DIY Lessons Learned
corgimum
11 years ago
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Donaleen Kohn
11 years agocorgimum
11 years agoRelated Discussions
Can DH do a do-it-yourself sprinkler system?
Comments (4)merdena, yes! I say this from my own experience. In other words, 'if I could do it, anyone can.' I had two advantages. I worked in a hardware store and I did 18 hours of "irrigation school". The most important thing I learned in school was to identify and name correctly the many and various fittings. My first investment was in a can each of cleaner and glue, some pipe and fittings and a hacksaw. My first successful project was extending the water supply to our washing machine. It had to be removable to leave the original fixture intact when we left the apartment. PVC is a particular joy to work with because if you make a mistake, you can use the hacksaw to get back to the drawing board. I practised aligning fittings (without glue) to make piping go where I wanted. Then I would glue the project, test it and cover it up. Two habits I formed were to always use colored glue so that I could spot a joint that was not glued and to always use teflon tape on threaded fittings. Hardware stores have these free booklets which will walk you through the project from beginning to end. You yurself will not be able to resist getting into the act; there are so many spinoffs! Like making PVC furniture, plant supports, lightweight shelving and (clothing) racks etc. etc....See MoreHave I learned my lesson(s) ?????
Comments (15)Hi, I still have company. Will be here until Friday. I had my grandson for 3 days, then he was still here yesterday and our company came yesterday, too, a day early ! Just as we were going out the door to make the hours drive up to take our grandson home. So, my daughter had to come down and get him. I had to cook dinner for everyone. At least my dh cooked the chicken on the grill for me, bless his heart ! So, I am exhausted ! Having a good visit, though. Anyway, part of the deal with the relish is also the density of it. Relish is normally denser than a salsa would be. Especially the ones that are water bath canned, you notice how much vinegar is in them ? A lot of people comment on how liquid they are, but that is part of the safety of the products. The size of the pieces of food is also a consideration in safe processing of foods. That and how much liquid is in something. That is why diced tomatoes packed in water takes less processing time than those packed without any added water. There are a lot of factors that go into a safe recipe for canning. Yes, that is true, too, what Carol said about bottled lemon juice being twice as acidic as vinegar, yet tastes less tart. That new book is nice, but it is the same as what is online. I saw the new copy of the book. You need to simmer the food for the time called for because it also "preshrinks" the vegetables. That, and you want the food really hot as it goes into the jars when you are hotpacking foods. That can make a difference in processing times with some foods. If you check some recipes you will notice that raw pack and hot pack are not always the same processing times for the same ingredients. I agree, keep the vinegar amount to 4 cups in the recipe. I sure hope I am making sense, as tired as I am !!! If not, forgive me. Things may get better, but then again, it is the starting of canning season ! I won't make any promises... Another thing, if you made jelly with the liquid, it would need some added vinegar. Just like all pepper jellies do. It would not be high acid like fruits....See MoreLesson(s) you've learned this year (2015)
Comments (106)I learned having a vegetable garden is great! No kidding, it's my first year having my own. Pretty modest start, with a single 4'x8' raised bed, then again, I don't have a ton of estate on my small suburban lot. What I grew in there: two red tomato plants, three cherry tomato plants, one Italian, three cucumber plants, a few green beans, some shallots. Got a nice steady harvest of cucumber starting in mid-summer. Got plenty of tomatoes from all plants, but season was late for everything and still have lots of green ones on there, but they are plump and large. Have started to eat some a few weeks ago. Had our first frost a couple of days ago, but I cover with a tarp whenever there is a nightly threat. September weather has been really nice so far though, maybe not ideal for kick-starting the ripening process, but it's starting to get a bit crappier now, maybe things will progress a bit faster. I may have 50-60% of my crop still on the plants. I was lucky and did not get any significant pest or disease and I did nothing to prevent it really. For next season, I plan on having two more raised beds of same dimension as well as growing a few plants in large containers/buckets. I learned I should space tomato plants more than 12" apart, as I was told by someone who gave me seedlings. I should also figure out the support scheme before I need it. Same for cucumbers....See MoreNationwide phone-in discussion on lessons learned dealing with Covid
Comments (4)Sooo who listened? Is COVID 'over'. It is a virus that will always be with us. Here all mask mandates including health care facilities has officially ended. No schools are testing or enforcing precautions any different than the flu or bad cold. If you feel sick stay home. If you have a fever stay home. As with all other health concerns it is and will continue to be up to each person to decide how they will live....See Moremudworm
11 years agoDonaleen Kohn
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