Becoming a steward of your property

I've been thinking a lot lately about the idea that we not only own our property, but are, in fact, stewards of this piece of land.  We are the second owners of this house and property and plan to be here for a long time, but our lives are finite.  I'm not saying I'm going to kick the bucket tomorrow, but someday we might decide to move on and sell this property to someone else.  Most people talk about that in terms of resale value.  Am I doing things that someone else will like?  Usually you don't want to do something like remove a bathtub and replace it with a shower because the next owners might have kids and want a tub.  Those ideas are valid, but that's not what I'm talking about here.  

I'm talking about making the right decision now even if you won't see all of the benefits right away, or ever.  If you make the right decision on something now, the next people that own the house won't have to.  It is quite literally the opposite of kicking the can down the road.  Sometimes we hear the words, "the next person can deal with it."  The problem with that argument is that the next person is probably my kid, or someone else's kid.  Or, in extreme cases, my kid's kid.  Wow, that was a lot of kids... 

Anyway, my point is that I was taught to pick up the trash in the hallway and not walk past it for the next person to deal with.  We think that, if we possibly can, we should make the more sustainable choice on the small stuff and the big stuff.  You will likely see some benefits now, but there will probably be long term benefits for someone else.  In fact, maybe that's your resale value.  You've done all of these things that benefit the next buyer.  Perhaps you can command a higher price because your house is "Zero Energy Ready"; because every time something in your house needed replacing, you made the most efficient, low energy decision.  You might not be able to afford solar panels while you are living there, but maybe that's the contribution the next person can make to the property. 

I'll give one example:  We bought our house for the blueberries... The previous owners planted about 50 blueberry bushes.  It likely took 20 - 30 years (possibly longer we aren't sure) for the bushes to grow to their current size.  They probably got plenty of benefit (in the form of blueberry harvest) while they were living here, but we, as the next owners, also get that harvest! (About 130 pounds this summer...)  It really was a big selling point for us.  The house on the other hand was... rough.  There were lots of bad decisions made for the longevity of the house.  We are trying to be better and make good decisions going forward, i.e. upgrade the electrical service, convert the heating system to electric, fully insulate the walls.  It isn't easy, but we'll get there.

-Nate

P.S.  For your enjoyment, here are some of the decisions we or the previous owners have made for our home with an eye on stewardship.

In addition to blueberry bushes, the previous owners also planted apple and pear trees.  We aren't the only ones that benefit from that decision.

Old electrical panel with our home inspector's understated comment...

He also said, "I've never seen one like this before." He has been doing this for 30+ years.

New electric panel with plenty of room for future expansion.  

It also has a 50amp circuit for:

New Chargepoint car charging port.

The blueberries... 1/4 of the daily harvest in July.

Turkeys among the blueberry bushes

The best time to insulate

Continuing on our series about timing, we thought it would be best to start at the beginning. Insulating your house depends a bit on what you already have.  Our house had 1.5 inches of foil faced fiberglass batt insulation in the exterior walls.  Restated, we had almost no insulation in our house...  The best time to insulate a house like that is, as soon as possible.  I would also say, the best time to insulate your attic is as soon as possible.  Heat rises, and it will rise right out of your house without a properly insulated attic space. 

Let’s say however, that your house is pretty well insulated, meaning that the exterior walls are fully filled and the attic is perfect.  If you plan to replace the siding on your house, this would be a good time to add some continuous exterior insulation.  Think of it like wearing a sweater in the winter (normal insulation), but then you go outside and realize that a big puffy winter coat would really be a great addition.  This is what I’m talking about.  Wrapping your house with a layer of insulation is like putting on a winter jacket.  It helps bridge all of the gaps between the buttons, or in this case, the wall studs.  I’ve put together a fairly standard detail drawing of how this might work.  If you are talking to a contractor about this kind of work, show it to them and tell them you are interested in continuous insulation.  It will add money to your project, but the benefit will be noticeable in the winter when your heating bill goes down.

There are some options here in terms of types of insulation and there is an opportunity to make a better decision. When we talk about insulation "in" the walls, cellulose is, by far, the best. It doesn't have the highest R-value, but it is easy to retrofit an existing home, it's made from recycled paper, and, most importantly, it can dry if it gets wet. (walls are prone to develop moisture either from temperature changes, or the fact that you breathe inside your house... and your breath contains moisture.) Foam insulation is not ideal. It contains lots of harmful chemicals and tends to shrink over time, negating the effort now. That said, there are some very difficult areas to insulate, so this might be the right solution given the circumstance.

Exterior insulation is a little different. There are a couple of options, but usually you want to go with a rigid board type of insulation. Mineral wool, or a wood fiberboard are good alternatives (see below for links) They are good at wicking moisture, and they are good insulators.

There are other ways, and if you are interested, feel free to reach out and we can talk about some other alternatives. They are just a little too complicated to explain here.

Sometimes there are government programs that can help you to pay for a project like insulating your house.  A quick google search will probably help you determine if there is a program near you.  In our case, we live in a town that uses National Grid (local utility), so the Mass Save program helped us.  They paid for 75% of our insulation project, bringing our total out of pocket cost from $7,500 down to $1,200.

Mineral wool: https://www.rockwool.com/north-america/products-and-applications/products/comfortboard-80/

Wood fiber board: https://gutex.de/en/product-range/products/walls/

(this product comes from Germany, so it is likely more expensive due to shipping etc.)

Our own insulation project:

Holes in the exterior where they "blew in" cellulose insulation.

Fiberglass insulation (pink) between the floor joists in the basement.

Spray foam (yellow) sealing the joint between the wood framing and the foundation.

Ways to Make Your Home More Environmentally Friendly: Intro

House projects can be daunting and, if you don’t have a frame of reference for it, you might have a hard time deciding where to start on a project, or even which project to start with.  Even for us that was a challenge.  It occurred to me that there is a very rational way to look at this problem.  There is an order in which home updates can and probably should happen.

Sometimes it's easy to prioritize a particular project and know exactly when to do it.  In the case of our moldy carpet, we decided to immediately rip it out, but then paused and decided what the best replacement would be.  We waited 2 months, did some research and saved some money, then bought what we felt was the most sustainable flooring we could.  The flooring is sustainable in several ways.  It is going to last a long time, the material itself is renewable and it was purchased through a company that puts environmental concerns first.  It was not the most expensive thing we could buy, nor the cheapest.  We also tried to make a good decision about the way we installed the floor, knowing that buying a little more up front would allow us to have a seamless transition down our hallway to the bedrooms.  We know that this flooring will not need to be removed until it has completely worn out (hopefully a long time).  My goal in talking about this is to show that even in a crisis, it is important to stop and think long term about your project.

Sometimes however, it isn't so easy. Those reasons can be wide ranging from financial hardship to a lack of time to do it.

So, over the next few weeks, we are going to explore this topic of when and why to do projects, as well as some suggestions on how to make your decisions as sustainable as possible. In the meantime, here is the final result of the flooring project!

A Case for Burgers

I am a meat eater.  My wife is a plant eater.  I do most of the cooking in our house, and you had better believe that I don't make two different meals.  I am now a plant eater... well, much more than I used to be, and that is an important distinction.  I haven't stopped eating meat, I simply eat far less of it.

On Saturday night, we had my parents over for dinner.  Stephanie made some bread (see Stephanie's recent post on Sourdough), and I made burgers.  We also had some pickles on hand, and Stephanie made pickled onions, which are extremely simple and delicious.  So, when I say I made burgers, I should say that I made falafel burgers.  It seems to have been a hit, so here is the recipe:

1 can garbanzo beans (chick peas) (drained)

    Substitute different beans here if you prefer.

1 onion

cloves of garlic (to your taste)

salt (to your taste)

cumin (to your taste)

curry powder (to your taste)

1 to 1.5 cups oats

Olive oil 1 tablespoon at a time

1.  Combine ingredients into a food processor.  Hold back the oats for now.  Pulse the food processor until the onion, garlic, and beans are chopped well.

2.  Add  1 cup of oats and combine using the food processor.

3.  Add olive oil, 1 tablespoon at a time until everything starts to combine like a dough.  The trick here is to be wet enough for the oats to get chopped and combined, but dry enough so the mixture isn't super sticky.

4.  Once you have found the balance, roll the mixture into palm sized balls and flatten into a burger shape on a silicone baking sheet.  Place in the freezer for an hour or so (or for a couple of months).

5.  To cook, heat up a skillet over medium heat with a bit of olive oil.  We use a cast iron skillet, but you can use what you have.  Add the burgers when the oil is hot enough to give a sizzle.  Fry them on both sides and make sure they have heated through.  

    If you are concerned about burning before the center is heated through, you can throw the burgers in the microwave for a few seconds to thaw them a bit.  Not too much though or you will end up with mush.

6.  That's it!  Serve and enjoy!

On Sunday night we got takeout with our friends.  I ordered a burger.  It was a beef burger because sometimes I eat meat.  We think that is okay from a sustainability standpoint.  Meat is part of my diet, so, when not dining out, we simply try to source my meat from a local farm, raising their animals in an appropriate way.  The argument we usually hear (and the one I made at first) is that it's more expensive.  That is absolutely true.  It takes more time and effort for the farm to raise animals eating what they are supposed to be eating and letting them out where they are supposed to be grazing, so they have to charge more.  So, the meat I buy is more expensive, but I buy far less of it!  When I looked at this more holistically, I realized that we were not spending any more money on food.  It is easy to get caught up on the price of a single item, but once you look at the total budget, things start to even out.  So I buy less meat at a higher quality, so that when I do eat meat, it's typically better for me and better for the environment.  Basically, better, not perfect.

To be honest, we try to apply this kind of logic to many of our decisions.  When we purchase something, there are costs outside of the immediate financial burden.  We put our decisions through this other filter when we ask more questions.  Basically, we just think about it in the context of the environment as well as our own circumstances.

So what's better, falafel burger or beef burger?  I actually like them both.  They have totally different flavor profiles, and a different feel.  They are both filling and satisfying.  Both burgers are gluten free.  I would say that the falafel burger has a little more versatility in that it can be flavored to your taste.  The recipe above can be changed with different spices and herbs.  Let us know what you think in the comments section!

Thanks for reading!

Nate  

Wood Shop Magic

 It has been a busy winter!  I believe I mentioned my new source for industrial pallets in my last post called "Pallet Wood Fun."  This time the objective was night stands!

Last summer we bought a pretty nice dresser for our bedroom from the ReStore by Habitat for Humanity.  If you've never been to one, it's like a huge playground.  They have leftover materials from builds, used furniture from donations, tools (my favorite), and many other things.  This dresser that we bought is painted white and has legs and drawer faces that are proud of the front of the cabinet.  It's a pretty nice design and functions fairly well.  There are six drawers and Stephanie and I share it.  The problem is that Stephanie filled one whole drawer with socks... she has sooo many socks!  They are all sorts of fun colors and designs, and they seem to make her happy.  So, with one drawer full of socks, it only leaves two drawers for the rest of her clothes.  She mostly makes do, but we thought that having a little more space would be helpful.  We thought nightstands would do the trick... except that apparently nightstands don't come in pairs? Ridiculous, I know, but we looked for a couple of months both new and used and either couldn't find a matching pair (used), or ones that fit our space (new).  Night stands are apparently 30" to 36" wide these days for bedrooms that are larger than our living room.  I know this because I've designed several of them (bedrooms, not night stands). 

Anyway, I had just taken another load of industrial pallet wood home, so I thought I would endeavor to build a couple of nightstands that matched each other and our dresser.  It was an interesting journey, let me tell you.

I started with 2x6 lumber which, for those of you who aren't initiated into the world of lumber, means that the dimensions of the wood are 1 1/2"x 5 1/2".  I figured out that if I cut a length of it and then re-sawed it on my table saw, I could get (2) 5/8"x5" boards out of each piece.  That meant that I could make the sides, back, and drawers out of the same material rather than buying plywood panels.  I had a few challenges in that I don't have a planer or a jointer, so in the end, the panels I glued up are not perfect.  I did have a large sanding block so, by hand, I was able to flatten each panel.  I now have muscles in places that I didn't know I could have them...

The legs were easy to make, and the whole thing went together with pocket screws drilled into the inside of the panels.  I inherited a small nail gun from a friend and was able to use that to put the drawers together.  

The entire outside of the cabinet was painted white to match the dresser, and then it was done!  Well, I still had to make another matching one for me, but one done and one to go!  The second one was easier, or at least more streamlined.  This time I cut everything I needed all at the same time and bought the right sized clamps to make the process a little easier.

Anyway, I think they came out pretty nice and we now have a matching bedroom set!  In the end, I learned quite a bit, used wood that was destined for the landfill, and supported the local hardware store where we bought drawer pulls... and a lot of screws.

Sourdough Crackers & Beyond

Ever since we went to Vermont in October and stopped at King Arthur's flagship store, I've been having fun with the sourdough starter I picked up there.  As you might know, sourdough starters have to be fed with some regularity, and this results in discard, which can be a huge source of waste.  Since I don't bake daily, I've gotten into the habit of refrigerating my starter for most of the week, taking it out to feed as the weekend approaches, so I'll be ready for baking and be left with a more manageable amount of discard.  I also keep a smaller amount of starter on hand, generally, which reduces discard, too.  However, there are plenty of recipes that call for discard, which keeps for at least a couple of weeks in a closed container in the fridge, and I've found it so useful in cooking that I always like to have some on hand.

homemade sourdough loaf

Perhaps the most unusual uses for sourdough discard include brownies (the best I've ever had) and pasta dough, though you can sub discard into almost any recipe by reducing the amounts of flour and liquid called for.  (For example, if your recipe calls for 500 grams of flour and 250 grams of water, you could sub in 100 grams of starter or discard and remove 50 grams each of the flour and water called for.)  But the recipes I make the most using my discard are waffles and crackers.  They're both relatively easy to make, if somewhat time consuming, and they're both convenience foods that normally come wrapped in plastic pouches.  Making them at home allows me to skip the plastic packaging (and all the preservatives and additives that are in the store-bought versions).  While it does take some planning ahead and a bit more time, the results are so worthwhile.  I get to feel good about avoiding packaging, and I get delicious bread products to enjoy--it's a win-win!

Pallet Wood Fun

 Well, its been a while since I've written anything here, but buying (and fixing) a house is a lot of work.  We've been pretty busy with many different projects.  Honestly, Stephanie and I both enjoy doing household projects, large and small.  We recently put in a new cork floor, milled stained and installed our own "shoe base." If you aren't sure what a shoe base is, I can't help you.  Its what my dad calls it, and I haven't heard a better term.  Its an addition to the wood wall base which in our case, takes the form of a quarter round piece of molding installed to take up the gap between the baseboard and the new floor.

Anyway, this post is about pallet wood!  Doing all of the projects has made me realize that I would like to have a little wood shop.  A dedicated space to put tools and do small projects.  I've slowly been gathering tools either passed down from relatives (my 1957 delta contractor table saw) or buying them on (you guessed it) Craigslist!  These projects however, need a place to be assembled, so the most important project I've done recently is an assembly table / work bench.  

Made of an old solid core wood door (SCWD for my architecture friends who have the pleasure of reviewing door schedules...), and an extremely robust pallet.  Most pallets are pretty flimsy, or at least made of undesirable rough cut, small pieces of wood.  These are great for small projects like the boxes I made for our wedding.  When it comes to larger projects however, larger pallets can be great.  I'm doing some work at a large food processing plant, and most of the machines come on gigantic pallets made of dimensional lumber including 4x4s and 2x8s, and that is pretty useful for some larger projects like assembly tables.

This table is pretty simple, using the 4x4s for the legs and 2x8s for the apron.  It's pretty solid, and should work out well as we continue to find ways to improve our surroundings!