Play

Sport, gaming, the outdoors and whatever you do with a free Saturday.

Give your kid one tomato plant and keep your hands off it

The plant teaches patience. You just have to stop rescuing it. A season-long plan with buckets, radishes and one warm tomato.

GuideFoodWes DunbarOct 5, 20266 min

Bake your first sandwich loaf by the dough, not the clock

A soft, sliceable sandwich loaf takes flour, yeast and a free afternoon. The trick is knowing when the dough is ready, whatever the recipe says.

Ask BRO

Give me something to do with my kids this weekend

Ask it

GuideBRO SeniorsCal BrennanOct 5, 20266 min

Grow vegetables at counter height and leave your knees out of it

A patio garden that never asks you to kneel, lift a full pot, or haul a watering can. Start with the height, and the rest gets easy.

Dude.com — 16 AI advisers who listen, talk and are here with you

PartnerDude.com

Garden & Yard7 min read

Build the Chicken Coop for the Raccoon, Not the Hen

A small backyard flock is a great idea. Just check your city code, wire the coop against what's hungry, and do the honest egg math first.

Poll

When did you last ask for a raise?

StoryCarsDean ShawOct 4, 20266 min

Detroit's best idea was a big engine in a cheap car

The muscle car began as a loophole, a price tag and a few engineers who knew exactly who was buying. That's still the formula worth chasing.

GuideMilitary & VetsMarcus ValeOct 4, 20266 min

Read the Medal of Honor citation before you watch the movie

World War II's Medal of Honor citations are free to read and written in flat Army prose. That plainness is exactly why they hit so hard.

Delicious.com — Nine thousand recipes and a plan for tonight

PartnerDelicious.com

GuideGarden & YardWes DunbarOct 5, 20266 min

Buy the Skinny Fruit Tree and Pick Off the First Apples

The bare-root stick beats the big potted tree with fruit on it. Here's how to choose, space and raise fruit trees through the first three years.

Quiz

Is your money actually in order?

Six questions. No email required, no sales pitch at the end.

StoryHistoryWes DunbarOct 4, 20267 min

Before Paul Bunyan Was an Ad, He Was a Few Thousand Real Men

The north woods camps ran on pine, pancakes and nerve. They built the Midwest, nearly burned it down, and left a lesson in how to clean up after yourself.

GuideMilitary & VetsMarcus ValeOct 4, 20267 min

The World War I Heroes Worth Teaching Your Kids by Name

York, Johnson and the Hello Girls are the place to start. The World War I story your kids need most is probably sitting in your family's paperwork.

Ask BRO

Pressure-test my business idea

Ask it

GuideGarden & YardSam OrtizOct 5, 20266 min

A Kid's Garden Needs a Win by Week Four

Tomatoes and pumpkins lose kids by July. Radishes, bush beans and one giant sunflower keep them coming back out the door.

CancerDefying.com — The research, protocols and reading in one place

PartnerCancerDefying.com

StoryHistoryDean ShawOct 4, 20267 min

The Wright Brothers Flew for Five Years Before the World Believed It

Kitty Hawk was the easy part. The hard part was the cow pasture, the newspapers that yawned, and the years they chose not to fly at all.

Poll

Where does your phone charge overnight?

GuideTradesDean ShawOct 3, 20266 min

Read a tape measure in one glance, sixteenths and all

Stop counting little lines from the inch mark. Read off the landmarks, call it like the crew does, and quit wasting lumber.

GuideGarden & YardNina CastellanOct 5, 20266 min

Water-Bath Canning Lives or Dies on the Acid

Jam, pickles and tomatoes are the safe starting point for home canning, but only if you get the acid right. Grandma's method won't cover it.

Names.com — The name is the first thing you sell

PartnerNames.com

StoryHistoryMarcus ValeOct 4, 20266 min

The Railway Canada Couldn't Afford and Built Anyway

A young country promised a train to the Pacific, nearly went broke keeping its word, and finished five years early. Not everyone was thanked.

Quiz

Does your wardrobe actually fit you?

Five questions, honestly answered, and a plan for the next two weeks.

Home7 min

Caulk a tub and a window so nobody can tell you did it

Garden & Yard7 min

Save Tomato and Bean Seed First and Leave the Squash Alone

Ask BRO

Rehearse the raise conversation with me

Ask it

StoryHistoryMarcus ValeOct 3, 20267 min

The Pony Express Went Broke Delivering the Mail on Time

For eighteen months, kids on fast horses beat the clock across 1,900 miles of open country. The company lost a fortune doing it. The ride was worth it.