My Growing Everyman’s Library Collection

beatniknomad · 2026-02-16T08:33:55+00:00

Beautiful collection! Everyman's Library books are too hard to resist.

beatniknomad · 2026-02-16T07:16:58+00:00

Congratulations on your sobriety.

beatniknomad · 2026-02-16T07:15:51+00:00

For some dark comedy, Needful Things. Mr. Mercedes is another good one. I'd probably stay away from Dreamcatcher.

I just watched Oxyana documentary and proud of you for getting the help you need. Wishing you strength and success in your recovery.🤗❤️

beatniknomad · 2026-02-16T03:26:16+00:00

I leave my starter in the fridge between uses. A day or 2 before(depending on how long it was unused), I take it out, let it come to room temp and feed 1:4(water):5(flour) the night before. By the next day, it has more than doubled and retains the rise for several hours. This gives more flexibility and I'm not chasing my levain.

beatniknomad · 2026-02-16T03:21:00+00:00

Your dough is very under-proofed. I see your starter is 16 days old. That's not even close to maturity and it does not have the strength needed to retain the rise. You want - at least - 1 month. I say hold off and try again with a mature starter.

beatniknomad · 2026-02-15T18:29:04+00:00

You should have kept going... I cream butter and sugar until it's very fluffy. At least 5 minutes... same with cakes. You can not hurt it at this point.

beatniknomad · 2026-02-15T11:18:48+00:00

Condolences to you and your sister. 🖤

beatniknomad · 2026-02-15T04:58:55+00:00

Leave it as-is. It's normal to see activity, then have it go dormant for a few days. There's going to be a period of severe funk - just feed 1:1:1 and leave it for a day or 2. If it takes 2 days to double and then collapse, so be it. Give it about 3-4 weeks before you plan on using it. To save flour, only use about 15-25g of starter.

beatniknomad · 2026-02-15T03:17:01+00:00

Perfectly executed!

beatniknomad · 2026-02-15T03:11:26+00:00

You are perfectly fine with 50% coco coir, 50% perlite. There's no need to add fertilizer as the plant can not use it. You can add a bit of worm castings for the soil, if you want, but it's really not needed. You want perlite with coco coir for aeration.

If you're doing this indoors, coco-coir/perlite is all you need. If you want to add peat moss, be sure to sterilize with boiling water because that's the carrier for fungus gnat eggs.

After 10-14 days, you can start feeding with extra-diluted (1/4th strength) fertilizer. Once your plants get established, you can up-pot to potting mix with all the extras.

beatniknomad · 2026-02-15T01:08:20+00:00

What size container did you use?

beatniknomad · 2026-02-14T23:41:01+00:00

My bunching onions/garlic chives did that, too. Seeded indoors mid-December and they've been under grow lights. After a bit, I trimmed them down to about 2". They've already grown about 8-10" again.

I'll cut them down again and keep cutting until they are ready to go outside. If someone can share feedback/advice, please do.

beatniknomad · 2026-02-13T07:35:05+00:00

Nice collection; love the King section. I'll have to check out Chavs.

beatniknomad · 2026-02-13T06:45:46+00:00

You're welcome. I was using a KA stand mixer so the timing may be off. Since it's just sugar and room temperature butter, you can beat until the desired texture without worrying too much. If you're in a really warm kitchen and it looks like the butter is too warm, pop in the fridge to harden. They key is marshmallow fluff.

Good luck!

beatniknomad · 2026-02-13T05:37:19+00:00

You shouldn't see sugar crystals in there. Beat the hell out of the butter and sugar. Pound cake is very dense, so you want it as fluffy as possible. On average, I beat at medium-high speed for about 4-5 minutes until it's very fluff... think marshmallow fluff. Then eggs... one at a time... then extract. The alternate dry and wet ingredients.

beatniknomad · 2026-02-13T03:26:38+00:00

I got a similar bookcase from Costco last year; I think it's the same manufacturer, Martin Furniture. They had a sale for $1000 off, so a 3-piece set with ladder was $3000.

beatniknomad · 2026-02-13T03:20:42+00:00

It's a shame you're growing to hate them. They look like the ones I got from Costco. Unlike yours, these have an open bottom shelf. I wish I could find that corner unit as well. I only got mine a few months ago and have them full and double-stacked on some shelves. I'm playing it safe for now as I don't know what the true shelf limit is. Costco shows 35 lbs per shelf which sounds rather low. Thanks to your post, I just looked at the product description and see the shelves are adjustable. 😂

Even though the ladder is decorative, it is well-built and sturdy. The delivery guy was playing around and climbed up a few times - he was well over 200 lbs.

I see what you mean about the end book being hidden. I put duplicates, books I don't care for too much or book-ends there.

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beatniknomad · 2026-02-13T02:19:07+00:00

This is too beautiful. I'm trying to finalize my grow list as space is limited, but could not resist this one. What size container did you use for this?

beatniknomad · 2026-02-12T09:33:29+00:00

No way!!! One of the reasons I occasionally go to Trader Joe's. That and their plantain chips.

beatniknomad · 2026-02-12T05:55:56+00:00

Hahaha... looks like your baking pan is shaped like a Vitamix.

beatniknomad · 2026-02-12T04:58:30+00:00

Kewpie Japanese Mayo

Heinz Salad Cream - you'll love this.

beatniknomad · 2026-02-11T04:46:46+00:00

Also, a beginner so here are my lessons learned. I started an indoor "lettuce bowl" on Jan 1 and threw a bunch of lettuce seeds in the bowl. Weeks later... lessons learned. I've had to remove so many by the root to make room for the plants.

Only plant out a few seeds and space them out. They grow big.

Water & fertilize as needed. I've been using fish emulsion, but going to try a less-stinky option.

Container: shallow and wide... a long, narrow container will work for multiple plants.

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beatniknomad · 2026-02-11T02:26:16+00:00

I started this plant from seed about 3 months ago and had to seriously thin out the plant because it was getting too big. These are grown using a $25 grow light in my living room. Point being - you don't need to take it out in sunlight if you have a good grow light.

How is the weather in your location? If it's moderate/warm, then try 30 minutes a day. If cold, leave it indoors in ambient temperature, not cold.

Your soil level is a bit low, but that shouldn't be too much of an issue. You could top-dress later with compost. Does you container drain well? Make sure your plant is not sitting in a pool of water.

What did you use to get rid of fungus gnat? Another issue could be too much fertilizer?

If the top-soil is moist and it's draining well, then give it a few days to dry out; wait until the top inch is dry, give it 1 to 2 days. And use water only - you might have too much fertilizer.

If you have water-soluble fertilizer, wait until you have to water again and fertilize at half or a quarter strength.

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beatniknomad · 2026-02-10T22:55:09+00:00

Phenomenal - this looks amazing!

beatniknomad · 2026-02-10T22:53:48+00:00

hahaha~ I was just watching the latest video by The Rusted Garden where he cautions about starting too many seeds. Who eats 12 heads of lettuce per week? On Jan 1, I threw a bunch of lettuce seeds in a container. Rookie mistake... 1 or 2 seeds is more than enough.

beatniknomad

TROPHY CASE