How to clean and season your only cast iron pan
Cast iron has accumulated more folklore than any other kitchen object, and most of it makes people afraid of a pan that is nearly impossible to ruin.
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Why you should never start a plumbing repair on Sunday afternoon
The supply houses are shut, the hardware shop closes at four, and every plumber in town is either off or charging emergency rates.
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Why bluegrass will never survive in a southern lawn
People move down here from Ohio, look at the thin patchy grass everyone has, and decide they are going to have a proper lawn. They buy Kentucky bluegrass seed. By August it is…
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Why your southern lawn needs aeration before summer starts
Compacted soil is the most common thing wrong with the lawns I get called to, and almost nobody identifies it themselves, because it does not look like anything. The grass is just…
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How to fix a wooden door that sticks in the winter
Before you touch a plane, work out why it is sticking. Half the doors I have been called to fix did not need any wood removed at all.
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What killing fifty houseplants taught me about watering
I am a master gardener of thirty years standing and I killed a great many houseplants before I understood what I was doing wrong. The number in the title is conservative.
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Repairing drywall holes so they actually disappear
The reason most patches show is not the filling. It is that people stop too soon on the feathering and then paint over an edge you can see in raking light.
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What your weeds are trying to tell you about your soil
Weeds are opportunists and they are specific about which opportunity they take. A plant that colonises your garden without being invited is telling you what conditions you have,…
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How to cut your grass in high heat without killing it
In July and August down here, mowing wrong will do more damage to a lawn than not mowing at all.
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How to replace a rotted deck board safely
One soft board is rarely one soft board. Before you cut anything, take a screwdriver and probe around, because the board rotted for a reason and the reason is usually still there.
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How to fix standing water in your yard after a storm
Water standing in a yard for more than a day after the rain stops is a drainage problem, and around here it is usually one of three things.
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Making a rich beef stew using only one deep pot
My recipes assume you own one good pan, because for eleven years I have watched people buy equipment instead of learning technique.
