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My son is being sent to the middle east ... as a combat medic... me and the wife are trying to put together a plan for some meaningful "care packages ".... so while stationed in Afghanistan, Syria, etc... what did you miss the most,  that you couldn't get at the px?

I didn't really have much of a winter this year, so my kohlrabi from last fall is growing like crazy.

Is it only going to go to seed? Or will it fatten out the stem/bulge that never developed last year? I'm trying to decide whether to rip them out of the garden to make room for something productive.

I have very limited experience with BT(bacillus thuringiensis), I was reading the label today and noticed that tomato horn worm isn't listed. So does BT effectively control tomato worms, the ones that get big and fat like a giant green finger? Or am I better to stick with my sevin dust?

Also I could use everyone's opinion on a good basic organic fertilizer mix, for a small plot(4x12) that has only ever had composted leaves(6" every winter) and some miracle gro added as amendments in the last 5 years. I'm thinking that at this point based on production over the last few years that it's lacking most nutrients,and I plant things intensively so I'm sure the soil is lacking. There's also been the odd bag of potting soil, rotted manure, old dirt from indoor pots added.

I was very lucky growing up, in that all my grandparents were all still living, I used to get fed like a king since I visited often. The two best cooks were my paternal great grandma and her daughter, my granny. They both taught me many many things, but cooking wasn't really one of them, boys didn't cook.

So here's my dilemma my great granny's fried tators, always came out almost silky and soft, while still having many of them browned, but without the brown bits getting hard. Granny's were good but not as good. I didn't pay attention to what either of them used to fry in, oil,lard, grease. I'm sure that many of the batches were made with bacon grease, but not sure that they all were. What temp? About how long to cook between turnings? Any other suggestions?

I'd really like everyone's input, I've exhausted all my idea's to recreate their fried tators.

Mine seem to either burn and get hard, or get super crispy on the outside(usually when using oil), I have tried all kinds of heat settings, covered, uncovered, etc.

BTW I use great Granny's cast iron skillet, so I know I have that much RIGHT

I've seen pictures since my time in elementary school of oxen from Europe and from the 18th and 19th century here in the states. My question is what makes it an ox? The pictures for the most part look just like common cattle. There was one I remember from Europe, a drawing, that showed an animal with amazingly large horns, perhaps even bigger than a Texas Longhorn, not sure if they were the same in both places or not. I am most curious about the oxen here in USA during the cowboy days. Thanks

For the first time this year my brocoli has grown and seems to be doing good, but the plants are all noticably skinnier at the base then they are higher up the stalk, is this normal? The plants are about 14-18" tall and look really good several have small heads forming but the stalks seem like a problem to me any advice is appreciated, I garden every year, but never get my brocoli out soon enough, so I have no exp.

I'm trying to get a Lennox furnace going that had a RobertShaw SP735L ignition control, my problem is that I can't find out what terminal "TR" on this board is for?? I've confirmed that this control is defective, but must replace it with a Honeywell universal unit, but I can't identify the function of TR on the old board(SP735L lennox # 18G9101)?????

I recently came across a small pool table in a long abandoned attic, the only markings are Tudor Metal Products Inc, New York. It is made of metal with a particle board top, the balls travel thru metal chutes to a collection spot. The main frame is brown and it looks like the decorations were probably screen printed, it has an ugly yellow felt top, and a plastic scoring set up.

It looks old to me, but might be junk anyone got any idea's?

I had the thought today that I might be able to run the old dumb waiter in my house using an arduino to control the motor(reversing, pwm compatible motor), 6 inputs(push buttons), 3 led's, and I assume I would need a relay (DPDT) to reverse the motor..... etc

I have no experience with arduino, however I have had many classes in allen bradley PLC"S, and the RsLogix suite, but is what I purpose even possible with this micro-controller????

I think to complete the project I'll end up with a mega board because I would need more I/O, but I'm just thinking and tinkering at this point..