Using Energy for Good
So we signed up for the SIREN Energy Challenge and have been trying to figure out where we use electricity and how we can cut back, which means Will is running around using his Killowatt on everything. At the same time, I am planning my garden for spring and also thinking about how we will take advantage of the summer bounty. My dad helped me set up a seed starting system with three shelves of fluorescent lights and I’m trying to talk Will into getting a chest freezer so we can store the summer’s vegetables but all he can think about is the increased electrical consumption.
It’s a tough balance! We have managed to cut down on our natural gas consumption this winter despite unusually low temperatures. I hope it’s from our vigilant caulking or perhaps our installation of a homemade insulating curtain over the window by our bed. Still, our electrical use seems relatively high even after replacing our water heater (which we thought was wasting a lot of electricity). The two main suspects right now are our refrigerator and our laptops. Laptops are more energy efficient than desktops but we both do use our computers quite a bit since we mostly work from home and we also use Will’s laptop for much of our TV and movie viewing.
I think we’re getting close to the point where we can’t cut much more energy use without major changes to our standard of living. I also think that it’s reasonable to use electricity for food production and storage, since homegrown food has other benefits in the form of increased nutrition, lower grocery bills, higher assurance of organic quality, and reduced transportation of food. Still, it’s always tough to evaluate all the pros and cons and I know for now much of my lobbying is based on the fact that I’m super excited about gardening.
Did you know it’s not too early to start planting seeds indoors, even though it’s freaking cold outside here in Indiana? I am ready to plant onions, kale, Brussel sprouts, cauliflower, and cabbage so I have nice fat seedlings ready to transplant when the ground thaws in March. (All those except Brussel sprouts are available through Nature’s Crossroads and I’m enjoying the employee discount on seeds very much.) I suspect this will be another year when I bite off more gardening tasks than I can keep up with but I’m really hoping this will be the year that I feel like I mostly get it. Of course, there’s always more to learn so I won’t be too upset if I face a few more garden disasters…
I’m on the board for a local group called the Center for Sustainable Living and a few folks from the center are organizing the first ever 
Well, approximately one year after we purchased an 
Next came the fun but mildly intimidating step of drilling a hole in the roof! We rented a “Sawzall” reciprocating saw for the job since it didn’t seem like a piece of equipment we really needed to own. I am mildly afraid of heights but I do love power tools so I had a good time cutting out a big chunk o’ roof. Happily, the solar tube is designed in a way that the hole does not need to be perfectly circular (it wasn’t) since it comes with a rubber “boot” that fits over the hole, under the neighboring shingles. Once we had the hole cut, we pried up the shingles around it, put some roof sealant on the rubber boot, and slid it into place.
Somehow we didn’t get any pictures of us sliding the actual metal tube into place, probably because I kept blinding Will with it. The solar tube is comprised of two very shiny metal tubes and a clear plastic dome. Sun shines down on the dome and then bounces down through the tubes to our kitchen, where a frosted plastic light fixture lets the light shine through without blinding anyone.
So, back up to the roof to remove the dome, swap the tubes, then Will stayed on the roof while I went into the attic and it was much easier to get the tubes together. He pulled the top tube up while I put the correct bottom tube into place in the ceiling fixture, and then he pushed the top tube down, helping me wrestle the two tubes together and then tape them with the shiny metal tape enclosed in our original kit. Whew! I totally used some muscles I didn’t know I had but I would willingly do it again and I know it would go faster the second time.
Well, my big accomplishment this weekend was mouse-proofing our kitchen. Can you believe they were squeezing in next to the gas line to our oven? I didn’t know they were so flexible but judging by the amount of mouse poop present, that was their primary hangout.
It might not be clear in this photograph but this is (was) an heirloom “Freedom” apple tree I planted early this spring from 
I can feel autumn in the air. We had an unusually cool summer and didn’t end up doing much of the usual summer swimming and popsicle eating but now the city is bustling with students on their way back to school. I feel the urge to stock up on school supplies, despite having graduated from college nearly a decade ago.
