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When enough human beings dropped their hunter-gatherer ways and formed agricultural communities some 10,000 years ago, it marked the beginning of civilization. Since then, agricultural communities have taken different forms — tribal villages, feudal fiefdoms and farming cooperatives. Each accepted the prevailing social, political and economic characteristics of the time and region. The underlying purpose has always been the same: To grow enough food for everyone to survive. In the modern post-industrial era, growers face unique challenges in feeding the world....

Many homes have wall frames built with studs. These are vertical pieces of wood or metal positioned at closely spaced intervals to form the framework of a wall. Most non-masonry buildings rely on wall studs, so there’s an excellent chance your house has them. Understanding how walls studs work is vital for anyone interested in building and renovations, and when you need to find something solid for installing shelves and cabinets on walls....

When I was little, the arrival of the annual Toys ‘R Us Christmas catalog was one of the most exciting days of the whole year. I’d grab my favorite pink highlighter and excitedly circle everything inside that I hoped Santa would bring me. I remember my mother laughing when she saw I’d highlighted nearly everything on the page, and her telling me that she wasn’t sure if Santa could fit all of those things in his sleigh....

Related to cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, bed bugs and shield bugs, boxelder bugs (Boisea trivittata) have a flat, elongated-oval shape with black and red-orange markings on their backs. They predominately feed on the seeds of the boxelder trees — hence their name — but can be found in and around maple and ash trees, too. Boxelder bugs are not known to bite, although they can puncture the skin when provoked. On the rare occasion that one does chomp down, it can leave a small, irritating red mark that’s similar to a mosquito bite....

When was the last time you cleaned your wooden spoons? No, like really cleaned them? A viral TikTok video by a 20-year-old student teacher has sparked a new cleaning trend for the cooking utensil. In the video, which has climbed to more than 20 million views, user Bonnie McNamara soaks a wooden spoon in boiling water. The spoon then begins to shed layers of what appears to be caked-on food. Watch and observe in the video below....

Electricians typically command the highest wages of all the construction trades. So it’s understandable that while all construction trades need young people to enter training, many who do gravitate toward electrician training. Overall, demand for electricians continues to run above average according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), which projects 10 percent growth through 2028. But there’s a catch. The workforce remains top-heavy with experienced tradespeople, limiting how many new electricians can be brought online, according to Jennifer Mefford, director of business development at the Detroit Electrical Industry Training Center (EITC)....

What is the top-selling plant in the world? According to Lisa Eldred Steinkopf, author of Bloom: The Secrets of Growing Flowering Houseplants Year-Round, it’s the poinsettia. Amazingly, nearly 70 million poinsettias are sold each year, mostly from mid-November right up until Christmas. The poinsettia is so popular that National Poinsettia Day, December 12th, was established in 2002. How To Care for a Poinsettia Poinsettias are easy, undemanding houseplants to care for....

Family Handyman Consult an HVAC contractor first There are three good reasons to get an HVAC contractor involved before you start closing off heat vents, especially with today’s high-efficiency furnaces and well-balanced systems. First, it might actually add to your heating bill. That’s because with the heat vent closed, the suction from the return air duct can pull in cold air from the outside through any cracks around windows, exterior doors or exterior wall electrical boxes....

The Home Depot Foundation announced recently it is launching the “Path to Pro” scholarship program to help future generations of skilled tradespeople. The program will offer $250,000 in financial aid to high school seniors and high school graduates entering construction training programs. “Presently, the growing labor shortage in the construction industry has nearly 300,000 career openings offering competitive incomes,” the Foundation’s statement said. “The Path to Pro scholarship program is intentionally designed to help remove financial weight for students entering the skilled trades while preparing them for the diverse available career paths....

dcwcreations/Shutterstock Dawn Dish Soap Say the brand name and you know the product: Kleenex, Band-aid, Q-tip, Pampers, and—of course—Dawn. To many, Dawn dish soap detergent is the go-to soap to cut through the grease and grime on even your dirtiest dishes. Enthusiasts’ testimonies may point to its unbeatable sudsy quality or its heart-warming story about literally saving animals’ lives. But… why are the suds so super? After some digging by a non-scientist, there are a couple of theories as to why Dawn dish soap is the soap of all soaps for not only doing dishes but also protecting your plants, treating laundry, and unclogging your toilet....

My favorite aunt lives in the Northeastern U.S. After being away from home for a few days, she returned to find her kitchen overtaken by a swarm of flies. Not knowing what to do, she snapped a couple of photos and, in a cyber cry for help, texted them to her pest control guy. If the same thing happens to you, you’ll need to act fast. Besides being a nuisance, some flies can transmit disease-causing organisms like salmonella, e-coli and even typhoid fever....

Fabric softener is a popular laundry ingredient because they help keep clothes soft, fresh-smelling and static-free. It also helps clothing retain its shape and color. But when it comes to washing towels, fabric softener should be given the boot. Why You Shouldn’t Use Fabric Softener on Towels Is fabric softener bad? Not exactly, but it can be bad for your towels. Fabric softener is created from a silicone oil. During a wash cycle, this oil latches onto towel fibers and makes them slippery, greasy and less absorbent....

The practice of showering is as old as waterfalls, though people without a natural cascade near their home have relied on other types of showers throughout the ages. Historically, showers have ranged from clay urns wielded by Egyptian servants to Roman public showers fed by aqueducts to the first mechanical shower, powered by a hydraulic pump and invented by a stove manufacturer from London in 1767. Today’s homeowners have their choice of showers....

How Soil ‘Pushes’ (and How to Build a Retaining Wall that Pushes Back) When you contemplate how to build a retaining wall, you may imagine how firm and solid it’ll appear from the front, or how great the new garden will look above it. But unless you give serious thought to what goes on behind and below the wall, the retaining wall design may not look good for long. A poor retaining wall design wall can lean, separate, even topple — you don’t want that....

Family Handyman Here’s a tip for making lithium tool batteries last twice as long. Most kits come with two batteries. Take one of them and stick it in the refrigerator—with the milk, not in the ice cream. Lithium-ion batteries have a shelf life of only a few years even if you use them sparingly. And new batteries are expensive. But keeping one cold makes it last at least twice as long....

Whether you are starting a new garden from scratch or getting an established plot up and running, you need to prepare the bed by tilling the soil. Tilling may be one of the most labor-intensive parts of gardening, but it’s also one of the most important. “Garden tilling is an essential process if you want to add a considerable amount of organic matter to make the soil more fertile, or if you need to prepare a garden bed for fresh seedings,” says The Bumper Crop Times gardening expert Bryan McKenzie....

If you’re a typical DIY’er, you need an arsenal of tools as needs dictate. You don’t necessarily have to have the most expensive, full-featured tool available, just one that does the job at a reasonable price. It’s not like you’re using that particular tool every single day. I tested out this RS290G random orbit sander from Ryobi because it fits that category of a basic, affordable tool. I wanted to see if it “gets the job done....

Fluid leaks from your car are not uncommon, and most should be checked out as soon as possible — especially if the liquid is gasoline or brake fluid. Determining the cause of the problem starts with identifying the dripping fluid. If it truly is water, there are normal reasons a water trail shows up under a car after it’s parked. The water condensation from the air conditioning system drips near the back of the engine compartment during normal operation....

Painting your windows might not be the first project you think of when planning your next home remodel. However, giving your windows a fresh new look doesn’t take much work or cash, and a little goes a long way. Here are five ideas you should consider for painting your home’s windows. Thomas Barwick/Getty Images Pick a White That Pops White paint is timeless. A bright white will pair perfectly with most non-white walls, including grays or a bold color....

It’s no secret that we love Carhartt. We even named it one of the best places to shop for both men’s workwear and women’s workwear. The performance workwear company does an equally good job outfitting men and women with clothes and gear designed to last, work hard and look good. So yeah, we get excited whenever Carhartt has a sale. And now, Carhartt is offering discounts on their best-selling t-shirts, bags and socks....