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    ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ For People Who Like to Sweat, Swear & Do Stuff ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ

    GARDENING

    Gardening tips, tricks & tutorials from 25 years of experience.

    • How to Grow Zucchini: You've Been Doing It All Wrong.
    • The English Cottage Garden - Year 6
    • How to Grow Tomatoes - in Pots or the Ground
    • Peeling the skin of a green luffa.
      Growing Your Own Loofah Sponge - Step-by-step
    • How to Grow Potatoes - Complete Guide
    • Installing an Electric Fence in Your Home Garden.
    • Tiny toothache plant seedling in a very small soil block being held by 2 fingers.
      From Seed to Sprout: Discover the Art of Seed Starting
    • Freshly dug home grown sweet potatoes.
      How to Grow Sweet Potatoes aka Kลซmaraย 

    "To call planting a seed gardening is like calling boiling a pot of water cooking. Gardening is everything that comes before and after the seed is planted."

    karen bertelsen

    See more Garden Posts โžก๏ธ

    FOOD

    • Indian Street Corn. Kicking Your Plain Corn to the Curb.
    • How to Make Homemade Hamburgers - My Way
    • Roasted Asparagus with Shaved Parmesan
    • Classic Caesar Salad. Please Don't Buy That Crap in a Jar
    • Guaranteed Crispy, Roasted Potatoes with a Tangy Mustard/Dill Sauce
    • the art of doing stuff burger
      The Best Cheese for Burgers. 7 Gooey Options.
    • The Summery, Sugary, Lemon Drop Tart
    • How to Cook Ribs. A Complete (seriously) Guide.

    PROJECTS

    HOW-TO TUTORIALS

    Get them done now so your season doesn't suck later.

    • One Of My Best Backyard Hacks Ever
    • The Magnetic Gate Latch. DIY it in One Hour.
    • Make a Backyard Barn Board Light. DIY Outdoor Lighting!
    • How to Replace a Window Screen

    BACKYARD HACKS & INSPIRATION

    • The Backyard Ideas Post! 26 Tips & Tricks For Creating A Beautiful Backyard.
    • How to Build a Pizza Oven. Part I.
    • Attract Birds to Your Yard with a DIY Modern Birdbath.
    • DIY OUTDOOR FURNITURE. HACKING RESTORATION HARDWARE.

    Bad Day? These'll Make You Laugh.

    At the very least you'll grin at these stories of my misfortunes.

    • The Blood Donation Story Anniversary
    • Bikram Yoga an adventure in vomit.
    • Oh hi! Um. Have You HAD a Brazilian Wax??
    • Dear Earth Hour 2025. You Can Suck It.

    See more Wintery Recipes โžก๏ธ

    About Karen

    Karen Bertelsen standing on a chair hammering in an electric fence post.

    My name is Karen Bertelsen and I was a television host.   In Canada.  Which means in terms of notoriety and wealth, I was somewhere on par with the manager of a Sunset Tan in Wisconsin.

    I quit television to start a blog with the goal that I could make my living through blogging and never have to host a television show again.  And itโ€™s worked out.  Iโ€™m making a living blogging.  If youโ€™re curious, this is how I do that.

    So Iโ€™m doing this in reverse basically.  Iโ€™m the only blogger who is trying to NOT get a TV show.

    Learn more about me โ†’

    Recent Stuff

    In order of appearance starting with the latest ...

    • 5 Delicious Things To Make With Rhubarb
    • How to Replace a Broken Gas Grill Igniter.
    • The 5 Summer Projects That'll Make Your Summer Unforgettable
    • An Ice Cube Poppy Update ๐ŸงŠ
    • ๐Ÿฅ” How to Grow Cheatsheet - Potatoes in Zone 6
    • Spring Tune-Up: Sharpen It Now, Curse It Less Later
    • We Come In At Dark
    • The Encyclopedia of My Vegetable Varieties
    • How to Lay Sod for a Beautiful Lawn
    • Sunday Spring Bulbs ~ Tulips, Daffodils, Lavender
    • The Easter Story
    • What I'm Doing The Easter Weekend
    • 67 Spring Cleaning Tips โ€” But Just Pick 5 ๐Ÿ˜†
    • Your Lemon Scented Future
    • Ice Cube Poppy Planting - Let's Do This
    • Cold Stratification & The Seeds That Love It
    • Stuff to Read, Watch & Listen To: April 2025
    • Guaranteed Crispy Sweet Potato Fries & Sriracha Mayo Dip
    • Flowers, Flowers & More Flowers
    • An Update on - The $25 Eyelash Growing Serum

    The Posts That Made Me Famous

    Thanks to Google, Pinterest & Design*Sponge (RIP) these are my most popular posts of all time.

    • The Modern Chicken Coop
    • A stump table sits beside an Eames recliner.
      How to Make a Tree Stump Table - DIY End Table
    • How to Grow Zucchini: You've Been Doing It All Wrong.
    • How to Make Homemade Hamburgers - My Way
    • The Backyard Ideas Post! 26 Tips & Tricks For Creating A Beautiful Backyard.
    • Have a Ryobi Battery That Won't Charge? You Can Fix That.
    • Peeling the skin of a green luffa.
      Growing Your Own Loofah Sponge - Step-by-step
    • How to Build Interior Window Shutters.
    • Halloween Craft. The Pumpkin Diorama - An Update.
    • How to Make a Pumpkin Pie from Scratch with a Real Pumpkin
    • How to Recover a Chair in 5 minutes
    • How to Avoid UPS Broker Fees From Online Shopping.

    Summer Garden Checklist

    • Installing Drip Irrigation in Your Home Garden.
    • The English Cottage Garden Spring
    • ADVENTURES IN SPRING CLEANING A CHICKEN COOP, AND OTHER CRAP.

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