David Wieland

r ranson wrote:I trimmed off the air roots a couple of days ago as they had crawled INTO the wall when I wasn't looking. ...

I don't know this plant, but I can see why a wall-penetrating plant is some kind of monster! 🙂
Have you named it? (Audrey is already taken.)

Chris Kay wrote:Just a gentle note of caution from my lived experience. Heavy work (garden / construction) in inflexible soled boots can cause problems. https://permies.com/t/40/78415/pain#1827025

There's a good reason that wooden shoes were supplanted by flexible ones: they are much more natural as reinforcement or protection of our foot soles. It's hard to think of a situation in any modern environment in which wooden shoes or wood-soled shoes -- any rigid shoes -- have an advantage over ones that can conform to natural foot flex.

Paul Anguiano wrote:Merriam Webster has it listed both with and without a hard T on the end. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/peridot

I had never heard that final T pronounced before this thread.  How odd.

I suspect that pronouncing the final T is just Americanization. As Merriam-Webster notes, it is a French word minus the accent. It wouldn't be surprising if that was derived from Greek, as that is also in the Indo-European language family.

After decades of sharpening knives with a variety of methods and abrasives, I've settled on diamond sharpeners as giving consistently good results quickly and with minimal effort. The results depend primarily on a few things, namely the quality of the blade steel, the condition of the blade to be sharpened, the quality and amount of diamond dust on the sharpener, and the angle of the blade against the sharpener. It's been years since I last used the Japanese waterstone in the knife drawer, although I acheved good results with it, because it takes much longer than using a diamond "stone" (which wasn't even readily available when I got the waterstone). However, waterstones and diamond stones share the virtue of removing a minimal amount of steel in the sharpening, greatly extending the life of the knife. (I can see using a grinder or belt sander in making a knife or restoring a seriously abused one, but I wouldn't do that for a commercial kitchen knife in good condition.)

I've learned that a key technique for quickly getting a usefully sharp edge (I don't intend to ever shave with a kitchen knife) is ensuring the knife is angled carefully against the stone and that the blade is pushed diagonally onto it rather than drug away. Because I'm old, I need strong light to see the edge well enough to know when it's at the correct angle, just touching the stone. (Increasing the angle is likely to actually dull the edge.) But another way to know the angle is right is by feel. When the angle is too low, the blade just slides. But when it's raised to the right angle, with the edge grazing the stone, I can feel the light cutting action. A few strokes is then enough to restore a "kitchen keen" edge.

I'd never heard of the Meadow Creature or seen any of the styles that earlier posters show. The broadfork I've used for decades (https://www.leevalley.com/en-ca/shop/garden/garden-care/cultivators/10521-lee-valley-u-bar-digger) has very strong tines. I don't think it would be possible to bend a tine on a rock, as mentioned in an earlier post. Lee Valley says it won't work with clay, but I can confirm that it works with clay loam that isn't too dry. I used it instead of a tiller to break ground for a new garden bed. It was a good workout, but the strength and leverage of the tool made it feasible. Any soil you can force the tines into by standing on the crossbar will yield to its might. It's a power fork!  Now I just use it to loosen the soil in the garden beds in spring.

I'm a guy and have never been accused of being stylish, but I'm fond of cargo pants (shorts for hot weather). Don't they make them for women too? In gardening season especially, it's really handy to be able to carry a compact pruner, not just a phone, and to pocket a small zucchini at risk of being missed until it's a big one. (Ditto for mini beit alpha cukes.)

I realize this is a tangent from the original topic, but not more so than the gun holster, eh. 🙂

Hans Quistorff wrote:I use Dawn in the foam spray bottle and refill it with more diluted. A spray on just the greasy spot or the scrubber gets it off with much less rising.  The scrubber may do several more items without having to use any more.  The oat meal, egg or cheese residue may just need to soak a little longer just leave tm in the sink while rinsing other things.

I do the same, except that I have noted that Dawn PowerSpray, as the spray form is called, is somewhat more efficient in cleaning greasy things, so I buy PowerSpray refills as needed. Both formulas seem to have left the competition "in the dust" (or the grease ).

As you noted, a little goes a long way, a point I think Paul undersold. I'm on a well and septic system and can see no negative consequences from any of the soap/detergent that my wife and I use. We use water-efficient appliances, treat our well water for unpleasant mineral content, and get the 50 year old septic tank pumped out about every 8-10 years (whether it actually needs it or not) and have never experienced any sign of a problem. For me, efficiency is the primary consideration, whether of amount of cleaner and water used or the time and physical effort required to do the job.

By the way, the last time I did my semi-annual car wash, I discovered that Dawn PowerWash worked as well as specialty sprays for cleaning road "tar" from the door bottoms and rocker panels.