A New Side at DomEc

Well, four sides.  Well actually, four sides of siding.  The new project at DomEc is new vinyl siding for the home.  The need for new siding comes from the fact that the old, probably original siding, was literally falling off the house.  Those cedar shakes (shingles) were badly sun-damaged, thinning and falling apart.  The particular under course used was cheap and has become host to myriad insects and attracted a good number of woodpeckers to the house.  I can't blame to woodpeckers--They were not the problem. Rather the infested, degraded house covering needed to go.

We decided to go with vinyl primarily because we wanted a long-term, low maintenance option.  Any plastic product has its environmental downsides, but in this case it seemed the best option compared to years of applying more paint to wood or another surface; the old paint flaking off into the environment.  It seemed better than more wood shakes that would have to be replaced and also painted or sealed.  And most of all, unlike expensive brick or other coatings, vinyl is an option that I am able to instal myself, having past professional training and experience.

Another nice bonus of vinyl is that the under-coating is an insulative foam.  We opted for better-than-minimum thickness foam which will give us additional insulation capacity up to R-3.  Inadequate insulation is, of course, a major problem in winter here at the DomEc homestead.  The exterior walls have only R-7 insulation.  Most modern homes are built with R-11 or R-13 rating. (The higher the better: The R-value represents the insulating potential of a component where a value of R-1 is equal to the insulative capacity of a 1-foot thick concrete wall.)  By adding an additional R-3 layer outside the walls the home is starting to approach modern standards.  In some cases, the project is affording me the opportunity to open up the wall from the outside and replace the wall insulation itself with new R-11.

This is a long-term project that will take months to finish with primarily one person working on it and only part-time at that.  Progress is slow, but steady.  Having started in late August, the building is now  a fifth or a sixth covered.  More updates are to come, especially when winter comes and the insulation is put to the test.

Yom Kippur Thoughts

Since today is Yom Kippur, I thought I would read through some of what the book of Leviticus has to say about the occasion.  Of course in English, we know Yom Kippur as the Day or Atonement, and while it is primarily celebrated by Jews it has great meaning for the Christian as well.  What many people may not realize is the connection between Yom Kippur and conservation.

In Leviticus 23 the Lord says to Moses that the Day of Atonement is meant to be a day of purification and rest.  What I find very interesting is there connection between rest and the Sabbath Year in Leviticus 25.  In general the Sabbath, the holiest day, is meant to be a day of rest.  Purity, rest, and holiness are all tied together on this day.  Of course, there is also the parallel between the Sabbath and the creation week, ending in the seventh day when God rested.  Wholeness is bound to holiness which is bound to rest.

The Sabbath Year was a seventh year in a cycle and, like the seventh day of creation, was meant to be a holy year of rest.  God told Moses that no one was supposed to work the ground.  Rather, the land would provide for the people out of the abundance of the sixth year.  In that year the Israelites were to eat whatever the land provided on its own from the seeds and plants remaining from the sixth year.  Today we recognize the wisdom of this principal: A year of rest would let the land recover from intensive farming.  The soil would regain nutrients from lying fallow.  Today sustainable farmers use forms of crop rotation to produce a similar effect.

After seven sevenths years of Sabbath came the Year of Jubilee; a fiftieth year of supreme rest and holiness.  In this year the Israelites were again prohibited from working the land.  This time, the abundance of the land from the sixth year would be so much that it would sustain the Israelites through the seventh year of Sabbath and the following year of Jubilee.  God says to Moses in Leviticus 25:23 "When you plant your fields in the eighth year, you will still be eating from the large crop of the sixth year. In fact, you will still be eating from that large crop when the new crop is harvested in the ninth year."

But the Jubilee year didn't stop with sowing and harvest.  In that year land was meant to return to its original owners based on tradition family claims.  Homes within walled cities reverted to their original owners.  Indentured servants were absolved of their work responsibilities and released to be independent citizens again.  The essence of the year was to ensure that the every Israelite had the provisions he or she needed to sustain their familys' livelihoods.  God recognized that a period of rest and restoration was needed to ensure the sustainability of His people.

And so we circle round to the connections between Yom Kippur and the mission of Domicile Ecophile.  We may not all celebrate the Day of Atonement, but we all need to recognize that the land on which we rely for the survival of the human race needs a sabbath.  Without a healthy planet we are all on the path to losing the air we breathe, water we drink, and food we eat.  Living sustainably means treating God's creation in such a way that it gets the rest that it needs to provide us with our livelihoods.

God provided the Sabbath Year and Year of Jubilee to ensure both the survival of His people and His creation.  In that way sustainability is the spirit behind the Sabbath and Yom Kippur.  Paul writes in Romans 8:20-21 that, "Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay."  Though humanity's imperfection and sin is the source of creation's decay, the redemption that comes through Christ will redeem not only people, but God's whole creation.  The day of Atonement is a symbol for that redemption.  As we who love God act in a way so as to see "Heaven on Earth" through our actions, let's not forget that God longs for a day when His entire creation will be whole.  Let's let our actions not only be an example of Christ-like character, but also an example of sustainable respect for God's creation.

Species Updates

After a long summer we needed to make some updates to our species lists.  With the addition of many new bird sightings and new plantings like the chokeberry, Swamp Milkweed, Cardinal Flower, and other, the list was becoming a bit outdated.  Unfortunately, we here at DomEc didn't have the availability to make these updates incrementally over the summer as we would have liked.

We logged our first reptile at DomEc this summer--a young Black Rat Snake.  We don't have a category in the sidebar for reptiles because they are so rare here.  The same is true for amphibians; none of which have yet been logged.  Hopefully that will change.  Birds are now up to 106 species with Yellow-bellied Flycatcher and Cape May Warbler added in just the last few days.

Sadly some of the native plants didn't survive the heat wave and lack of rain that has afflicted the Domicile Ecophile property this August.  The American Chestnut seedling was one of the victims.  Many years ago a fallen tree created a hole in the canopy along the eastern edge of the property.  The chestnut had been planted in that hole in hopes of one day replacing the missing tree.  There are Eastern Poplar seedlings around the property.  One of them might get transferred in as substitute.

Butterfly Weed, a milkweed species, is now finally reproducing on its own.  About half-a-dozen seedlings have come up around the small hillside patch that was planted in the summer of 2014.  I suspect that since it is a temperate species the seeds may require a form of stratification (temperature changes to break down growth inhibitors in the seed).  Temperate plants often employ growth inhibitors to prevent them from germinating late in fall and dying in winter.  I suspect our new recruits are born of the 2014 seeds, not the plentiful 2015 crop that is blowing around the property now.

The Dappled Willow that was part of the horrendous (but typical) exotic-based landscape installation present when we took over the property has been pulled.  Many of the exotics are now being removed in conjunction with the vinyl siding project that is ongoing.  Two Burning Bush, two huge Japanese Barberry, and the willow have been removed so far.  In time these will all be replaced with natives or (human) food-producing plants.  More updates to come...

Our FIRST Video!

Posted below is our first video.  It's just a demo really.  We needed a place to test out settings, formats, and generally just see what the contest will look like when it is actually live.  This is not to say the content is fake: It is a legitimate video of activities happening here this week.  The production value, however, is a bit low and some of the editing a bit rushed.  Eventually we expect it will be deleted and replaced with a more formal version with a better intro.  Enjoy and feel free to give feedback on this very early attempt!

 

Animal House

No, it's not the classic John Belushi movie we're talking about today.  Rather the it is literal animal homes about which this post is.  The weather is warming.  The days are lengthening.  The birds are singing.  Yes, singing birds.  Most of the time singing birds means breeding birds and songbirds utilize nests.  Many birds, especially cavity-nesting species, utilize man-made birdhouses and here at the DomEc homestead we will be installing several such homes in hopes of aiding nesting and successful breeding this spring.

Wren/Chickadee house [front], screech-owl/kestrel box [rear], and bat house [right].

We've got three homes to be installed.  The first is a classic "birdhouse" designed for small songbirds, specifically chickadees or House Wrens.  Now would be the time to deploy the house for Black-capped Chickadees.  Resident species like chickadees, cardinals, titmice, and other tend to nest earlier in the year than migrants.  But since I would prefer to try for a House Wren I am going to delay positioning of the house until April; a week or two before the House Wrens arrive at this latitude.  I very much enjoy the incessant singing of the House Wren.

Next up is the most exciting of the three projects for me--a screech-owl box!  In this box we hope to host Eastern Screech-owl.  We have the species in the area and have seen them hunting the area and vocalizing several times.  These owls, like many owls, in natural circumstances would nest in an old woodpecker cavity or some other void in a tree.  For this reason it is often beneficial to include some small wood chips in the bottom of the box.  The same is true for American Kestrel, a falcon species of open area which this box might also host.  Years ago I did some work with a kestrel breeding program and we would add wood chips to the boxes during the spring clean-out to prepare the boxes for the new breeding season.

It it worth noting that quality nest boxes do not have perches.  Native cavity-nesters are accustom to entering tree hollows without the aid of a perch.  Not only are the decorative perches on many less-functional birdhouses unneeded, but they also aid predators and aggressive species in entering the nest either to prey on chicks or eggs or to start nests of their own.  These might include squirrels, House Sparrows, European Starlings, and others.

Last up is not a bird house at all.  Rather, the last box is a bat house.  These homes are not homes so much as communal roosts.  Bats populations in the eastern United States have declined sharply lately as a result of an infection caused by Pseudogymnoascus destructans.  This fungus causes the fatal White-nose Syndrome and is spread between bats roosting together during the winter and can kill whole colonies.  For this reason bats need all the assistance they can get.  Providing roosts like this one will give them an easier time finding safe shelter and a better foothold (literally and figuratively) in more areas.  A nice benefit is that bats also eat loads of mosquitoes.  If mosquito numbers are ruining your backyard BBQs, consider hosting some bats instead of spraying poisons.  In the long run it will be healthier for you and the bats (not to mention plenty of other native insects).

We'll keep our readers updated on the progress of nesting once the boxes are mounted.  Look for updates as spring progresses.

Foiling a Common Problem

If you have ever grown plants indoors you have probably dealt with the problem of plants bending towards a window.  Plants in these circumstances often become very thin and tall.  They rely on light for their metabolism and have very intricate internal mechanisms for maximizing light exposure. In short, they can sense the directionality of light and grow their green parts towards it.  This response is called phototropism; in this case positive phototropism because the plants grow towards the light source.

The obvious problem here is that your plant is going to grow in a lop-sided fashion and may eventually break or fall over under it's own weight.  To compound the problem, these window-fed plants are often also exposed to too little light, resulting in thin, weak stems that will break even more easily.  If the plants eventually go outside they often topple or break due to mechanical stress from wind or increased growth that results in a top-heavy body on a stem too weak.

These problems were affecting a Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa) that I recently allowed to re-emerge from winter dormancy.  I decided to try a little camping trick I developed. When camping in some stone shelters at a local state park we often use tea lights (candles) to provide light.  Unfortunately, they provide little light. (Perhaps one candlepower?)  One provision often present, even as a waste item, is aluminum foil.  If smoothed and bent around the back of the candle the reflection can appreciably increase the light in the shelter, especially if several candles are being used.

I applied the same method to the Butterfly Weed and noticed immediate results.  The plant has remained nearly vertical for over a week now, whereas before I was rotating the plant twice a day.  It was reaching an angle near 45 degrees in just a few hours.  I can't guarantee that this method will completely prevent the symptoms associated with low light levels, but it certainly has improved the situation.  Give it a try and see what kind of result it produces for you.

Eliminating Staircase Drafts

As with many older homes, the Domicile Ecophile homestead is full of gaps, leaks, and cracks.  Once our first winter arrived we immediately identified some of the worst problem areas where cold air was flooding into the home.  Ever hold your hand by an electrical outlet and feel cold air coming out?  Ever gone into the garage and found it to be as cold out the outdoors?  Ever felt cold air drafting in through an old window?  If you own a home, especially an older one, you probably have.

Poor insulation and other heating and cooling leaks are a major source of energy loss.  Energy efficiency is a huge part of sustainability.  Fuels need to be extracted at great environmental cost, transported, refined, and probably burned to generate electricity or heat in your home.  Not only is heated or cooled air out the window also money out the window, but it is also a waste of natural resources.  The case for energy efficiency is a strong and complex one, but its depth is for another post.

Image courtesy of http://goo.gl/exogy1

This post, rather, is about one simple fix that others may be able to replicate in their own homes, maybe yours.  We identified that gaps had opened up between the top of the risers (vertical part) and the bottom of the treads (horizontal park) on our interior staircase.  This was partly due to loosening of the shims on the back of the stairs that keep the treads and risers tight, and partly due to settling and shrinkage of the wood.  If your stairs squeak you may have the same condition.

And what exactly is the problem with this unassuming gap?  Below the stairs is a crawlspace open to the garage  The garage is poorly insulated and the doors poorly seal.  The air in the garage is typically only a few degrees warmer than outdoor air.  This air was in direct contact with the bottom of the staircase via the crawlspace.  Cold air was pouring in the 1/8 inch gaps between the risers and treads and the wood itself was chilled to near-freezing temperatures.  The staircase, needless to say, was very cold.  No doubt the cold air was pooling in the lower level and causing the furnace to run almost incessantly.

The first step was to use a block of wood and a hammer to force the tightening shims on the underside of the stairs back into place.  Some makeshift shims had to be fabricated because the originals were long gone.  The re-tightening reduced the size of the gaps and dampened the squeaking by pushing the treads back into place and reducing the amount each wooden component of the staircase could move.  Next I was off to buy some good 'ol R-13 fiberglass insulation.  I applied the insulation to the walls forming the inside of the crawlspace to limit the amount of 'garage air' making contact with the interior walls and stairs.  Using my bare feet as a measuring device I could tell this did help quite a bit!  The next step was to cut some strips of insulation to staple to the gaps in the staircase from the crawlspace side. This did a pretty good job of nearly eliminating the airflow through the cracks.  Both of these modifications are visible in the photo above.

The last step was the best part.  I decided I could add an additional blocking layer to the interior side of the stairs by adding some 1/2 inch cove moulding to the understand of the nosing of the treads. Not only did this reduce my heat loss, but it also added an elegant touch to the staircase.  I do have some professional construction experience, but even a novice would be able to handle this job:  The complex angled cuts and coping associated with moulding don't apply here since both ends are straight cuts against the stringers.  Just about any fine toothed saw and a careful hand can cut the wood to length to be added under the stairs.  I hand-nailed them with just a few 3d bright finish nails.  We'd call this 'tacking' them since the nailing is minimized for aesthetics and needs only to hold up just a few ounces of wood.

It was immediately evident how much improvement to the temperature the alterations made.  Before the changes, a person siting on the stairs could actually feel the cold air sloshing down the staircase, especially along the lowest stairs.  The wood was very cold as was the hallway below.  Now the treads themselves are warmer, there is no cold draft and the whole area lacks the bite it had before.  It's just a reminder that sustainability and conservation start at home.  My bare feet are much happier, and hopefully my wallet will be as well.

the Seeds of Spring

It may still be winter and there may be a foot of snow on the ground here at Domicile Ecophile, but it is time to start planning for this spring's plantings. Since I was a child I have planted seeds indoors before the last frost to give the plants a head start. In those early days it was my father mentoring me with his green thumb as he taught me to start beans and tomatoes in our basement windows.

 This will be the first complete growing season for us here and I intend to make the most of it. We have a long, long way to go in covering our typical American xenoscape into the native habitat that I envision. There are physical repairs and improvements for the house that need to take place before we make large-scale changes to the shrubs and trees. (Construction might damage new plantings adjacent to the house.) There is plenty of room, however, for some perennials and garden plants in the outlying areas.

 The live plants and rootstocks won't be delivered until the last frost approaches, but the seeds have already arrived. We'll be planting a handful of garden plants this year; pumpkins, wax beans, and carrots. These domestic annuals are not exactly native species, but garden vegetables are essentially non-invasive and planting a garden is a great asset for household sustainability. Home gardens reduce the need for shipping produce across the country and gardeners can control the pesticides and synthetic fertilizers (or hopefully lack thereof) added to the crops. The benefits of gardening are diverse and abundant, but the full scope of them is food for another post.

 Besides the vegetables we'll be planting some flowers this year. Zinnias are a favorite of mine not just for their appearance, but also for the seeds they provide to birds like goldfinches in the fall. Lupine and Cardinal Flower are two Northeast natives that will be planted in large number this year. Their tall size will help to fill the vertical space that will be left above a terrace where some Japanese Barberry is slated for obliteration. The Cardinal Flower should also be a strong draw for hummingbirds this fall. We'll also be planting some Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa) from seed.  This is not Butterfly Bush, the invasive Asian shrub that attracts adult butterflies but provides no food to the caterpillars of those species.  Rather, Butterfly Weed is a native milkweed perennial that provides food for entire life cycles of native butterfly species.  We planted a number of these last summer and I am waiting to see how well they survived the winter and if the seeds they produced last fall will emerge elsewhere.

It's still a bit early to plant most of these seeds, but the Cardinals and Lupine can take over a month to germinate.  They will be going into some potting soil soon enough.  I find thrill in planting something new and observing how the timing of its first emergence, the manner in which it grows, and the forms the leaves and flowers take as they develop.  In short, I can't wait for spring.

Salted Earth Campaign

Legend has it that when Rome sacked Carthage in 146 B.C. the roman general ordered the defeated city to be sowed with salt.  The intent?  That no man would ever again be able to farm or eke out a living from the conquered land.  The tactic seems to have roots going back far into the ancient cultures of the Middle East.  How much is legend and how much historical fact is somewhat unclear, but one things is unquestionable: Salt kills plants.

At least most plants, save those with special adaptations for living in saline environments, are efficiently killed by salt.  This is certainly the case for plants used for farming, gardening, and landscaping.  To be more accurate, sodium chloride (table salt) donates chlorine and sodium ions in soil that deprive plants of the vital macronutrient potassium, interfere with photosynthesis, and result in other damaging effects on roots and plant health.  In short, salt is bad news for plants.

According to an article by Don Talend from the surface water journal Stormwater, Americans use an estimated 15 million tons of salt for roadway de-icing annually and Canadians an estimated 4 to 6 million tons.  According to Smithsonian.com, that's 137 pounds of salt for every American; man, woman, and child.  By spring the salt that whitens our roads and covers our cars has disappeared.  But this disappearing act is not magic by any means.  Twenty million tons of minerals don't simply vanish.  These highly soluble minerals, rather, have been carried by the spring rains down storm drains, into streams and rivers, and even been deposited into the soil itself.  No, this salt it not gone.  It's simply been relocated, and not in the form of the coarse grains laid down by plow trucks but now as a microscopic layer of precipitate blanketing individual grains of sand and silt in the soil.  We are waging a salted earth campaign against ourselves.

What is the consequence of years of burying our land in salt?  An article from Cleveland.com reports that Atlantic Coast salt marsh plants are now taking up residence along highways in Ohio as a result of the change in soil chemistry.  Native plants are poisoned or stressed to the point of failure or susceptibility to other ailments.  Landscaping is browned or killed and synthetic fertilizers with their own host of ecological problems are applied to alleviate the problems.

On the other hand, what other options do we have?  Should we leave our roads untreated and allow cars accidents and damage to person and property?  Should be shut down our schools and businesses for the winter?  Obviously these are not realistic or sustainable options.  There are, however, some principles that can be applied to reduce that 137 pounds per capita to a more manageable and reasonable amount.

The salt selection at a typical grocery store.

The first strategy is choosing the best deicer.  There are a variety of salts available for use as de-icing agents.  All have pros and cons.  Standard "rock salt" actually contains small amounts of several salts, but for the most part it is sodium chloride (NaCl).  This is the same substance most of us put on our french fries and meats.  Sodium chloride has the benefit of being plentiful, cheap, and effective to about 15°F.  (Salt works by lowering the effective freezing temperature of water, so this means sodium chloride makes the freezing point of water something like 15°F instead of 32°F.)  This means that below 15°F the salt has little effect.  The main downside is that this salt donates sodium and chlorine ions in soil, both of which have the detrimental effects already discussed.

Calcium chloride (CaCl₂) is another highly effective melting agent.  In fact, calcium chloride will melt ice as low as -25°F.  It has the enormous advantage of not containing sodium, the worse of the two ions produced by sodium chloride.  Unfortunately it is much more expensive and contains twice the chlorine of sodium chloride (though exactly how much is mobilized in soil needs to be the subject of further research).  My personal preference is potassium chloride (KCl).  Potassium chloride melts ice a few degrees better than standard sodium chloride (12°F).  Like calcium chloride, it lacks sodium but better than calcium chloride it has no more chlorine than sodium chloride.  Potassium is actually a required plant nutrient present is most fertilizers.  Unfortunately this salt is also more expensive.  Last up is magnesium chloride (MgCl₂).  This is the blue-colored "ice melter" seen in some stores.  Like all of the alternative deicers it is more expensive than common rock salt.  I am not an advocate of this salt because despite being rated as effective to 5°F, I have found it to have a very narrow effective melt area.  In other words, it may melt ice at a lower temperature but it doesn't "spread" and instead just melts grain-sized tunnels into the ice.  Like calcium carbonate it contains double the chlorine of sodium chloride.  This information, as well as more concerning lesser-known deicers, can be found in the Purdue University Extension Publication ID-412-W.

While the average homeowner can't on their own change the choice of salt used by local road crews, he or she can make better choices for their own plot of land and that is what Domicile Ecophile is all about.  Calcium chloride and potassium chloride seem like the best options from a chemical standpoint as long as budget allows.  Next it is important to understand that salt only works to a certain temperature.  This week at Domicile Ecophile we have seen high temperatures between 5° and 10°F; lower than the effective temperature of most salts.  A great way to stay in budget and reduce the amount of salt leached into the environment is to be smart about applying salt only when it can be effective.  Sand or gravel can be another option when traction is needed but temperatures are too low for salting.  Lastly, we have all seen piles of salt left on the road or sidewalk.  Let's be judicious about how we apply salts.  Reducing waste is better for the environment and our budgets.  Some walkways around the yard may not need to be cleared in winter.  Likewise some portions of very large driveways may not need to be cleared or deiced either, reducing the total volume of salt applied.  Lastly, consider the relief of your property.  Take a look at where the runoff from your salted surfaces eventually ends up.  Is there a garden directly downstream of a walkway or driveway?  If so you may want to alter your salting practices or add a berm to divert water away from sensitive plants.

So this winter take a look at that bag of ice-melter before you purchase it.  Consider which salt is actually in that bag.  Be smart about when and how much salt you apply.  Let's work to minimize the amount of unnecessary salt we add to our soil: I think the romans would approve.