The Scarlet Scraper

​This is it—my last set of ramblings on the electric trike... for now. For anyone considering one of these unique rides, there are a couple of standout, and sometimes surprising, features you absolutely need to know about. ​Meet My Motorized Motivator ​First and foremost: This trike talks to you! ​Tucked away under the back area is a speaker that makes the whole experience... well, a bit chatty. From the moment you turn the key, it greets you like a cheerful (if slightly robotic) friend. It also acts as your diligent co-pilot, reminding you to lock it up when you're done riding and offering various helpful updates, like battery health checks. It was surprisingly astute, even informing me when I had wired something up incorrectly! ​Now, the English isn't always perfect. For example, when you engage the reverse gear, it repeatedly announces the slightly baffling phrase: "reverse penetration." It can be a little jarring, but I've learned to chuckle and ap...

 ​Well, our weirdly named farm-hand, the SDLanch IRET13 Electric Tricycle, is officially in service! Our very first day with the trike was a real baptism by fire, and I’ve already got a mountain of insights to share. ​While this little electric dump-bed is destined to spend its life happily motoring back and forth along one specific narrow path on Vashon Island, we had a major challenge just getting it there: a long trek across the full length of Vashon Island. This trip quickly revealed the trike's strengths and, well, its limits. ​Power vs. Physics: Handling the hills ​I imagine the trike was primarily designed for flat, dense urban areas or factory floors. In that environment, it would be a champion. It handles a heavy load with impressive stability, and on a flat straightaway, I estimate it could hit its maximum speed of around 30 mph using its three-speed transmission. ​ However, Vashon Island is a landscape carved by centuries of receding glaciers...

​Life on the farm is a constant balance of hard work, ingenuity, and finding the right tools for the job. For a long time, we've had a recurring challenge: moving stuff. Whether it's bags of feed, tools, garden waste, or a small load of firewood, the process has always felt a bit... Goldilocks. ​Wheelbarrows are great for small, quick jobs, but for anything substantial, they quickly become a massive drain on time and energy. We'd spend hours pushing and pulling, feeling the burn (and not the good kind!). On the other end of the spectrum, our tractor is a workhorse, but it's often overkill for these smaller hauling tasks. Hooking up an implement, firing it up, driving it across the yard – it all adds up to a lot of wasted time when you just need to move a few things. ​We needed something "just right." Something small, nimble, and efficient. A tiny mini-truck, if you will. And if it could be electric, even better – imagine the savings on ...

You know that feeling when you go into a store with a very specific item in mind, only to be met with aisles of... well, not that? That was my recent experience at Tractor Supply, and I left feeling a bit like I'd fallen for a clever marketing ploy. Let me preface this by saying I appreciate a good Western shirt as much as the next person, and my dog is always happy with a fresh bag of kibble. Tractor Supply certainly delivers on those fronts. Their aisles are packed with an impressive array of dog food brands, a surprisingly stylish selection of Western wear (think boots, hats, and rugged denim), and enough BBQ grills to outfit every backyard party from here to Oklahoma. But for actual, you know, tractors ? Not so much. My mission was simple: find a tractor bucket hook. A fairly standard, if somewhat niche, piece of equipment for anyone who owns or works with a tractor. I envisioned rows of implements, various hooks, chains, and all the accoutrements of honest-to-goodn...

Buying property, especially land to build your dream home, is a monumental undertaking. It’s exciting, nerve-wracking, and filled with a seemingly endless list of due diligence items. We thought we were doing everything right when we started looking for land in Kitsap County, Washington. We hired inspectors, did our research, and followed every county guideline. What we didn't anticipate was a bureaucratic nightmare that would leave us thousands of dollars poorer, emotionally drained, and saddled with a property that became almost worthless overnight. Our journey began with cautious optimism. We found a beautiful parcel of land in Kitsap that seemed perfect for our family. Knowing the complexities of rural development, especially concerning wastewater, we immediately turned our attention to septic system approval. This is where the Kitsap County Health Department came into play. We were instructed to choose a septic planner from their county-approved list. This felt like a reassuri...