gardening with a sawzall

pampas grass

We're still getting used to the absent tree. The additional light in K's office is nice, and I'm loving having fewer pine needles to clean off the roof and the front walk. And I've still got some work to do on the stairs from the carport. But all those improvements have made some other things more clear.

One is the ugly mound of pampas grass that's been growing near the base of the stairs since forever. The plumes may look pretty when it's blooming, but the main mound is full of dry, yellowed leaves, and the green leaves have a nasty sharp edge to them. K has been wanting to get rid of it for a while, so today after I dropped her off at the airport, I came home and set to work. On Friday I'd purchased a machete from our local hardware store, and between that and judicious use of my sawzall to cut off the dense central clumps, I managed to get rid of 2/3rds of it. I filled our green bin, so after that's emptied on Wednesday morning I'll attack it again.

changing scenery

Yesterday was not a productive day. I wasn't expecting it to be super productive, but I basically got no work done. Our uphill neighbor told us last month that she was going to have one of the big Monterey pines next to her house taken out. I've always been aware of the trees -- the many (non-Eucalyptus) trees are part of why I bought the house where I did. But this particular pine was right next to her house, with a major branch hanging over ours. Over the years, she had an arborist take care of it, but it had become somewhat unbalanced over the last few years. Even before that, K and I worried a bit during big storms or earthquakes that all or part might come crashing down. So I was torn when I heard it was time for it to come down -- it's beautiful, but can be a little scary.

hecka big crane

Taking down a tree that large between houses and power lines is a tricky business. So they brought in a crane. It's a big tree, so it needed a really big crane. (They were also taking out a smaller dead cypress tree near the other side of the house, and the crane would help with that, too.) Between the crane, chainsaws, wood chipper, and general mayhem, I was anticipating a noisy day. I stayed home hoping to work and to deal with any issues that might come up, and K wisely went to the Mercy Center for a day-long retreat. Guess who was more successful?

Friday morning we woke to the sound of a big crane lumbering its way up the hill. We also woke to the news of the massive earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Although we currently don't have family there, K's brother and sister-in-law used to live in Tokyo (their oldest daughter was born there), and I was there several times on business and worked with some software engineers from Toshiba for a couple of years. So I was not only distracted by the mayhem outside, but I was frequently checking the web for news, praying, thinking of former colleagues and was generally very distracted by the events there. Add to that the relatively minor worries about the tsunami striking California, and it was not a peaceful or productive day.

Despite all that, the they did safely bring the tree down. They started by lowering a guy into the tree with the crane. He proceeded to tie off then cut branches, which were then lowered by crane to the ground for others to deal with. This went on all day, and by 6pm or so, it was all over but the cleanup. They did a lot of that last night, and then came and finished up this morning. We haven't counted the rings yet, but it was a very large tree. You can get some idea of how big it is from the picture of the slice in the back of the truck. It's about 5 feet across at the widest point.

We'll miss the tree (not so much during storms), but removing it has already made a big change in the neighborhood. People further up the hill have new views. We have a lot more light on the north and east sides of the house. And I'll have a lot fewer pine needles and branches to clean from the roof and front walk. One downside is that the azaleas along the path will no longer be self-watering. During the summer, the fog would condense on the tree and drip down onto the flower beds below. Now we may actually have to water them some. On the other hand, it reduces the fire risk, and improves our prospects for solar PV panels.

urban homesteading

I'm still not 100% done with the stairs to the carport, but they're fully functional and passed the elderly mother-in-law test. I still need to add more spindles to the railings, and some more lighting, but the stairs and railings are there.

Once that's done, I probably won't have as many DIY projects to blog about, so I plan to blog more about urban homesteading. I was inspired in part by Novella Carpenter here in Oakland, who wrote Farm City: the education of an urban farmer and runs Ghost Town Farm. I've also found inspiration from City Homestead here in Oakland. They don't have much in the way of an urban or city homestead yet, but they both feel strongly about local food and are taking steps in that direction. Quite a bit further along are my friends at Casa Decrepit in Alameda. They grow all sorts of fruits and vegetables, and have kept chickens for eggs for a number of years.

But the real inspiration of where to head is from Root Simple (formerly known as Homegrown Evolution) and authors of The Urban Homestead: Your Guide to Self-sufficient Living in the Heart of the City. Back when I was first reading Farm City and started following various urban homesteading blogs, Root Simple was one of the first and best I came across. K didn't know I was following their blog at that point, but came home from a business trip with a book for me -- The Urban Homestead.

For me, it's not about saving money (though that's a bonus), it's about knowing where your food comes from. That's a large part of why I became a vegetarian over a decade ago -- the idea of factory farms and having no idea what's going into your food, and a process that's damaging the environment -- it's clearly not sustainable in the long run and not very healthy in the short run.

Rain Barrel Review

Doubtless some of you were expecting dancing rain barrels, with feather headdresses and sequins, or given their watery connections, an overhead shot of them dancing in a pool. That would most commonly be a rain barrel revue. Alas, this post is a bit more prosaic though hopefully quite a bit more useful. We've got two different varieties of rain barrels and I helped some fellow Oaklanders with a third, so when Retro Housewife Goes Green tweeted wanting to know about rain barrels, I decided to finally post this.

Great American Rain Barrel

First up is the Great American Rain Barrel (GAB), which reuses food-grade plastic barrels. We got this one one because I wanted to better control the rain water that comes to the entry side of the house. Even before I built the addition, some construction flaws with the original house led to water being an issue. The GAB comes with all the fittings and parts you need except an overflow hose (it includes the elbow fitting, just not the hose.) It's fairly easy to set up, though fastening the inside fittings takes some doing. (I highly recommend bracing the barrel before you try to wiggle inside it.) I don't like the fact that it's plastic, but I do like the fact it's made from a reused food barrel and that there were color options available. As with most rain barrels available, multiple barrels can be linked to collect more water. The only problem we've had with it is overflow. If it's raining really hard, or if the small holes in the lid are partially blocked with debris, more water comes down the downspout than can get into the barrel. That results in water splashing over the edge rather than making it into the barrel and out the overflow hose.

Specs:
60 gallon capacity, linkable, ~$169

Pros:

• includes all fittings
• colors available
• reused food barrels

Cons:

• pricey
• lid clogs easily
• doesn't include overflow hose
• shipped from MA

Rain Water Solutions

Next up is the Moby from Rain Water Solutions. These barrels are made from recycled plastic, and have a custom shape. There are some color choices available though the non-black options cost a bit more. I got two of these through a City of Oakland program which sold them at a large discount (22% of list and no shipping) to residents. The design holds slightly more water, but the big difference to me is the lid. Instead of 16 small holes to let water in, the entire lid is slightly funnel shaped and leads to one large hole in the middle. There's plastic screen over the hole to catch debris and keep insects from breeding in the water. But the large hole makes it much less likely to clog, or clog enough that the overflow doesn't work. Again I'm not wild about them being plastic, but at least it's 100% recycled plastic. Reuse (theoretically at least) is better than recycling, as it uses an item that's already been manufactured, but recycled is better than made new.

Specs:
65 gallon capacity, linkable, ~$199 (black)

Pros:

• includes all fittings
• colors available (though cost more)
• recycled plastic

Cons:

• even more pricey
• shipped from NC

Obviously given the program through the city, the price was much more attractive for us, and the shipping was theoretically more efficient since they shipped a whole truck load of them.

DIY solution

Last, but not least, is the DIY solution. Given the title of my blog, you might have assumed I'd try this first. I probably would have, but I kept putting it off because of other DIY projects (like the addition and the kitchen remodel), and in the back of my mind I've been planning a larger, more elaborate system to store more water since it doesn't rain all summer here. That didn't happen, so my experience with DIY rain barrels is more limited. I did help the good folks at City Homestead with a platform for their converted wine barrels. These are locally sourced (less than 50 miles), reusing materials, and non-plastic. Others have used reused food grade barrels (very helpful, step-by-step instructions) like the ones the GAB uses. There may be other options in your area depending on where you live. The hardest parts of the DIY option are (1) finding a source for the barrel (2) getting the fittings to work with it. But the upside is that not only can you get the barrel locally, you may be able to get it for free or at least for very cheap. You'll still need to get the fittings, and those will cost you $10-$25.

Specs:
55-80 gallons, linkable, free-$120

Pros:

• cheap!
  
• sourced locally
  
• reused barrel

Cons:

• finding a good source can be hard
  
• you have to find and install the fittings
• wood barrels won't last forever
• may not handle high volume well
  

So there you have it. As with many things, there are trade-offs to the different approaches: cost, greenness, difficulty, et al. With any of these, some may be more important to you or not an issue (e.g., if you live in MA or NC). But hopefully this provided a useful comparison.

Kitchen Widgets

towel bar

Along with the big stuff like countertops and cabinets, there's a lot of little stuff that often goes into a kitchen, like a towelbar. I spent a lot of time searching for alternatives to the $90 Swedish-made brass ones and $3 steel ones, and finally found this beauty on Amazon for $22.

plumb bob how-to

I was impressed with the instructions. They instruct you how to make a simple plumb bob to help hang the bracket vertically, though they don't describe it as such. I've used various items including washers, chalk lines, and actual plumb bobs (thanks, Pete) as a plumb bob, but for something this short, I just use a level. But the idea of taping a coin to the instructions to get a vertical line is brilliant, and since many folks don't have a level or necessary understand their usage, it's probably better they don't describe what it is your doing, just tell you to do it.

I was less impressed with the massive plastic clam shell packaging it came in, but that's unfortunately all too common these days. And I would have preferred something U.S. made, but this was the right size, style and price.

ain't she lovely?

Another recent addition to the kitchen was a new compost bucket. We've always composted, even though haven't had a garden to use the compost in recently. It's long been in a Tupperware container, which works, but shows you the moldering fruit and veggie scraps piled on the coffee grounds, and is not the most appetizing thing to see on your kitchen counter. So I found this bamboo compost bucket, also on Amazon. It has a dishwasher-safe plastic bucket inside, and a simple filter in the lid to reduce odors. And it looks great with the new counters.

Kids! Kids! The Slugs Are Back!

one slug, two slug, green slug, ewww slug

The slugs are back, and the deer are gone. The doe has been very vigilant, and our neighbor reported last seeing them yesterday afternoon. I didn't see them at all today, though I was down into the basement and around the other side of the house to the main electrical panel several times. On one of the last trips I spotted this handsome fellow oozing along.

I made a lot of trips between the kitchen, the basement and the main panel. That was because after wrestling to get the exceptionally large wires into the new range outlet, I tested things, and got nothing. I went to the main panel, shut off the power, and noticed that the wires at the panel end were smaller than the wires I'd been wrestling with. So I went into the basement and under the house and traced things, and discovered that there was a one junction box where the fat copper wires were joined to some other fat wires (probably 4 AWG) with cool bronze screw clips. And from there it lead to the mystery subpanel on the other side of the house. There it joined to the smaller wires with some huge wire nuts, and then up to the main panel. The mystery subpanel on the side of the house is also where the old dryer circuit of very dubious merit ran through. The thing is, the 4 AWG wire doesn't appear to be copper, and is in the old cloth insulation. Regardless, there's a problem somewhere along the line between the mystery subpanel and the kitchen. So even though we won't be using it any time soon (our antique stove is gas), I'll be pulling new wire for the range outlet. Sigh. I'd been hoping to just hook that back up and be done with it.

'Tis Spring...

...and the thoughts of a young doe turn to "Why did I trust that handsome young buck last October? I haven't seen him since that night. He hasn't even called or sent a card."

In something fit for Cute Overload, a deer gave birth last night in our neighbor's yard to a pair of fawns. They're only about 15 feet from the corner of our house, but because of a tree and a rhododendron (and of course their great natural camouflage), we can't see them unless they get up and wobble around. No pictures yet, but I hope to get some in the next couple of days.

I'm busy prepping media for tomorrow, which will be my last Sunday at RLC. K and I want to be able to worship together and be part of a church community closer to home. And after 9+ years there, 7 of them creating and growing the media ministry, I decided it was time to move on. I'll miss the heck out of a lot of people, but I won't miss the late Saturday nights prepping things, and having to be there almost every Sunday. This afternoon there's a brief crew leader meeting for the Habitat build-a-thon next week, and I hope to get a little time in on the kitchen, so I need to stop fawning over the little deers in the back yard and get back to work.

World Food Day

On the heels of the Blog Action Day on poverty comes World Food Day, "to increase awareness, understanding and informed, year-around action to alleviate hunger." Food is tightly tied to poverty; if people spend all their waking hours trying to get food, there's no time for anything else like education or trying to improve things for your family.

But hunger is one of those things we've licked here in the U.S., right? Wrong. With the recent economic meltdown, the numbers of people utilizing food banks have soared. Even before that, our local food bank was providing assistance for 40,000+ people, the majority of those children and the elderly.

It's likely to get worse before it gets better. In the 20th century, the U.S. went from from smaller farms raising a variety of crops to industrial farms raising a single crop. Fertilizer synthesized from fossil fuels helped create huge increases in yields, and government subsidies helped make yield the only thing that mattered (you can read more about the industrialization of food in The Omnivore's Dilemma.) It lead to corn becoming ubiquitous in processed foods, especially fast food. Corn-fed beef, corn-fed chickens, sweetened with corn syrup, fried in corn oil. If we are what we eat, a lot of us are corn. But that cheap corn is dependent on fossil fuels (even as some of it is being used to create alternatives to fossil fuels, a misplaced approach if there ever was one), and as supplies drop and costs rise, that will effect the cost of those cheap processed foods. The monoculture of industrial farming also leads to depletion of nutrients from the soil, downstream pollution, loss of genetic diversity in food plants, less nutritious foods, and a host of other problems.

There's no easy answer, but increased awareness is where it begins. Read Michael Pollan's open letter to the next president for more information. Support your local food producers. Eat less meat. (As an added bonus, it's healthier and cheaper.) Plant a vegetable garden. And volunteer and donate to your local food bank.

Shower Power

Yesterday, Katarina and I applied grout sealer. While that was drying, I installed the shower curtain rod, and the shower head and control handle. Drilling through tile is a pain in the patooky. Back when I installed the new toilet, the holes were larger so I could use a masonry bit. But the holes needed for the shower curtain rod are little 1/8" things, so I probably trashed my 1/8" bits in drilling the four holes. Ah, well...it won't be the first time I replaced them, since I've broken 1/8" bits in the past, and given how frequently that size is used and how skinny the bits are, it probably won't be the last.

I also worked on The Mediocre Wall of Montclair. I was mulling over what a pain it was going to be to haul away all the rubble from the old front porch. Either I'd have to pay someone to haul it, or haul it myself and then pay to dump it. I got to thinking about our other plans for the house and yard, including a recent brainstorm to terrace the hillside. There was already a small flattish spot where Katarina had put some potted plants and a chair. I enlarged that, and have started using the rubble to build a small, mostly decorative retaining wall behind it. At some point, we'll build one or more terraces below with proper stones, and make them into a vegetable garden. But for now, this is a good place to use the rubble and get it out of the way so I can continue removing the old front porch.

Then yesterday evening, we took our first showers in the new bathroom. We both give it two thumbs up! It also feels great to hit a major milestone, too. Even if there still is lots more work to do (and even a little in the bathroom...like touch up the paint on the ceiling above the shower, install baseboard in the corner between the vanity and shower, and build and install some shelves in the little nook to the left of the shower...)