More 'Shrooms!

That log I brought inside over the weekend has decided to fruit! There are mushroom buds coming out in many different places on the log. I have a large clear lawn-and-garden bag draped over the log to provide additional moisture retention. It seems to be working.

I showed Samuel the mushroom buttons coming out and he seemed excited. Miriam was not thrilled, or at least she didn't seem so.

I'm very excited that we'll have fresh 'shrooms for our dinner this week. And if we have too many, I'll dry what we can't use right away. I'll have to let the log rest for a couple of months, then I'll see if I can get it to fruit again.

Not bad for waiting a year to let the fungus grow in the log!Lentinula edodes: Shiitake

I plugged them last year with Lentinula edodes spawn. That's the Latin name for Shiitake mushrooms.

Here is a picture I found on the net that shows what a fruiting log looks like!

Berry Picking

I spent about 2 hours this evening picking berries. Blackberries.

Now let me paint the picture for you. I'm home alone, since Mary is visiting her sister. I have nothing to keep me inside. I dress in long pants and long sleeve shirt, preparing for the thorns and possible poison ivy to come.

The temperature outside was about 97 this evening. I drank lots of water, and put on my cowboy hat to keep the ticks off my head.

I slowly walked about a mile away from the house, over to the grounds of the college where the berry patches are. I enjoyed the silence. But reflecting on it, it wasn't silence. It was a flurry of sounds. Birds, insects, breeze rustling leaves. Frogs in the distance. A car going down the highway. An aircraft on final approach to BWI. All of this I took in, as my attention was drawn to those little and big wild blackberries. What a relaxing way to spend a couple of hours. Oh, and I must have eaten about 2 cups of the berries right off the brambles.

By the way, you have to focus on the berries, as well as keep the very prickery brambles from tearing into your skin as you pluck that juicy berry. My index finger and thumb are still purple from the juices of the over ripe berries. Those are the ones I ate, because they wouldn't have traveled well anyway.

I finished picking the ones I could get to and returned home to the garden. I harvested a zucchini from the plant in the front yard down near the road, and then walked around the house. I nibbled a couple of ripe blueberries from the bushes, and noticed that there are some strawberries ready too. I'll get them tomorrow. I continued to walk around, just enjoying what I see. Tomatoes that are coming on, Swiss chard ready to pick. Salad greens for lots of salad.
What's this? A few beans peaking out from under their leaves. So I went inside and got a basket to catch the few beans. I went around behind the trellis and my jaw dropped at the sight! There were bunches and bunches of beans back there. I could have sworn they weren't there yesterday! Anyway, I set about picking beans, and by the time I was done, there was a whole basket full. I brought it inside to the kitchen, washed, snapped, blanched and froze about a gallon of beans. I kept some aside for tomorrow evenings celebratory meal. Mary returns!

What I notice about this simple life that I've chosen, is that I have time to notice things. I have time to be with people I love. I have time to be with myself, without feeling rushed, or harried or stressed-out. This simple life isn't for everyone, but for me it works extremely well.

Garden Goings-on

Well, it isn't spring yet... but tell that to the crocuses, the daffodils, and the forsythia!

Oh, and me. I have that spring fever thing going. I was out in the gardens for most of the weekend.

On Saturday, I pulled out all of the pachysandra that was growing on the driveway side of the sidewalk. A little patch that is "fenced in" by the handrail. I spent many hours pulling and transplanting the crocuses that were in the way, and a couple of hosta crowns that are just starting to point. I got it all pulled out, and found the holly bush stump about halfway up the little hill. I dug and chopped and pulled on it until it came loose. I'm saving it for garden art. I have it propped up along the sunny side of the house so that it can dry. It should last a long time in the sun!

After I had all the plants removed (and a few cantelope sized rocks) I brought 4 huge wheelbarrows full of compost from the back yard. This stuff has been sitting and cooking for over a year. And wow was it wonderful looking stuff! Earthworms just having a ball in it.
I spread the compost over the soil, and used my shovel to work it into the first 3 inches of soil or so.
At this point I noticed that this would be the perfect time to add to the cinder block wall. But I didn't have cinder blocks, and didn't want to go through mortaring them in, either. But I did have a lot of pieces of concrete rectangular stepping stones. So I wheeled them down from the pile, and after clearing the soil from the top of the old cinder block wall, proceeded to dry lay 5 courses of these on top of that low wall. They will only have to hold back about 10 inches of soil in that location, and I will make sure that I maintain it. I know it could slump if the soil gets too high. But I'm watching that closely. The wall turned out well, and looks pretty good! I love reusing something that I already have.

After I got the stones laid, I backfilled them a bit and then went to the garden center to get a bale of straw. I returned and then used the straw as my top mulch. I don't like leaving any soil bare for very long, since wind and water come along and steal my good earth. So keeping the soil covered is always a good idea. Besides, the earthworms like the insulation to keep on doing their thing!

That was enough for one day.

Sunday rolled around, and I did little chores after the rain stopped. I fixed our pea trellis (and planted peas later in the day.) I cut bamboo poles for the tomato trellis (where we planted peas too!) I also cut up some cardboard to make more worm bedding for my vermicompost bins.

Wow, looking back on it, that was good bit of stuff for one weekend. And I did it at my own pace, and enjoyed the beautiful weather!

Handmade "Soil Block" maker

I saw this on the Path to Freedom site and figured out how to make one out of scrap wood I had laying about the workshop. It took me about an hour to make the mold and plunger, and of course had to wait for the WATERPROOF glue to set up. Good clamps made this easy. I sanded it down to round off the edges. Really not difficult to make one.

It worked well, even though it will be making only one soil block at a time. Path to Freedom also has soil block makers for sale, here.



Anyway, I figured a bit of work, and I could be frugal, AND have my soil blocks too. So far I've made 2 trays full of soil blocks. I get 36 to the standard tray. I enjoy doing that and it is easy. So I think the house will soon be filled with seedling trays.

I also have 2 other seedling trays filled with little paper cups, and several little starts of swiss chard, tomatoes, cucumbers, and basil. I want to grow a whole lot more basil, so I'll be making more soil blocks. I'll be using them to start seeds during the whole growing season.

"Spring" planting

I started planting the 2008 garden this afternoon.

Here in Maryland we are zone 6 now, and getting warm enough to work some plants in. I start with onions and shallots. I'll be planting garlics soon too. My order of onion sets came in this week. I planted roughly 360 onions and about 45 shallots. The onions were about 120 red, about 120 white and about 120 yellow onions. Hopefully they will grow well.

I was finishing up planting the last of the white onion sets, when Mary came out to go for our walk. I was working in the soil under our big cypress tree. The same soil that the bamboo had depleted. Mary said that at least we know how to build topsoil. She is hoping for lots of good food from our gardens this year.

I get this way every spring. Bursting at the seams to get the garden going, but still way in the danger of frost. So, I'll figure out a way to get some seeds started and get them ready. I think I may work up a cold frame here real soon. That would give me the sheltered gardening area that I need to get my seeds started.

I also discussed the fact that the hedges on the side of our front yard block out some of the afternoon light. I now have permission to make them much shorter hedges. So I'll take care of that one of these spring afternoons when Mary is working on her schoolwork.

Fall Mulching of the "Gardens"

I spent some time scattering 5 bales of straw over the front and side gardens this morning. It had rained last night, and the leaves were nice and wet from the rain and melted snow from last week. I thought it was the perfect time to get the straw down.

This is another of my "experiments". I'm trying to see if the straw holds in enough moisture to help the leaves decompose in place, rather than raking them up. Hopefully by spring the worms will have done their thing and the mulch will have black earth under it. I know it works in the forest, I'm just helping it along a bit with the straw. I'll let you know if it works. Next year.

Mary has been working on papers for school most of the weekend. but we had a lovely break yesterday. We went to a Friends wedding. Two of the elder Friends, who had each lost a spouse, found each other and fell in love earlier this year, and now have tied the knot. The wedding was "under care of Meeting," so it was very Quakerly. I was married in the same way, since Mary is a member of the Friends Meeting. The wedding was very simple. The meeting sits in silent worship for about 15 minutes, and when the spirit moves the couple, they rise, take each other's hand, and speak their vows. Most couples write their own vows, but some use a traditional format. They then exchange rings (if they want to) and then kiss. They sign the wedding certificate, and then sit back down and settle into silence. A member of their Clearness Committee then reads the certificate, and then sits down. At that time, Friends are welcome to rise and speak, saying whatever good wishes, thoughts, congratulations, or words of wisdom they want to share. It is a very powerful and uplifting ceremony. After everyone who wishes to speak has spoken, the clerk of the clearness committee then rises and closes the meeting. The couple leaves first, then the committee and finally the meeting rises. All who witnessed the wedding are asked to sign the certificate. And this takes some time, as there are many people who go to the weddings. That's a good thing! That was Saturday afternoon. All the best to Carol and Bill and as many happy times together as you have remaining. I'm so glad you found each other.

Other than that it has been a restful and peaceful weekend.

Speaking of Ginger...

It was harvesting time, since our temperatures are getting down to frost/Hard frost. I pulled all of the ginger roots out of the ground, and left the leaves for the hungry worms. I washed the dirt off the roots with rainwater, and watered the kale at the same time. I wound up with about a cookie sheet full of fresh, fragrant, delicious, ginger roots. Wow! These taste so good in oriental cooking! I may slice up some this weekend for making ginger candy.

I also pulled all of the sweet potatoes out. I would say that I was disappointed with the harvest there. I blame the drought we had, and general shady conditions in the yard. I think they would have done much better had we had steady rain all summer. We did get enough for a few meals, though.

I also found 2 more small acorn squashes as I was harvesting the sweet potatoes. That brings our acorn squash count up to 6! I plan to cook them this weekend. That should be yummy!

I haven't had much time, due to taking an intensive computer training course. I work all day on the computer at the course, then come home and surf the 'net and play with the family. Wednesday is different, as Mary is still at grad school, and the twins are over at their dad's house. And I'm here in the house by myself. James time.

I haven't heard from Kyle for quite some time. I drove down to see his high-school band perform at the end of October, but Kyle ignored me as he walked by. I guess it wasn't "cool" for him to acknowledge his dad while surrounded by his marching band friends. I had enjoyed the performance, based on the "Orient Express". They had a cute steam engine train on the field, that moved from "station" to "station" as the music changed. The marching was excellent, and they sounded great. Overall I think they were the best band there that day. I don't usually lament on how much I miss the kid Kyle used to be, now that his 16th birthday is approaching, it gets harder and harder. I just keep on loving the son he was, and hope that I will get to know the young man he has become. It is very hard not hearing from him though. Very hard.

Lastly, but definitely not leastly... My nephew Evan goes in for the first of 3 brain surgeries tomorrow. All of us here are pulling for him! The surgeries are supposed to correct his epileptic seizures, by removing a tuber that has grown and seems to be setting off the seizures. That seems to be the plan anyway. So if you would care to check out the progress, Lisa, Evan's mom, has this blog going to get the word out. Medical Maze. Best of luck and a very speedy recovery, Evan!

Beans and Tomatoes

With the dryness we've had this summer, we didn't get much in the way of potatoes. We harvested a bunch of tubers, but most were really small. We had some good sized ones, that some rodent (dang voles!) or other decided tasted pretty good.

Anyway, I've planted lots of kales in patches around the yard, and they seem to be coming up pretty well. They are thick right now, but I'll be thinning them down soon.

Beans. We got lots of beans. I've frozen 6 gallon zip-lock sized bags of assorted beans so far, and it really doesn't look like they are going to stop any time soon. We have been eating them steamed, stir-fried, and in soup too. I'm planning on veggie pot-pie for Thursday night's dinner. I'll use some of those fine purple potatoes, our lovely green beans, and (sigh) store bought carrots.

Our tomatoes finally came in. We are having several eating size beefsteak tomatoes, and Samuel, Eliza and I have been trying to keep up with the cherry tomatoes. I don't expect I'll need to buy seeds for any of them next year, since I'm returning some of the seeds to the tomato mulched areas. Mary wanted roma tomatoes, and we have just enough to make a batch of spaghetti sauce, and I have that simmering on the stove for tomorrow night's dinner. It will be extra yummy then, I'm sure! I'll do up some bread, and maybe some more beans...

Things that didn't do well in our shaded garden areas... carrots (slugs got them!), swiss chard, cucumbers, yellow squash (dang beetles) zucchini squash (planted way too late) and lettuce, spinach, and beets in the back yard. Next spring, I'm going to be planting a whole lot more food crops in the front yard, and I'm not going to be putting down shredded hardwood mulch. That stuff mats up so much that no water can get in, and the rain we had ran off without wetting the soil underneath. So, I'll cover the new soil with straw, and mulch everything in nicely.

We have some really long sweet potato vines in the front yard, but it isn't anywhere time to eat those yet. And did you know that you can eat the leaves of the sweet potato as "greens"? You slow down the formation of the tuber if you eat them before harvesting the tuber, but the whole plant can be eaten when you harvest the tubers.

Onions didn't do well on Herb Hill. Hardwood mulch kept the water out. Same with the garlic we planted there. The basil didn't do well there either, but we will try again next year with a lot more seedlings.

Mary and I have decided that beans really do well in our yard, and that we really like them, so we will see what comes of them next year.

We'll have snow peas and snap peas in the ground soon, hopefully we can have some before the frost.

The Rain Barrels are Full!

I've been enjoying the rain this afternoon. The storm came about 5 pm, plenty of time to enjoy the rain. It did water the garden quite well, and filled up the half-full barrels. We are topped up now both in the ground water and the barrels. That is so cool! The pond too is almost to the top as well. We've put it out to our friends (and the Universe) in general that we would like some frogs for the pond. We have one little frog, but that seems to be it.

I have damp clothes now from walking around the house in the light rain. I couldn't wait to check out the yard! I'm so excited with everything, and how well it is growing.

We had some of the environmentally conscious Friends over for a garden tour last evening. They seemed much impressed with what we've done here. They didn't seem to believe me when I said that it was fun, and not too much work. I also tried to tell them that I have been working in this general direction of soil building for the last 3 years. It shows too. There aren't many places we can did out in the gardens where we don't disturb many earthworms at a time. I demonstrated that to the Friends last night, and they were impressed! Since some still have yards, lawns and such, use chemicals (pesticides and fertilizers) and have managed to kill off most of their worms, and beneficial insects.

With this rain, the slugs will come out and give us a chance to do some slug picking. I've noticed that the slugs don't bother the plants that are growing in wild profusion! Just the little ones we would like to eat later.

I planted 2 pounds of cover crop seed - White clover since I read Masanobu Fukuoka's interview in Mother Earth News Archives. I really like the internet. Anyway, he said to use white clover as a cover crop, and an inter-crop because it was the best one he had tried. So I went out on Saturday and put 2 pounds of seed around, and have been waiting for the rain to come... and grow our clover. Even the asparagus beds will have clover soon! The asparagus will come up over/through it and will be even healthier. If the clover gets out of hand, I'll just chop it off and let it be worm-food! If I want to plant other things, I'll just pull out some clover, plant the new plant or seeds and let them go. It will be a wild experiment by far.

Anyway, I'm excited because it rained. I'm excited because of the garden growing so well (the strawberries were fantastic! and more are still coming.) I'm excited to be alive. But most of all, I'm excited to be Mary's.

Weekend Update

Gardening. Trellis building actually. One huge Kiwi trellis done. It is 22' X 8' X 8' high. Hopefully plenty of room for those kiwis to grow and fruit.

I planted apple trees, Asian pears, and a passion flower vine. I planted fingerling potatoes, and ginger roots. The weather outside was beautiful, and I very much enjoyed the entire weekend. It was relaxing and fulfilling at the same time. The gardens are really coming together well. I will probably plant the remaining Asian pear and the Seckle pear tomorrow. That leaves the grapes and Kiwis yet to plant. Oh, and the fig tree. I haven't quite figured out what kind of trellis I want to have the grapes on yet, and Mary wants to help me figure that out, so I'm waiting for her to get back.

Not much else happened this weekend.

Another section of Sheet Mulch

I spent a good while today doing more sheet mulching.
It is really neat how all of that material goes in, and eventually I'll have rich dark loamy topsoil to grow things in! Amazing.

I worked from about 7:30 this morning until 1:30, taking breaks for lunch and snacks. It looks really good, and when Mary gets back from visiting Liza, I'll take a picture for you!

Yesterday I got the granny-smith apple tree planted, and the six thornless blackberries. I hope they make it! They looked half dead, but then again, they are ship in dormant states. I also got 35 or so asparagus plants tucked into the ground. We should have a good area of asparagus in the next couple of years. Yummy!

The garden is really coming along. I'm so happy with the way things are turning out. It is amazing that the work I've done previously on the perennials has the garden beautiful already, and it was work that I don't have to do again! Yeah! Now I have to get the materials for the kiwi trellis and get that going before the kiwi get here. Always something to do, eh?

I've been enjoying being lazy and reading for the rest of the afternoon. I did manage to get to the commissary and get the cereals that the kids asked for. I hope they enjoy it! Super sweet sugar coated sugar! Not what I want to be eating.

More garden work

I started working in the garden early. It was a beautiful bright, sun-shiny day! Mary enjoyed the sun too!

I cleaned out the last of the compost from the right-most bin, and put down 24 inches of grass, leaves, and chopped up pieces of old bush back in. That got it ready for starting the new compost cycle. The plant material becomes the biological sponge, that will keep anything from leaching into the ground water over the next 2 years. We'll add to the right pile for the next year, then let it rest for then next year. The old left bin is full, and has now been "retired" for the next year. Next April, we will have a huge bin of compost ready to put on the gardens.

After we took Samuel to his dad's house, we noticed that Mary was too hungry to go to church, so we went back home for lunch. We had a lovely meal together on the back patio, enjoying the sun. After lunch we went to Clement's Hardware. We needed fencing materials for Mary's potato beds, as well as something for the thornless blackberries to grow on. We wound up getting some 6 foot steel posts, and stringing wire on them to support the blackberries.

So we spent the beautiful afternoon preparing potato beds, building the blackberry supports and generally working in the gardens. I put the clothesline back up straight after it had been blown down 2 weeks ago. It was a wonderful afternoon.

Miriam stayed over at Tori's place last night, but Tori was so tired, she fell asleep early. Miriam enjoyed her sister time, and we got to see Tori when she dropped Miriam back home. Tori seems to be doing extremely well.

Samuel had a camp out with scouts Friday night, and didn't get much sleep, since there were some very loud scouts that wouldn't let the rest get to sleep. I hope he had a good time!

We got another load of manure to fertilize the gardens, but that was around dinner time, so I haven't had a chance to do any spreading with it. Later, I guess.

It has been so nice outside, I had the scooter out after dinner. I'm planning on riding it to work tomorrow!

Mary got wood chips for me!

Yes, another neighbor had a couple of trees taken down, and Mary called to ask me if I wanted wood chips. I said yes. So, I got home from work, and the driveway was filled with freshly ground wood chips. 101 wheelbarrow loads later, and the chips were nicely stacked, ok, piled up in the back fence area. We have plenty of chips for paths, mulching and such now.

I'm kinda tired after all that work, but it is well worth it, in so many ways. Exercise for me, and free organic material for the gardens.

Mary ordered our trees and grapes and kiwi vines today. I have to get the trellises built for the vines.

Our edible landscaping is going well.

Environmental Small Steps
by James Kniskern

I'm sure that we will have folks around who would like to take a look at what we are doing. All added up they sound like big things, but they aren't really. Mary and I have just taken many small steps. We put some of those things into action that people may have read about. There are lots of things that we still want to do, but either don't have the time, money, or the solar window to accomplish.

I don't know if there is a list on the internet of things that can be done that are environmentally friendly, but there should be, shouldn't there? Here is a list of the things that Mary and I have done so far. Keep in mind that we tackle things in small batches, and keep working on them until they are done. None of this was done overnight! It takes time. Also it is a matter of changing some habits, and making things work for you!

1. Rain barrels at all 5 downspouts. These were assembled in 5 phases, and I learned how to make them from the internet! And yes, they are made from Rubbermaid 32 gallon trashcans. Each phase of rain barrels got little improvements and tweaks to make it better, so by the time I was installing the fifth set, I got it done in just a couple of hours. We use the water for the gardens around the house. The nice thing is that we don't have to carry water far to water plants.

2. Low flow shower head - low cost item at Home Depot. Reduces water usage by leaps and bounds, but still gives you the feeling of water pounding on you as you shower. It gives plenty of pressure to rinse shampoo out of hair and such. Ours doesn't quite match the other fixtures in the bathroom, but certainly does allow us to save huge amounts of water.

3. Greywater usage: Mary's idea. Catch water in the tub, carry it outside to water plants. We don't do this much in the wintertime, since the plants are sleeping. We do save shower water in 2 buckets next to the toilet to use for flushing. This came about because we have an old house, and didn't want to retrofit the place with more pipes to the outside. Also kids use MUCH less water when they have to carry it outside in buckets. It makes them think about what they are using. Our water consumption dropped to only 5 units per quarter.

We could get much more strict on this, by saving dishwater (no dishwasher in our house, hand washing only) and even saving hand-washing water too. We will probably do this in the spring when we need more water.

4. Electricity - Putting off-and-on-switched power strips on computers, entertainment centers and other things. - Electronic equipment that is in "standby" uses power, just waiting for you to use your remote control. This is essentially wasted power. Ok, so if you want a clock, use a clock that uses wind-up mechanism, or a rechargeable battery. Forget about the clocks in the electronics. They drain power.

5. Compact Florescent Lights (CFL): These are the famous curly bulbs. They save TONS of electricity! When Mary and I married, I started replacing all of the bulbs in her house with these. They are more expensive initially, but save money overall. They pay for themselves. There is something even better, and as of yet more expensive initially : LED lights. They last for 10s of years and use even less energy than CFLs. They take a bit more wiring, as they run on Direct Current (DC) instead of AC. Mary and I haven't moved to these yet, but will when we build our next house.

6. Get rid of the lawn. This took us about 3 years. Plan pathways and plant/flower beds. Make changes in small sections. Did you know that mowing grass using either gas or electric mowers is a fantastic waste of energy, money and time? If you absolutely have to keep some grass, then keep the patch small, only 30-40 square feet, just enough to have some green, or walk on barefoot. This can be easily cut with a rotary push mower, which uses no fossil fuel, and allows exercise too. Remember to let your grass clippings mulch down into the soil to feed your grass. That requires far less fertilizer, which is good for the environment too. Getting rid of the lawn saves hundreds of gallons of water, as well as fossil fuels required to make, transport and clean up fertilizers. The key to getting rid of your lawn is do a little bit at a time, and work toward building the soil. Once you have done this, the system actually takes far less work to maintain. Mary can actually weed the entire front gardens in about a half an hour. This is because we have it so heavily mulched and planted with plants we want, they crowd out the weeds. Planted and mulched garden beds hold more water than shallow rooted lawn grass, keeping much less runoff from leaving your property.

7. Gas mileage - Try to purchase a car with the highest gas mileage possible. Hybrids are better. Full electric if they suit your needs. Most people only travel long distances a few times a year - buy accordingly. I personally found it much more fun to buy a small engined scooter. It gets me to work on warmer days and gets about 80 MPG. So I think I'm doing a bit for global warming, and still having fun at the same time. Of course, it would be better if my job were only 3 miles from home, instead of 18, but I still have to get back and forth.

8. Use of "Bay Friendly" cleaners. This came about not because we wanted to "save the Bay" but because we didn't want to have to have another dry well dug for our septic system. Our first dry well stopped working, and caused a backup of sewage into the house, not a pleasant thing. So I read up on everything not to put into a septic system. Harsh cleaners, bleach, high phosphorus detergents, paint, borax, Epsom salt, and anything else that will kill my beneficial bacteria in the system is forbidden. This has the added benefit of making things biodegradable, and easy to put on the garden, and good for the Bay. It is a selfish reason, and frugal, to be environmentally friendly... It's expensive and smells bad to have septic system problems.

9. Get energy efficient appliances. We are still working on this one. We always shop for the best energy efficient appliances we can afford. Knowing how they will be more cost effective and efficient, makes a slightly more up front cost more bearable. We have to remember that the cost of using the appliance will go in in energy costs later on. Demand quality, efficiency and usability.

10. Hang clothes out on a clothes line. Lines are easy to put up, and clothespins are inexpensive. Even if the clothes are a little damp, 10 minutes in the dryer to finish them up will still save money and energy. We estimate we saved about $300 in the last year by hanging out laundry. As I told a friend recently, if you want softer clothes, use distilled vinegar in the rinse cycle, and tumble the clothes for 5 minutes after they are dry.

11. Drying clothes in the winter: Put a vent on the dryer that will allow moist hot air to be blown into the house instead of outside. Most people with central air have very dry homes. Added humidity makes the house feel warmer, and a load or two of laundry moisture won't make the house feel damp. Also, central heating dries the air in the house anyway. Also, a bit of heat from the dryer is saved, keeping your money from flying out the vent. Our vent can be switched to outside flow in the summer.

12. Water Filters - Simple carbon filter makes water taste better, and also removes some of the chlorine/chloramine/fluoride that is added to water in Maryland.

13. Composting Toilets. Simple to build and use. A bit of a chore, but saves HUGE amounts of drinking water from being flushed away.

14. Weather proof doors and windows. Weather stripping is inexpensive at hardware stores. I'm amazed at the amount of savings from sealing up those doors and windows. It takes a bit of practice to apply, but as my Dad used to say to us kids "Close the door! I'm not heating the entire outdoors!"

15. Install extra insulation in attics, crawlspaces, basements, exterior walls. We are still working on this, and add insulation as we can afford it. Doing it ourselves is least expensive, but again, pays for itself later on. This is equal to putting an extra blanket on the bed, or an extra sweater on when you are feeling cool.

16. Buy locally grown/produced foods. Support your local farmers market. They often have organic foods which are better for you and have traveled much shorter distances. Buying local saves fuel to transport food. Organic foods are higher in nutrients and trace minerals, and have no pesticides. One of my little sayings during sweet corn season, "If it is good enough for the worms, then it is good for me!" I just leave the worm in the pile of husks for the compost bin, cut out the worm eaten bit, and eat the rest of the corn.

17. Eat seasonally grown foods. This works if you garden, and if you don't, patronize those farmer's markets and freeze or can your food for the off season. This is something new for us, and while we are moving in this direction, we still have a good way to go.

18. Eat fewer processed foods. This allows you to be healthier and eat better foods. It has an advantage of allowing you to cook more for yourself at home, and eat recipes you like. Processed foods are packaged with way too much waste wrapping, have been transported way too far, and usually aren't good for you anyway.

19. Eat less meat. It costs enormous amounts of energy and water to feed, transport, and otherwise produce meat for your table. Use less, or for even better health go vegetarian or vegan (animal-derived food free). Reduce dairy and eggs. High energy cost to produce/transport, high health cost of consuming.

20. Lower house temperature in winter. If we are cold, we put a sweater on. We rarely have the house warmer than 66 in the winter. In the summer, our thermostat is set at 78 or 80. If we feel warm, we go outside and spend some time. Then coming inside feels cooler. The advantage is that the AC makes the house drier, so we feel cooler. 80 is pretty cool on a 95 degree day.

21. Wash laundry in cold water. It takes energy to heat water, and clothes get just as clean in cold water too. For extra-soiled clothes, try adding hydrogen peroxide (but not too much) to help your cleaner. Hydrogen peroxide won't harm the septic either.

22. Wash clothes less often. If your clothes aren't dirty, don't wash them after just one wearing. Wear clothes until they are soiled, and need to be washed. Over washing makes clothes age faster. (This works pretty well for adults, but for kids of course, they soil clothes pretty quickly.) I have a set of "gardening clothes" that I put on to garden in. This keeps my other clothes cleaner longer. (Undershirts and underwear are worn for a day, then washed.)

Things we are planning to do in our next home:

All of the above things plus:

Solar water heater

Solar panels - either selling power to power company or going off-grid completely

High thermal mass walls - cool in summer, warm in winter.

Heat with efficient "rocket heater" using scrap wood.

Living roof - again, cools in summer, holds in heat in the winter.

Sun room - shaded in summer, warms house in winter, brings natural light into the home. Allows seeds to be started for garden earlier. Possible food production inside the house during winter.

And more things that I'm sure we will figure out as we go.

Wow. 2 pickup truck loads of --- Sh*t

Mary found someone who will bring composted horse manure right to the house. And today was cloudy, but pretty warm. I got the mudding done in the living/dining room so had some time to devote to spreading out the compost. Mary came out to help. We got lots done!

Yesterday, Mary was trying to fix up the front door molding. When the door was replaced, we put the old molding back on the door frame. Anyway, with the way the door was put in, the molding didn't quite fit right. No amount of jimmying or hammering was going to put it back on the way it would fit. So, I got some more at Home Depot today. I also got a nail set, and an inexpensive miter box with saw. I'll get that done tomorrow. Add some caulk and it will be done!

Now, after moving 2 loads of crap, I'm a bit tired!

Good Weekend

It was nice outside. Mary and the kids and I didn't get into anything huge, just lots of small, simple things.

Samuel was playing around with the tennis rackets at the community college courts.

Miriam went to a couple of church parties this weekend.

I built two more garden bed frames.

Mary committed a few neatnesses around the house.

Samuel and I went to see the movie "Eragon". It was pretty good, but we agreed that we liked the book better.

Made dinner. Ate dinner. Life is good.

Mary and I went to the movies.

We took in Apocalypto. This was Mel Gibson's action movie set in South America, just as the white men arrived. But it wasn't about that. It was about one man's escape from certain death, and saving himself and his family. I thought it was very well done and recommend it to you.

After the movie, Mary and I went to a bookstore to get a book for Eliza's host family and then we went to Michael's to get Eliza 3 American flags to send as well. Do you sense a theme here? We have been doing lots of shopping for Eliza, and very little for us.

We went to Home Depot and got supplies for building the first garden bed frame. I'm going to see how quickly I can get them done, then we will be in business.

For breakfast, I made chocolate, chocolate chunk with pecan muffins. Absolutely fabulous!

Mulching leaves

All of those leaves that I've been collecting and depositing in the back yard are now mulched. I took the electric lawn mower and went at those leaves. Now they will not get blown around by these wind storms that we've been having.

I spent an hour at Home Depot this afternoon getting Mary's Christmas present. I built a light shelf set for her. It has 4 lights, and 5 shelves, and she can use it to start seedlings for next spring. She was very excited about it.

I know, it was early, but with all that will be going on around Christmas, I thought it would be a good thing to get it done when I had some time to set it all up for her.

More yardwork

Lovely day to get stuff done.

Hmmm. Got up, made apple cinnamon muffins, baked a cherry pie (had the oven already hot, might as well use the energy.) Drove kids to church, dug and mixed and filled 2 more holes for the blueberry bed. I have about 3 to go, and hope to have it finished this week. I may have to get a few bags of composted steer manure to finish it off, but I'm going to get it done. If Mary is lucky, she will find a stable that will let us have some manure too. We are going to need about 3 more truck-loads for the gardens.
Anyway, I have another dehydrator full of apples drying, and have made apple butter, and now working on the second pot of apple sauce. Mary and I went on a walk around the neighborhood as we like to do, and found one neighbor putting grass clippings out to the curb for pickup, conveniently bagged. We chatted with John for a few minutes and he asked if we were the ones who took his grass clippings 3 weeks ago. Yes, we did! Guilty as suspected. He was happy that little mystery was solved. We came back home, got the station wagon, went back to his place and picked up all the bags of leaves/grass and brought them home. It took 2 trips to his house, and another 2 trips to another house that bags leaves and puts them out also. We have lots of bags in the front garden, and I'll get them put away here soon. They go up on the compost pile, or around trees, or on top of raised beds, but mulch is mulch, and grass clippings are good for nitrogen!

I'm pretty tired, but it was a good day.

Mary and I sat down and played a round of Skip-Bo with the kids, and Samuel won. It was fun.

This morning when the muffins came out of the oven, I was telling Samuel that there were hot muffins, "Get 'em while they're hot!" Hot Muffins! Fresh Home-made hot muffins! MMMM Hot and Fresh! Fresh Muffins! By that time, Samuel was getting annoyed, so I sang, "Do you know the Muffin Man, the Muffin Man? Do you know the Muffin Man who lives on Beechwood Rd?" And that song seriously stuck in the boy's head ALL day! It was funny.

Now the kids are reading quietly in the living room. It looks to be a quiet night at home.
I'm planning on reading and going to bed early, so that I can get lots of rest. I need the energy to dig the rest of the blueberry bed tomorrow.

Did I mention it was a good day!

Moved 137 wheelbarrow loads of wood chips!

It took about 6 1/2 hours to get them all moved, but they are done!

I'll finish cleaning up the driveway tomorrow morning.

Samuel and Mary aren't feeling well, so I have chosen not to go pick up Kyle and expose him to whatever it is that they are fighting. I think they will be well in a day or two, but Kyle's household doesn't need anything getting his siblings sick.