Eco-Confessions

Fall means raking leaves

While we were up at the North Shore, I was mesmerized by the beauty of the foliage along Highway 61. Then, after reality set in, I was reminded that most homeowners curse Fall, for it brings the dreaded task of raking leaves.

At our old house in Rochester, I would wait for a few dry days and then mow over the leaves repeatedly, to shred and mulch them. Maybe not the most efficient way to take care of the problem (definitely dusty!), but it was easy on my back. Here at our new home, we still have a lot of mature trees (and even more small evergreens that will hopefully take over in 10-15 years), but I don't have a lawn, so I'm not really to worried about the cleanup. Picking up the piles in the corners around the house is pretty much all I need to do, unless I want bunches of brown goo to be waiting for me in the Spring.

How about you - do you rake and bag? Put them on a compost pile? Or do you take your chances and hope they won't damage the lawn too much by spring and just let them decompose in place? One thing you DON'T want to do is blow your leaves over onto your neighbor's property, or worse yet, into the street.

I have seen bags of leaves stacked up against the side of a house, presumably to keep it warm, but I am told that is a recipe for disaster, since critters love those comfy quarters and will surely move into your home via the "leaf bag express".

If you do end up raking a bunch of leaves, here's a tip: it is a blast for people of all ages to jump into a giant pile of leaves... just make sure there are no foreign objects in that pile:)

 

Paper, Plastic or...?

The other day I had a thought: when people have larger parties, such as a Graduation or Anniversary Open House, why do they use paper plates and disposable cutlery? Wouldn't such a special event warrant some "nice" dishes to eat from and drink out of? After all, when was the last time you ate off a paper plate at a wedding? Is it because a wedding is usually catered, and the caterer provides the dishes? Or is a wedding officially the last event left where it is socially unacceptable to use anything but "real" dishes?

When I still lived in Germany, there were companies that would rent out dishes and silverware. I wonder how a service like this would go over in this country? Is it simply cheaper to buy disposable plates and cutlery? Or is it the "convenience factor" of being able to dispose off all the dirty dishes in the nearest trash can? What if there was a company who would deliver clean tableware to your house the day of your event and pick up the dirty dishes the following day? All you'd have to do is scrape off the food leftovers, stack the dirty dishes in a special crate, bag the dirty silverware and wait for the pickup? How much would a service like this be worth to you?

 

More affordable Solar Power

I just read that RPU and Austin's and Owatonna's Utility Companies are offering some attractive rebates for their customers who would like to install solar panels for either electrical or water heating applications. This would make those systems quite a bit more affordable for the average homeowner. More information can be found here.

When I inquired about solar panels for our home a couple of years ago, I contacted Pine Island Solar. Mr. Thompson came out to our house and gave us an in-depth analysis of our particular site, and how much it would cost to have a system installed. And while we weren't able to go through with the project at the time, I still have it on my list of things to consider in the next few years. Unfortunately, Xcel Energy doesn't really provide much of an incentive right now. But, there is money from the State available on a first-come, first-save basis (it's all used up for this year, though), and the Federal Tax Credit (up to 30%) apparently has been extended to 2016, with no cap on it. So, there are still very good reasons to take a look at solar power for your home.

 

 

Time for a Tune-up

Now that cooler weather has finally arrived, it reminds us Minnesotans that the really cold temperatures are not that far away. And if you don't want to be stuck with huge heating bills, or worse, wake up to a cold house on one of those 20-degrees-below mornings, I recommend getting your furnace checked and tuned up. I had Steve Johnson come up to our house yesterday and check on our Geothermal System. He checked the pressure of the line, added some water to it, made sure it's heating and cooling the way it's supposed to (which it is), and now I'm good to go.

Seriously, if you have an older furnace, it could be a very good money-saver to have it tuned up. Or, if it's REALLY old and you have some money saved up, check out what a new model could do for you. With the efficiency of today's modern furnaces, the savings in your heating bill, combined with the Tax Credit still available until the end of the year, might allow you to recover the investment in a couple of winters.

Stay warm, everybody... 

 

Get your veggies in!

Last week, Sheila took a day to prepare some veggies for Tanner. He's been somewhat of a selective eater (that's code for "only eats what he wants"), so we're trying to make the veggies a little more fun and, at the same time, sneak them into his food where possible. Here's a funny thing that happened: Tanner absolutely LOVES baby food squash - he will eat them cold, at any time and place. We never thought they taste all that great. However, after Sheila baked, scraped and pureed some Yellow Squash, I tried some and was pleasantly surprised: not only did it look better (a bright orange instead of the brownish baby food), they tasted outstanding! Just a reminder to me to eat more veggies when they're in season, even though it might not always be convenient. By the way, Tanner, of course, did not want to eat the homemade squash... grrrr.

Speaking of veggies: on Thursday night, it was our 15-year anniversary, so we decided to eat out at one of Rochester's fine restaurants. I ordered Chipotle Chicken with a side of Garlic Spinach, and, man, was I blown away! Again, pretty simple preparation: just sautee the spinach in olive oil, add garlic and serve. But, I usually don't think that far ahead when grocery shopping. I promised myself to make a better effort in the veggie department and look for easy and healthy ways to prepare the greens from now on. Even a salad, made with greens, some Balsamic Vinegar and oil is so easy to make, but I somehow just don't make the time for it - until now, that is.

 

Are Plastic Containers safe?

A recent article I read about the different types of plastic food containers in our lives made me think about what we here at the Jennebach home use. There's the BPA-free Nalgene bottle, some old Tupperware, and some of those "microwave-safe and dishwasher-safe" plastic containers that supposedly can go from the freezer to the microwave to the dishwasher... have you ever heated up food in those containers, just to find some burnt-in juice or sauce at the bottom? After that happened to me once, I now put the contents on a plate before nuking them.

I guess I try not to have anything hot in plastic - we even bought a glass bottle (with a cool rubber wrap around it) for Sheila, so she can make tea in it while at work. The Nalgene bottles don't usually go into the dishwasher, and those plastic containers are very easily washed by hand. But, what else do I need to look out for? I have been suspecting for a while that the food that comes in the self-steaming microwave bags actually might absorb some weird chemicals from the bag when it gets hot - I bet that's the next thing that will be reported. Until then, it's just as easy to dump those veggies into a bowl before heating them up. Or, of course, I really should be eating fresh veggies whenever possible...

 

Don't rinse those dishes!

So, the other day, I read an article about rinsing your dishes before putting them into the dishwasher. The author stated that it's a complete waste of water, time and energy. She had several reasons for her verdict: modern detergents actually "need" food particles to cling to in order to do their job. Modern dishwashers use a lot less water than most people would use while washing dishes by hand. And, of course, you could be doing other, more productive things while your dishwasher is cleaning your dirty dishes.

I have always been a big believer of "if it's not going to melt, it goes into the dishwasher". The only exception I made was when we got our new set of stainless steel cookware a few years go. I didn't want to take any chances on the shiny finish, so I wash those items, along with a few odds and ends, by hand. Not necessarily every night (I like to wait until it's worth a dishwashing session), but I would guess that I fill our sink with water every two to three nights.

Regarding the rinsing, our dishwasher performs well enough that it truly is unnecessary to rinse anything, with just a few exceptions. Of course, bones and rather large chunks of leftover food need to go into the trash. And the baked-on cheese in that casserole dish is not going to come out, so I might as well wash it by hand right away. But everything else comes out clean.

One thing to keep in mind is HOW the dishwasher works, especially when it comes to problems: I had noticed that we had some dirt re-deposited back onto our dishes last week; a rather annoying thing to happen. After I took apart the spray arm and filter assembly, it turned out that a piece of bone had been "propping open" the little flap that keeps the dirt in the water from going back into the dishwasher. I don't even remember the last time we ate anything with bones, but, hey, after I removed it, rinsed off all the parts and put everything back together, the dishwasher is running like new.

Remember to load your dishwasher according to the manufacturer's directions, run it only when it's full and use the right amount of detergent. Oh, and if you can, run it at night. I love the smell of clean dishes in the morning...:)

 

 

Harness the power of the sun

At a garage sale this summer (you know, I love the garage sales...), I bought a solar panel. I brought it home and hooked it up to the 12v battery that powers our trolling motor when we're out in the canoe on Chester Woods Lake. I have to say, I was impressed with the performance of the roughly 10x12 panel. It completely charged the battery and is keeping it at full charge. That made me think of other applications for solar power. A quick search found numerous devices that can charge cell phones, PDAs, batteries and more. I guess most cell phones don't need a lot of power to be recharged, so a small solar panel could be perfect for the job. You could even mount it on your dashboard and have the sun charge your phone on the way to work! Or charge camera batteries at the campsite, or even small batteries for a flashlight - the possibilities are almost limitless (you do need some sunlight, of course).

 

Backyard chickens

 
I have been thinking about having a few chickens in our backyard for a while. The recent articles about people in Rochester raising chickens, and people in Mankato and Red Wing being interested in doing so (even though it doesn't seem to be to easy for them right now) reinforced that idea. When the salmonella outbreak was made public, the idea got another boost. Since we currently still live under a covenant that doesn't allow any outdoor animals, I would have to wait until 2012 before I could implement any plans (that would also allow me to convince my wife that this could be a good thing...).

 
 
 
 

I have to admit that I'm a little curious as to how much work exactly a chicken coop with maybe three hens is. The pictures of the coops on various websites look so cute - I could even build a coop to match our house. But, what about the "chores" - how often do you clean the coop? Can the droppings be scattered in my yard? How many eggs can I expect from three hens?  And is a simple heat lamp enough to keep the birds warm in an insulated chicken coop during our sometimes outright brutal Minnesota winters?

Anybody having chickens or knowing somebody who has chickens, let me know what to expect. I would love nothing more to get fresh eggs from our own chickens every day - it would also be a great project for our son, to help take care of the birds. Any tips and experience would be greatly appreciated.