Q: How can I grow potatoes in my backyard? I remember gardening with my parents when I was a kid, getting dirty and having fun. But we never did grow potatoes, so I never learned how.
A: Potatoes are one of the easiest vegetables to grow, and they deliver a lot of food energy from a given patch of soil. And when it comes to growing them, you don’t plant seeds, you plant bits of potato.
Every potato has what are called “eyes.” These can be just small depressions on the skin, or the eyes could have started to grow white root-like extensions outwards. Either way, cut a potato so each piece has two eyes, then simply bury each piece about the width of your hand beneath loose soil. You’ll get best results using seed potatoes for planting because they’re free of plant diseases. That said, lots of people I know plant and re-plant potatoes from their own garden without trouble.
As the green tops of the potatoes grow, gather additional soil around them to make them produce more tubers. The tops will die when the lifecycle of the plant is over, and that’s when you can dig your main crop out of the ground. Just don’t necessarily wait that long. Sample a few “new potatoes” when they’re half grown. They taste the best. When you do dig, work from one side of the plants to minimize the number of potatoes you accidentally slice with your shovel. Eat the damaged ones in a day or two and you’ll waste nothing.
Q: Does a tracksaw make sense for a home workshop? I’m looking for an accurate way to cut plywood for furniture projects and for making built-in furniture.
A: Tracksaws are great. I really like them. Think of them like a precision hand-held circular saw made to slide accurately along an aluminum guide track. The design of the blade plus a rubber lip along the edge of the guide means that tracksaws can cut very cleanly on both sides of fine sheet goods such as veneered plywood or melamine. There’s no chipping. No table saw on the market can cut more cleanly than a tracksaw.
The rubber lip is also interesting because it marks exactly where the saw will cut. Just plunk the guide down, clamp it in position, then cut. Tracksaws work perfectly for trimming doors to length, and for cutting long lengths of wood to width. The only drawback with tracksaws is that it takes a little more set up time to complete a parallel cut than with a tablesaw. But the added flexibility of being able to make angled cuts is worth it in my book. Watch a tracksaw in action at BaileyLineRoad.com/tracksaw
Q: Is it better to support a deck on a house wall or on a foundation right next to the house? I hear different things from different people.
A: When it comes to building, there are usually several routes to success. This is one reason you’re hearing different opinions. In this case another reason is that there are pros and cons to each option for anchoring a deck. Bolting to the house is mechanically simpler because you don’t have to create a separate foundation along the house-side of the deck. On the downside, anchoring to the house means you need to take steps to waterproof the connection between deck and house. Sometimes this is easy, sometimes it’s not.
My own preference is to anchor a deck on its own foundation on all sides. This is more work, but it’s less risky. You’re not cutting into the weatherproof outer layer of your home, and there’s no chance the deck and house connection would be ruined by seasonal soil movements.
Steve Maxwell likes things built to last for the long haul. Visit him online for the largest collection of home improvement videos and articles in Canada.