Patrick Rahilly

Personally, I vote for the Kuhn Rikon, I've had one for 15 years, it works awesome!!!
More details of why and other uses below.

Beau M. Davidson wrote:

The Kuhn Rikon Epicurean (and all its rip-offs) looks decent, except it doesn't have an integrated cleaner.


?

I will note, I have broken (snapped in half) many garlic presses over the years, and I even broke fake henckel knife (at a friends house) crushing garlic with the smash method.  

That said, what I like about the Kuhn Rikon is that I haven't broken it yet and I don't expect to.  Super solid construction.

It is solid stainless steel construction, no rubber, easy to use, easy to clean with the flip out, and dishwasher safe, and made in switzerland.

You can press multiple full cloves (with paper on) at a time, which is a huge time saver when dealing with soft stem garlic tiny cloves.

It also smashes fresh ginger and and galangal like a champ, no hiccups.

Another note that hasn't been mentioned, it does really well on crushing fresh leaves for...  
I bring this up because it is really phenomenal to check the BRIX of various plants (crushed leaf juice)...  puts out the perfect amount of 'juice' to add to the refractometer.  
This is a really cool point to add to your hesitation of buying a good press.  Figuring out BRIX of your plants has so much interpretive value!  This is just a tool to help.

If you're going to buy a press.  I'd go for this one.  Maybe buy 2 just in case you want one for the garden.  big smiley face.   :)

Patrick.

My good friend Denice asked me for some help to work on her cob floor in her amazing cob building complete with bottle glass and cord wood walls.  It also has a cob double chamber oven in the center of it limed to look like a giraffe.
My first time ever making or using cob, she took me through the (and did) whole process, from dirt, to water mix, to bentonite/ceramic clay, to sand mixing, to mixing with chopped barley straw, to application. Lots of fun.
In about 5 hours, we mixed, set and leveled about 250 gallons of cob as a second layer to the cob layer below (there was a lot of prior prep work over the past few days!!!).  It was an awesome team effort!  And I found a good technique for flattening/leveling the newly laid cob floor... a 14 inch 2x4, worked better than the soil packer and left a nice sheen. This will, eventually, once dried, get covered in a cob slip with cattail fluff... it'll be a few months out, and then linseed oil.  I'll be helping with that part as well. looking forward to giving an update.
The whole floor consists of, 4 sheets of plastic, then sand, then 2 inch foam insulation, the rock about 10 inch deep, then native soil, then tamped, then a cob layer 4in, dried, second layer (3in) today, then the finish surface to come.  and there was insulation put along the cement footers that is holding up the building... fun times!
cheers!
P.

and then there's this... something sweet and something tender by eric dolphy



still, happy V day

V Day, so, Art Blakey and Wynton Marsallis on My Funny Valentine.  about 3 min in goes to double time, but live and dynamic.
Happy V day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tUIe_NulaM

I'm outside Moscow. But, I don't think i'm saying too much to say that Ernie and Erica were out in north okanagen before they headed back west.  I've found they are easy to talk with. I might still have a few other folks in the area that I can contact at the okanagen soil conservation district that are doing some cool stuff.  It depends on if your wanting to make friends or if you'd just like contacts and have some help; and directions on how to do stuff. either way. perhaps this is a few avenues to look into.
Cheers.
P.

Josh,
I'll start with cheers on getting out of the city, but where to go...? there are so many factors involved.
I'd first suggest this book
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10873066-strategic-relocation
Joel Skousen (not to be confused with joel salatin)
second. ...read the the book again and figure out where you want to be and what kind of climate you'd like to be in.
I'm sure you've got some skills, so a bit of hard work you'll  be able rock on.  But it aint no picnic.
Anyhow, kudos wherever you end end up!

i'd totally trade some carrots for some bok choi right now... mmm kimchi.
you've' got to have a darn good green house for this time of year, they've got some tight temperature regulations to prevent bolting.
cheers

In north Idaho here, we got a warm snap and I was just able to pull out 2 pounds of lovely danver half long carrot from our beds.  Oh, I only pulled on about 3sqft, there's about another 30sqft to be pulled when the soil warms up again, (it froze again, it's about 5f).  Now.  I think i'm going to pickle them and I've got some tomatillos kickin around and a few peppers, and some onions,  so it will be a canning jamboree.

But, I'm wondering what you all have to harvest in the middle of winter? Specifically in the north county.  I know down south it's citrus season

... but, way up, in the Great White North Eh. what you got?
...green house or straight out of permafrost?

...oh, and my puppy, 18 moths old now, might have ate a few.  HAHA

and
groove merchant...

and others...

I love me some thad jones orchestra, village vanguard.

aH That's Freedom.