My Vegetable Garden – Part 7

I realized that I have been slack about posting my vegetable garden progress here on the blog when I have been posting about it regularly in the forums. Sorry!

Here are a million pics from yesterday. Everything is doing pretty well. I cut a few giant zucchinis off of the zucchini plants last weekend, and staked them so they could have better airflow. The vegetables on them do not seem to be doing all that great, so I am not sure if it is the heat or the staking that did that to them. Time will tell, I suppose.

The pumpkin vines are going crazy, but still no baby pumpkins. I am hoping my area’s constant heat is not too much for them.

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Marmot Sharp Point Jacket $89.93 at REI.com

REI has the Marmot Sharp Point Jacket for $89.93 right now (regular $250), with a good selection of colors and sizes. This is a great jacket that I have owned for a few years and have been very happy with. It’s rare to find a softshell with pitzips, and this is one of those rare finds. It also has Gore Windstopper, which does exactly what it sounds like it does. Go grab one before they sell out!

Thanks to outdoors247 for pointing this out in the forums.

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Knot Tying

I saw this blog a while back, and promptly forgot about it when something shiny distracted me. A timely post on BF reminded me of its goodness.

Stormdrane apparently loves tying knots, and has great videos, pictures, and written tutorials on how to tie all kinds of useful knots for turning paracord, string, wire, etc. into lanyards, straps, leashes, and other cordage based items. Go forth and learn!

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Announcing Going Gear – come buy my crap!

My store is up and running!

I have been threatening this for a while, but test orders have been placed, items have been added, and shipping calculations are working (I think). I have been working on this off and on at night for a couple of months, making sure that everything is working properly. There is not a ton on there right now, but I have added several different firesteel sizes and a neat little zipper pull whistle. More is on the way, so you’ll keep on hearing me shill my stuff for the foreseeable future.

Yes, I know I need to change the logo, update the policy pages, get product pictures, etc. I’m working on it!

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Arenal Volcano Video

It’s super crappy quality and nothing shows up very well, but here is a video shot off my hotel room’s balcony of the active volcano that was in front of our hotel in Arenal, Costa Rica.

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JK’s actually sensible fire kit

Cat and claraka’s fire kits were pretty ridiculous, so I figured it was about time to start making kits that were actually usable. JK’s is the first one that more closely resembles something that I would actually carry.

The case is from a J&J first aid kit that I picked up in the travel section of Target. The kit includes: duct tape, PJ cotton balls, sawdust and wax fire starters, a mini Bic lighter, two small firesteels, a hacksaw blade to use as a firesteel striker, and a one handed Spark Lite or whatever they are called.
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Anyone want to get together in the Smokies this summer?

I was thinking about doing a long weekend trip to the Smokies this summer and got to thinking that it might be a good opportunity for some of us to meet face to face. Anyone else interested? I was thinking maybe late July or something in August. I am open to other parks in the area as well, but I thought the Smokies were somewhere that most people could agree on.

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Five Bajillion Costa Rica Pics

I only took ~1000 pics in Costa Rica. Shame on me! Here are the better or more interesting ones. Keep in mind that they are not edited at all, so some of them are kind of rough. The only one I messed with was the little girl on the beach, and that was only to crop it a bit.

I’m working on the trip reports tonight, so hopefully I’ll have them all up this week.

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Costa Rica – Appetite Whetting

I probably should have made some mention on the blog for those of you that do not read the forums, but I got married on the 7th and was in Costa Rica for our honeymoon last week.

I am working on typing up some trip reports from Costa Rica along with editing a million pictures. Here is something to whet your appetite. This was the view from our balcony the first two nights when we stayed in Arenal:

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Extra 20% off at REI Outlet

REI Outlet has an extra 20% off right now with no coupon needed. Go buy some stuff!