Matthew Nistico

Dave Lotte wrote:I have not bothered getting a radon test either, building inspector says i HAVE TO install it, so i install it.
Are you getting yours inspected at some point ?   I would talk to your inspector if you are.
Easier and cheaper to install it now rather than later.

For sure, if you think there's even a chance of ever wanting a radon-abatement system, you should go ahead and lay the pipe while you are preparing the foundation.  Do it even if they don't require it.  Why not?  If you plan for it before you lay your slab, it costs next to nothing in the grand scheme for just the pipe.  By that same thinking, I am running Cat6 cables throughout my house, even though I never intend to connect land line phones.  Again, why not?  If I or a future owner changed plans, it would cost 100x as much to retrofit.

Going on the theory that my own inspector did require the radon vent pipe - as I wrote before, it's been a while since that stage of construction and I don't recall - I'm uncertain if he will in the future require an actual radon test before issuing an occupancy permit.  My hazy understanding is that it will be up to me whether I desire to do the test and complete the system by wiring up a fan to the pipe in my attic, post-certification.  That is why I was surprised that you seem to be completing your system at this early stage.

Dave Lotte wrote:Another point i would like to make - try not to upset your inspector any more than you have to.  He is the one person that can make your life miserable...

Absolutely!  In a conventional build, so long as you follow the rules and baring any corruption or gross incompetence from the inspector, a builder can be reasonably confident of success in his project.  Even an owner/builder; just do your homework, cross your "t"s, and dot your "i"s.  But with an unconventional build like ours, we are totally dependent on our building official's good graces.  It shouldn't be that way, but it is.  Why it shouldn't be that way is a political discussion for another forum.  But if you are lucky enough to get a cooperative inspector, then cultivate and protect that relationship at all costs.  Pick and choose your battles.  Smile at all of the extra hoops you will be forced to jump through.  It is just the price of doing business.

In my case, I had a building official who was both competent and accommodating.  And that was not by luck!  Before I even purchased property, I shopped my building plans to officials in four jurisdictions.  Based on their reactions, I chose which lot to buy.

Unfortunately, it has taken me sooo long to advance my project (my own fault) that my inspector is now long gone from that job.  I will have a new building official to deal with when I finally near completion and require more inspections, and then will have to take my chances on an "unknown quantity."  Well, not totally unknown, as I did make some small progress a few years ago - installing photovoltaic panels on the incomplete structure - that required a permit and inspection.  The building official seemed reasonable and competent enough during that brief interaction.  Fingers crossed!

Dave Lotte wrote:Time to start shopping for a utility pole.  New 200 amp service has to go in before i can finish the radon system.

I'm curious: do you already know that you have a radon problem?  I also live in a radon area, and have included an under-floor foundation vent pipe in preparation for a future radon-abatement system.  I don't recall if this was a code requirement or just a recommendation; probably a requirement.

But I haven't bothered, and will not bother, to actually test for radon levels until the house if complete and I move in.  Obviously you are still far from a move-in date.  Until then, my "system" is just a pipe that extends into my attic, awaiting possible future completion.  With luck, it will never need completion and will just sit forever as an empty pipe extending from my foundation up into my attic space.

Your need for electrical service suggests you are already further along towards completing your system.  I am wondering why?

Luke Mitchell wrote:I tend to take semi-hardwood cuttings for perennials, meaning growth from the most recent growing season. Whenever possible I take cuttings when the plant is dormant, in the autumn/fall or winter.

I am planning to propagate a bush cherry via rooted cuttings.  I had read that the best time to take the cuttings was in the mid-to-late summer...?

Alder Burns wrote:Cooked up, radish greens are comparable with, and interchangeable with, turnip or mustard greens.  I would just plant them whenever and wherever and find out how they grow by trial and error, eating greens the whole time.  I like the greens better than the roots anyway, and often grow them in dense patches and cut the greens off and let them grow back for multiple harvests...

Indeed, radish tops in general, and daikon tops in particular, make lovely greens.  I find them best wilted in a pan or broth mixed with other Asian greens.

I can only assume that everyone here describing their daikon bolting before the roots grow, or producing hot-as-horseradish roots, are trying to grow them out of season.  ALL radishes are cool season crops, and daikon are no exception.  Though daikon do take a while longer to grow than the super-fast small radish varieties.  So, planted in early Spring, it's all the more important to get the seed in the ground as soon as possible.

I prefer to plant in the Fall.  I did this for several years in the early establishment phase of my food forest.  I made seedballs and just broadcast them in early-to-mid Fall.  Mostly I considered these as soil improvement, and any crop I harvested was a bonus.  I found they had a strange habit of growing up rather than down.  Maybe it was my clay soil.  By the time they were harvest size - a couple inches in diameter - about half the root was underground and the other half sticking up above the soil.  I would just break them off at the soil line, harvesting the top half and letting the bottom half rot in place!

This growth pattern made a particularly odd visual effect when a hard frost would kill back the greens: I'd be left with a meadow full of strange white knobs.  Usually the greens would regrow, as it takes a LOT of cold to kill a radish.  This is why I recommend Fall planting.  If time is against you, better to be fighting the oncoming cold, which radishes can largely withstand, than to fight the oncoming heat, which will trigger them to bolt.

Unless of course you are interested in harvesting the seed pods, as some here have mentioned.  I am aware of the whole growing-radishes-for-seed-pods thing, but haven't tried it.

This was a good pasta salad with air-fried eggplant I made up one day some years ago.  I make my own bone-and-veggie-scrap broth, which I always use to cook pasta, rehydrate grains and beans, etc.  If you don't, just boil pasta in water.  My air frier has a front door and multiple trays like an oven (it's the best!).  If yours has just a basket, you may need to air-fry the eggplant in batches.  Or, just bake in an oven for, I'm guessing, double my indicated time.

This recipe would also adapt to make an excellent grain salad.  Substitute your favorite whole grain, cooked al dente, for the pasta.  I am particularly fond of grain salads with purple hull-less barely.  It's so chewy and flavorful!  I often tend to make whole grain salads whenever I'm in the mood for a pasta salad - similar culinary experience with a lower glycemic index.

Serves: 4

INGREDIENTS:
Pasta Salad
• 1 box small pasta, such as elbow macaroni [I used Banza brand chickpea Cavatappi]
• bone broth sufficient to boil pasta
• large handful cherry tomatoes, halved [could sub 1 large beefsteak-type tomato, chopped, but would produce a lot of juice]
• handful black olives, sliced [use California ripe olives for a milder salad; something like pitted kalamatas for more zip]
• 2 forkfuls capers, drained
• small bunch scallions, chopped
• 6 large sprigs parsley, leaves picked and coarsely chopped
• 3 sprigs mint, leaves picked and finely chopped
• Ricotta Salata cheese, shaved [I've also used Pecorino Romano, which is easier to find at the grocery]
Roast Eggplant
• 1 medium-to-large globe eggplant, unpeeled, chopped into ¾”-1” cubes
• high temp oil [I used ghee]
• large pinch salt
• large pinch cayenne
• pinch white pepper
• pinch turmeric
• pinch ground cumin
• pinch ground coriander
• pinch ground fennel seed [can powder whole fennel seed in the spice grinder if necessary]
Dressing
• several glugs good olive oil
• juice of 1 lemon
• several TBS roasted red pepper pieces, minced [leftover from a jar of roast red pepper]
• 1 tsp minced garlic [could sub a couple cloves of roasted garlic, squeezed out; would be great!]
• scant 1 tsp anchovy paste
• scant 1 tsp honey
• large pinch salt
• pinch red pepper flakes

DIRECTIONS:
1. Stir eggplant-roasting seasonings into high temp oil in a large bowl (if using ghee, give it 20 seconds in the microwave first).
2. Toss eggplant chunks with the seasoned oil, let soak in for a couple minutes, then spread onto air-frying baskets.
3. Air fry 14 minutes at 400 F (preheated) in the bottom and middle racks.  Flip top and bottom trays at midpoint.  When finished, let cool to room
    temperature or, at most, slightly warm.
4. Meanwhile, boil pasta in broth per package directions for al dente.  Drain, rinse well, drain again, and set aside.
5. Meanwhile, thoroughly whisk together all dressing ingredients in a medium bowl until smooth in texture.
6. Add pasta and all other pasta salad ingredients, save cheese, to a large bowl.
7. Pour dressing over, then gently fold in the eggplant chunks with a spatula (avoid smooshing the eggplant overly much!).
8. Serve garnished with the cheese shavings.

Morfydd St. Clair wrote:My understanding is that salting/draining/rinsing eggplant is to reduce bitterness, not flatulence.  But most modern eggplants aren’t very bitter, so you can skip it.

Fuschia Dunlop wrote the first Western cookbooks of Szechuan cuisine, and this is her favorite recipe: https://andrewzimmern.com/recipes/fuchsia-dunlops-fish-fragrant-eggplant/

(Fish-fragrant is a weird Chinese term and has nothing to do with fish.  She explains it in the recipe.)

You are correct about the bitterness vs flatulence.  I've neither heard nor experienced any link between eggplants and flatulence.  Also, my observation is the same as yours: I've not really encountered a bitter eggplant.

Fish-Fragrant Eggplant is one of my favorites!  My recipe is slightly different.  Don't recall where I picked it up.

• Yield:  Makes 3-4 servings.

This recipe calls for Asian eggplants, or Japanese eggplants.  They are long and thin compared to a European or globe eggplant, and much more tender and delicate.  If you can't find them you can substitute globe eggplant, but the dish is really best with the Asian eggplant.

INGREDIENTS:
• 2 lb Asian eggplant
• high heat oil for stir frying, such as peanut oil or refined avocado oil
• ¼ C chicken stock
• 2 tsp sugar [I subb'ed honey]
• 1 tsp fish sauce
• 1½ TBS chili bean paste*
• 2 tsp crushed Sichuan peppercorns**
• 3 tsp freshly grated ginger
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp corn starch
• 2 tsp Chinkiang black vinegar [can sub other rice vinegar if needed, but black vinegar is very flavorful]
• 4 scallions, roughly chopped
• 2-3 small, mild chili peppers, julienned
• cilantro for garnish (optional)
*chili bean paste (pixian doubanjiang) is a mixture of preserved chilies with mashed, fermented, broad beans.
**Sichuan peppercorns aren't spicy, but rather have a citrusy flavor and induce a tingly, numbing sensation like a carbonated drink.  Optional, but inauthentic without.

DIRECTIONS:
1 Quarter the eggplant lengthwise and chop into large batons and set aside.
2 In a small bowl, mix together the chicken stock, sugar, vinegar, cornstarch, and soy sauce.  Set aside.
3 In another bowl, mix together the chili bean paste, garlic, ginger, and Sichuan peppercorns.  Set aside.
4 Heat the oil in a wok or large sauté pan over high heat until almost smoking.
5 Stir fry the eggplant, allowing it to sit for a few seconds each time you move it to allow it to brown and blister.  Stir fry in batches to ensure all eggplant
   get well browned and blistered.
5 Add the scallions and chilis to the last batch once well cooked; stir fry for 1 additional minute.
6 Add the chili bean paste bowl and sauté until fragrant, another minute.
7 Return all eggplant to wok and add the chicken stock mixture, turn the heat to medium-low and simmer until the sauce thickens a bit.
8 Serve with rice.  Garnish with cilantro.

One of my go-to treatments for eggplant is to cube it, sauté with some loose Italian sausage and some diced onion.  Stir the result into some pasta sauce and serve with spaghetti.

Do I peel my eggplant for this recipe?  Usually not, especially when cubing it small.  But that also depends on the eggplant.  Larger eggplants have thicker skins.  I have noticed that Asian eggplants have more delicate skin.

Pattie Whitehurst wrote:My fave that I've made is baba ganoush. Basically eggplant (grilled/smoked is best) and lemon and garlic and tahini and parsley, which is great, but to make an upscale version, use basil and pistachio butter.

Baba ganoush is excellent.  I didn't used to like, until I bought some fresh made in a local Middle Eastern diner.  Based on that experience, my observations are that getting a strong smokey flavor from flame-grilling the eggplant is key.  Also, avoid recipes that include mayonnaise, which I'm pretty sure my preferred example does not use.

Timothy Norton wrote:The video below came across my feed and inspired this thread.

Great video, thanks!

Dave Lotte wrote:

Matthew Nistico wrote: My own house has a concrete slab foundation that I am finishing as a floor....  

What type of house ?  How thick is the pad ?  Below grade ?

This house is 5 feet below grade and super insulated.  It takes at least 3 days to see any kind of temperature change inside the house.  So the concrete floor will be very temperature stable.
That being said....
I will be talking to one of the largest concrete companies in this area, and will mention this to him at length.  If he says wrap - we wrap.

Will be posting updates as i go.

As always, go with what your pros say.  Just know the right questions to ask and the right red flags to watch for.

...And in this case, perhaps, do NOT listen to what I say.  I may be misremembering or misunderstanding the nature of my own problem after many years, as I cannot now find any info online that corresponds exactly to what I thought I understood to be my problem.  But in any case, here goes my best attempt to elaborate...

My house is built on a monolithic slab-on-grade foundation.  That means it was laid in one pour that included the floor and integral, load-bearing bulges under the walls.  This is as opposed to using stem walls built separately from the poured floor.  My structure is entirely above grade.  The pad is 3.5-4" thick.  The building frame is insulated far beyond the norm in a milder climate, but still nothing like the temperature stability yours provides.  I have been watching your progress here on Permies and am duly impressed by your results to date.

You are pouring your floor separately from your foundation, unlike me.  Moreover, as you point out, the relative thermal stability of your floor area should work to minimize the stresses that create concrete cracks.  But there will still be cracks.  Cracking concrete is as certain as death and taxation.  Even the best foundation settles, and even slow and moderate temperature swings will take their toll.  That is why we cut control joints into concrete, to create pre-weakened spots where the cracks will form in a predictable way.  That is also why we cut isolation joints around structural members, like columns, that will put extra stress on the surrounding slab.  We know cracks will form there, so we try to contain them.

This much I'm pretty sure about.  One can read further here: JLC March 1996

Anywhere a pipe, or anything else, penetrates the slab is a particular weak point, so cracks will start there.  On top of that, the pipe material will contract/expand differently than the surrounding concrete, and might well experience extreme temperature swings (read: hot and cold running water) that will further create movement inclined to crack the concrete.

For that reason, it is best to physically separate the pipe from the concrete.  You can do that by wrapping the pipe in a foam material that will absorb movement and blunt temperature swings.  Or you can do that by creating a space around the penetration with a "box" before the pour so to leave an air gap around the pipe.  You can actually build a small box with wood or, in the case of a single pipe, merely sleeve it inside a short length of larger-diameter pipe.  Once the slab is poured (and cured?), the "box" can (optionally?) be removed.  I guess it can also stay in place.  Not sure which is more common.

I'm fuzzy about what happens next.  I think that, depending on where the penetration is, you could either leave the air gap forever or follow up with a later, very small pour to fill the air gap with more concrete, counting on the boundary between the infill concrete and the larger slab to act as an isolation joint.

At this point, I invite all experienced concrete finishers to jump in and tell me I'm full of shit.  Quite possibly.

I only know that this is what happens when you don't do it right.  Bare in mind that I have control joints in my slab far beyond the minimum recommendation of every 12-15 feet.  Mine are spaced 3 feet apart in a grid at 45 degrees to the orientation of the walls.  Once the slab is stained and sealed as a finished floor, I plan to grout the control joints.  I am hoping the effect will be of large tiles.