Lif Strand

Sandy Cromwell wrote:

Erica Wisner wrote:The version we've added to this thread should be defect-free.  Please let me know how it works for you!
Yours,
Erica Wisner

Is it supposed to start at Chapter 4? What happened to the first 3 Chapters?

I just downloaded the RMH PDF and mine, too, starts with chapter 4.

paul wheaton wrote:Simply:   I made this site to talk about the stuff I like in a way I like.  This seems to work great with thousands of people.  If it doesn't work for you, then good luck on your next adventure to find your favorite community.  

I'm an Admin for a number of social media accounts (for myself and for clients).  I work hard to keep it all civil and keep it within the parameters of the purpose of each site.  There's always a troll now and again. I know it's stupid of me, but I take it personally when someone spews nastiness on one of my accounts.  I point out what you say -- the site was set up to talk about stuff the owner wants to talk about in a way the owner wants to talk about it.  Nobody has to stay at the party if they don't like it.  And yet there's always a few who want to just come to the party to be ugly.

PS -- I'm one of those people who the staff here questioned about my name.  Yup, my real name.  Just like that (except with middle name, too) on my drivers' license, passport and all.  

Richard Lemons wrote:I use one similar to the Strongway Garden Cart.  Very easy to push, even when loaded.

Oh wow!  I used to have one of those and I absolutely loved it!  After about 15 years of hard daily use it finally fell apart.  I've used a bunch of different cart/wheelbarrows since then but none better for horse manure than the Strongway type. How did I ever forget about it?  

Destiny Hagest wrote:I stumbled across this product while doing a bit of research the other day though, and I’m anxious to download it and give it a try.

Anybody have a link to easy DIY solar water heater plans?  I'm looking for something that doesn't require advanced mechanical/construction skills.  I can't use the link provided by Destiny Hagest because my malware program blocks it due to tracking bots attached to the site.  Thanks

Scott Stiller wrote:Maybe miner bees? ... These guys are extremely chill and just don’t care that I’m around.

I'm thinking that's what you've got.  Good little bees.  

The bee in your photo sure looks like a carpenter bee-- check out that black spot in between the wings and compare to the bees on this website:  https://franklin.ces.ncsu.edu/2018/07/native-bees-in-the-landscape/  Thing is, carpenter bees are called that because they like to dig into wood.  

But wait!  Maybe they're miner bees (a.k.a. ground bees, digger bees, dirt bees, mud bees, chimney bees, and of course mining or miner bees).  Turns out 70% of the bee species on this planet nest in the ground.  Lucky you if you've got happy miner bees in the embankment -- they're great pollinators!  Anthophora abrupta aren't aggressive and aren't defensive of their nests.  They don't sting unless really provoked (like you're pulling their wings off or squishing them).  

I'd say encourage them by planting wildflowers nearby.  Check out http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/misc/bees/anthophora_abrupta.htm for more info.

Amy Gardener wrote:Hey I love that composting in place suggestion from Redhawk. So much easier on the back!
...To narrow down my broad zone 7, I also looked at latitude and altitude. In my case, there are only two places on the globe with the same altitude and latitude: one in Afghanistan and one in China. Amy

Hey Amy -- I live southwest of you and 2000' higher altitude.  I like your idea about finding matching latitude/altitude places around the globe to see what they successfully grow there.  How did you go about finding those places? Thanks!

Ellendra Nauriel wrote:...if you can find a sturdy ice cream churn, I've found they do a surprisingly good job at kneading bread dough. I have these little hand-cranked ones that are meant for making a single serving of ice cream, I think they were 50 cents each at a garage sale. But they're just the right size for a 1-2 person loaf. And they hold the dough well enough I can crank it while doing other things around the house. I just take my dough with me.

What a fantastic idea!  I will look for one.  Thank you!

Added:  What make/model works for you?  I have never seen a small hand-crank ice cream churn at a garage/yard sale, but I admit I don't go to too many.  However, I found one online with a one pint capacity made by Norpro.  I bet I could find one on eBay.

Kimbo Baugh wrote:Experimentation is the best way to go. A good starting point is a 1:2:3 loaf - 1 part leaven/starter, 2 parts water, 3 parts flour (by weight). For salt, use 1% of the entire dough weight, or 2% of the weight of the flour.

I've captured my own yeast/starter from raisins using a method from Twitter.  The guy I got the method from is @shoelaces3, a biologist that Seamus Blackley follows.  Shoelaces3 is now experimenting with lentil flower and fig yeast starter!

I am not into kneading (not only hurts my wrists, but it's boring) so I've been making no-knead bread for about a year using store-bought yeast.  The bread is okay, but it's not sour -- and sourdough is my holy grail.  

My home-made starter works very well, and the dough I'll bake shortly is smelling quite tangy -- but I've learned that dough smell doesn't necessarily mean sour bread.

So many challenges:  making a good starter and keeping it going; making decent no-knead loaves with starter instead of store-bought yeast; making tangy sourdough no-knead loaves using home-made starter.

Ebo David wrote:Sorry that I was not able to find/get a copy myself.

Scroll up almost to the top of this page.  The download is there, just not as obvious as it might be.  Look for the light blue bar across the screen.