A Warning About Straw

...rmaculturalist David Kahn. It’s tempting to pick up bales that stores have used after Halloween, but make sure they weren’t treated with fire retardant. Fire retardant has some nasty chemicals in it you don’t want in your garden. When in doubt, just go to the feed store–straw it ain’t expensive! Addendum 10/27/09: Reader Polyparadigm raised another potential issue with using straw in your garden or compost pile: halogenated pesticide/herbacide res...

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Stencils as Garden Art

...l “edge” that Mark Lakeman of Portland City Repair talks about. So let’s make some stencils! Here’s how I do it: Image processing First step is to find a suitable image. This tutorial shows you how to use Photoshop to make your stencil. Materials and tools I used acetate, but it’s expensive. Bruce used old manilla folders. A cheaper alternative is freezer paper. I cut my stencil using an exacto knife. Painting First I spray the surface I’m stencil...

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A Primitive Bow Workshop

...ows. The first step was to find some suitable wood. We used willow, a wood used by Native Americans in our region. It’s plentiful and makes an acceptable if short lived bow. Ash and oak and bay trees are local woods which are better for the purpose, but our goal for the day was a quick and dirty bow. These bows aren’t bowyers’ masterpieces. They are survival tools, and their effectiveness is not about their long-range accuracy, but on the skills o...

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Failed Experiment: Bermuda Buttercup or Sour Grass (Oxalis pes-caprae) as Dye

...l recall, is just enough to “cover” the herbs. For the record, I believe I used 3 tsp of both alum and cream of tartar in the first round, for t-shirt #1, then added 3 tsp of iron for round 2. But how much water I used, I have no idea. T-shirt #2 went in and I let it stew forever. The water took on a nice green color, but the shirt couldn’t even pick up the pale tint that shirt #1 had acquired. It was like the dye had actually become weaker. I fin...

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Cutting Dovetail Joints With a Router Jig

...lf-blind dovetails: Image: Wikipedia. Since I’m working on faced drawers I used through dovetails. I hope to make some furniture soon that will make use of half blind dovetails. To cut my dovetails I used a router and jig both made by Porter Cable. There are some other jigs on the market that work just as well but, judging from the reviews, I’d avoid the cheap models. Setting up a dovetail jig is a time intensive process and somewhat confusing in...

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