Yogurt, bread, beer, kimchi, wine, cheese, miso, kraut, and vinegar are among the many foods that are produced with the aid of microorganisms. Those are living beasties of a type that we ordinarily try to remove from what we eat. This cookbook is full of fermentation recipes. It presents a unified theory of “live-culture foods,” a way of connecting their different methods in order to understand why fermentation is a Good Thing, and why there should be more of it. Fermentation is fairly easy to do. It can self-correct many beginner’s errors. It is definitely a slow-food process, but at the same time, a low-effort process since the bugs do most of the work. The recipes here are starter ones, broad in scope, easy to do, just to get you going. The appendix contains a good roundup of sources for a large variety of live cultures. You can find deeper more complex recipes in specific books, but here in one slim volume is a great introduction to how to ferment. At least once, you should make your own yogurt, bread, beer, kimchi, wine, cheese, miso, kraut, and vinegar. Find what you do well and make more of it. More importantly, ferment something new. — KK Wild Fermentation Sandor Ellix Katz 2003, 200 pages $17

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There is nothing in this book that you don’t need to know. You don’t have to commit the book to memory but I would encourage you to know what’s in it and how to find it quickly. My first duty as a Scout leader is the safety and well-being of our Scouts at an age when they are poor judges of risk and have a propensity to overestimate their capacities. I need to know how to keep them safe and how to respond if they are injured or ill. Medicine for the Outdoors is the work of Dr. Paul Auerbach, wilderness medicine pioneer and arguably the world’s foremost expert on the subject. He explains the how and why of responding to nearly every possible illness or injury one is likely to encounter in a concise, step by step manner that is intended to be used on the spot – but don’t wait for something to happen before you read the book.

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I decided to try my hand at gardening again after last having a vegetable garden in college 35 years ago (which I remembered involving a lot of work). After doing some research online I found Mel Bartholomew’s squarefoot garden method appealed to my inner geekdom. Bartholomew’s method relies on building and gardening in four-foot by four-foot plots/boxes. He then provides details on how to plan the optimal mixture of soil, fertilizer, and supplements to match whatever you want to grow in them. After using the method for three years I am a sold. The method assumes you know nothing, does not require you to be very handy, is inexpensive, takes up a minimal amount of space and water, is very practical and detailed, can easily be entirely organic, requires minimal weeding, and, best of all, yields lots of fresh veggies. What more could you ask for? The other books I looked at required tilling, fertilizing and weeding rows or did not focus on the basics. –John Cowling All New Squarefoot Gardening Mel Bartholomew 2006, 271 pages $12 Don’t forget to comment over at Cool Tools and/or submit a tool!

Jon sez, “We’ve designed a bicycle seat clamp with a little bottle opener on the back. We love biking, and wish more people would commute this way. We also love beer- especially Utah’s microbrews. We thought it would be a fun project to combine our two loves into a single awesome project. Enter the Nectar and Elixir. These are clean little seat clamps for your bike. Nectar is fixed, and Elixir is quick release. On the back, though, is a little nub that works perfectly as a bottle opener.”

They’re 70 percent of the way to their Kickstarter goal.

Nectar and Elixir- seat clamp / bottle openers (Thanks, Jon!)

Etsy seller Voodoorabbit’s AUD35.00 throw pillow is made from custom-printed, eye-wateringly fabulous “Space Invaders gingham.”

Handmade Gingham Invaded White Cushion / Pillow Cover 43 x 43cm (via Wonderland)

First Defense Nasal Screens are tiny anti-pollen nostril-plugs you stick up your nose, made from “100 percent breathable non-latex, skin safe material.” The manufacturer claims that lab tests show them to be “99 percent” effective against allergens and viruses. You can get seven sets for $10.

First Defense Nasal Screens (via Red Ferret)