We are very close to choosing our solar hot water system and installer. It is something we were thinking about even before we went for the solar PV, and when the latter system was designed, we made sure there would be plenty of room for thermal collectors. Now that we have whittled down our oil consumption, …
Search results for: riot
Elements!
Just for my own satisfaction (sanity?), a reckoning of the elements in place or about to be in place here at Robin Hill Gardens: Veg gardens, all grown from seed (reasonable harvests, gardener needs more experience) Hoop house (12’x20′) Solar PV array (5.1 Kw – supplies 100% of electricity) Medicinal herb garden (minimal, needs more …
Cushions
The farmer in his field A while ago we finally took the step and enrolled in a year-long CSA, starting this Spring, at Siena Farms. We visited the farm in Fall and fell in love with the fields and the farmers. I loved especially the fact that the owner, Farmer Chris, puts effort and money …
We’re Going Solar
stack of PV panels We’re doing it, we’re putting solar PV on our roof. Though many went before it, taking delivery of the stack of panels felt like the first step. It was the first time something happened, not just talk and research and calculations. It was also irreversible: that’s $16,100 worth of panels, paid for …
Living Room Green House
There’s Amie, counting on her fingers This is what our living room looks like now. DH said it looks a bit weird, those big peppers. I said, well count yourself lucky I’m not overwintering the eggplants! (Poor eggplants.) At least I’m making that big picture window pay for all the heat loss in cold weather. …
My Intrepid Five-Year-Old
Amie asked me the other day what would happen if no more electricity came out of the walls. The context was simple: she was upset that it took so long to recharge the batteries of her toy hamster. The fact that the possibility occurred to her shows, I believe, some of her Mama’s influence. And …
Back in the Garden
We’re back from a week at the Cape. We stayed in a little salt box cottage among the stunted pines, under the constant screep of the mating (and molting) cicadas. We saw the Perseids, built castles in the sand, went looking for beaches with waves not too intimidating for a four-year-old and a six-year-old. It …
Bees!
This morning a friend and I drove to the supplier’s place to pick up our packages of 10.000 bees (3 lbs) with a marked Italian Queen. Driving back with a couple of loose bees in the car was no problem: they stuck with their caged compatriots, maybe listening in while we talked doom :) Installing …
Tree, Bush, Vine, Mushroom
last of the frozen blueberries (rinse out baggie, reuse) Today was fabulous. Almost 60F, sunny, a mild breeze. Amie and I went outside and worked – well, she sat and drew, I worked. I made a new 4’x16′ bed near the fence, for peas and lettuce (it will be shaded by the summer hoop house). …
Eat Real Food Challenge
I stopped reckoning our food consumption for the Riot a long time ago: the Riot way of calculating our food consumption and production was never clear to me. And so, though the growing and storing and preparing of food are almost constantly on my mind, I haven’t kept track, which made me feel at a …