GardenFork – Eclectic DIY

  • Good Podcasts To Listen To : GF Radio 326

    Good podcasts to listen to? Rick and Eric review podcasts they like, prompted by a listener who asked for suggestions for podcasts, but first a bunch of cool stuff.
    Rick and Eric recap Rick’s talk with GardenFork Scientist Tony about the pro and con of owning an electric car. Battery storage is key here, and Rick talks about the advances in batter storage capacity. Eric tells of using water and lake up on a hill to store energy for when you need it.

    good-podcasts-to-listen-toEric touches on Steam Boiler repair, and  how to set your thermostat for steam heat is coming up in a future GF Radio show

    Rick insulates his house to the point that it holds heat, and he is happy. Eric is thinking of replacing the windows in his house with low E windows

    Eric has created a new version of the GardenFork Labradors YouTube Channel

    You can get a DVD of the Labradors if you contribute to the GardenFork Fundraiser, more info coming.

    The power of medicine and how your mind can help. Rick and Eric talk about an NPR story of the affect of placebos and medicine.

    Rick and Eric do a shout out to Earth Eats, a show from WFIU that they both like, Eric points out their smart use of Flickr.com to show photos of what they are talking about on the show. The producers do a very good job of audio producing.

    Checking the germination rates of your seeds is easy, and we talk about how to determine the germination rate of your garden seeds.

    Follow Rick on Twitter to get his constant feed of interesting curated web stuff.

    A List of Good podcasts To Listen To

    Let us know good podcasts to listen to, thanks.

    Cheap Battery Can Store Energy for a Rainy Day: Scientific American http://ow.ly/srrC8

    Half Of A Drug’s Power Comes From Thinking It Will Work : Shots – Health News : NPR http://ow.ly/su6we

    How to Check for Seed Viability (Video) – Organic Gardening – MOTHER EARTH NEWS http://ow.ly/ssbK6 @GardenForkTV

    #PodcastsWorthHearing : [SciFri – Michael Pollan. thinker] Can Plants Think? http://t.co/VoIBG9uCk1

    #PodcastsWorthHearing : [inspired!] Overcoming : TED Radio Hour : NPR http://t.co/pndSLUWzks

    #PodcastsWorthHearing : Daily Rituals – Spark – CBC Player http://t.co/TMbXc9s5MX [creativity and ritual, fascinating]

  • Eyeboogie copies GardenFork video, uses it in MSN Bing Video

    Eyeboogie, a video company in LA, copied a GardenFork YouTube Channel video, and edited it into a video they created for Microsoft’s Trendspotting video series on Bing.com .

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    Stills from Bing Video, complete video at end of post

    I found out about this by way of a GardenFork fan, who sent me a link to our copyrighted footage being used on Bing.com without our permission.

    I called Eyeboogie, and below I outline what happened.

    I first talked to Dean Carpentier, Supervising Producer at Eyeboogie. I explained that they had used GardenFork video footage without our permission, and Eyeboogie had to remove the GF footage from the Bing video, and compensate GardenFork for the time the video was live.

    Made aware of how Eyeboogie was in violation of GardenFork’s copyright, Mr Carpentier said that he didn’t think whoever at his company had done this did it with any malicious intent.

    I wasn’t thinking about maliciousness, I was thinking that they thought they could get away with it.

    I sent Mr Carpentier the link to the Microsoft Bing video that contained the footage taken from GardenFork’s YouTube channel, and a dollar amount that we felt was a fair price for the copyright violation. By this time the offending video had thousands of views.

    I then received the following email from Chris Frisina, CFO of Eyeboogie:

    I’ve been notified by Dean Carpentier that you are seeking compensation for an element of video attributed to you in a Trendspotting video that we produced, and, was subsequently published on the internet by MSN. He informs me that your video was taken down voluntarily by us at your request. As you may know, Trendspotting is an editorial news show that makes use of timely information and news items to inform viewers of the latest hot trends. Thank you for bringing your objection to our using your content to our attention as we were happy to comply as soon as we could. As you have acknowledged below, the take down has been completed. We are not open to any further communications with you on the matter.

    Nice huh?

    Claiming editorial license doesn’t work here. To me, it was clearly a case of a much larger company telling GardenFork to go away.

    eyeboogie-copies-gardenfork-video-5b

    According to their own website, Eyeboogie isn’t in the editorial news business:

    Eyeboogie is the leading producer of branded content on the web with over 3,000 episodes of sponsored programming produced and distributed.

    Over the next few months I went over this with our Intellectual Property lawyer, who was ready to go after these guys. I had a lot on my plate with my parent’s health issues, and while Eyeboogie was clearly in the wrong here, I didn’t have the time to devote ton of energy to what would probably be a nasty legal battle that could include Microsoft.

    The puzzling part for me is why would Eyeboogie, who is a YouTube Funded Partner, ( meaning they are paid by YouTube to produce content for a YouTube Channel ) take another YouTube Partner’s video and sell it to YouTube’s competitor? ( YouTube is owned by Google, Bing is owned by Microsoft )

    This practice of taking copyrighted material and using it on the web is a large problem, and I think most companies do it knowing the chances of being caught are low. And when they are caught, after they take down the offending video, they can delay litigation for years.

    We have yet to be compensated for the unauthorized use of our content, and while we reserve the right to pursue this matter, I felt that people need to know what Woody Thompson, Founder of Eyeboogie, probably doesn’t want his clients to know.

    I’d be willing to bet Woody doesn’t want Qi Lu, Head of Bing.com, to know that Microsoft has paid Eyeboogie for videos created from copyright protected footage.

    [jwplayer config=custom file=https://gardenfork.tv/bing.m4v]

    If the flash player doesn’t work on your machine, you download the video clip here: https://gardenfork.tv/bing.m4v

  • Benefits of an Electric Car – What’s it like? GF Radio 325

    Rick talks with GardenFork Scientist Tony about the benefits of an electric car. Tony owns a Nissan Leaf electric car. How do you charge your electric car? Tony tells about charging the Leaf in his garage and remote charging stations at stores he has used.

    The question many have is when you use an electric car, are you just transferring the emissions from your tailpipe to the power plant smokestack? Tony makes several good points about how much cleaner it is to use an electric car.

    The power plant is much more efficient than a gasoline engine

    Power plants have tight emission controls on their smokestacks.

    Benefits of an Electric Car – Cost Savings

    Tony talks about the fuel savings, and they are amazing, his fuel ( electricity ) costs are so much lower with the electric car versus the gas powered car he also owns.

    benefits-of-an-electric-carRange anxiety, does it happen? Tony does have another car that is gas powered and when he goes on vacation, he shops for deals on rental cars.

    Rick points out the electric car sales are rising each year, and Tony says he has now seen other Leafs, electric cars, and charging stations around, not just in California. The infrastructure costs

    Tony says the battery pack life has to get better for the electric car to gain popularity, cold weather limits his range to about 70 miles, really cold weather lessens the mileage. If a battery lasted 250 miles, it would be a great breakthrough.

    Rick thinks electric car batteries have been holding up well, the notion of the multi-thousand dollar battery replacement has not played out, as many people go to a auto salvage yard and get a battery from an electric car chassis for a few  hundred dollars.

    Consumer Reports now has podcasts, the Rick likes, its much better than the dry tone of the magazine, it adds life Consumer Reports, Talking Cars.

    Tony urges folks to look into buying an electric car for themselves, you can’t be scared off by second hand information. It has been a great experience for him, and Rick and Tony say GardenFork Mike is just full of it.

  • How to get rid of stuff on Craigslist – GF Radio #324

    How to freecycle stuff on craigslist. Eric talks about his experience getting rid of clutter in his basement using the free section. And the GardenFork Labradors have their own YouTube Channel – Link Here.

    how-to-get-rid-of-stuff-on-craigslist-gf-radio-324Eric announces the new fundraiser to buy new equipment, its going to be a simple project. On the higher end people will get a jar of maple syrup from the 2014 sap season, and everyone will get an e-book of the Labradors. If you don’t have any funds to contribute, we will still send you an ebook, just email Eric.

    Eric talks of growing up in Wisconsin, and how his friend went there recently and finds everyone in Wisconsin to be nice. Rick was raised in North Texas and finds the same thing to be true of Texans.

    We then talk about the new how to block printing video, and how analog it all is and easy to do.

    Motivating oneself to get going on stuff, Eric talks about getting overwhelmed on large projects, and how he focuses on a small part of the problem to start. The hardest part of starting is starting. Rick has similar projects, and is now enthused again about aquaculture and beekeeping. Both agree the winter helps to reset things, if we lived in a warm place all year round we might be worn out.

    Eric tells of his experience trying to Freecycle using Craigslist, giving away a free set of kitchen cabinets, and how it took three tries to give away the cabinets. We move on to how people go through neighborhoods looking for scrap metal, and how for NYC the metal that people put in their recycle bin is a profit center for the city.

    Rick asks about Eric’s How to use Spray Foam video, and the advantages of spray foam versus fiberglass insulation. Spray foam insulation if great for hard to reach spaces, and walls that have lots of cracks in it, such as stone or brick walls.

    Aquaponics Books Rick likes:


    Buy On Indiebound Here

    Buy On Amazon Here


    Buy On Indiebound Here

    Buy On Amazon Here


    Buy “S”  On Indiebound Here

    Buy “S” On Amazon Here

     

     

  • DIY Greeting Cards – Paper Crafting – GF Video

    DIY greeting cards are an easy paper crafting project using lino block printing. You can make homemade cards for Christmas, wedding announcements, birthday cards, you name it. The method we are using is called block printing, or linoleum block printing. Super easy to do, and a great kids art project.

    Our guest crafts expert is Jessica Kaufman, who is a crafts instructor in the NYC area. You can learn more about Jessica at her website: happygocrafty.com

    Paper Crafting GardenFork Style

    I have done some block printing and paper crafting in grade school. I made some DIY Christmas cards using the linoleum block printing method. Looking back, this was the start of my love of print media. I moved on to silkscreen and letterpress printing later in school, loving it all.

    block-printing-clip-9

    Now that we have everything digital, I thought we should go super analog and revisit some neat paper crafting projects that you can do. Projects such as these are great for kids. The ink we use is a non-toxic water based printing ink, just wear a homemade art smock and you are ready to go.

    We bought some blank cards and envelopes at the art supply store. You can also get these at retail stores such as Paper Source, or an at arts and crafts store.

    You will also need a tool to carve the block, we used a Speedball brand lino cutter tool. The actual printing block comes in several forms, we suggest using the more flexible carving blocks, the hard ones are harder to carve for kids and adults. A breyer is a roller that applies the ink to the lino, get a rubber one.

    block-printing-roller

    We built a simple carving board, this allows you to safely do lino block printing. Get a scrap piece of plywood, put a small piece of trim on each side, and you are done.

    simple carving holder thing
    simple carving holder thing

    What do you think? Have you done block printing or other paper crafting projects? Let us know in the comment section below:

    block-printing-copy-pin-600

     

     

  • Wood Deck Post Repair – Sistering a column

    Deck Repair in the winter cold, fun. A friend of mine has a wood deck off his second flooor, its not the most well built deck I’ve seen, but it came with the house, and its OK for now. But the footings for the columns or posts that hold up the deck are less than great. The posts are not set in cement footers, they are just sitting on the cement-slate patio that is below the deck.

    wood-deck-post-repair-1

    Deck Repair DIY

    As you can see from the photos, the posts are on the edge of the patio, and one of them has started to crack the cement. This being the middle of winter, we aren’t able to fix this properly, which would entail digging a proper footer. So we put in a temporary support.

    Generally this is called sistering. You can sister a floor joist that is weak from termites, for example. Basically you are adding support to the existing column or post, usually by attaching another board of similar size along side the damaged board. This can be a permanent repair or an interim one. Our deck repair is a temporary fix until the spring thaw allows us to dig a proper footer.

    Sistering in our project here is not the same as when you would sister a joist, but it does the same thing. It takes some or all of the weight from the original beam or column.

    Below you can see how we used two stock 2×6 pine boards in an A frame setup. We cut the boards slightly longer than the height of the original post, and mated both boards where the post meets the deck above it, and slowly tapped the boards towards each other until they started to take the weight of the damaged column. Scrap lumber was used to tie the two 2x6s together once they were in place.

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    This same technique can be used to take the weight when working on an interior load bearing wall. You put up several of these A frame rigs on both sides of the load bearing wall, then you can work on the wall. I see this a lot when one is making an opening in a wall and you have to slide in a beam to span the wall opening.

    So if you have a deck that is sagging, this is a deck repair to keep it up temporarily until you can repair it properly.

  • The Xmas Show, Its not about stuff GFR-322

    christmasRick reads a piece about rubber boots he heard on NPR: Ode to My Sturdy Rubber Boots – by BILL HARLEY
    http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89130360

    Talking more about citizen science, Rick tell us about some neat bird counts you can be  a part of
    the  Audubon Christmas Bird Count, through first of year. 114 consecutive year, worlds oldest, longest running, citizen science project.

    Plus you can participate in the Cornell Great backyard Bird Count in February
    http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc
    #PodcastsWorthHearing : How Many Partridges Are Really in That Pear Tree?: Scientific American Podcast

    #PodcastsWorthHearing : Eating ‘Wilder’ Foods for a Healthier Diet http://ow.ly/rQooK  Carrots – orange by breeding to honor William of Orange. Should be red or purple for best nutrients.

    TED Talk Moron in the mirror #PodcastsWorthHearing :The Fool’s Dilemma | Ideas ow.ly/rQqiR

    This TED talk starts Rick and Eric lamenting about the introduction of non-native species into North America.

    Winter Solstice 12:11pm 21 December 2013 Eastern time. Rick explains just what the solstice is, and how it is different in the southern hemisphere

    Beekeeping: Rick’s Bees are fed. One dead out,  four hives left. Rick used the Mountain Camp system. http://www.honeybeesuite.com/mountain-camp-feeder-use-for-winter-feeding-only/ 

    Eric is looking to rebuild his beeyard and is looking for bee nucs before they are all sold out. Rick points out that the Africanized bees are being more normal in Mexico after some work by scientists there.

  • Cook what’s in the fridge – GF Radio 322

    Viewer mail starts our show referring back to a comment Rick made about electric cars. Then we talk about cooking diner with what’s in the fridge instead of going to the store to buy more food. With the basics, you can make all sorts of food.

    Rick talks about using Consumer’s Report – new vaccum saved us from making a 300 mistake

    We move on to the Alton Brown podcast, nerdiest stable, “the spice house” his favorite spice supplier

    The revival of citizen science, amateur revolution on the rise http://makezine.com/magazine/citizen-exploration-an-amateur-revolution/

    Rick is learning Final Cut Pro X , he says this is a great set of tutorials  izzyvideo.com : http://www.izzyvideo.com/final-cut-pro-x-tutorial/

     

  • Thanksgiving Wrap Up – GF Radio #321

    Thanksgiving dinner starts the show, Eric had a french dinner for Thanksgiving, and it was good. Tre Bon, in other words. Rick liked the how to make gravy video, and has subscribed to Erica Wides audio show, Let’s Get Real. We digress into other podcasts and Rick also likes Adam Savage’s audio podcast, The Adam Savage Project Still Untitled.

    gfr321Rick thinks that one of his pups may have cataracts or is losing her sight, and will take her to the doctor. Rick says to keep the dog water bowl in one place so the blind dog can map the house.

    photojojo.com is a site the Eric found that has a DIY on how to make a projector out of your smartphone, plus the site has some neat smartphone additions, like micrphones, etc. Rick talks about Scancafe.com, a company that will scan your photo albums and movie film.

    Eric’s computer is dying, so if you’d like to help buy a new one,  there is a donate button in the right column of the website.

    From SaladInAJar.com, Eric talks about different ways to make yogurt without a  yogurt maker. You can watch our how to make yogurt video here

    Check out Rick’s PodcastsWorthHearing.com site for neat stuff he finds in the podcast land.

  • How To Make Gravy – GF Video

    Easy how to make gravy recipe for turkey or chicken, for Thanksgiving or Christmas, or just dinner. Really good gravy is not hard to make, watch our gravy video to learn the steps. Chef Erica Wides joins Eric and walks us through the steps, and we learn some cool stuff about deglazing the pan and all.

    How To Make Gravy – the basics

    Here are the key steps to making great tasting gravy:

    • Have some extra good chicken or turkey stock on hand. Store bought is ok, but buy the good stuff

    • A quality white wine, bourbon, whiskey or hard cider will release unique flavor compounds

    • When adding the alcohol to the pan, turn off the burner to prevent the alcohol from turning into flame.

    • After adding the flour, bring the gravy to a boil so the starch molecules do their thing and thicken the sauce.

    • The gravy will thicken more as it cools

    In this how to make gravy video, we talk about Thanksgiving and Christmas and Holiday Cooking, you can apply this gravy recipe to all sorts of foods. If you roast meat in the oven, you can use the pan drippings and this gravy recipe to make a super cool tasting gravy to go with your meat. In other words, this is not just for the holidays and turkey.

    And again, this proves to me that you do not have to have fancy equipment or foods to make a great tasting meal. I used  store bought chicken, added some celery, carrot, and onion to make what is called a mirepoix, but is, in my mind, a bunch of vegetables underneath a chicken. But these vegetables are key to how to make gravy that tastes wow. Celery is one of those low key vegetables that is a secret flavor source for so many stocks.

    We have a number of Thanksgiving recipe videos here for you, check them out and let us know your suggestions and comments below, always good to hear from you.

    how-to-make-gravy-gf-video

  • Thanksgiving Tips : GF Radio #320

    Rick and Eric talk about the How To Make Gravy for Thanksgiving video that Eric made with Chef Erica Wides. The price of Thanksgiving turkeys drops around the holidays, and Eric talks about why that happens. Rick asks why turkey is just a once or twice a year food. Turkeys provide an economical way to have several meals from one bird.

    thanksgiving-tipsEric talks about the podcasting podcast he has been listening to by Libsyn, and it ends up Eric and the Libsyn podcast host, Elsie, have a mutual friend in Natasha, who Eric knows from the food coop.

    We then move on to talking about how to make gravy, and how one has to cook out the water from the stock, water and wine, then you add in the flour. One has to keep in mind that this can take longer than you think.

    Rick likes the recent roof repair video Eric did using roof tar, and we point out how permanent roof tar can be when it gets on your hands or your clothes.

    Eric found a new podcast, Jack’s Farm Radio, that he likes. The host of the show, Daniel will be on our show soon.

    Rick and Eric talk about the previous podcast about how to build a hoop house. Matt came on the show to tell us how he is building a hoop house greenhouse.

    Viewer Mail and Baking Powder end the show.

    photo from MorgueFile.com

  • Sitting in a DIY Deer Stand

    I was walking with my neighbor on some land he owns near my house. He was having the woods opened up by the local sawmill. They were taking oak, beech, ash and pine out of the woods. We came across two deer stands, built probably 10 years ago, and he said I could use the deer stands.

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    This afternoon, a few days into the deer season, I was up in the better looking of the two hand built deer stands. Made of scrap lumber, they have this backyard tree house look to them. They would not pass any building code inspection. But they work for what they were built for. Seating consisted of a milk crate, the sides of the stand had carpet tacked to it, with some pine boughs whose needles had dropped attached to the sides of the stand.

    In other words, a perfect DIY tree stand.

    You see many deer stands for sale by the sporting stores, with ladders and steps and soft chairs, but this one works for me. Plus the fact that it was already in the woods. I didn’t have to carry a stand into the woods, assemble it, and hope that no one stole it. ( happens rarely, but one never knows )

    I am not the most accomplished deer hunter, I don’t have all the bells and whistles, just a deer rifle and insulated coveralls. One can go crazy with gear, much like other endeavors – glad I don’t own a boat…

    What I like most about deer season is I make myself go into the woods in the early morning or late afternoon, despite my aversion to cold weather, and just sit. You do a lot of staying in one place with hunting, it forces you to pay attention to subtle changes and sounds. Eventually your mind clears, and all the noise of the modern world is turned off.

    What was that click of a branch over there?

    Next you notice the sun changing. A cloud has moved, and the sun shines clear on the trees, but its getting near the ridge line. I know when the sun sets below the ridge, its time to go home.

    Today there were no deer, but it was good to be out anyway, thanks to my neighbor.

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  • How To Build A DIY Pallet Compost Bin Video

    Build your own pallet compost bin! Its easy. I’ll show you how with these photos and video. You’ll be composting in a few hours. Recycled pallets are perfect to make this bin, they are strong, have built in vents, and are free. This bin is also dog proof, our Labradors can’t get in it and cause trouble. Learn how to compost with our composting basics video. Want more DIY pallet ideas? See this page for more of my pallet projects.

    How To Build A Compost Bin

    If you have several pallets to choose from, pick those that are made of hardwoods. I am still amazed to find pallets made from oak, but yeah, they are out there. Hardwood pallets will last longer.

    Basically, we are building a box, with an open top and bottom. Its best to not site your bin where the ground is wet or muddy. You want your compost to drain, not hold water.

    We used some shelf brackets we found in the trash to hold the the walls of the compost bin together. Or you can get some online. Wire, angle brackets, and wood all work. I have used recycled shelf brackets to build my raised vegetable garden beds, and they will hold up longer than the wood they are screwed into.

    bracket holding pallets together

    Once the sides and back of the pallet compost bin are screwed together, I drive old pieced of metal pipe down in between the slats of the two side walls. Wood stakes will work as well here, or even rebar (metal rods).

    close up of compost pallet wall

    The door of the compost bin is hinged, and again, use Use What You Got™, used door hinges work fine. I hung the door about 1.5″ higher than the bin walls, using small pieces of wood to hold it up. This is based on experience; if you don’t do this, the door can drag on the ground, I’ve found. To add strength to the bin, I hammered some metal pipes in the two side pallets. Metal fence stakes or other long strong things will work as well.

    The hinge side of the door needs the most stability here, as it holds the most weight. I used a piece of chain i had laying around to secure the door closed. The door will have to hold up quite a bit of weight when the bin is full, so think about that when crafting some sort of latch.

    The floor of the compost bin is dirt. I don’t put a base in the bin. I like the idea of worms moving from the soil up into the compost and the dirt provides some natural drainage. You could also put into the compost pile some red wiggler vermicompost worms to help break down the pile.

    compost bin

    more compost videos

    What to add to your compost bin?

    We have our Composting Basics video that explains a lot about how to compost in your yard, but a few key things are to not add meat or greasy stuff to the pile, and to make sure it is not packed down, air needs to circulate in the compost pile. You can also read more in Wikipedia. Let us know your questions, suggestions, and how you compost below:

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  • DIY Pizza Oven Tips and Tricks – GF Video

    Using our easy brick pizza oven plan, learn these tips for building your wood fired pizza oven and how to cook pizza in it. After using our DIY pizza oven several times, I wanted to share with you all some things I have learned about firing the brick oven and cooking pizza in it. If you haven’t watched our how to build a portable brick pizza oven, check it out here.

    Planning helps a lot to have a successful brick oven pizza night. I suggest you start assembling the oven 4 hours ahead of time, and starting the fire 3 hours ahead.

    Build the pizza oven on a strong base. Don’t use flimsy sawhorses, they will break! Again, learn from my mistakes here…

    Start your pizza dough at least 24 hours ahead of time, if possible. You can check out our pizza dough recipe videos here. If this is a spontaneous pizza night, go ahead and use the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day dough recipe. It all tastes good!

    diy-pizza-oven-tips-and-tricks

    Don’t burn green wood. Learn from my mistakes! I grabbed a bunch of kindling that I did not realize was green, and had to rebuild the fire after it didn’t start well. Oak works best, I think.

    Rake most of the coals to the back of the oven, and then throw another large log onto the coals, you need to keep the fire going for multiple pizzas.

    Our homemade pizza peel works great with the brick pizza oven, watch the pizza peel video here. Use cornmeal on the pizza peel, it helps the pizza slide off the peel onto the oven floor.

    Rotate the pizza halfway through the baking process, it helps to even out the cooking.

    Don’t pile on the ingredients, less is better in this case. Vegetables should be sliced thin. Vegetables such as broccoli are best blanched first, so they cook along with the pizza. You can also add things after the pizza comes out of the oven.

    Here is the how to build the brick pizza oven video:

    Click here to see some of the pizza ovens people have built after watching our how-to vids, have you built one? Please send us pictures:  [email protected]

     

  • Hoop House Greenhouse FAQ – GF Radio 319

    Build your own hoop house greenhouse is today’s topic. Matt tells us how to build a greenhouse out of pipe and plastic. He is building a hoop house greenhouse using off the shelf items to save money and its going well. Matt shares what he has learned in building a greenhouse that you can apply when you build your hoop house.

    Matt is using fence pipe bought at the home improvement store. He says there are lots of good kits out there, but it gets expensive quickly, and half the fun of a hoop house greenhouse is in planning and building something you designed yourself. Matt saved quite a bit of money by going the DIY route and based his ideas on those of Eliot Coleman.

    Matt's Hoop House GreenHouse photo ©2013 Matt Cuba
    Matt’s Hoop House GreenHouse photo ©2013 Matt Cuba

    Why Build a Hoop House Greenhouse?

    The motivation was to have better foods in the winter than is available at the grocery store in winter, as hoop houses allow you to extend your growing season.

    Siting the greenhouse is important, Matt built his on a slight slope that faces south, and did a bit of leveling of the foundation. He used fence pipe driven into the ground to accept the top fence rail pipe that he had curved into the hoop shape. He chose not to use PVC pipe, thinking the metal pipe would be more sturdy. The curved pipes are spaced 2′ apart. The jig he built to curve the pipe is a simple plywood curve, or a wood form. He found that curving the pipe to something slightly larger than the desired curve allowed the hoops to be slid into the base pipes with tension, helping to keep the pipes in the base pipes.

    Matt has two large blue water barrels in the hoop house to create a thermal mass. The barrels absorb solar heat during the day, and give off that heat at night, helping to keep the hoop house greenhouse warmer. He decided to not use regular clear plastic, and opted for the UV stable greenhouse plastic available at greenhouse supply stores. He also used a channel system called willow wire to hold the plastic onto the hoop house frame. You can follow Matt and his adventures on Twitter here .

  • Travel Tips and Mousetraps – GF Radio 318

    Rick tells us about his recent trip to Europe, and his tips for having a good time. Rick took a cruise through southern Europe, and he liked that the boat would travel at night . They used at monasterystays.com to keep some costs low, and they enjoyed it a lot. Rick’s takeaway was that after reading all the travel books that wind you up about theft while traveling was to be safe, and to use common sense to keep your camera and cash safe from pickpockets. Rick bought a special camera strap that has a metal wire inside it that keeps someone from cutting the strap to take the camera while you are not looking. Rick found that while he had packed the flash for his camera, he did not use it. Rick pointed out that the women he was traveling with did not carry purses, just under the clothes wallet or money belt.

    mousetrapRick did use a Canon GPS GP-E2 on for his Canon camera that added GPS data to each picture he took, so when he was editing the photos back home, and wasn’t sure where the photo was taken, you could use the GPS data to figure out where the photo as taken.

    Rick took his iPhone, and used public WiFi to check email. He removed the SIM card to keep himself from inadvertantly using the cell service, which would be expensive. He did caution that he used a VPN network when using public WiFi. And do not log into your banking or credit card passwords from any public WiFi.

    We move on to mousetraps and the best way to catch mice, or the best way to get rid of mice. Rick and Eric do not like glue traps. Eric used the snap traps, the kind made of metal and wood and he is a big fan of the new electronic mouse traps that zap the mouse dead. A very simple and clean way to get rid of mice.

    We then answer some viewer mail about dishwasher smells and removing a broken bulb from an oven.

    Please leave a review for us on our iTunes page! Click here to go to our iTune page. thx.

     

  • Easy Hard Cider Recipe – GF Video

    Hard Cider made easy with this hard cider recipe in our DIY video. All you need are a few items from a homebrew supply store, we like to use Midwest Homebrew, click here to visit their site. Watch our how to make hard cider video and then let us know your questions and suggestions below.

    The key to making hard cider

    When making all fermented beverages everything must be clean and sanitized. You can use a mild bleach solution or one of the commercial sanitizer products. I prefer B-Brite, but you can use any of them. Bleach can cause problems with your clothes if you splash the sanitizing solution on them. Keep a quart of sanitizer solution nearby as you make hard cider. Rinse your bottle or carboy in the solution and rinse, along with anything else that will come into contact with the cider.

    easy-hard-cider-recipe-gf-video
    Hard Cider in 5 gallon and 1/2 gallon batches

    If you are going to use fresh cider from a mill or some that you made yourself – watch us make our own cider in this video here – you will need to kill off the wild  yeasts and organisms in the cider before adding your cultivated yeast you bought from the homebrew store. We use campden tablets. Crush one tablet per gallon, toss in, mix well and let sit for 24 hours before pitching the cider yeast.

    Read the instructions on the yeast package. Liquid yeasts with a burst pack need to be activated a few hours ahead of time. It can be tricky to burst the little pack that is inside the yeast package. The yeast package does not have to be bulging to pitch the yeast. Be sure to sanitize the scissors you open the pack with and the yeast package itself when pitching the yeast.

    When fermenting small quanities of hard cider, use a jug that is twice the volume of the cider you are brewing for the initial fermentation that lasts a few days. This keeps the large foaming of the yeast from clogging the airlock. After the first few days of activity, siphon or rack the cider into an container sized for the amount of cider you are brewing. So for a half gallon of cider, you would start it in a one gallon jug, and then transfer it to a 1/2 gallon jug. Do your best to keep the sediment from the initial fermentation from moving to the second jug. The sediment can impart off-flavors, and its easier to pour from bottle with less stuff in the bottom of the bottles.

    We will post a how to bottle cider and beer video soon. In the meantime, let us know your thoughts below:

     

  • Easy Apple Butter Recipe and more with Noreen’s Kitchen – GF Radio 317

    Easy Apple Butter Recipe made in a slow cooker and making your own pectin start our show with Noreen of Noreen’s Kitchen video show on YouTube. Noreen tells us how to make your own pectin, though its ok to buy your own. Noreen says if there aren’t many apples near you, you can make peach butter too.

    Best way to make the apple butter recipe

    apple-butter-recipe-2The slow cooker does the best job of making apple butter, both Eric and Noreen agree.

    We move onto a peanut butter recipe. Start off with 2 cups of peanuts, salted or unsalted, put them in a food processor. The peanuts will start to release their oil. Add a little stream of peanut oil or other oil, and then add some sugar syrup, Noreen likes cane sugar syrup. Keep the peanut butter in the fridge, pull it out 15 minutes before  you want to use it. This is a great recipe for kids to make too, its just like the peanut butter making machine at the health food store. Noreen says you can freeze whole raw peanuts. She keeps most nuts in the freezer to keep them from going bad. She also keeps nuts in vacuum sealer bags.

    We move onto making tortillas. Fresh tortillas are not available in many places, so Noreen tells us how to make tortillas based on her tortilla video, which we’ve place below. Noreen makes flour tortillas, rather than corn tortillas. She rolls them out by hand, and says you can use a tortilla press for corn tortillas.

    We talk about the underground food economy of Eric’s neighborhood, with the guy who has the cooler of tortillas and tamales on his bike, who sells them on the avenue. Neat.

    easy-apple-butter-recipeBut making your own flour tortillas is super easy. Noreen prefers to use lard or organic shortening. We both agree lard is good for crusts and tortillas.

    Preparing Thanksgiving dinner how to follows. Noreen makes it a stress-free event. The biggest key is making a menu! The need to sit down and plan. And if you have not roasted a turkey before, you might want to start with a chicken. Noreen has several thanksgiving recipes on her YouTube channel here.

    Noreen also has several great ebooks, including one on Holiday Cooking Check them out here .