As I’ve been working on my Norse kit over the years and trying to flesh out the details, I’ve learned about Nålbinding.
Nålbinding is a way to make stretchable fabric that predates knitting or crochet. The Norse used Nålbinding to make hats, mittens, and socks.
Continue reading “Another hobby (as if I didn’t have enough already)”My wife has had a veggie garden for the past ten years in two houses. It always struck me as too much work for too little harvest. Add in the fact that the garden plants are annuals and I think our garden costs more per pound than a trip to Whole Foods.
I want perennial plants to feed me so I only have to buy them once. And I would like them to be native, or at least well-enough acclimated to the mid-Atlantic region where I live so the plants can tend to themselves.
Reaching back to my childhood, my immigrant grandfather had a fig tree in his yard. I always thought it was purely decorative as I never saw any fruit on it. I found out long after the death of both my mom’s parents that my grandfather was eating the figs as soon as they became ripe. His tree was barely cold tolerant enough for where he lived. I know that figs have been bred to be cold tolerant enough to survive winters in Chicago.
For Father’s Day in 2020, my family gave me a baby fig tree. It yielded its first fruits in 2021. In late summer 2022, I noticed a plant sprouting at the edge of our yard with distinct human hand shaped leaves. Some bird or squirrel planted a second fig tree for me. In spring 2024, there is a fruit growing on it. Hopefully the fruit is good.
I love the idea of foraging for food. Ever since my friends and I used to gorge ourselves on blackberries & raspberries in the woods as kids.
And there’s a little bit of woods behind my house.
This weekend my wife went to an event to collect seeds from native plants and she came home with some Paw Paw seeds.
If you’ve never heard of it, the paw paw is the largest fruit native to North America. I’ve heard of them, held them, but never tasted them.
So I planted 13 paw paw seeds in the woods behind my house.
Hopefully some of the seeds germinate and survive long enough to grow fruit.
I learned after I planted them that I’m going to have to wait five to ten years before they yield fruit.
When I bought this trailer almost three years ago, I was amazed by how few good tie down points there were (just four). After an unfortunate accident on I-295 over a decade ago, I have an obsession with securing my cargo.
Continue reading “Adding tie downs to the utility trailer.”
Back in the days when I maintained foreclosed homes, I saw these installed in basements all over Philly. They never had the outer can, just the grinders, so I left them there. I finally broke down and bought one, and couldn’t possibly be happier.
Continue reading “Sometimes it’s the little things”Last year I bought a utility trailer. Mostly because I was tired of putting Yurt bits on the roof of the Excursion. But also because I knew I was going to need to haul things I didn’t want inside my baby.
Today, I needed to hail a cubic yard of gravel, but the open sided utility trailer was just the wrong tool for the job.
Birthday present for the wife this year is a space for working and sitting and storing tools and materials for the veggie garden. *
It’s a wee space, but it has room for all the bits & bobs she keeps in the garden.
In addition to storage, she has a bit of a work space and a place to sit so she can commune with her plants.
Continue reading “Garden Storage & Workspace (Phase 1)”In which I attempt to correct the poor decisions made 50 years ago by the lowest bidding electrician; five years ago by a corner cutting house flipper; and ease the unease of a 9-year-old boy; all with an overly complicated hardware and software solution.
Continue reading “Re-lamping the upstairs hallway.”Four years in this house and the plan for the vegetable garden is finalized. (I think. The wife might not be settled yet.)
Five raised beds surrounding a garden shed / work space. But now we outgrew the irrigation system that I threw together when we were prepping to be out of town for two weeks and she didn’t want the garden to die.
I’m a gas utility worker by trade, so I’m used to working with valves and fittings, but water isn’t something I deal with on a regular basis.
Modern Anachronist 