The month of February was mostly spent getting ready for the gardening season. I converted my office closet into a seed starting space and got started with seedlings.

One of my goals this year is to set up a vertical garden on the side of my shed. I have an issue where the shed gets too hot in the summer, and I'm thinking that having a vertical garden beside it will help with some of that heat gain. I have other plans to further help with that, which I'll do in the future.

We had an unseasonably warm weekend this month, so I took advantage of it and fixed a dresser drawer (for the last time).

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Expanding the garden for the 2024 gardening season. To offset the cost of soil, I make my own compost throughout the year primarily from lawn clippings and leaves. That doesn't produce enough compost to completely fill my beds, but it offsets the cost. I also don't worry about filling the garden beds up completely. Every year I'll be adding new compost, and eventually they'll be filled to the top. I also use leaves that I ran over with the lawn mower as mulch. This helps to keep moisture in and prevent weeds.

In the garden right now I'm harvesting kale and spinach. I have garlic growing and I planted some potatoes that seemed to be ready to grow. I planted them early but I figured I'd give it a go and see what happens. I see a low of 24F in the forecast, so that might kill them back. Hopefully they'll come back if that does happen.

There are a lot of different ways to scribe a board to a slope, but in the context of building a garden bed, I found this to be the easiest method. This method for scribing works because my garden bed is built with 2x8's and I'm using another 2x8 as the guide for me to make my mark. If they weren't the same, this wouldn't work.

Also, with making the cut, a bandsaw or jigsaw would be better, but I don't own either tool. So I am making do with what I have. When the saw would start to bind I would stop making the cut and use a wedge to take some of the tension off the blade.

How to clean a paint brush the easy way. I like my brushes to be clean when I use them. If they have old paint in them they don't work as well. On top of that, when you spend thirty plus dollars on a brush, you want to take care of it so it lasts you a long time.

I have found this easy method to be the best way to keep your paint brushes working like new for many painting jobs to come.

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Replacing a range hood with an "over the range" microwave. It's a relatively simple DIY project that involves installing an outlet and a microwave into a cabinet that is over the stove.

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#microwave #appliances #kitchen #diy

Selling your house? Here are five things you can do that will help you pass your home inspection.

1. Check Electrical / GFIs
2. Check you plumbing / drains
3. Check your HVAC system
4. Check your gutters/roof
5. Check you windows

I just recently sold my house and some of these things I forgot to do. So if you're selling your house and need to pass your home inspection, make sure you check these things!

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How to repair holes in drywall. In this video I have to fix holes left in the drywall by a hormonal teenager.

Tricks I have learned from working with professional flooring installers for marking and cutting laminate flooring.

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How to fix a running kohler toilet by replacing the silent fill valve.

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How to replace the water inlet valve on an Amana Top Load washing machine and also how we went about diagnosing the problem.

Where I order appliance repair parts from:
https://www.repairclinic.com

You can usually save money through Rakuten (formerly Ebates) if you order through repairclinic.com. Here's a link to sign up for it (it helps me out a little if you use this link, thanks):

https://www.rakuten.com/r/CROKAD2?eeid=43662&utm_source=extension&utm_medium=raf_link

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Sharpening your hand planes and chisels need not be expensive. Actually, you can probably do it with supplies you already have around the house. In this video I show how I do it.

All you need to sharpen your plane or chisel is a flat surface (I use glass because I know it is perfectly flat), sand paper, and a lubricant (I use Windex in this video).

The 15 dollar jig I use is optional really, but I chose to buy one because I am terrible at maintaining the angle myself. If you want to get one, you can use the link below (it is not an affiliate link)

The jig I used: https://amzn.to/2Iz2kvV

I spent about 5 minutes on each grit of sand paper. To take it to the next level you can go even higher on the sand paper grit, use a diamond stone, or honing compound. But for a budget friendly solution that gets you a serviceable edge, I think this is good enough.

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