GardenFork Radio

What is a colonoscopy? how does a colonoscopy work? What's it like and why you should have one today on GardenFork Radio. Rick, Mike, and Eric talk about their colonoscopy experiences and how its not that big of a deal.

Tyler joins us to talk about building tornado safe room or tornado shelter, his sister built a tornado safe room in the floor of her garage, and safe rooms were discussed at ChaserCon. Safe rooms can be pre-fab or built on site out of concrete or steel or a combination of rebar, cement, and cinderblocks. Storm Chasing comes next, is storm chasing really like how it looks on the cable shows? Tyler talks about what its like to chase storms and the science behind what causes tornadoes, how to tornadoes form? Car repair comes next, Tyler is having some car repair issues with his Jeep, we talk about what a crankshaft is, a harmonic balancer, and flywheel do. We talk about beekeeping and Tyler's beginning beekeeping experiences, Eric and Tyler agree that using medium supers, not the large deeps, are the best way to keep bees. Siting your bees is an issue, as you have to keep in mind how you are going to get to your honeybees in winter and summer, you can't always just drive your truck right up to them, think about where they are going to live. If you want to listen to our Beekeeping for Beginners Questions & Answers shows, click here. Car and Truck safety on the highway rounds out the show, a viewer mail asks out loud what will driving be like in 20 years? photo by cohdra

more on road rage and walking away from it. pinball history, mike talks about the influence on pinball by Steve Kordek, Eric reads from Mr Kordek's obituary in the NY Times http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/24/business/steve-kordek-innovator-of-pinball-game-dies-at-100.html mike shreds his paperwork and sets off the alarm at work and eric used to have long hair and a mowhawk, photos of which are out there. more on using baking soda to wash your hair and using hydrogen peroxide, baking soda, water, and  few drops of dishwashing soap to get rid of the funky smell of labrador fur eric has disconnected the camera and microphone on his computer viewer mail and itunes reviews. eric reacts to a cranky comment by someone who does not like dogs iTunes review: " if you're looking for a tightly structured podcast, GardenFork is not for you. " eric has started to post things on Pinterest.com, its a great way of sharing pictures and ideas from people's websites. Gardenfork's page on Pinterest is here: http://pinterest.com/gardenforktv/ Mike goes on cooking: mike tells how to make pizza at home using a super easy way with a large flat pita that you can keep in the freezer. Mike uses spaghetti sauce, olive oil, cheese and vegetables. Eric talks about things he is doing to lose weight, talking about posting his weight each day publicly would help to keep one focused. Mike and Eric talk about the diplomacy and social etiquette of asking a friend to fix your computer. its summed up by: "No, I will not fix your computer" photo by mconnors Finally, Eric likes the word ' somnolent '

Eric talks with Bill of Maple Knoll Farm about tapping Maple Trees for sap, making maple syrup, and how this warm winter is affecting the maple syrup season. Bill can be seen in our GF Video Make Maple Syrup here. Bill has about 150 trees tapped, using metal buckets. He and his family collect the maple sap, and boil it down in the evaporator in the family sugar shack. This warm winter weather has thrown a wrench in the usual maple syrup making process. Sap runs in sugar maple trees when the nights are cold and the days are warm. This year we've had just warm weather for the most part. In the sugar shack, Bill and his family fire up the evaporator and boil down the sugar maple sap to syrup. Its very cool process to watch. There are several maple syrup operations in our town, and we visited another one recently and made this how to make maple syrup video there. Each sugar shack is different, reflecting the interior design sense of each sap house owner. Some additional maple syrup posts on Gardenfork: How to make Maple Syrup at Bill's Sugar Shack How to tap sugar maple trees How to make maple syrup at the Norfolk sugar shack Summer Salad with Maple Blue Cheese   photo by earl53    

Wondering how to get  job in this economy? You've just been downsized, and you're thinking to yourself, how do look for a job? How do I market myself? I met Rich Gee, executive and business coach, at a great diner for breakfast, and after we had eggs, hash, toast and coffee, we recorded an impromptu GF Radio show about how to look for a job. Rich gives some great suggestions on marketing yourself and how to talk about yourself in the present, not 'what you used to do'. The diner we met at, The Laurel Diner in Southbury, CT is neat. Michael Stern of RoadFood.com says: A vintage diner with terrific corned beef hash and even more terrific hash brown potatoes. Dine at the counter and watch the cooks juggle a dozen orders as breakfast perfume fills the air. When Rich and I sat down, I knew I was in a New England diner, as kielbalsa was on the  menu. I had the hash special and it was good.

Mike tells us how to buy used truck, buying a used car or truck can be an un-fun experience, Mike talks about how to avoid the pitfalls. Frozen or stuck brake calipers are discussed, what causes a frozen brake caliper? how to fix a broken brake caliper and how disc brakes work are covered. Haybox cookers are next on GF Radio, what is a Haybox Cooker? Listen as eric describes how a haybox cooker is constructed and how it works. The history of these cookers is interesting, and we found several neat blogs while researching this thing. We found a great self sufficiency blog, Growing Things and Making Things, that talks about the haybox cooker Also on that blog was  post about using only water to wash your hair, and Sarah tells us how to wash your hair using only baking soda. [ i can attest that Sarah's hair looks great ] Yet another viewer has discovered our No Knead Bread video and No Knead Bread recipe adapted from Jim Lehman, and the viewer has some suggestions: "Now, you ought to do a video on ALL the possibilities available for the Sullivan Bread.  I do a garlic/onion, onion, onion and Italian seasonings, garlic and Mediterranean seasonings, sun-dried tomato and black olive, and pepperoni and cheese besides the standard recipe. My wife wants me to try a roasted red pepper (chopped) with garlic, onion and Italian or Greek seasonings.  My son is after me to try a bacon/onion and sharp cheddar cheese one. At first I had doubts if ANY of the "flavored" Sullivan breads would turn out, but they did and BETTER than the expensive bakery Artisans.  Of course almost all the add-ins are dried or not refrigerated and added with the base ingredients and let rise over night.  The cheese is added just prior to the two hour "rise". " We then move onto to Steven, of Tiny House Listings' photos and plan for brick pizza oven that uses no mortar or rails, you can see the photos here Love to get recipes and photos from you all.  

How to start seeds using a heated seedling mat starts the show, using plastic sheeting to build a hoop house within a greenhouse, and using a heating cable buried in the ground starts GF Radio this week. You can watch our seed starting videos here. Eric has a healthy respect for electricity, and despite Eric reminding everyone to change the batteries in the smoke alarms, he forgets himself. You should change your smoke alarm batteries every 6 months. You can use the calendar in your computer to email yourself reminders to do these things, like flip your mattress, clean your fridge coils, etc. The buildup of dust in your computer starts us on a tangent talking about how to clean your computer, Mike gives some computer cleaning suggestions. Keeping your computer on your desktop instead of on the floor will keep the insides of the computer cleaner. USB powered outlets are new on the market, and for home offices this might be a good idea. Eric wonders how much vampire power is used by these USB outlets, and you need a deep outlet box to accommodate these USB outlets. Valentines day comes up, and mike wants to know why can't he be romanced. Having Valentines Day at home is a theme at GardenFork. If you don't have enough time, stop watching TV is a quote from this Holstee.com Manifesto poster that Eric likes. "This is our life, do what you love, and do it often" The website redesign comes next, be prepared for more changes as we redesign the site. Mike is going to buy a used Ford F150, and Eric gives tips on buying a used car or truck.

'Being pregnant, that will knock you out' is how Eric describes pregnancy. Hamburgers with eggs and peanut butter is on Mike's to do list at his favorite pancake place. Mike is enjoying his Zombie Bait shirt. Rick updates us on his DIY aquaculture and hyrdroponics project. Aquaculture is like organic gardening in a closed system using fish and the waste water from the fish feeding the plants, and the filtered water is then returned back to the fish tank.  If you already have a goldfish pond, you are that much closer to having an aquaculutre system. What kind of fish to use, what is the difference between hyrdoponics and aquaculture, and how you can build an inexpensive hydroponics system using 5 gallon buckets and PVC pipe.  Mike's friend Eric has a site about aquaponics here. Rick made a video about basic Dutch Bucket hydroponics system here Here is a simple hydroponic setup you can buy The advantage of the dutch bucket system is that the PVC pipe runs underneath the bucket to allow easy drainage. Eric and Rick both cite Eliot Coleman's Book Four-Season Harvest: Organic Vegetables from Your Home Garden All Year Long Rick talks about the GardenFork Radio interview with Deek Diedricksen, author of Humble Homes, Simple Shacks, Cozy Cottages, Ramshackle Retreats, Funky Forts . Rick talks bout several of the projects, Deek is a brilliant designer. Following up on the Simple Backyard Pizza Oven, viewers have sent in photos of their Brick Pizza Ovens, and one viewer has made Simple Bread Oven, see the photos here. With viewer mail come discussion the video of How to cook a great steak, and propane torches. More on winter beekeeping, Eric and Rick discuss the warm weather and winter feeding of honeybees.

Sarah joins Eric and Mike to talk about minimal living and how families can reduce their clutter. Sarah addresses how families can reduce their amount of stuff and be minimalist too. Eric thanks Make Magazine for putting the new pizza oven video on their site and Mike talks about the joy of driving through flat land.

Tiny House Designer Deek Diedricksen joins Sarah and Eric to talk about how to build a tiny house of your own, how to use recycled materials in your tiny house, and how he published his book of Tiny House Designs,Humble Homes, Simple Shacks, Cozy Cottages, Ramshackle Retreats, Funky Forts Deek and Eric talk about green building techniques, aka 'Curbside Culling' and how you can build a house with stuff your neighbors throw out. Eric's Plywood Boat video is based on Deek's design for a plywood boat he did for Make Magazine and on today's show a discussion of how to build a boat from one sheet of plywood with zero skills, and how one can modify the plywood boat that we built on GardenFork. Deek will be teaching at several Tumbleweed Tiny House Workshops in Miami and perhaps Boston. Treehouse plans and how to attach a treehouse to a tree comes up next, Deek tells us a few different ways to secure a treehouse up in a tree, using recycled materials, of course. Plans for a tree house workshop are in a the works, and a tiny house houseboat is in the nascent stages. Deek's advice for how high to build a treehouse is not build it too high in the tree, and hardwood trees are better to secure tree houses to. Overbuild your tree house while keeping the weigh to a minimum is the mantra. We name drop with Deek, talking about Andrew Odom, tiny house building and blogger, who was on this GF Radio episode, you can check out Andrew's site here, and Eric talked about Gennaro Brooks-Church, green building contractor who talked about green building techniques in this episode of GardenFork.TV The dilemma of curbside culling is next, what to do with all the recycled materials one picks up? Deek says to go ahead and build stuff with them. We do a book review of Deek's book here, take a look at some of the drawings inside Deek's Tiny House book.

We talk about the Simple Backyard Brick Oven Plans and Video. The pizza oven construction is discussed, and how to source angle iron using freecycle techniques. Placement of the wood fire within the Brick Oven and the difference between our simple brick oven and those pizza ovens in a restaurant fill out the conversation. Its the perfect brick oven for a pizza party. Mike talks about the ritual of building the oven is akin to BBQ, the ritual of doing it. Having your friends help build the pizza oven when they come over to eat would be fun. How to cut Durock, a cement backer board used in the Brick Pizza Oven is best scored with a utility knife. What kind of dough recipe to use in the pizza oven comes up. Eric used this pizza dough recipe and found it to be good. Mike asks if people remember a mimeograph machine, and dates himself immediately, and talks about fishing in winter. Monica joins us to talk about what Eric should make with what he has in his fridge, the consensus seems to be Mexican Casserole. We also talk about Monica's trip to Los Angeles. The 7 bone roast mystifies Eric, and Monica suggests visiting your local butcher who knows about meat. Stew meat, what kind to use, and how Monica and Mike make it is discussed, use what you got seems to be the theme here. Mike has a great suggestion to save food from catering platters, put them in the freezer and use them to make stews. GardenFork Radio is now available on Stitcher Radio

Matt joins Eric to answer Beekeeping for Beginners questions on this show. What equipment to buy, how to buy honeybees, where to put beehives in your yard, what kind of beekeeping suit to buy all answered here. what kind of beekeeping suit and beekeeping veil is good? what kind of frames should i use in the beehive, are plastic frames better than wood frames? wax foundation versus plastic foundation should i use plastic or wax foundation on the frames of the beehive? eric talks about the benefits of wax foundation and plastic foundation and frames Eric suggests 2  beekeeping for beginners books, Beekeeping for Dummies and the Backyard Beekeeper do you paint the outside of the beehive? yes, we use latex paint. should i buy 8 frame supers or 10 frame supers? matt and eric talk about the benefits of 8 frame boxes and 10 frame boxes what kind of beekeeping tools should i buy? eric suggests bringing duct tape, scissors, entrance reducer, smoker, woodchips, matches, 2 or 3 hive tools, a frame grabbing tool, needle nose pliers and more. what kind of hive stand should my beehive rest on? cinder block, wood, metal stands are talked about, eric suggests having a work table next to your hives. we talk about benefits of top bar hives vs. langstroth hives, and the drawbacks of top bar hives and langstroth beehives. should you buy a bee package or a honeybee nuc? eric talks about the advantages of honeybee packages , the pros and cons of bee packages, and the benefits of being a nuc or nucleus hive to start a beehive. eric advocates buying local honeybees and queens, either packages or nucs, the closer you can buy your bees the better. www.whiteoakapiary.com in Brewster, NY and www.warmcolorsapiary.com in Greenfield, MA is where eric buys queens and honeybees. should you feed honeybees in winter and how do i feed my bees over the winter? eric talks about how to feed bees in winter. you can watch our Beekeeping for Beginners video series here, and several videos are about feeding bees in winter. Eric uses a hand immersion blender to mix this sugar feed solution, and adds this homemade essential oil recipe for bees to the sugar The essential oil mixture is great for spraying the bees to combat nosema and bee diarrhea. winterizing beehives is discussed, here is eric's beehive insulated inner cover video, Eric feeds sugar cakes to the bees in winter, not fondant or sugar syrup. Should you close or open a screened bottom board? Matt and Eric discuss Mudsongs.org is a favorite beekeeping blog of eric's. Phillip documents his beekeeping in Newfoundland Canada. where to site your hives in your yard, where should you put the hives, what is the best location for beehives? eric has learned that full sun is best, he talks more about it during this radio episode. should I take a beekeeping class? eric says yes. and join your local beekeeping group. search on the web for your state's beekeeping association, and that site should list local beekeeping groups. Megan of BrooklynHomesteader.com offers online beekeeping classes, and in-person classes as well.

Eric and Mike talk about car repair and how to save money by (safely) avoiding potholes, as hitting potholes can have an impact on bearings that is pricey to fix. Rick asks us to consider celebrating New Years on Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) so you can have a party and still get to bed at a decent hour. The unseasonably warm weather brings up concerns about bears coming out of hibernations and affected jobs including its impact on the sugaring season (also known as sap season) for maple syrup and landscapers. Eric discusses how active the bees are due to the warm temperatures and how to feed your hives to get them through the winter. Discussion about this also took place on the Backwards Beekeepers of New York CIty Facebook page.  Mike and Eric hear from a number of viewers writing or calling in on a variety of topics including: making virtual (such as in Evernote) versus  pen and paper lists, shopping at Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore in your area, the color a proper pickle should be, and beginner mushroom growing tips. Mike shares his favorite highlights from GardenFork’s Labrador Retriever New Years video show. Oh, and follow Mike on Twitter! @GFR_Mike   photo by click

Eric and Mike start off their new years day show with Chris Brogan and his 3 words for 2012, Eric suggests not going to Times Square for New Years Eve, you probably wont like it, its very crowded. Fireplace safety comes up next, Eric suggests everyone have glass doors or a wire screen over their wood burning fireplaces. Smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors have an effective life of 8-10 years, according to FEMA, and don't cheap out when buying new ones, you get what you pay for. Its also important to follow the installation instructions you get with the detectors, smoke detector placement is very important. Eric tells of his visit to a green home supplier that sells kitchen cabinets from deconstructed renovations. One of the projects will involve creating an opening between two rooms by cutting an opening a load bearing wall, which will be a future GardenFork video. Sauerkraut fermentation times are discussed again, with more comments on Eric's How to make sauerkraut video. Eric knows that yes, he did not let the cabbage ferment long enough. Viewer mail takes up a lot of the show. Eric talks about how to grow mushrooms and inoculate wood plugs with mushroom spore, and inoculating logs with mushroom plugs and spore. All about mushroom spawn. Rick will be back on the show to talk about aquaponics and aquaculture , and Eric of chicago writes us about his tires being cupped. Eric still plans on having breakfast with executive coach Rich Gee, and Radio Rick thinks it was the best interview we've done. Eric talks about building his portable wood fired pizza oven, which will be a how-to pizza oven video for the show.

The Human Potential in all of us, eric calls it, and we talk about it again today on GF Radio. Steve Jobs talking about how we are all capable of all sorts of stuff, from this YouTube video. From Monica we learned about the website, The99percent.com, and talk about how to find your work sweet spot, by focusing on doing what you like with genuine interest and skills. Kinda like do what you love, the money will follow but with a dose of reality kicked in. And from the same site, Mike and Eric talk about email etiquette, and how most emails can be negative and how to write emails that wont be taken the wrong way. Eric decides emoticons are ok to use, as emails can always be read the wrong way. Make way for more smiley faces from Eric now. Kickstarter, and how to run your own kickstarter campaign is our next topic. Eric suggests a free PDF book, The Kickstarter's Guide to Kickstarter, by Nelson de Witt, as a great place to start learning about running a successful Kickstarter campaign. Planning is very important when deciding to have a Kickstarter campaign, so we have decided to wait a bit to start the GardenFork Kickstarter campaign. Stay tuned for news in February. Mike's Pinball Machine blog is http://shoppedmachine.blogspot.com/ Steve Job's quote from PBS show: When you grow up you tend to get told that the world is the way it is. And your life is just to live your life inside the world Try not to bash into the walls too much Try to have a nice family life, have fun, save a little money That's a very limited life Life can be much broader once you discover one simple fact And that is that everything around you that you call life Was made up by people who were no smarter than you And you can change it, you can influence it, You can build your own things that other people can use Once you learn that, you'll never be the same again.   photo by Mantasmagorical