Author Archives: Slocum's Creak

  We currently have 39 Bell Pepper sprouts with more to come.   Below is a tricodileadian pepper sprout, rare, though not unheard of. This is my first in more than 50 years of growing plants. From Kitchen to Garden: Growing Bell Peppers from Store-Bought peppers!   Ever chopped open a beautiful bell pepper andContinue reading “Growing bell peppers from store-bought peppers.”

  The boys and I are starting work on the other house.   The other house is at least twice the size of the tiny house we are in now, the boys are old enough that they need thier own rooms.   Where we are headed needs a lot of work and a great dealContinue reading “New beginnings!”

It’s a universal, stomach-dropping moment: you realize a joke didn’t land, a comment was misconstrued, or you completely forgot an important detail about someone’s life, or worse still you don’tacknowledge someone in a way they felt was appropriate.   Suddenly, you’re the “villain” in a story you didn’t even know was being written.   TheContinue reading “When you mess up, own it.”

Rooting for the Planet: How to Make Your Own Biodegradable Flower Pots   I’ve been experimenting with ways of making pots for starting plants in for awhile now.   The one above is made from waste paper and is similar to one’s I’ve made in the past, except those were round. I have considered puttingContinue reading “Homemade flower pots”

Growing your own Red Globe grapes from seed is a rewarding project for any patient gardener. While most commercial grapes are grown from cuttings to ensure exact clones, starting from seed is a fun way to experiment and see a plant’s entire life cycle. ​Here is your guide to turning those supermarket seeds into aContinue reading “Growing grapes from seed.”

  I started this out think I might use Gemini to put this blog post together. AI is so fantastic and all. I uploaded my photo and let Gemni do it’s thing.   While it came up with what looked like an impressive report, it was unusable with lots of ten dollar words that, whileContinue reading “Micro greenhouse from trash.”

  I watched as you placed the flowers in that old mason jar and sat them on the fireplace mantle.   Still full in bloom and color, they held thier heads high as long as they could.   But they, like I, came to realize, the hand that placed them there would never return.  Continue reading “Never more”

How to Grow Your Own Forest (Starting Today!) ​There is a unique kind of magic in holding an acorn or a walnut in the palm of your hand. It feels insignificant—just squirrel food, really. But locked inside that hard shell is the genetic blueprint for an organism that could live for centuries, grow wider thanContinue reading “From tiny nut to mighty tree.”

  A while back, I caught a metal bar to the face. I hit me in the mouth, broke a cap, and drove several of my lower teeth through the area just below the lip. To say it hurt would be a massive understatement, at best.   This was about 4 weeks ago, I’ve beenContinue reading “When life gets hard.”

A Comprehensive Guide to Your Starter ​If you’ve been captivated by the tangy, airy loaves of sourdough bread, it all begins with one essential ingredient: the sourdough starter. This isn’t just a mix of flour and water; it’s a living, breathing colony of wild yeast and bacteria that gives sourdough its distinctive flavor and rise.Continue reading “The magic of sourdough.”