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Anybody here rely on an angle grinder? I have three of them, two different makes. They all use the same size & type of wrench for tightening/changing disks. Normally, I do keep one in a tool tray with various disks, but these wrenches are small and it's happened that I’ve temporarily misplaced...

I grow Russets and Yukon Golds (neither of them “reds”) as mainstays… Russets are the stalwart French-fry variety all over North America, and Yukons are a yellow-flesh spud. Usually, both these varieties size-up and produce abundantly for me. This year, the Russets did well, the Yukons not up...

This year, we had unusually hot late spring weather, and relentless heat into early summer. Our Russet potatoes did well — I’m estimating six-to-one return (by weight), probably more. Low scab and no other obvious virus or bacterial problems. Other spud varieties all did quite...

I had to do some tree trunk and limb cutting when I was at the end of some sort of food poisoning or stomach flu… in any case, I was very weak. My usual chainsaw (a Stihl with an 18” bar), which isn’t really all that big, weighs a bit over 16 lb with oil & fuel in it. Holding and carrying it...

This 1992 Mitsubishi Delica van — right-hand steering wheel — has been repainted by the owner, and is now called “The Bee”. It’s the delivery vehicle for a commercial nursery and market garden that provides the majority of support for three adults and two young children (my neighbors). The Bee...

Got a spring project or a few? This is one of mine. I’ve just about completed putting a new roof on this little garden shed. I’m using cedar shingles — a local product. I took this pic at the end of a work session. The job will be finished tomorrow, I expect. Anyhow, started this thread to...

I just came across this today. You could say it's a sort of combination wheelbarrow, hand truck, garden cart, lever/fulcrum, human-powered mini-forklift. Not that I generally promote the idea of people spending money on more industrially made tools or pieces of equipment. But I beiieve if I...

You like fun? I thought this’d be fun for Crealbilly and some of the other folks here. These are two pics of James Watt’s workshop. James Watt (1736-1819) was one of the very early developers of the steam engine. And the steam engine was also a forerunner, in a way, of our car and truck...

milkman’s daughter’s “free wood” thread in the DIY forum has spurred me to try starting another thread. I hope its theme will encourage others here to post.:frow I shared my story of finding a compressor air tank for free at the local recycling bin parking lot. If anyone missed it and is...

Here in my area we have some frustratingly invasive plants. For instance, on our place we have knapweed, which is a tough plant that grows large, vigorous, and tough-rooted once it finds an opportunity, and which produces many seeds each year. (Maybe I’m late to learn about this method, so...

Check this out, friends… Using cotton underpants to indicate soil fertility??! http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-41843852?ocid=socialflow_facebook&ns_mchannel=social&ns_campaign=bbcnews&ns_source=facebook Scotland the brave! (Not sure.. does my post qualify as a...

I realize that most of us have more than enough “stuff”, but every so often I discover a little-known tool or device I want to tell people about. This little igniter costs under $20, and works very nicely every time. And the manufacturer promises tens of thousands of ignitions. Amazon sells...

Here are some homestead re-purposes for common steel drums. Fun. To my mind, some more useful than others. But they all do show that folks were thinking… and probably sketching. Worth a click & a scroll-down. Hope you enjoy…...

Yeah... Where's our avid and skilled young friend BarredBuff? (Maybe most recent post back in late July 2017.) He seemed well prepared for "suffcientself" living. Maybe somebody here has a sense of what his trajectory was. Any idea?

Compost, if it’s going to finish well and be usable in a fairly brief amount of time, needs aeration. I wanted a way to do some of that between major “turnings” with a pitchfork. Yesterday, I came across heavy-duty steel tent anchors for $4 each, and I bought one. This morning I cut off the...

One day I went to the closest recycling place, nearby but much smaller than our “transfer station” (regional-district dump for our section of our valley and the village contained in it). The place I went is just a parking area with five bins. Though they’re not supposed to, some people leave...

I could use a bit of advice from people here who do kitchen clean-up. I’m often the person in our home who does the heavy-duty stove cleaning. Besides a little propane unit and a barbecue, we’ve got an electric stove for everyday use. The old-school type with removable spiral burner elements...

Just wondering. The "pins" (which are pics with descriptive notes) link usually to websites, Youtube videos, etc. Some people on Pinterest have a dozen topic-specific boards. I only have two, but I like what you can do and what happens on Pinterest. My first board, which I keep adding to, is...

In my opinion, every homestead needs what I call a “mixed shop.” A shop, or "tool shed" or plain “shed” (Aussie term), being a work space. It’s where you can do repairs, maintenance, or modifications on devices and equipment — not to mention, making things from scratch from various materials...

I just harvested the first of six potato varieties we're growing this year, Yukon Golds (which matured earliest). Last year, we lost about 35% of that variety to fusarium, which is a sort of rot in the tubers and a wilting of the above-ground portion of the plant. A section of the tuber, when...