Garden Box revisited

Well, its time to visit the newest garden box in the front yard. If you look back earlier, you'll see that this box was just built and filled this year. Through the miracle of photosynthesis and time, we're now on the cusp of a nice crop of Poblano Peppers.



As well as peppers, we've have Swiss Chard, Blue Lake Bush Beans and Snow Peas growing in the box, all planted in various phases so that we can harvest them in succession. This means that when the peppers are done, the peas will have more sun. As you can see, the bean plants are getting quite large. As we eat the chard the beans will get more sun to make more beans. Also, the shade the chard receives right now keeps it cooler in the sun, keeping it from bolting and extending the harvest.


It's been a fun little mini-garden to watch. Hanmi has been diligently removing the nasty bugs and giving a good watering every other morning or so. I think we'll create 1 new garden box each year and try different things. Today we saw someone growing corn in theirs! Last year's box is overflowing with pumpkins and soy beans. Yummy fun arrives in October.

Garden box o' leftovers [mostly]

On a hot summer day, we decided to build another planter box for the front yard. In our ever-growing need to expand our garden, we're always hunting around for nice designs that satisfy a few requirements:

• Pleasant to look at
• Pleasant to work with
• Holds dirt, won't rot quickly
• Good drainage
  
• Above doggie pee height
• Uses up some leftover building materials
  

It was a perfect day to take out the tools (table saw, miter saw, skill saw, drills and hardware) and use a bit more of our cedar woodpile. The rosewood stain and Trex decking make everything nice colors. The Trex top also makes a great bench, making a fun place to hang out while chatting with neighbors or just plucking weeds. We hope to have something popping up in about 3 weeks.

Hanmi came up with this design last year and it's held up well. The oil keeps it from rotting.

Here are some peechurs!

The staples can come out... they were a quick way to hold the end framing together prior to assembling the box. Also, the triangle braces for the Trex are the leftover miter cuts from the end frames. Overall we had very little waste.

Here you can see the original "prototype" for the planter on the left. It has been supplying us with lettuce, garlic, mustard & kale greens all spring. Next season crop is already on the way: pumpkins and soybeans! The only difference is the prototype was made with 3/4" plywood leftovers [the first box was made entirely of scraps].

Being fresh out of 3/4" ply, we got some 1"x6"x6' cedar fence boards and used those full length. The end panels were made with leftover 1/2 plywood framed with a leftover 2x6 that had been ripped in half.

words by Jim, photos by Hanmi

First Harvest of the Season!

We enjoyed our first harvest from this year's garden last week. The planter box in our front yard was planted with wild mustard greens, wild kale, and wild lettuce seeds back in February when it seemed the last frost had passed. The long, cold winter made the seedlings grow very slowly, until the recent spikes in temperature we've experienced here in Portland. The temperature neared 100° F less than two weeks ago, then dipped back in to the 50's this past week. But the brief warm spell made the mustard and kale grow like crazy and we were able to harvest enough to make a nice sized batch of braised greens for the two of us. Unfortunately, we had another unseasonably hot day this weekend, and now two of the mustard plants have bolted... It has been delightful, however, to watch them grow into such a lush and delicious bounty. Hopefully we'll be able to enjoy the mustard for a few more weeks before they all go to seed. I am hoping next week we'll be able to get our first salad from the garden.

Stop junk mail and save some trees

I hate junk mail. It seems to come from everywhere. Whether you buy something online, register a business, buy a house, or even buy someone a gift (!), chances are good you (and the recipient of the gift!!) will end up on a mailing list (or 10). By far the most effective way I've found to get rid of postal junk mail has been to sign up with www.greendimes.com. Not only do they contact all the mass mailing houses, they also allow you to sign up for removal from specific catalogs and register everyone in your household. In fact, I've gone one step further and registered a couple folks who haven't lived here for years, but in whose name junk mail continues to be delivered. As new catalogs appear, I go online and update our account and everything gets taken care of. It's been about 18 months since we first signed up and it's working like a charm. In addition to reducing the number of trees that turn into junkmail, Green Dimes will also plant trees on behalf of everyone who signs up. This is one instance when convenience aligns perfectly with doing something great for the environment.

Back to the Front Page

Thanks to some prodding from friends, we're back to blog more regularly. Aw - you guys are great. So there should be a few posts appearing more often than the usual "every blue moon." In this post, I'll catch you up on whats been news lately.

If you've not heard the old news, flip back and read about our trip through Patagonia, which wrapped up in January. Since then, I've switched jobs - haha, yet again. I decided to recognize that tougher times are just around the corner and picked up a full-time position at an old client. They're a good shop and have their eye on the long-term, instead of what seemed like very short-term thinking in some other places I've seen. Plus, the people are wonderful.

On the home front, we're still fuzting around with our bathroom remodel - slowly picking through the final pieces and putting them together now and again. We've definitely fallen into the "long tail" finish of this project. There's around 5 things left, its all going well though. We use everything in the room and it all works great.

We overhauled the "back 40" on our lot and tilled the yard up, spread compost everywhere and planted a mix of grass and wildflowers. It's been a cool, wet Spring so the sprouts are slowly coming along, but there's a peach-fuzz of green across the yard.

The chickens have been moved to the side yard. They don't like this area as much since their view is obscured and their sunlight is more limited. However, it gives the back yard time to revitalize and allows us to set up the garden without worrying about their scratching and pecking at all the sprouts.

I'm learning to bake bread! We don't have a bread mixer or a bread machine, so I'm perfecting the use of the food processor (the "chopper") for some initial mixing. I'm quite impatient so the "rising" portion of the making sometimes gets cut short. I still don't know what a second rise is all about, so I skip it. The first loaf was horrendously bad, as I didn't understand the purpose of gluten. (Imagine an all-gluten loaf of gum) The second loaf was better, but it was a little dense, as my yeast poured right through the chopper's center hole (note to self: turn machine on).

Han has been out in the nicer Spring days on paid shooting gigs. She's also picked up a very fun assistant position as a web designer for a sustainability blog. She's quite busy when those schedules converge, and the post-processing is a big job.

The bikes have been tuned up for Spring. I performed my first "brake job" on the mountain bike the other day - it was tricky but when finished, the lines have no bubbles and I could flip over the handlebars as easily as my first day. I rode to the new job yesterday and it was one of the most magical, wonderful routes I've ever enjoyed on the way to work. It's close to 15 miles each way, with a few steep hills, so the evening was a hot bath in the gigantic tub.

Hanmi set out the sprouts and our first round of garden plants are just about ready to go in the ground. She also prepped the plot and sowed seeds directly last weekend. I'm very excited. After a break last year from tomatoes and similar plants (peppers) - we're back with a full-range of vegetables: Potatoes, Cucumbers, Peppers, Tomatoes, Strawberries, Blueberries, Swiss Chard, Cilantro, Basil, Oregano, Sage, Spinach, Snow Peas, and 2 different kinds of Beans. The lots of Carrots and Brussel Sprouts, Mustard Greens, Kale, Lettuce, Chives, Onions, Garlic and other stuff are all around the house in planters. We also have a fig tree and a persimmon tree we planted last winter that will hopefully bear fruit this year. Should be interesting!

The eggs are arriving steadily, about 3 a day. We have given a lot away lately, which feels good. We received a cute Thank You note from a small child (and family) that walked by to "visit" the chickens, since they are now visible in the front yard. The chickens are quite friendly, almost to to point of being nagging in their quest for food, sunlight and attention. Riding on shoulders is a common sight when we're in the yard. We let them out to clean the front yard of slugs now and then. It's a fun, carefree feeling to relax with chickens napping on your legs on a lounge chair on the porch.

We are harvesting rain! The first 2 rain barrels are in place and full already. I'm slowly adding delivery pieces to the output side of the system. Our barrels are "nonstandard" in their storage, so that I could fit them under the back deck. But after a few tests everything seemed to work out. I'm very happy with it. We'll have the garden on a pH-balanced and filtered water system, run off a battery timer, flowing every morning for an hour or so. It's drip irrigation so there's not a lot of waste. The pressure from the gravity feed, with 110 gallons about 2 feet about ground seems fine.

We've played a lot with the numbers and the space we could devote to this concept. We have room for 6 more barrels for a total of ~400 gallons (about 3200 pounds!). I've been imagining some neat uses for all the water in later phases (toilet, basement sink, bird feeder, etc). For now, I've been advised to finish some older projects first. Wise, those unnamed advisers.

Adventures Everywhere

A few people have asked us "How can you take such huge vacations each year?" Well, unlike the short answers that many people guess ("DINK"-status is guessed most) it actually has more to do with commitment. Let me explain.

There is a phase early in every vacation idea where we kick around a few concepts, read a few books or talk to people. We usually plan trips around a theme, like climbing or photos or exploring a place. (This past one was to visit a new place with our new friends.) The hardest and most committing part comes when picking dates and forking over money. Once those tickets are bought and cars, hotels, etc are reserved, you're as good as gone. We always have to save up, so there's a fund, but its a strange thing how fast any piggy bank fills up when you really want something.

On the longer side of discussions about saving, Portland is a great place to learn how to adopt methods to reuse, recycle or reduce your consumption. For example, using the library instead of a video store, repairing clothes or shopping at GoodWill for clothes instead of name-brand stores, using all the conservation methods for utilities (CF bulbs, low-water usage, composting, etc). Biking to work, or switching jobs until commuting costs go away. Renting out a room in your house. Buying used when possible. This year, we will further reduce our utilities by using rainwater around the house from a bank of barrels hidden under the back deck. On and on.

In most of these choices, one's time will be the cost instead of just "buying out" for a quicker result. So, instead of the "free time" that most people have (statistically spent in traffic and in front of the TV) we skip buying new and spend the time on fussing with DIY stuff. It's actually pretty fun.

Before this sounds too preachy, let me state that all these things are just items in the arsenal that we like to explore. By no means have we been able to use them all, or every time. Our cost-of-living still has tons of room for reduction, but everyone likes to choose the standards they want to enjoy. Some of the concepts are serious endeavors that make huge changes to one's lifestyle.

Second, it all sounds very "hippie" in words but in practice, we've been able to integrate a lot of conservation ideas without turning the house into a full-on mad-scientist lab of tape and bailing wire. That might be Portland's best feature: there are elegant solutions for all kinds of DIY projects constantly being designed and discussed.

In fact, see our newest blog over at GetWithGreen.com for the research and result we've found whenever we change something about the house or appliances. We believe there's a true "movement" taking place that is pushing efficiency to the near-top of the priorities for folks. (yes, we're blogging somewhere else as well, but we love you too - really)

So there's the crux of it: By reducing our daily standard/cost of living, we learn to live with less at home, but in turn get to enjoy more in a vacation. For 2007, we drank our fill (and then some) of adventure and exploration with ~10 weeks on the road.

But as with all endings, its great to be back home. I predict 2008 to be relatively quiet.

Details, Details!

Joe has installed the countertop, but we're still waiting for the back splash, doors, drawers, cubbies, and shelves... At this point I have my doubts they will be installed before we leave.

We were able to install the sink, however, and Jobe temporarily put the faucet trim on so Jim and I can now brush our teeth in the bathroom. Interestingly, the new plumbing makes the water taste better in the bathroom than it does in the kitchen. Yay! No more midnight trips downstairs for a glass of water!! Wish there was an easy way to clean out the pipes/faucet... I replaced the aerator on the kitchen tap recently, but it made no difference in taste [I'm sure the water is cleaner, as far as bugs/mold goes, as the old one was disgusting!]

And due to the wildly popular response to the last round of 'action' photos [okay, so it was just one person...], here are a few more, plus the so-close-to-being-finished-it-is-killing-me vanity.

Paint, tile, and the joys of bathing at home

Okay remodel fans, we are in the home stretch. Last week our lovely friends Jane and Karen took care of all our painting needs. Karen traded a couple gallons of Yolo paint for one of my photos [though she hasn't decided which one yet!] and Jane took care of the painting, also in exchange for a photo. Barter rocks!

Joe has started to install the vanity, and as soon as the countertop and sink are in place we can finish up the plumbing.


And most importantly, we can now bathe in our own home! YAY! Last week I extolled the virtues of our new tub, but now I can confirm them. The material and it's heat holding capabilities are divine! Our first bath lasted nearly 90 minutes, and not once did we need to warm up the water. In fact, for a while we were too hot, having become accustomed to our old steel tub that had an instant cooling effect on water. We both had plenty of room, and I giggled with delight at the fact that I was able to submerge myself completely, up to my chin without resorting to contortions. Our one complaint is the durability of the toe-tap drain... A sideways bump is apparently all it takes to break off a piece and render it useless. Luckily they include an old fashioned stopper on a chain, so we were able to change it out painlessly. But having a chain in the tub with you is less than ideal, so I'm hoping the company will replace the broken part. Well, I just phoned and without even being placed on hold or transfered once, they are shipping a replacement part out today! Wonderful!!!


As we are fast approaching our trip to Chile [we leave Saturday], we're in a mad rush to get things wrapped up so our friend Susan can house sit and not be inconvenienced by a partially functional bathroom. We've had little trouble in terms of ideas working out up till now, but it became abundantly clear that our plan to use glass or Lumicor as a full shower surround was going to be prohibitively expensive. I also didn't like that we would have had to use a flavor of Lumicor that would at most contain 25% recycled content. So I opted to research my other lead and met with Marilyn Farrier, the owner of AMDEC Recycled Glass Tile. She works out of her home and uses large kilns to fuse 100% post industrial waste into gorgeous glass tiles. And her pricing simply cannot be beat. But more than that, from the first time I contacted her she has been very quick to respond, super friendly, and just has that something that makes you want to do business with her. After getting the grand tour of her production facility [her garage!], we packed up a few samples for me to share with Jim to narrow down our color choice. We selected Robin's Egg Blue with Green Apple accents in a 4x4" field tile. And better still, we found a great tiler, who will get it done for us as soon as the tile is ready!


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More photos from the Great Bathroom Remodel...

With the rain pouring down in buckets here and not quite having enough time to do the floor before the drywall squad returns to sand on Monday, we're taking a day off... So I've done some more digging and found/taken some more photos to post.

The new toilet went in yesterday, the tub is in place, though not yet connected to the drain, and the tile backer is ready for the floor heater and slate tile.

V+A "Nice" tub. As in the city in France... though it is very nice indeed

The room with natural lighting, on a dark and stormy day.

As we've mentioned previously, we're doing our best to be as "green" as possible. And while that's a very in vogue concept, it's actually still a bit difficult to find reliable, comprehensive resources for specifying materials and products. As such, the biggest pain has been in the amount of time it takes to figure out whether or not something is truly green, or just jumping on the bandwagon and using buzzwords to sell more garbage.

UltraTouch Recycled Cotton Insulation

Our lovely new toilet: dual flush with either a .9 gallon or 1.6 gallon flush, a HUGE improvement over the 1973 7 gallon per flush predecessor.

Then again, since I am blissfully under-employed, I've had the time to really dig in and have made some great finds. Here's our "green list" [subject to updates, as it's unlikely I'll remember everything in one go!]:

• PaperStone vanity top and shelf surfaces
• FSC certified wood cabinets built locally
• Cabinets finished with very low VOC water-based acrylic finish
• Toto Aquia Dual flush toilet
• YOLO Colorhouse paint
• Velux venting skylight with ComfortPlus glazing
• UltraTouch Recycled cotton insulation
• Caroma Leda Vasque semi-recessed lavatory
• Radiant floor heating by Warmly Yours
• Panasonic Whisper Green fan with motion sensor
• Low voltage halogen task lighting with dimmer [hoping to switch these to LED bulbs someday and/or solar or wind power]
• Flourescent vanity lighting
• Paperless Drywall: GP Dens Armour Plus and Dens Shield tile backer
  

There are a few areas that are woefully barren of green products... among them bathtubs and faucet fixtures. Our decision to use the Victoria+Albert tub was based on aesthetics, yes, but also on its durability, size, and material. The size is such that two people can comfortably bath together, thereby conserving water. The material is a solid surface with the marketing label "Englishcast". Made from volcanic limestone and resin, the material is cast into one of their many tub styles. This creates a tub that is as strong as cast iron but at half the weight with the bonus of being renewable, easy to clean without chemicals, and keeping the bathwater warm longer than other materials. We have yet to bathe in it, but we love the tub so much that if we ever move, I'd be really tempted to take it with us...

Other materials we are still considering are AMDEC Recycled glass tile and/or Lumicor panels for the tub/shower surround. Both are Northwest based companies with local manufacturing from recycled materials.

Later this week we will be trading artwork for labor and materials when the painting party starts. We have some pretty awesome friends. :)

Green Living, Inventables & other cool stuff

It's So Easy Being Green
If only someone had told Kermit the Frog... This is a great new blog that delivers at least one new and EASY step you can take towards living a more sustainable lifestyle. Not preachy or judgmental in the least, just practical advice in digestible amounts.

If you like that and want more check these out:
http://treehugger.com/
http://www.green-solutions.com/
http://www.coopamerica.org/pubs/greenpages/


Inventables
Taking items intended for one use and coming up with ideas for other innovative uses.

HalfBakery
Fun community driven half-baked ideas...

Life for Sale!

Well, after much talk, work, speculation, anxiety, etc., I have finally placed my house on the market... Where am I moving to? I moved in with Jim in early February. At the end of February I had concept debut, then Jim had hernia surgery. In March I had pneumonia. The latter half of the month was spent with a couple adventures and a LOT of prepping for the big sale. My parents came down a couple times to help out, but even a week ago it still seemed like we'd never be done. In fact, I wasn't convinced it was going to happen until midday on Monday. It went on the market Monday night... The link above is for the RMLS site, but my realtor, Leia, put together a great site, and I've posted the photos to my site.

It turned out to be a lot more nerve wracking and emotional than I ever could have predicted... As we closed the house up Monday night, Jim went ahead to start the car. I stopped on the front walk, turned around and whispered, "good bye, house." Before I even got to the word 'house', my voice cracked and my eyes welled up. And then I just started bawling... I cried for hours and at times felt inconsolable. And then I felt crazy, because I was mourning a house like a family member. But then, all things considered, that house has been a family member of sorts. It's a huge, expensive pain in the ass at times, and shelter and comfort other times. It's always there, waiting for me. I am very protective of it. And likewise, proud. But it's time for new and better things.

In the end, I find myself pondering all the things the house symbolized to me. I bought it when I was 27 years old, in fact, decided to make the offer on my 27th birthday. I lived in this house longer than I have lived in any other residence in my entire life. I have filed lawsuits to protect my house and prevailed. And more than anything, this house was my home. My first home. All the others had a feeling of temporary shelter, but this was mine. That was why I bought a house in the first place--I wanted a home. I also wanted a dog... [I adopted Ellis just 6 days after moving in.]

Anyway, it is the end of an era, and more importantly, the beginning of a whole new adventure. There will be more news of equal magnitude soon... stay tuned!