during the day. Assuming nighttime is cool:)

    ‪Mike‬ Setting the thermostat to run on “fan” instead of “auto”. It helps balance the house out. Helps with hot second story and freezing cold basement.

    ‪Tim‬ Saw this DIY AC option the other day. ‪https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZF0J8OvDSmM‬

    ‪Glen‬ I don’t have air conditioning in my house so I run flexible duct from my basement into an old heating vent in my house and blow the cool air from my basement into my first floor.

    ‪Alicia ‬ Trees. From the first year we moved into this home, I have been planting beautiful trees all around my house to give us beautiful shade.

    ‪Sharon ‬ Keep doors and windows closed close all blinds & cutains.Use fans as much as possible. Invest in a pool or go to a pool to cool off in during the day.install attic vents to let hot air out.when replacing a roof use a light colored shingles

    ‪Natural‬ i found that drinking lots of water i don’t feel as hot, i feel cooler. It works living here in Arizona.

    ‪Debbie‬ Close yr curtains during the heat of the day.

    ‪Craig Smith‬ I also keep window film in place year round, crappy cheap apartment windows leak energy. White shades inside frame are closed, film over frame box inside makes good thermal barrier.

    ‪Craig‬ Do as much cooking as you can outside. Heat from appliances has only one place to go, into your living space. It doesn’t just disappear, laws of thermodynamics and such.

    ‪Debra Hey‬ Swamp coolers are used often here in Wyoming , but we live in an 4 plex and use a window A.C

    ‪Alice‬ Hi Eric. We have box fans in windows on the east side and on the west side of the house. When the sun is on the west side of the house, the fans on the east side are on bringing in shaded cooler air. And vice versa for the other side of the house. Plus we have put up a tinted cling film to help keep the sun from penetrating into the house.

    ‪Rotty Angel‬ As landlords for commercial tenants, during really bad heat waves, we always tell people to NOT turn off the a/c when they go home at night. It takes a lot of power to crank up the a/c after it’s been off all night and it has to work really hard to get back to a comfortable temperature. Also, we tell them to keep the blinds drawn during the day.

    ‪Brittany‬ Try not to cook meals inside! Either cook on the grill, or a slow cooker. Or make some healthy non-cooked meals! Definitely helps at my house.

    ‪Julia‬ What really REALLY worked was installing a geothermal HVAC system, but that was a pretty big investment.

    ‪Julia ‬ In Wisconsin, we installed a whole house fan. It drew air up and out of the house. Combined with increased insulation, we could fill up the house with cool air in the night/early morning and then close all the windows and shades.

    ‪Romana‬ We keep our blackout blinds closed and have a retractable awning. Also use ceiling fans.

  • Rick’s Cardiac Plumbing Job, Worm Composting & Frozen Vegetables – GF Radio 346

    We find Rick in his backyard and he tells of about his recent cardiac catherization. It all worked out fine, but Rick was impressed by how easy it was and he was out of the hospital in the same day. Rick tells of about a stroke helmet that may soon be carried on ambulances to determine what kind of stroke a patient is having. The helmet does a sonogram and detects pooling blood. Neat.

    IGFR346ts a good time to be alive, as we often say on GardenFork. Rick says to tell everyone you are never better. Eric is determined to seek out the good in the world. There you go.

    We talk about the power of being positive, and how it gets people’s attention, and how positive thinking can be infectious.

    Eric tells of the a new video this week, its a garlic scape recipe: Garlic scape frittata . It was based on a recipe by Eric’s friend Georgina.

    Rick tried the watermelon salad recipe we posted last week, and it is now a favorite. Eric had this dish at the best Sunset Park restaurant, Cafe Zona Sur.

    We talk about taking a cruise, prompted by a comment by Jim on a previous show. Rick like cruises, Eric has yet to take one. Jim asks about what to do about the black flies that can appear on worm compost bins.

     

  • Garlic Scape Recipe, A Scape Frittata – GF Video

    Here’s a garlic scape recipe that my friend Georgina sent to me, and I immediately wanted to make it. I had given Georgina a bunch of scapes we had harvested from our garlic plants, and she sent me a photo of the scape frittata she made. Hence this video.

    What I like about this garlic scape recipe is it moves scapes beyond the usual sauteed garlic scapes, which we have a video of here, into an area i had not thought of. But then it became obvious to me that garlic scapes can be substituted into many recipes that call for scallions or chives.

    Raw, garlic scapes have a bit of a bite, but when cooked, they mellow out. We use them in a pesto recipe raw, but I usually cook them down in a pan with some olive oil when used in other dishes.

    When harvesting garlic scapes, be sure to get them before it uncurls. That’s when the stem gets woody. You want the young immature flower and stem. If you grab them when it unfurls, you wont like the taste or the hard stem. If you don’t grow your own garlic, you can usually find garlic scapes in your Farmers Market in late spring and early summer. If you belong to a CSA, there’s a good chance you will find them in your allotment box at some point.

    To get the garlic smell off your hands after handling scapes, or garlic in general, grab a stainless steel spoon or similar tool, and rub your hands over the spoon under running water. Not sure how it does it, but the stainless steel removes the garlic smell from your hands. We’ll have to find out what that happens.

    Below is our Garlic Scape Recipe, let us know your thoughts and suggestions for more scape recipes!

    Egg Frittatta Garlic Scape Recipe

    5 or 6 eggs

    1 cup of chopped garlic scapes, 1/2″ long

    2 slices of bacon – optional

    Parmesan Cheese to taste

    2 tablespoons of milk

    If using, cook the bacon in an 9″ oven proof fry pan, set the bacon aside and drain off most of the bacon fat, leave about a tablespoon.

    With the pan still hot, toss in the garlic scapes and cook  them down to your liking. I like them brown

    Put the scapes in a bowl and crumble the bacon into the bowl.

    Add a few glugs of olive oil into the pan, and pour in the eggs. Add the scapes and bacon on top of the eggs. Don’t touch.

    Turn down the heat and let the eggs cook slowly. It should be 5-6 minutes, mbe more depending on how many eggs.

    Fire up the broiler and place the pan under the broiler to cook the top of the Frittata, I like to brown the top, but careful not to brown it.

    Slice the frittata into wedges, and sprinkle with some cheese or add dollops of goat cheese.

    Serve warm or cold.

  • It’s Time For Garlic Scapes – GF Radio 345

    Rick and Eric talk about harvesting garlic scapes and what to do with them on this episode of GardenFork Radio. Scapes can be found in the farmers market and some food stores right now. They are the flower of the garlic plant, and when growing garlic, you want all the energy going into the bulb of the plant, so we harvest the immature flowers.

    Here are some of our garlic scape videos: https://gardenfork.tv/tag/garlic-scapes

    Beekeeping comes up as always this time of year. Rick captured a honeybee swarm the easy way, here is the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rwpsyph9XOQ

    garlic-scapesOne of Eric’s hives swarmed and flew off, ignoring the fine bait hives he had put up. The bees remaining in the hive were re-queened yesterday. Usually when a hive swarms, the old queen flies off and leaves several queen eggs, so you can requeen your hive by putting in a new queen and removing those growing queen eggs.

    Talking about how to use a cast iron dutch oven comes up, as Eric posted a video about using a dutch oven to bake cake outdoors.
    A neat camping recipe or just cooking outdoors in your yard: https://gardenfork.tv/bake-a-cake-outdoor-cooking-dutch-oven-gf-video

    Eric tells of being an assistant plumber helping to install a new boiler, which was quite a bit of work to do. Lots of running to get stuff for the plumber.

    And how to use a jackhammer to open a hole in a cement floor is not as hard as one would think. For the sump pump install, we had to open up the floor, and the jackhammer was very pinpoint in breaking up the cement just where we pointed the jackhammer, and not spider-cracking the cement floor. a good thing. We rented a 35 pound medium duty jackhammer from the local home improvement store for 4 hours, and it was ample time to open up the hole we had to do. The hard part was hand digging the hole, removing the dirt. Eric found that loosening the dirt, and then using the shop vac to suck up the dirt worked pretty good. You could also use a quart yogurt container to scoop it out.

    A wave of tree pollen came over Eric’s yard last weekeknd,  huge release of white pine pollen so thick you could see a green cloud in the yard. Thanks to modern over the counter allergy meds, we made it through the weekend. Pollen happens.

  • Rick Talks Collard Greens – GF Radio 344

    Rick tells us how to cook collard greens, or at least how he cooks collard greens. We talk about Rick’s garden, as he is farther south than Eric, and he is already harvesting food like collards. Okra comes up in our conversation, it does not grow well in New England, but it grows in Virginia.

    Rick will empty out the worm barrel tomorrow and use a lot of the castings to prep the patch for okra. We have a neat video on how to build a worm bin here.

    And we talked about building birdhouses, and you can get some free birdhouse plans and a how to video here.

    Using black plastic and soaker hoses is discussed, Rick has used that red tomato plastic, Eric does not like it.

    We have a link to the rabies issue, but i can’t find it right now, will post it in a bit!

  • Bake A Cake : Outdoor Cooking with a dutch oven – GF Video

    Outdoor cooking recipe to bake a cake in a dutch oven. Great camping recipe or to keep you house cool in summer, outdoor baking is the way to go. We use this basic cake recipe and add in whatever fresh fruit we have in the summer months. Its a fun way to bake a cake that doesn’t heat up the house, or when you are camping, this is a super simple cake recipe. Its easy to change up the recipe to suit whatever ingredients you have.

    How To Bake A Cake Outdoors

    You need to have a fireproof safe place to do this. We use our grill, it works well because it is a good height, and is already built for fire. Or you could use some other fireproof material, but be careful, you will be using hot charcoal to do this. In a camping situation, you can use the coals from a campfire, but you will have to pay more attention to the coals, probably adding a few during the baking process.

    If you do not have some oven-proof bowls of some sort – we like to use ramekins – you can use balled up foil to raise the dutch oven above the coals. You do not want the bottom of the dutch oven to touch the coals, this can burn the bottom of the cake. If your dutch oven does not have a flat lid, you can make a ring of foil that will keep the coals from falling off the top of the dutch oven.

    bake-a-cake-outdoor-cooking

    To Bake a cake this way requires some experimentation, its easy to burn the cake if the coals on the bottom are too hot. There is some trial and error here. And wear oven mitts or heat proof gloves, this stuff is hot!

    Easy Cake Recipe:

    1 cup self rising flour
    OR 1 cup all purpose flour + 1 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt

    1 stick of butter

    1 cup milk

    1 cup sugar – you can use less sugar, this cake is pretty sweet

    1 can of peaches, drained, light syrup preferred, 20-24 oz

    Preheat the oven to 375F

    Put the stick of butter in a 9×9 baking dish, preferably a glass dish, and place in the oven to melt the butter.

    Mix together the dry ingredients, then add the milk and mix.

    Pour the batter into the heated baking dish with the melted butter, then add the can of peaches.

    Bake at 375 for 30-40 minutes. The cake is done when a knife comes out clean.

  • Run A General Store 2.5 Hours From Brooklyn

    Want to run your a general store 2.5 hours from Brooklyn? here’s your chance.

    The Connecticut town where we live part time, Colebrook, CT, had until recently the longest continually operating general store in Connecticut. It was the central hub of our small town; get a coffee, sandwich, or groceries, and also get an update on what’s going on in town.

    colebrook 015

    It was the place where one could buy home-made donuts and find out about the cardboard boat race happening at the annual town fair.

    After a new owner took over, the store closed, (its not easy running a food business) and a group of town residents formed a non-profit and bought the building. They have fixed up the store, and they are now looking for someone to run a general store – food business.

    In the right hands, the Colebrook Store will flourish, it is a destination for cyclists, bicyclists, tourists, and anyone with a craving for eclairs, which the store is known for.

    The store has three customers, the local residents who need a central social hub to buy a weekday egg sandwich, lunch, milk, butter, coffee, toilet paper, etc., the passerby who is driving through town on the way to the nearby YMCA camp or ski hills, and the destination tourist out for a ride and wants some eclairs or a sandwich.

    To be successful, I think, the store would need to be a hybrid of what the town residents need and what out of town residents would travel for, plus the desires of whoever runs the business. Yes, it could feature seasonal locally sourced foods, but the store also has to sell food staples the town needs: milk, toilet paper, pasta, tuna,  sandwiches.

    The non-profit that now owns the building is accepting proposals from people interested in running the store. One must have food retail experience to be successful, plus a business plan and sufficient funds to open the store.

    I think the startup could be crowdfunded, and with most of the infrastructure in place – range, oven, coolers – it would not take a large amount of funding to get the store up and running again. The crowdfunders would also be a built in base of supporters-customers.

    And the general store has an apartment upstairs, so if you chose to, you could live very inexpensively and have short commute to work.

    Colebrook is 2.5 hours from Brooklyn, NY . There is a bus from Port Authority that runs twice a day to Winsted, CT, which is just down the road from Colebrook.

    The area around here is amazing, lakes for fishing, state forests for hiking, country roads for cycling.

    This store, done right, is a great opportunity. If you’ve been thinking about running your own small town food establishment, here’s your chance.

    Email me:  [email protected] , and I’ll put you in touch with the non-profit that owns the store.

    colebrook 014

    Historical Society
    Historical Society

    colebrook 009

    Town Church
    Town Church
    Historic Home
    Historic Home
    The Sandy Brook
    The Sandy Brook

     

  • Rick Returns! GF Radio 343

    Water Conservation, Olive Oil & Salad Dressing, Tomato Grafting, & what else do we talk about? Rick is back from his trip, so we are back on GF Radio. Rick and Eric got to meet up in Brooklyn after Rick’s boat trip.

    boatRick gives us some travel photography tips, like using multiple memory cards and storing them in different places.

    We then talk about our new rain barrel video, part of our urban homesteading project. The key things here are using the proper downspout diverter, and either screen the entry port of the rain barrel, or use mosquito dunks.

    We then digress into rainwater harvesting in arid locations, and the issues of clean drinking water and sanitation.

    But then we move onto making your own salad dressing, we have an easy salad dressing video here, that shows how to make your own vinegarette, aka balsamic vinegar dressing,  super simple.

    Worm composting and tomato grafting are next. Rick’s first grafting experiment did not work, Eric suggested binding the tomato stems together using rubber bands.

    Eric has worm composting questions for Rick. Eric has a raccoon problem in his backyard, and worries that the compost bin would attract the raccoon and perhaps interact badly with the dogs. Rick says the key is to manage the moisture and the smaller the items the better. The worms are actually eating the mold and such that are breaking down the compost matter.

    To get composting worms, you can get them online or buy them at the local fishing bait store.

    We touch on the EGO mower video sponsored by Home Depot.

  • DIY Rain Barrel System – GF Video

    Easy Rain Barrel System we built with spare lumber and trash cans and some PVC. What I like about this rain barrel system is that you don’t have to go buy or find some rain barrels, you just go to the hardware store and buy some garbage cans. Done.

    How to build a rain barrel system

    Below is a slide show of photos I took while we assembled the rain barrels. The exact dimensions of your project will vary, depending on the size of your trash cans and how high up in the air you want to put your system.

    Important: Be sure to screen the slot where the downspout enters the barrel or use mosquito dunks to control mosquito breeding.

    A list of the items used:

    Gutter Downspout Diverter, available here: http://amzn.to/1mf6ENG

    • 2″ male and female electrical PVC connectors to attach the PVC drain pipe to the trash cans
    • 2″ PVC plumbing pipe to connect the rain barrels to the garden hose spigot. The length of pipe you need depends on your trash cans and the stand you build.
    • Two 2″ PVC 90 degree elbows
    • One 2″ PVC T connector
    • One 2″ PVC 30 degree elbow
    • Assorted PVC adapters to fit the garden hose spigot to the end of the PVC pipe
    • One each 3″ male and female electrical PVC connectors for overflow pipe
    • One 3″ PVC street elbow for overflow
    • Various 3″ PVC elbows to divert overflow to where you want it to drain.
    • Sections of downspout pipe to connect downspout diverter to your rain barrel system
    • Quality silicone bathtub caulk

    We built the stand for the rain barrels out of scrap lumber. Be sure to build the stand to support a heavy load, and do not site the rain barrels where they could fall over, they are heavy! If the stand is sitting on soft earth, put bricks or pavers underneath the legs of the stand.

    The top of the stand has a gap in the middle of it for the pipe that comes out of each rain barrel, plan for this ahead of time.

    Our overflow pipe is 3″, which might be overkill for some designs. This system takes in water from a large flat roof, and in a hard downpour, a smaller overflow pipe would be overwhelmed, we believe. If you are doing rainwater collection from a smaller roof, your overflow pipe could be smaller.

     

  • Career Change To Self Employed – GF Radio 342

    Eric is joined by executive coach Rich Gee to talk about the mid life career change, becoming self employed, and creativity.

    rich gee

    We start talking about gas grill repair, Rick tells us about how he cleans his grill and how he keeps it from rusting in winter.

    A good way to get thinking is to leave the office, we talk about this concept inspired by this NY Times article: Want a good idea? Take a walk : http://well.blogs.nytimes.com

    On the theme of do what you want and the money will come, it works for some, but its not for everyone. Eric likes the thinking behind Work Is Not A Job .

    This starts more of our talk about work, and if you are considering making the move to self-employment.

    We move onto eggs, with an NPR interview with Michael Ruhlman, one of Eric’s fav authors. We agree that most people overcook their eggs, probably out of a longstanding fear of under-cooked food in this country. BTW, there is a good interview on Alton Brown’s podcast with Michael here.

    Then we talk about viewer mail and how we should deconstruct a dishwasher, which is a great idea.

     

  • Talking about Gardening & Food, not ourselves…. GF Radio 341

    An unkind iTunes review starts our show, and Eric asks that you go to the GF Radio page on iTunes and write an honest review. And attest to the fact that we do talk about gardening and food, and sometimes ourselves as well. Lots of gardening and how to and DIY on this show, btw.

    Our newest GardenFork Video about Artisan Bread baking is bread recipe about Artisan Bread with Caramelized Onions. Rick asks how we make caramelized onions, and points out how Eric Wides said that there is a fine line between caramelized and burnt. Eric tends toward burnt onions, but is getting better, letting the onions steam for a bit, then cooking them down to brown.

    Pressure cooker to the rescue, as Eric learns one of his guests is gluten free, and uses the pressure cooker to crank out some white beans and onions to serve with the short ribs. And we talk about the virtues of  saving yogurt containers, which work great for interim gutter downspout pipe! So its ok to save yogurt containers! Tell your significant other how important it is to save them…

    talking-about-gardening-foodEric likes the Jacques Pepin Fast Food My Way tv shows that are now on YouTube. Jacques makes it all simple, and we like that.

    Rick tells us about his grafting of tomato plants.

    Viewer Mail:

    From Jackie:

    Eric, try this; add a hand full of whole grain oats to homemade cornbread mixture, bake it, taste it. I swear you’ll, afterward, suggest it to fans who hate oats but know they should add oats to their diet to lower their LDL cholesterol.

    From Rod

    How would I can my own homemade dog food? I have a friend that is into making his own dog food and I would like to do the same but also can the food so it will last a long time and I can make a larger batch for my dog.
    Cheers,
    Rod

    • I’ve had to do many a patch from leaks on ceilings that were popcorn textured in apartments I had to turn to get ready for new tenants. Two tips that help the repair that I have seen are 1. Use the dry mix and add just enough water to make a ‘lumpy oatmeal’ thickness. Take a clean dry paint brush and dab on the texture using the brush. It is a little messy but the results are far better than the can and easy enough to do. 2. When trying to match a ceiling that has been “aged” as it were by use, try taking some paint that will closer match the color of the ceiling and add that to the dry mix. It is a closer match than the pure white you would see otherwise.

  • Big Green Egg Table Plans

    Big Green Egg Table Plans using 2x4s and a few pieces of marble and a set of caster wheels. Build the table frame, add some legs, build the top, cut a hole, and you’re done. My neighbor built this Egg table and I wanted to share it with you.

    big-green-egg-table-plans-1

    Super simple table plan here. The table is finished with outdoor polyurethane, don’t be tempted to use indoor poly, it will peel very quickly, you want a finish that is UV proof, and water proof.

    big-green-egg-table-plans-2

    I like the simple use of some scrap marble to insulate the Big Green Egg from the stand. This allows easy access to the lower vent of the egg.

    big-green-egg-table-plans-4

    Some spare casters allow you to wheel the Egg table out of the way , or into the garage for winter storage. Be sure to use heavy duty casters, as the cooker is heavy.

    big-green-egg-table-plans-3

    Nice huh? I’m all about about simple and these Big Green Egg table plans are just that, easy DIY plans using inexpensive 2×4 lumber. I estimate this table cost about $40-60 to make if you already have some wheels in your shop. Or ask one of your neighbors if they have some spare casters, its a good chance one of them does.

    Cooker tip here, my neighbor tells me to buy the best quality chunk charcoal you can. The cheap chunk charcoal is not great for the Green Egg, it has a lot of small pieces and dust, not good for this cooker.

    How to you use your Big Green Egg? I’ve seen a few DIY table plans, but this one is my favorite for its simplicity and ease of use and easy to build. Let me know your thoughts below:

  • 2 Ingredient Cake Recipe – GF Video

    Bake a simple cake with our 2 ingredient cake recipe. Yes, it works. Super simple cake recipe, just watch our video and follow along.

    This cake recipe succeeds because ice cream has the same ingredient as most cakes:

    • Eggs
    • Dairy – in this case cream and milk
    • Vanilla or some sort of flavoring


    The addition of self rising flour makes for a true 2 ingredient cake. I have found if you want to get a high rise, use a narrow loaf pan. And in true “use what you got”™ GardenFork style, we had some dried cranberries on hand, so we tossed those in. You could add in walnuts or raisinss, dates, etc.

    The choice of what kind of ice cream opens up all sorts of possiblities. Want to make pistachio cake? Buy pistachio ice cream. I think a chocolate chip mint ice cream cake sounds great. That and   cup of coffee makes dessert easy. I also like this style of simple cake recipe because it gets kids interested in cooking. I’m thinking they will be curious about how ice cream can become cake.

    I like to have ice cream along with most quick cakes, and our 2 ingredient cake work well with additional ice cream in its original form alongside the cake. Now i’m wondering if someone makes banana ice cream, and whether it would work , and how it would taste. With the endless flavors of ice cream available, you will busy with the cake recipe.

    If you like easy cakes, consider trying out our 5 minute microwave cake, decadent and done in 5 min. nice.

    2-ingredient-cake-recipe-gf-video

    If you don’t have self rising flour, you can make some. For each cup of self rising flour needed, add 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder and a pinch of salt to one cup of all purpose flour

    2 Ingredient Cake Recipe
    Ingredients
    • 1 pint high quality ice cream, vanilla to start
    • 1 1/2 cups self rising flour
    • handful nuts, dried fruits, whatever you got
    Cooking Directions
    1. Preheat your oven to 350 F
    2. Oil and flour a 4 x 8 cake pan or similar loaf pan
    3. Put the ice cream on counter to melt.
    4. When its kinda thick but liquid-like, pour the ice cream into a bowl.
    5. Add the flour and mix, but don\’t over mix.
    6. Pour into cake pan
    7. Bake for 45 min, until knife comes out clean.

  • A Frame Tiny House Plans & Good Eats Love – GF Radio 340

    Deek’s  simple A Frame Tiny House Plans start the show. Deek is part of the tiny house movement, publishing videos on his YouTube Channel, and his tiny house plans book, and hosting workshops. Eric and Rick like the A frame plan, it is a great starter cabin for that piece of land out in the country.

    Watch the video about Deek’s A Frame tiny house plan here and download the plans here.

    Rick and Eric are both big fans of WFIU Earth Eats, a really well produced radio show, the polar opposite of GardenFork Radio. Annie Corrigan does a great job producing and hosting the show.

    Here is the some photos of Earth Eats on Flickr and on Pinterest.
    Beginner’s Guide To Gardening: Recycling In The Garden | Earth Eats – Indiana Public Media http://ow.ly/vXLKl

    Carrots From Farm To Plate, Magical Cheese Microbes, Urban Vertical Farming, Will Allen | Earth Eats – Indiana Public Media

    We talk about the new GardenFork.TV videos, an ornamental seed starting video, and the famous freecycle propane grill repair video that Eric is still excited about. Free propane grill, what’s not to like?

    Rick is shooting Grafting tomatoes vid today, results in a couple of weeks (tobacco mosaic virus, darkness, to top or not), the tomato blight has been a real problem on the east coast, Rick is grafting blight resistant stock with good fruit plants. Stay tuned for the results.

    Rick made a new video using jigs to assemble wooden ware https://vimeo.com/92171810

    Eric talks about the new video soft lights that he bought on ebay.

    photo video lights

    Click Here To Check Out The Photo Video Soft Lights

  • Go buy those mangoes in the store

    I’m not sure if mangoes are sold all over, but they are available in the NYC area. I find them at fruit & vegetable stands on the street and in greenmarkets, and at Whole Foods as well.

    mangoMangoes were on sale this week, I found this smaller ones, the brand name is Champagne. Most mangoes are larger than these, but these smaller ones have the benefit of not having as much fiberous material near the seed. On larger mangoes, the flesh closest to the seed can be kinda stringy. With these smaller mangoes, after you slice off the flesh, you can nibble on the seed, you can’t really do that with larger mangoes, the fibers get stuck in your teeth.

    Mangoes are also available sliced and prepared on the street. Prepared mango transcends a single ethnic group. I find these for sale on street corners in several neighborhoods. The mango is usually sliced, and placed in a zipper type sandwich bag. You can then have your choice of seasonings added. Hot sauce, salt, pepper, or lemon juice.

    And mangoes are healthy. They are high in Vitamin C and beta carotene, plus they taste great. So go buy those mangoes in the store.

  • Start an olive grove : GF Radio 339

    Wondering how to start an olive grove? Listen to GardenFork radio as we talk with Mara and Sarah on what is involved with planting olive oil trees and how to harvest olive oil.

    start an olive groveMara tells us about she and her partner bought a small farm and planted 100 olive trees, and how they harvest olive oil, how it is processed, and what is involved with running a small olive oil business. For Mara its not quite a business, they use a lot of what they crush, though they do sell some at the farmers market.

    Mara corrals her friends to hand pick the olives and manages to get it done in one day. They then truck them to another county to an olive crusher.

    Mara talks a bit about the olive fruit fly, which has become a problem for olive oil groves in California. It is the main pest and one has to sort out olives that have eggs laid in them. They use GF 120 that is painted on the trees and attracts the flies and cuts down on the amount of damage.

    Want to start an olive grove?

    Mara says the varietal is important. Mara tasted many olive oils and settled on what kind of olive trees to plant, and managed to buy olive trees from a nearby olive orchard. Soil conditions to affect the taste of oil does make a difference, just like with wine. Mara does most of the work herself, and on picking day, she hires a crew, they are better than relatives!

    There is a mobile olive oil press that will come to your farm, but one has to have a certain amount of olives to press.

    Olive Oil adulteration is a big problem in the US, Eric thinks. Mara points out that her cost is $100 / gallon just to make extra virgin olive oil, so even at larger amounts, with economies of scale, real extra virgin olive oil can’t taste $8 for a bottle

    Tom Mueller’s blog, Truthinoliveoil.com, has a list of quality olive oils available in the supermarket and suggests what you should buy. Tom also is the author of the book, Extra Virginity, The sublime and scandalous world of olive oil.

  • Replacing the Cordless Drill Battery Charger

    When we moved, I packed my drill – screwguns and the cordless drill battery chargers. Then when we unpacked, I couldn’t find the battery chargers. Has this happened to you? Battery Charger disappears into vapor. I am convinced they are in the basement in a box, and one day I will find them.

    cordless-drill-battery-charger

    I finally had to acknowledge I would not find them soon after searching everywhere in the house for them. A new replacement cordless drill battery charger would be expensive, so I turned to my favorite source for good deals on stuff, ebay.com . Click Here To Visit ebay.

    My cordless drills use a 14 volt battery, the standard now is 18 volt or more. I’ve found some of 18 volt drills to be too heavy, and my drills still work just fine. I have bought new batteries for them, and they hold charge well.

    I have seen ads claiming methods to rebuild cordless tool battery packs, but I’ve always believed that once batteries are toast, you have to replace the batteries. Plus, if there really were good methods to repair battery packs, there would be blog posts about the methods, and all we see are ads selling the how to information.

    When searching through ebay, use broad search terms, type in the brand name of your tool, and the voltage. If your search is too specific, you may miss some listings. Keep in mind the seller may not know as much as you do about your battery charger and may not title the listing well.

    I managed to find a multi voltage charger for my brand, which will charge the 14 volt batteries, and the newer voltages as well. I opted for the Buy It Now button, because the sale price with shipping was less than $20.

    So now that the replacement cordless drill battery charger is on the way, I am sure to find the original.

    Full Disclosure, GF is now is an affiliate of ebay, so if you click on any ebay links on our site, we get a small finder’s fee. But even if we weren’t I’d still suggest using ebay as a good place to buy replacement parts for cordless tools. Click Here To Visit ebay.