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A Gardener's Notebook with Douglas E. Welch
Add FeedCome join me in my garden! Share my trials and tribulations as I garden in Southern California with occasional audio and video interviews and visits to gardens. The Troy-Bilt TB154 Electric CultivatorListen to this review Watch video of the cultivator in use When I moved to Los Angeles 22 years ago, I left behind my grandmother's ½ acre garden and our own ¼ acre plot behind the house. I thought little of gardening for almost 10 years. Some people are good with houseplants. I am not one of them. So gardening was fondly remembered as something I did way back when. It seemed like everyone in my hometown (New London, Ohio, pop. 2600) tended a garden and I spent my childhood with a hoe in my hand, riding a lawn mower, behind huge rototillers and eventually driving tractors around our small farm. Finally, twelve years ago we purchased our first home and inherited a 10 year old, quite mature, garden. My wife and I typically tended the garden with shovel and hoe, but when I received an offer from Troy-Bilt to review some of their products, I jumped at the opportunity. We have a variety of beds on the property and after 12 years they could all use a bit of TLC. I thought an electric cultivator could help a lot. The Troy-Bilt TB145 Electric Cultivator(Click to get more info from the Troy-Bilt web site) arrived in a box about 4'x 2' we found on the porch one day after returning from Little League practice. I was eager to try it out, so like a typical user, I opened it up, set the owner's manual aside (of course) and put the cultivator to use. The only assembly required was attaching the handle, which took about 5 minutes and no tools. The first task was a rose bed that, after being dug up for a sewer line replacement, was buried in tall grass. I had used a hoe to clean out the bed once already and couldn't face doing it by hand again. Thankfully this tool arrived just in time. I was immediately surprised by the power in this small electric unit. I could easily pick it up with one hand, but it was cutting through the grass and quickly cultivating the bed to to 6" or more. Since it is so small, maneuvering it around the existing rose bushes was no problem. The bed itself is probably only about 3 feet wide, bordered by a cement block wall on one side and rustic wooden edging on the other. The long grass would occasionally wind up around the tines, but the cultivator is designed with quick release pins on each end that allowed me to simply pull off the tines, remove the grass and get right back to work. Managing the electrical cord is always a concern with a device like this. (I have cut the extension cord with my hedge trimmers at least 3 times (!!!). The cable management is well designed with a simple clip to hold the extension cord towards the back of the unit and along the handle so it is always in your sight and within easy reach of your hands. For me, personally, this is a great unit that fits well with my environment and I already have 4-5 more jobs waiting for it. The next weekend we brought out the cultivator to work up another small bed where we planned to put some tomato plants. I had picked up 3 seedlings from Tomatomania (Watch the video) in nearby Encino and was eager to get them, and a small pot of basil, into the ground. This bed was even narrower than the first and surrounded by cement on two sides and the stucco of the house on the other. I thought about taking the outside tines off the unit, but the full width ended up being fine. On this bed, I first laid out about 6 cubic feet of compost recently harvested from our old compost bin and then used the cultivator to work this into the existing soil. Again, the unit did a great job and quickly we had a nice, fluffy bed for the tomatoes. The tines handled the inevitable contact with the edges of the cement driveway with no ill effects. The blades showed no damage and simply bounced off the cement. Overall, the cultivator works well as an all-purpose cultivator for a small to medium-sized garden. Those with large expanses of open garden would probably opt for a bigger, gas-powered unit. The TB145 would also be an excellent "second machine" for small beds and hard to reach areas such as annual beds, shrub beds and cultivating between rows in a small vegetable garden. For me, personally, this is a great unit that fits well with my environment and I already have 4-5 more jobs waiting for it. Link: Troy-Bilt TB154 Electric Cultivator Specs and Information at TroyBilt.com
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Word Balloon Comics Podcast
Add Feeda one on one interview show with pop culture creators from the worlds of comic books, TV, film, novels, animation, and video games. The Comic Book Conversation site, featuring one on one audio interviews with comic book creators, plus veterans of Film TV and other entertainment media. Hosted by veteran Chicago Talk Radio Host, John Siuntres
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APM: Performance Today - Piano Puzzler
Add FeedA Classical music quiz. Test your ears as Bruce Adolphe takes a popular tune and transforms it into something that sounds like it was composed by one of the greats.
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Performance Today - Piano Puzzler
Add FeedA Classical music quiz. APM: Performance Today - Piano Puzzler. NPR. Test your ears as Bruce Adolphe takes a popular tune and transforms it into something that sounds like it was composed by one of the greats. Guess the great and the song. Then listen to a piece by the composer in question.
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The Dice Tower
Add FeedThe Dice Tower is an Internet podcast (a radio show you can download) about boardgames. Your hosts for the show are Tom Vasel, noted game reviewer, and Sam Healey. In the show, Tom and Sam talk about boardgames, card games, wargames, miniatures, and much more. New to the Dice Tower? Then listen to: Episode 0: Introduction & Top 15 Games a New Gamer Should Buy Note: The Dice Tower episodes are provided as a service to the community and although they are entirely family friendly, Funagain Games is not responsible for their content.
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Addicted2Salsa Dance Videos
Add FeedThe number one salsa dance video podcast to teach you patterns, combinations and footwork so you can become the best salsa dancer you can be. Every episode we bring you a different lessons so you can practice and take it to the club and try it out. Spread the knowledge and have fun! See you at the club!
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KCRW's The Buisgness
Add FeedKCRW's The Buisgness, Hosted by Kim Masters, The Business looks deep inside the business of entertainment.
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National Gallery of Art-Videos
Add FeedStay up to date with video podcasts from the National Gallery of Art, which include documentary excerpts, lectures, and other films about the Gallery's history, exhibitions, and collections. Vermeer: Master of Light is a visual pilgrimage in search of what makes a Vermeer a Vermeer. It is a journey of discovery, guiding the viewer through an examination of three of Johannes Vermeer's paintings and exploring the "secrets" of his technique. Utilizing the potential of x-ray analysis and infrared reflectography as well as the power of computer technology, the program delves beneath the surface of the paintings to unveil fascinating insights into Vermeer's work. This film celebrates one of the most extraordinary painters in the history of art. Narrated by Meryl Streep, with commentary by Arthur Wheelock, curator of northern baroque paintings, National Gallery of Art, and David Bull, conservator. This segment ...
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Vernissage TV art tv
Add FeedVideo podcast that covers opening receptions / previews of selected art venues and interviews artists and other protagonists of the world of contemporary art, design and architecture. Web site: www.vernissage.tv Galerie Beyer in Dresden currently presents a solo show with works by German artist Kathrin Haaßengier. We encountered her kinetic installations for the first time at the alternative art fair Und in Karlsruhe, Germany, where Kathrin Haaßengier showed the piece Aklinea. In Dresden, she shows new sculptures that play with sound, water, light, movement - [...]
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