In 2017 Alaska became the second US state (behind South Dakota) to replace Columbus Day, the second Monday in October, with Indigenous People’s Day. Since then other states have followed suit. If you think getting away from celebrating Columbus is a capitulation to wokeism this might be a good time […]
September in America is National Preparedness Month culminating in National Preparedness Day on the 30th. We’ll get into particulars of this important holiday shortly but first a personal note. To my mind, some year it would be great for the government to call a spade a spade and put forth […]
As you get into this project and are watching the obligatory hundreds of do-it-yourself internet videos, you’ll see a lot of people filling up raised beds inside the wood frame before the greenhouse is done. You might think, as I did, ‘That’s a good idea. This way I don’t have […]
Picking the greenhouse up at the shipping dock: The 20 foot long Sungrow is designed for compact shipping. All fits comfortably in the back of a Tacoma pickup truck. As with most expensive things sent to Alaska, the company you buy it from wants you to inspect it before you […]
For connecting the greenhouse to the ground there are 3 options: T-shape metal feet you dig down a foot or so and back fill, or pour a concrete pad and bolt the greenhouse frame to it, or build a wooden base and secure the frame to that. I didn’t trust […]
This post and the rest of the series applies mostly to the Planta Sungrow Greenhouses since that’s the company I chose. Most Important Thing–Attitude: Be Cool. You can do this. Assembling components, like an arch for example, may take a while to figure out. That can be frustrating but once […]
‘Who loves a garden loves a greenhouse too. Unconscious of a less propitious clime, There blooms exotic beauty, warm and snug, While the winds whistle and the snows descend. William Cooper, The Garden Got a Greenhouse in this year. Before I start I should point out that a lot of […]
September 16, 1931 The indomitable Omar al-Mukhtar, religious scholar and leader of Libyan desert fighters who’d fought a European colonial power to a standstill for twenty years, was martyred. He was 73 years old, still fighting, when he was wounded and captured by troops of fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. Mussolini […]
This post about slugs is partly about trying to stop them demolishing my garden two years running, but first may I say slugs are beautiful. Second, may I say nothing my neighbors or I tried to get rid of them worked. Third, I’ll share a link below to the wonderful […]
The humble Cooler, or ‘the Chilly Box’ as our friends from New Zealand call it, doesn’t cost much, lasts decades, and is worth its weight in gold when the fish are running. Size: We have two. Both are low-end cost. High end coolers can run hundreds of dollars but for […]
For easy long-term storage of bulk perishables, for leftovers, or to hold food until you’re able to get around to canning it, or to pre-freeze what you’ll be sticking in the freeze dryer next day, your chest freezer is the way. Here are some thoughts on buying and using […]
Back in the ’70’s, there was fiction piece about a movement called BYE: Better Your Exit, where people who were terminal would kill themselves in interesting ways that made a statement and would maybe benefit society. I thought of that when I read about Marvin Heemeyer’s last ride. Marv was […]