ecosophia | Frugal Friday

Welcome back to Frugal Friday! This is a weekly forum post to encourage people to share tips on saving money, especially but not only by doing stuff yourself. A new post will be going up every Friday, and will remain active until the next one goes up. Contributions will be moderated, of course, and I have some simple rules to offer, which may change further as we proceed.

Rule #1:  this is a place for polite, friendly conversations about how to save money in difficult times. It's not a place to post news, views, rants, or emotional outbursts about the reasons why the times are difficult and saving money is necessary. Nor is it a place to use a money saving tip to smuggle in news, views, etc. I have a delete button and I'm not afraid to use it.

Rule #2:  this is not a place for you to sell goods or services, period. Here again, I have a delete button and I'm not afraid to use it.

Rule #3:  please give your tip a heading that explains briefly what it's about.  Homemade Chicken Soup, Garden Containers, Cheap Attic Insulation, and Vinegar Cleans Windows are good examples of headings. That way people can find the things that are relevant for them. If you don't put a heading on your tip it will be deleted.

Rule #4: don't post anything that would amount to advocating criminal activity. Any such suggestions will not be put through.

Rule #5: don't post LLM ("AI") generated content, and don't bring up the subject unless you're running a homemade LLM program on your own homebuilt, steam-powered server farm.

With that said, have at it!

Current Mood: contemplative
Current Music: W.A. Mozart, "Bastien und Bastienne"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From: (Anonymous)

I'm chipping away at energy-efficiency projects on my circa 1925 childhood home, which I just moved back into a couple years ago, and I've just about exhausted the low-hanging fruit. I would love any tips folks have for insulating the old wooden double-hung windows with cavities on both sides for the sash weights.

Aside from caulking spaces around the trim, putting up storms in the winter months, or hanging heavy curtains in the winter is there anything I can do to cut down on heat escaping through them? Everyone I talk to around here just tells me to replace them, but I love the look and operation of the original windows and HATE vinyl and would hate to see the original materials in my 98-year-old house go to waste.

Are there any retrofits folks have done? Can you replace the panes with that gas-filled glass advertised by the window manufacturers.

From: (Anonymous)

There's a builder on YouTube who advocates restoring old windows. His name is Brent Hull (https://www.youtube.com/@BrentHull). He also sells newly-built windows, if you have a lot of money to spend (https://100yearwindow.com/).

Here's some of his videos on actually restoring windows (https://www.youtube.com/@BrentHull/search?query=restore%20windows); I don't remember which of them I've watched so can't recommend any specific ones to check out.

From:

teresa_from_hershey

You'll have to embrace the power of "and."

That is, you need to reputty and apply glaziers' points to ALL the panes of glass, you need to caulk the trim thoroughly, you need storm windows (make sure they're trued up and correctly closed!), AND you need heavy, insulated drapes and layered window treatments that you faithfully open and close with the sun.

When you set up your window treatments, remember your stackback.
Stackback is the draperies in the closed position. All that fabric occupies a lot of space. The goal is to have your drapes mounted so that the stackback, when the drapes are fully open, just covers the merest edge of the window's glass. Thus, the stackback fully covers the sills and extends over and onto the wall. This is extra insulation, whether the drapes are open or closed.

There are no good solutions to insulating windows because they are holes in the wall. That's why they're measured in U-values, not R-values. If you saw the R-value of a window, even a fancy, triple-pane glass one, you'd be horrified.

Don't rip out your old windows. You can repair them, reglaze them, repaint them, and they'll last the length of your house.

One of the dirty secrets of the replacement window industry is that replacement windows MUST BE REPLACED after 20 years or so! The seals between the double-pane glass fail. They always fail. And then you're back to leaky, single-pane glass.

Stick with new glaziers' points, new putty, caulking, storm windows, and heavy, insulated, floor-to-ceiling drapes.

From: (Anonymous)

When you have operable windows, you can get new glass even for the double pane ones by taking the whole sash out and bringing it down to the window store, they are able to replace the pane of double pane glass and reglaze. They dont use the old fashioned points and putty, but it is still doable. I should say you can do this for SOME windows ! My son just bought a house and he has failed seals on many windows and no money to do anything about it, and when I looked, for his particular windows, I cannot see a way to replace the glass assembly ! His are narrow framed aluminum. I had a glass assembly replaced for a window in my studio room, so this is not like my house windows, it is not double hung, it is a casement( that winding handle type) But the key may be that it is a WOOD window ( metal clad on the outside). SO they could take off the inner wood trim against the glass and then put a new little trim wood on after the new double pane glass was in. It was very reasonably priced too. My other windows here are 27 years old, no sign of failure yet, but they were higher end, so it is that or I am lucky or both. I think the vinyl windows are not a long lsting window for lots of reason. ANd, when they get too hot when a fire is close, the vinyl melts and the glass falls out and the flames enter the house. The wood windows do much better. I do have to say, double pane glass is a tremendous help in the heat from fires. ANd it is not just what "they" say, I have seen it in practice in this area, the heat cracks the glass, so single oane windows now the fire is inside, while double pane they outer pane cracks and the inner pane keeps the fire out ( so this is why my house is still standing) I mean if it is catastrophic then nothing will help, but in general, non vinyl, double pane windows are one inportant piece of fore safety. ( and they can still install vinyl and be up to code as "they" are wrog in that and likely bought off by window interests ! They melt. You would be better off with nice sturday 100year old wooden windows. Better yet, reglaze those vintage wooden windows with a dual pane assembly. )

Atmospheric RIver

From: (Anonymous)

I have seen handmade dual pane wooden windows (as opposed wooden windows with premade dual-glass panes installed). It is certainly doable.

Caldathras

From:

teresa_from_hershey

Ack! I meant OPEN position! That is, when the drapes are fully open, exposing the window and the view. That heap of drapes on each side of the window is the stackback.

From:

mistyfriday

Window valances and window film would be my go to for keeping old windows.

The valances would need to be closed on the top. They act as a stop for natural convection and greatly reduce heat transfer. The Window film also reduces heat transfer. You can get film in variety of different colors from clear to near black and patterns like rice paper to stained glass designs. If you're also interested in reducing heat gain in the summer then a reflective tint is you're best bet.

From: (Anonymous)

A cheap and pretty easy DIY project is called a "winsert." Think of it as an internal storm window. It's a light wood frame covered on both sides in a light plastic film that can be tightened up like a drum with a hair dryer, and lined on the outside edge with adhesive foam. I made these for most windows in my house, and they really do keep things warmer.

They're not elegant, and you'll need to remove and store them come spring, but they are a very big bang for your buck.

*Ochre Harebrained Curmudgeon*

From: (Anonymous)

Studies have been done which show that the curtains and storm windows will be better insulation. BUt, that means that the curtains are sealed around the window or they create a chimney effect. SO, have a valance on top and curtains pool on the floor, for one example, or use the Warm Windows product and make roman shades that sea, etc... As far as air infiltration, caulk will work, but you are always going to have some convection loss on the sides due to the wall cavities containing the weights. There is no avoiding that to keep those. SO if you like them, keep them. In general, window sales people love to sell new windows but studies do show that the windows are not your major heat loss. SO, if you love tem, keep them, caulk, storm window and proper curtaining, and focus on the rest of the house.

I used to own a 1920's house with those type of windows, and those types of windows do have lead paint and I had children, and many panes of glass had cracks and such, so I decided to replace the operable ones, and kept the ones in the living room to keep the look. I did not replace with vinyl ! I have never installed vinyl windows. I replace the window sash, so the part that move, the glass part withe the frame around it. I used Marvin ( a major window brand) Tilt Pack product, which was made for replacements like this. The replacement sashes were wood, inside and out, but did not use the weight system, so they had rails installed on the inside of the window frame that the new sashes used to go up and down. Those rails were some type of plastic, but were very unabtrusive. You can just cut the rope for the current weights, let the weights stay in the wall cavity, make a small hole, and spray foam into the cavity. Although I did not do this, some of my cavities got regular insulation as I replaced some interior window trim to get rid of lead paint. ANd those DIY spray foam products did not exist then. Marvin discontinued the Tilt Pack replacements 4 or 5 years ago, I bought a couple 5 years ago for one room here in this house after the fire. YOu can go to a Marvin or other window sales room and ask what products can be used if you want to go that route. Or, you can have sash made, although that might be pricey, it would keep the look. In my area, the Marvin sales store also does custom millwork like that.

My current house I bought Marvin replacement windows, wood, double hung ( like your old fashioned windows) but I chose to have the outside metal clad. SO I have never had to paint the outside of the window sash and frame and they also are not flammable for embers on the outside. Inside I have never even put any product on the wood, it is just naturally aged Doug Fir for 27 years. But, you can buy them painted with a paint primer so then you can paint with your favorite color to keep the old house vibe of painted wood on the inside. I just bought one for the hallway a few months ago, the outside and inside finish matches my 27 year old ones, but they have shange the way they latch. They used to latch with a latch just like you have now in your old house, now it look the same but has a different latch that is hidden to make the air infiltration even better. The windows in the bedrooms, north side, are double pane, argon(gas) filled, low E2 coated. The new window I ordered for th main room west side is low E 1, so lets in sun heat from outside and resists losing heat from inside. All my south glass is double pane clear glass, so no coating or argon. I guess I could have done those low E 1, but I didnt think about it at that time. My roofer and skylight installer says he has seen the low E coating fail. He thinks it would be best to just use clear glass without the coatings. It is true that the coating are not enough, you need to have air sealing around the frames and have good curtaining anyways. SO, that is a good point, why pay for it when you have to do the other things anyways ? My living room skylight with low E in the summer let in so much heat, you have to move away from where the sunlight is hitting. So, low E was not worth it as I still have to physically do work to make things comfortable ( ie, I need to have shades there). I will say that the modern double hung windows, at least the MArvin ones I have experience with, are much better sealed than old windows. They way the window sashes connect together and with the rame, built in features that work better than foam insulation strips they sell at the hardware store ( but do go buy some of that for your old windows! )

Atmospheric River

From: (Anonymous)

I wasnt clear, what I installed here were not "replacement windows" in the industry sense, while I was indeed replacing my windows. They were the type you buy for new construction, all in one assemblies frame and sash with nail fins to go under siding on the outside wall. You can easily use these one existing houses that have trim on the outside of the windows, they pull off the trim so that the nail fins can be nailed on and flashing tape over the nail fins to the house underlayment (tar paper or house wrap). This type is best to use even when your house exists and you are replacing as then they wont leak, they are flashed properly into the building

atmospheric River

From: (Anonymous)

You can reglaze, replace the glass, and you most likely can do this with a double pane assembly. It is just thicker. I dont know where you live, a benefit not often talked about is that double pane glass is better if a fire gets near the house. So your neighbors house on fire, the heat will crack the glass, but most often it will just crack the outer pane and the inner pane of glass in a double pane window will hold.

Atmospheric RIver

From: (Anonymous)

Original poster here. Really appreciate all the pointers! I should have specified that I'm not opposed to recaulking, storms, and curtains - I was wondering about measures I could take in addition to those things I've already implented.

Cheers all!

From: (Anonymous)

One thing to try would be making insulating panels for your windows. Here is what we did for some of our windows : purchase bleu or pink boards of insulating foam of the thickness of your choice or that the frame can accomodate dept wise. Cut out so that they will snugly fit over the panes inside the frames, but they dont have to be pushed directly on the window panes, sew covers with some fabric that will fit over the insulation and simply place them inside the windows frame. We made two panels for our living room window that had two sections and one panel for a basement window in the room where the wood stove was located. We fitted inexpensive metal handles that where held on with bolts and washers. Well also sewed on one panel handles made of fabric. The results were very impressive no more cold drafts from the living room windows and a lot less heat loss in the basement, the room would heat up quicker and stay warm much much longer in fact instead of being at room temperature in the morning we couls feel the warmer temperature in that badement room owing to that insulating panel. We would remove them in the daytime and simply stack them in the corner of the living room and under the basements window. One could also put them in a closet etc...come late spring we would store them in our small storeroom or a closet. The curtains and blind would be placed over them during the night. The living room windows where cantilever ones and the basement window was a slider. If you do not possess the sewing skill required for the covers you could stick on shelving protectors or any other type of material or product. You could also not cover them as we did at the beginning of our projet. Do not use the white polystyrene foam, the white ones made of granules, same type as used in packages to protect their content, unless you absolutly do cover them up. For windows that are large and tall, if one insulating panel is not capable of covering the whole window it is preferable to make two or more vertical panels in stead of stacking horizontal panels. Your imagination and creativiy will be most useful in finding solutions or modifying the original concept. Oh and velcro can be very useful as well as hot glue etc...

Hope this is useful,
Sapienter si sincere

From: (Anonymous)

If you don't have a view out that window, you can apply bubble wrap to the glass. Just use water to hold it on, like a cling film.
You can even layer it for more insulation. I found this tip years ago on BuildItSolar. Do note that this will reduce heat coming in as well.

If you do like the view, interior storms are a thing. The easiest is of course the heat shrink films sold at hardware stores, but that is single use. You can do something similar with thicker plastic and Velcro tape-- but it won't heat shrink, so is more visible, and the Velcro isn't pretty. The thick plastic with Velcro tape can store for future years, while the other side of the Velcro stays on the wall. It stores easier than an actual interior storms window would.

I can see no reason not to put up bubble wrap and then Velcro plastic up over that, too. I'm not sure why I have not tried.

From: (Anonymous)

How’s your humidity? If your winter air is mostly dry, then the cheapest, fastest and snuggest is to install padded interior shutters. This will require ample room on either side of the window frame for the shutters to lie flat next to the wall when they are not in use. If you have little room on either side of the windows, you will have to use a folding shutter and slip the padding onto them every time you unfold them to shutter the window.

The shutters do not have to be solid wood, they can be the slatted louvered kind. The padding does not have to be permanently attached to the shutters. You can hang a kind of homemade pillow-pad on each shutter. It does not have to be foam rubber: you can stuff a cloth sack with light weight stuff like plastic grocery bags, produce bags, dry cleaning bags, etc. Maybe even crumpled up newspaper if that’s all you got. The shutter-padding should be just thick enough to fill the window opening.

If you use a nice fabric that matches your interior décor, you can leave the padded shutters open during the day and only close them at night or whenever the weather is especially cold in the day.

If your humidity is high in winter, you will probably want to make two sets of pillows to alternate so one set can dry out when the other is in use—this to prevent mold from starting up between the pillows and the glass. Or maybe two sets of waxed canvas slipcovers without padding would work. Just remember to flip the covers every other day so the damp side comes back into the room to dry and the driest side always sits next to the window.

If shutters do not suit, you could use one of those spring-loaded rolling shades or a less techy Roman shade and clothespin a large piece of bubble wrap on the side that faces the window glass. This, plus curtains and a valence could slow down heat loss pretty well.

From:

teresa_from_hershey

Just a reminder that now is the time to stash a pair of crutches and an arm sling in your bathroom home medical supplies. They're easy to find and you can easily get lucky with crutches and walkers at the thrift shop.

Why?

Because when you sprain your ankle, you need a pair of crutches RIGHT NOW.
We had this happen some years back. Dear Daughter sprained her ankle but good and couldn't walk.
Did we have crutches on hand? We did not.
I raced across the street to the drug store and to my great joy, our neighbor was stopped at the traffic light and asked me what I was doing.

She lent me the crutches they had stashed in their attic from their daughter's sprained ankle.

Later, after we returned the no-longer-needed borrowed crutches, I redeemed various coupons and got a heavily discounted set of adjustable ones. They're in the closet now. I've got a sling, too, and other braces and support garments.

There are all kinds of things that when you need one, you need it RIGHT NOW.

What would you recommend?

From: (Anonymous)

Theresa,
You are so right about crutches and arm slings. Another good thing to have on hand are Hydrocolloid Bandages. These are bandages that you can use on burns and blisters so that they will not get infected. I prefer these to antibiotic ointments. And of course bandages, gauze, and Bandaids.
Jean

From:

mistyfriday

The boot is another convalescent item that is good to have around. I also keep ace bandages, compression socks, and a variety of wrist braces.

The other big one for me is sterile gauze, providone-iodine, and medipore tape. They allow you to make any size sterile dressing. If you're extra accident prone it's also a good idea to have medical adhesive remover.

From: (Anonymous)

On the medical supply theme, a walker and a folding wheelchair might be a good idea. We've been given old walkers and we have them stashed in the basement for when one is needed - they fold flat so they can be stored against a wall. I've seen wheelchairs in thrift stores but haven't bought one yet; I need to get on this.

From: (Anonymous)

This is good advice. Partner is very tall so the day he needed them, we had to drive multiple places to find the tall people crutches. We obviously stashed those in the basement but you are correct, we do not have normal sized crutches in the house for the rest of us in case of emergencies.

I did learn our local church has a community lending library of crutches, wheelchairs and those scooters for people with leg issues, church membership not required.

From: (Anonymous)

If you don't have a bicycle with a cargo shelf on the back wheel, I highly recommend. I had a car out of commission and my bike helped me ride to a parts store and bring back a new battery without needing to spend money on a rideshare or get a tow. Make sure to get a pair of sturdy reusable grocery bags and a pair of small bungee cords with hooks that can wrap around the seat as well. If you can find saddle bags that fit your bike for cheap they may be an option, but I find them very expensive vs a sturdy cotton or canvas bag over each handlebar. Plastic single use store bags and bicycles do not get along I've found - they're too cheaply made.

From:

robertmathiesen

Double-hung windows have a distinct advantage over all other designs in places where it gets really hot in the summer. If you open both the top and the bottom sash about 1/3 of the way down or up in the morning, then hot indoor air flows out through the open top sash and draws cooler outdoor air in through the open bottom sash. As the day heats up, you eventually close both sashes. This, at least, is how we did it in the 1940s in Pleasantville, NY, when I was a small boy. (On the hottest nights we slept on cots in the basement, which was the coolest part of the house.)

We had full-size window screens for the summer and full-size storm windows for the winter, and went up on a tall ladder twice a year to exchange the one for the other on the second floor windows. (A shorter ladder worked for the first floor windows.) The full-sized screens and storm windows hooked on to the house at the top, and were fastened from the inside at the bottom. My job was to hook the bottom hooks from the inside once the new screen or storm window was in place.

None of this double-sash air exchange worked once combination screen and glass assemblies were permanently mounted on the outside of houses. What a loss! But by that time we had returned to my parents' ancestral home in Berkeley, CA, where the climate was much easier to take (way back then).

From: (Anonymous)

All my windows I installed in my house are double hung, wood windows. You can still buy these. You can get a good convection current with them at night, outside air being lets say 65'F and inside air being 85'F. Some of my rooms have operable skylights which make an even better convection current. But, I do love double hung windows. Mine of course did come with screens, which is great. People dont look hard enough when they go to buy, what is in the warehouse at Home depot is just a small sample of what types of products you can order for windows and doors. You have to wait of course for the other types, but they are not hard to get, come all in one with the nail fins, easy to install, and can be wooden all they way thru and double hung.

Atmospheric RIver

From:

mistyfriday

When I got into baking bread I was introduced to the idea of weighing all ingredients. No more cups, tablespoons, teaspoons, or sifting. A simple cooking scale replaced all those items and made the final product much more consistent.

Loaf of Bread
water 180g
yeast 3g
sugar 9g
flour 300g
salt 6g

9 Biscuits
flour 345g
baking powder 15g
salt 6g
half and half 250g
butter 115g

From:

linden_matryoshka

"No more cups, tablespoons, teaspoons, or sifting. A simple cooking scale replaced all those items and made the final product much more consistent."
I agree with you 100% - the results are much more consistent when you use a scale, but... I went in the opposite direction.😆 Started with measuring everything. 🧐The loaves were consistent, but my bread-baking activity was sporadic. Then I switched to just eyeballing everything, mixing it up, leaving overnight, and baking in the morning. It's so easy that I've stopped buying bread. The results vary a bit, but I'm not selling my bread, and it always tastes delicious to me. 🍞
I will try your biscuits. I can smell them in my mind - heavenly! 😊
Inna

From:

open_space

For people that keep a garden or a vegetable patch.

Other than neem. What other non-chemical methods do you use to keep away pests?

Are there plant combinations that help with them? I was wondering if perhaps the combinations of certain plants would, for example, and I am making this up, certain flowers that would attract spiders and them would eat the little worms on tomatoes or the likes.

From: (Anonymous)

pretty much, yes, you should have a mix of plants around the garden. And keep improving soil health, healthy plants survive better and are targeted by the bugs less. And you have to just observe, for example I need to transplant out certain things after the red beatles have mated. The only thing to do about leaf miners is to stop trying to grow chard. I find birds, gophers and bunnies to be much more of a problem than insects. I do some netting. I transplant out instead of seeding in place especially for corn and beans and peas. I think alot of this is individual, yoy have to observe, and also grow healthy plants that dont make a good sickly target for the bugs

Atmospheric RIver

From:

open_space

Thank you!

That makes a lot of sense! The healthier and more diverse the garden and soil, the more the life energies will flow vibrantly and will prevent pests.

The reason why I ask is also because I have a patch of indigenous red maize that was just attacked by a kind of slug. I manually removed and squash them, and seem to be gone now but it got me wondering. A milpa is a mix of corn, beans and squashes or pumpkins and the mix itself seems to deter large animals. The bean stalk wraps around the plant, protecting the maize itself and the pumpkin sprawls and makes it hard for larger animals to get close. But bugs... they move with the wind and in three days can munch on a significant portion of the corn leaves. Had I not noticed, they would be gone by now.

I will keep observing and keep good soil. Your comment also made me think that aromatic plants close by could help too. Someone told me as well that a mix of onion, garlic and jalapeño or serrano works well, diluted in water, sprayed on the leaves.

From:

randomactsofkarmasc

For slugs, an easy cure is a small dish of beer. The slugs will climb into it and drown. The slugs are not picky... cheap beer works well.

Also, I've learned with some fruits, getting them off the ground even a little keeps bugs from munching on them. We did eggplant this year, which tend to get heavy and rest on the ground. I put a paver brick under them if they started touching the ground and that worked.

From: (Anonymous)

I just learned from a local farmer that a hydrogen peroxide solution can help control squash bugs when you begin early in the season. Unfrotunately, I did not record the concentration. Maybe someone else here has tried this.

From:

open_space

Thanks! I will try that and see if I can find recommendations for the concentration.

From:

kayr

I would be very interested in hearing more about how to use hydrogen peroxide to control squash bugs. The only thing I have found that works is constant vigilance and hand picking the bugs and eggs to get ahead of them. We were able to keep them down to a dull roar this year and they they gave up around the end of July to mid August. I should have a pretty good winter squash harvest this year, but I wouldn't have if I hadn't started in May with my daily squash bug hunt.

From: (Anonymous)

I have heard that radishes planted with cucurbits (zukes and cukes), will deter squash bugs. Mary Bennett

From: (Anonymous)

My mother has a 2' x 4' area in the main vegetable garden that is the catch area for all the rocks we have sifted out of the soil. There a big softball sized rocks and little marble sized rocks all in a deep jumble. Spiders love the spaces in between these rocks and it works well to keep them nearby all year long. This was not it's original intent, but there are so many spiders in there we just leave it alone.

Spiders also seem to love arborvitaes. I think anywhere they can hide from birds and still get smaller bugs is prime real estate.

From:

kallianeira

Yes, the term that will get you answers is "companion planting".

Off the top of my head, a couple of the well-known practices are: planting nasturtiums and marigolds among vegetables is meant to encourage predators of pests, and tomatoes and basil are meant to foster each other's growth when planted in proximity.

- iridescent scintillating elver

From:

linden_matryoshka

When I see aphids, I wash them away with water and soap. They rarely come back. Also, consider a Three Sisters garden - corn, beans, and squash. They thrive together.
Inna

From: (Anonymous)

Companion planting!

My tomatoes do quite well with marigolds beside them.

BoysMom

From: (Anonymous)

I used Nemaslug with good effect this year. You get a powder/solid to make up into a solution containing parasitic nematodes which is watered on twice a year.
I second giving attention to soil health, from which all good things come. I've not found much truth to companion planting combinations and would simply encourage you to interplant mixes of veg, flowers and herbs together, making sure your veg still gets plenty of sun. Look at French 'Potager' style gardens for inspiration.
Plant seed giving flowers to attract birds and have a deadwood pile to attract beetles.
I use cold soapy water sprayed onto leaves to remove sap suckers like aphids and keep on top of catapillers by manually squishing them every few days.

From: (Anonymous)

Yes - if you look up companion planting you might find some ideas. Marigolds are always mentioned as a companion for tomatoes but I grow the later blooming mexican type rather than the short early ones so this is inconclusive for me personally. It is a natural source of pyrethrin.

I use diatomaceous earth if things get really bad. I had bugs very bad this season on my tomatoes and sprinkled it on the ground. Took care of the problem in 2 days. Of course, you don't want that in your lungs or eyes so while it is non-chemical, this is one place to consider using a little blue face mask and being extra careful. The rain will wash it off but I don't put it directly on the tomatoes, just the ground and low stems since my bugs were crawlers.

For next year, I am going to get one of those one gallon chemical sprayers and load it up with hot pepper infused water to see if that allows better and more frequent applications. Spray bottles are too small for my garden and when I sprinkle pepper around it seems to work but I don't get an even application...and if it rains, I need to reapply. Maybe I should add some marigolds, too now that I think of it.

From:

methylethyl

I did best at this when I had chickens. The chickens weren't allowed in the garden, but I was really motivated to hunt down the caterpillars and beetles and things, because-- yay free protein for chickens! We had a few plum and nectarine trees in the yard, and the japanese beetles were so bad we never got a single fruit from them. But I looked forward to beetle season on the chickens' behalf. The hens *loved* those things, and turned them into excellent eggs.

Other than that, we've had pretty great results with (and you're not going to like this) planting things that attract wasps. We didn't start that intentionally. But we noticed it-- obviously planting those things by the front door of the house was a mistake. But the next year, more strategic placement, dang. So: plants we've had, that attract wasps: passionflower vine, asparagus beans, and thai soldier long beans. They make little moisture-secreting nodules, probably some pheromone thing, and the wasps (and ants) go nuts over them. Must smell like meat or something.

The thing about wasps is, most of them are not aggressive. The only times I've ever been stung have been when I accidentally stepped on, or grabbed one while weeding. You can hardly blame them. The rest of the time, they're just buzzing around doing their thing. And their thing is patrolling the garden looking for bugs to kidnap, haul back to their nest, and stuff inside an egg cell to feed their babies. They are amazingly good at this-- really dedicated hunters. So if they're patrolling your garden, you've got fewer pests.

From: (Anonymous)

Bamboo poles can be handy around the home and garden. In my neighborhood, it's a noxious weed and free for the cutting. I tend to use them for propping up long pieces of wire to serve as ham radio antennas for the "high frequency" bands. But they always split and bend over after while. I have recently learned that part of the problem is the solid material inside the bamboo joints, which does not shrink as the tubular part dries, so eventually the (new, smaller) circumference isn't big enough for the (old) diameter, and the shaft splits. The solution (I hear) is to drill out the center matter, which wouldn't be so hard if I was making furniture, but I want a pole at least 20' tall, and 10' drill bits are hard to come by and expensive. However, I happened to have a 6' length of 1/4" threaded rod, and a 6' length of 1/2" threaded rod. If only there were a way to temporarily join them, end-to-end. Then I could just ram the rod through the bamboo, one joint after another.
The elegant solution, I think, is to chuck (!) the 1/2" rod into my lathe (!), and drill a 0.201" hole into the end. Then I tapped 1/4"-20 threads into the hole. Now I can force the 1/4" rod 5' into the bamboo, twist the 1/2" rod onto the end of it, and push it in another 6 feet (from both ends). The 1/2" rod expands holes made by the 1/4" rod. I can now blow air through the bamboo, and I'll know in a year or so whether this really prevents splitting.

(Bamboo poles can also help keep your laundry line from sagging, and give your pole-beans something to climb on.)

Lathechuck

From: (Anonymous)

Drilling holes in houses when doing rehab work they make a drill bit ext. 4 or 6 feet long and can be hooked together. Something you would have to get at a electrical supply house not a home center. Blueberry

From:

chaosadventurer

Being aware of your surroundings isn't just about your safety (seeing issues to duck out of the way) but also leads to finds. Went down to our building's recycle bins, and there in the 'free to good home' area, was a 1939 Singer Treadle Sewing machine (model 15K we believe), in working condition too! A quick call to wife to bring down the dolly (Sewing machine's wheels had seized some). She's always wanted one, and is still pinching herself that is just fell into our lap.
Needs a bit of TLC, but otherwise in good shape.
I grew up with one, but that went to my sister. Learned how to use it, such that when wife got a spinning wheel, I could make it spin, while wife struggled with it.

From:

mistyfriday

There are a bunch of videos on YouTube that can walk you through the restoration process. I have a 1921 White Rotary sewing machine that my mom restored for me. She had only done basic maintenance on her 1980 Kenmore machine prior to that, but with the help of the videos she was able to get it back to near silent operation. It is amazing how quiet a fully restored treadle machine can be.

I would recommend upgrading to a rubber treadle belt; they're far superior to the leather style. Iron Lady Sewing (https://www.etsy.com/shop/ironladysewing) sells an Amish style rubber treadle belt for $14.50.

From:

chaosadventurer

online videos are already being queued in a busy season (IT conferences locally, Toronto) for us, for later perusal. Finding the exact model from the serial number https://www.lrcrafts.it/find-vintage-singer-sewing-machine-info/ helped lots.
As for parts, we aren't quite there yet, but I've added your link to the stash as we continue diving in, though if possible will try to source on our side of the border given all those issues of late.

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