Biding time

Our grandson came to visit us for the Easter holidays - how lekker (nice is the normal translation, but obviously you all know that I mean much more than nice :-) ) that was.  Very special!  All he wanted to do was swim - but late March / early April in Cape Town is not really swimming weather - and the water has already cooled down quite substantially, although he did get in twice - very briefly - the water was 21oC.  Much to cold for me!

BUT, whilst he was here I took delivery of my Stack-A-Tub - the name says it all.  I have placed it on our back patio - the only place which gets sun in winter, and, co-incidentally, it is right outside our grandsons' bedroom window - so when he's here he can peep out of his window to see how "his" vegetables are growing.  We planted baby spinach and a (centre) garlic clove in the top section and peas in the middle section - aiming for them to grow down the tubs as opposed to needing support.  Trial and error - if they don't do that well hanging down then I'll give them support to climb up.  My other half loves peas in the pod, which I can't find anywhere in Cape Town, so, providing we get enough from the nine plants, I know who I'll call if I need some shelled for dinner.  In lower section I planted some basil, but I think I'm going to replace them with lettuces - basil will grow perfectly in a stand alone pot.  The beauty of the stack a tub is that as all three tiers are detachable, it's obviously mobile, so when we go to the farm I can take it with us.  I'm thinking of using it as a herb garden on the farm - close to the kitchen door.

I have also ordered some very special lemon tree cuttings from overseas.  But I'm not going to say anymore until I have some fruit photo's to share with you - sorry, that'll take two or three years.  But I'm very excited and can't wait for them to arrive.  If they arrive alive, and I manage to root them successfully, then I will be ordering more.  I can't see why I shouldn't be successful as I have managed to root two pomegranate cuttings in the past four weeks.

We are still unable to get away to the farm - perhaps later this month...  We  need to install the newly painted security gates, and, of course, my freecycle kitchen counters.  But we have a neighbour who is also building his house there and he tells us that our plants / trees are all doing well with our irrigation system, and we've had a bit of rain, so we don't have to worry about them.

Would be nice to get away to the peace and serenity again though...

Our "Owl" is watching us...

I mentioned in an earlier post that I initially bought the Owl electricity monitor for the farm, to monitor how much power we have used and thus enable us to work out how much power we have left in our future deep cycle batteries.  Admittedly, we will not be using a huge amount of power - mainly for our lights and our future TV (in the evenings). Our water (bathroom and kitchen) is heated by our 10lt Kexin gas heater and I have found a solar powered 12vlt freezer, which, once we purchase it, will freeze our food (chicken, preserves, hubby's beer which is just not cold enough and needs a quick chill, etc) as well as 5tl bottles of water, which will be replaced on a daily basis, in order to keep our large cooler box at fridge temperature. Through our frequent trips to the farm we know this system works!

But, until we have our wind turbine and deep cycle batteries, we are using the Owl at home.  It has been tremendous.  On a daily basis we can see, at any given time, how much power we are consuming, what it's costing us, and how much green house gas our electricity consumption is causing.  Each of us, in passing the machine, which is located on our kitchen counter, has said - "wow, we're using that much - what can we switch off?"

The Owl monitor showing (top) energy consumption (the dishwasher was on and (bottom) green house gas emissions

I have kept a spreadsheet of our electricity consumption for the past 3 years - below is a summary of the average electricity consumtion for the month of March in those years:

March 2007 36.414 kWh / day @ 30.05 cents / kWh
March 2008 29.464 kWh / day @ 32.21 cents / kWh
March 2009 22.042 kWh / day @ 47.38 cents / kWh
March 2010 20.862 kWh / day @ 64.44 cents / kWh

Scary to see the price increases - and we have a minimum of 24.8% increase ahead of us - effective in July.  But it has been very rewarding to see our consumption coming down.  It wasn't that difficult :


- I cleaned out and switched off our chest freezer "(out of date' food tends to collect at the bottom anyway and we have two fridges which both have freezers)
- the number of lights we have on in the evenings have been reduced and all our lights globes have been replaced with CFL's
- our geyser is turned down to 50oC (I still have to get a geyser blanket)
- we stopped leaving sundry equipment on standby
- the pool motor now only runs for an hour in the morning and another in the evening - and the pool is sparkling!


This is all good practice for our future farm living - being more aware of everything can only benefit us in the long term.


And it is educating our son, who still lives at home, about his own future place and the real costs of living.

Recycling and Freecycling

As I mentioned earlier in this blog I am a member of Freecycle in Cape Town.

Last week there was a posting offering two pine kitchen counter tops, two round steel kitchen sinks and three security gates.  And Katharine, the lady offering the goods, lived in my part of town!!  Happy days!  I contacted her and arranged to go and view the items - immediately!

They were perfect.  The pine kitchen counter tops are brilliant - about 4cms thick, with only a slight burn mark which will sand out easily - they will need a little bit of cutting / adjusting but when I walked into her kicthen they just leapt out at me - they are absolutely perfect farmhouse kitchen counters - and are in very good nick.  They had obviously been very well looked after as I couldn't find a speck of water damage.

And the kitchen sinks - obviously I don't need one of those (my Belfast sink is perfect) - so I thought I'd use them as planters - plugging up the drainage hole with small pebbles and growing garlic and lettuces in them - talk about square foot gardening :-)

Even the security gates are perfect - the single one will go outside our future bedroom door, which isn't the strongest, and the double ones will go outside our kitchen door - covered in shadecloth or wooden branches they will be perfect for, firstly, keeping anyone / anything (e.g. snakes) out and secondly they will be a tremendous help in muting the wind which always rushes inside if the door is open.  The security gates are slightly rusty, but that will sand off easily and then a lick of paint - no one will know the difference.

And they will give us peace of mind that when we are not there, the most vulnerable part of the house - the back - will have some form of protection.

This project is certainly giving me back my patience in this rushed, hurly-burly world - "slowly, slowly" is our key phrase ...   But we know it will all be worth it in the long run.

And the excitment and anticipation grows with every step forward, no matter how small it is.

Magic Seeders and April in Cape Town

Our grandson is coming to visit us for 10 days - he arrives on Monday 29th March.  Can't wait!  Although we Skype him at least once a week, having him here, in person, is what we need - hugs anytime of the day, bedtime stories, answering countless 'why' questions, walks along the beach looking for treasure which may have fallen off passing ships, and for me, getting him into the kitchen to help me prepare the evening meal.  He loves cooking, and at 7 years old, confidentially and happily makes scrambled eggs for breakfast at the weekends.

Also, the timing is perfect, as he can help me plant up my Stack-A-Tub "veggie patch" which should be delivered on the 1st April (available from http://www.growingstacks.co.za/).  I've given up on my veggie patch here in Cape Town as I've discovered that no matter how much compost I add to the beach sand which makes up the soil in our garden, I'm going to lose the battle.  Two years ago I personally dug up approximately 4 mtrs of garden soil to a depth of 1/2 mtr, lined the area with plastic to try and retain whatever water I supplied and to prevent intrusion from the nearby tree roots, and then I worked in 8 bags of compost - last weekend I re-dug the area and discovered that all the compost had sunk down to the plastic.  And the nearby trees had burrowed through the pastic to get at the water!!  Absolutely useless for the vegetables I was trying to grow - no wonder all I succeeded in growing was tomatoes, onions, rocket and carrots.  But at the end of last year I planted some seeding potatoes into deep tubs / buckets and this week we had the first of our baby potatoes!  Absolutely delicious.  We are going to grow potatoes in old tyres on the plot - they will take up less space and be far easier to harvest.  And we will be re-using worn out tyres.  Perfect!

Lemon tree saplings

So I've converted a part of the old veggie patch area to a nursery for the lemon pips which have sprounted into saplings - at last count I have 27!  And two naartjie plants too - only two of the pips which I saved from some delicious naartjies (mandarin oranges) we purchased at Woolies last year took - hopefully the fruit they eventually produce is as good as the original!   It is also housing all the cuttings I've taken -  all of which we want to plant on our plot in Rietkuil.

What I did with the pips was to save them in a half shell of lemon peel (to keep them moist), and which I stored in the fridge for a week.  Then I planted them in some potting soil and ensured that the soil stayed damp.  Lo! and behold! green shoots started appearing about 7 weeks later!!  Very chuffed I am too!  Patience is the key - and keeping the soil moist.

I have recently been awarded the distrbution rights for Southern Africa for the Magic Seeder - a seed dispersing tool which facilitates the control and sowing of seeds smaller than 2mm. This seed dispenser is unique in this country. It won the award for Best New Retail product at the 2004 South West Regional Growers Show in England.

The Magic Seeder

It is an established horticultural product, used by the Royal Horticultural Society, and which, with just a bit of practice, is simple to use and is an efficient hand held seed dispenser.

For more information, please click on The Magic Seeder page at the top of this blog.  And if anyone would like to purchase one, please contact me via e-mail at dani (@) ecofootprint (dot) co (dot) za.

It really does work well!

Eco-friendly recipes

It's been very frustrating - we haven't been able to get to the farm since January - pressure of work, etc.  So I've had to content myself with trying to do what I can in Cape Town in preparedness for when we next go up - at this stage it looks like it will only probably be for the weekend of 3rd April 2010.  I took the measurements of all the windows (that open) and I purchased some semi-rigid netting which I have used to make insect nets for the windows - we'll install the top section of the netting and hook the bottom to the window frame in order to be able to open / close the windows. 

This netting is not only for the insects, but also I really don't want to share our space with any of the local bats - I'd prefer to build them their own little roost somewhere else on the plot.  (for more on this topic please go to: http://www.batsgauteng.org.za/BatHouses01.htm )  Don't get me wrong - I want the bats around to keep the local insect population in check - a natural insecticide so to speak.  I just don't want them taking up residence in our house!!

Also, judging by the search phrases which have resulted in visitors to my web site (http://www/ecofootprint.co.za) I have been giving some thought to this blog and have decided to make a 'how to make' page (you'll soon find it at the top of this blog next to our Aim and Eco Hints and Tips).  This page will included (amongst other things) recipes for making soap with / without caustic soda, toothpaste, washing "powder", dover stove / hot box / solar cooking recipes, how to make a charcoal water filter, how to make bread without yeast, etc.

My version of a solar cooker - it works!

Let me stress that the information and recipes are mainly what I have found on the Net and where I have the orginal link I will give it - I don't mean to plagiarise anyone else's work.  But the cooking recipes can also be as a result of my own trial and error.

Clay floor tiles, kitchen counter and lime render

During the time that we were unable to get to the farm we kept ourselves busy with preparation at our house in Cape Town. I purchase two bedside tables from a roadside vendor - these tables are made with off-cuts of wood and woven grass basket drawers. I also ordered 6 slightly bigger extra drawers, to use in my kitchen island for storing foodstuffs etc. These I sanded and varnished (with Swartland Maxicare) at our home in Cape Town - a very good idea as on the farm there is always a breeze of some sort blowing building sand about - not ideal for wet varnish!



Due too business commitments RMan went to the farm on his own for 11 days in early October. We needed to get the flooring in and sealed, to give it time to dry before the family visit in December.


On the internet I found Overberg Tile and Clay - a company in Swellendam who made clay floor tiles and who were able to install them as well.

 

Given that the actual factory is based in Swellendam, and we didn't have to add to their eco footprint by schlepping heavy clay tiles 256 kms all the way from Cape Town, I bowed to RMan's preference for clay floor tiles in place of the oxide screed on the floor.

The installed and sealed 'seconds' tiles on this page look more amazing than the pictures show! The only difference between the normal and 'seconds' tiles are that the 'seconds' can be a little uneven, and / or have a small crack - we love them - we feel it adds real farmhouse character to the room.

RMan used the opportunity to get the plasterer's back to compelte the plastering of the external walls and do the finishing round the windows and doorways. True to form it rained! That caused the plaster to fall off the walls during the night, which meant they had to be re-done the following day. It's amazing, though, what plastering the building has done - it is starting to look more and more like a house and less like a building site.

RMan got a reality check - when he lifted a piece of the gunplas (black plastic) which was covering the plaster sand he met his first Cape Cobra face to face. He said that he's never leap so far so quickly - clearing what he explained as 3 mtrs in one leap! Unfortunately the plasterers decided to throw sand at it which caused it to rise up and show it's hood. They were not happy about it, and RMan, being in a state of shock, didn't realise until too late that a couple of the plasterers had picked up planks which were lying around and with which they proceeded to kill the cobra. Sad and totally unnecessary - there is place for everything on this planet and a bit of patience would've allowed the cobra to go on it's way. Nevermind interrupting the food chain - cobra's eat mice and rats - and personally I'd rather have cobra's on the plot than rats and mice, of which there must be plenty in the area, as many of the surrounding fields are sown with grain.

He also got the digger/loader back - we know have 180 holes ready for the pomegranate trees which we will be purchasing in January 2010. The trenches we dug for the mains water, grey water and septic tank pipes have now been closed and the reed bed has had a berm placed on the uphill side to prevent rain water from flooding and overflowing the reed bed before it's had time to filter the grey water.

Unfortunately, there was not enough time to seal the floor tiles on RMan's previous visit, so we both went up to the farm at the end of November to get that finished and to ensure that the house is as complete as posssible before we go up with our kids / grandchild later in December. I never realised how much stuff we had accumulated in the caravan - no wonder it felt cramped and claustrophobic. Transferring it all and sorting it out in the house took me all of three hours and at least a dozen trips from the caravan to the house.

We fitted castors to the kitchen counter / island and I proceeded to fill every inch of it. When I consider the cost (the unit cost R1200.00 at Builders Warehouse, the six baskets R600.00 and the castors R240.00) a total of R2040.00 - a company which specialises in kitchen cuboards would charge a heck of lot more than that for a 1.5mtr long kitchen island. It is also 1.05mtrs high - 15cms more than the normal kitchen counter - it feels so much more comfortable to prepare food on.

Ronnie was an absolute star and moved the caravan stove to the house too - easy-peasy thing for a man to do!!

He also knocked me up some temporary kitchen counters / draining board round the butlers sink / stove - the butlers sink is absolutely brilliant! In order not to waste water when doing the daily washing up I use a bucket which fits into the sink - naturally, when the demand arises I will utilize the entire sink.

So, finally on the 1 December 2009, a year and a half after purchasing our plot, we "moved in" - yes, we still have to paint the walls, put the vermiculite ceiling boards in and sort out more kitchen shelving, but the basics are there. And we had our first home cooked meal even if it was only spaghetti bolognaise - we didn't cook in the caravan because of food smells, grease, etc. And what a pleasure to be able to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night without having to peer all round for night adders as one walks to the "bathroom"!! Those simple luxuries that one takes for granted assume on a whole new meaning. I can tell you all that the resin roof tiles in the double volume room together with the double glazed windows work brilliantly! Hot as hell outside and very comfortable inside. The addition of lime to the render (8 parts sand, 1 bags cement and 2 bag lime) has created walls which could withstand a hurricane easily - it took RMan three hours to knock a 20cm hole through the west facing wall for the dover stove chimney - he couldn't believe the strength of the walls. Even the howling sou'easter is bearable when one is within a sheltered structure - especially one that doesn't sway in the wind as the caravan did! Admittedly the sisalation which was fitted (again in a howling sou'eater) is not as secure as it should be in a couple of places, but when we fit the vermiculite ceiling boards, we will be able to do any minor adjustments that are necessary.

Perhaps next year we will be equipped enough to spend Christmas on the farm with the whole family. I can't wait to see their reaction - so much for "elderly" parents - I reckon we've done a sterling job thus far. And we're not that old any way :-) In fact - our lives have just begun, but don't tell our kids that.

Resinrooftile goes on

10th September 2009: After hiring a 2 1/2 ton trailer and collecting the Resin Roof Tiles, and scaffolding, RMan and RSon, together with 4 other guys (one a supposed carpenter and the other a "brickie") and braving -2C° INSIDE the caravan when they woke in the morning.

 

It took them 8 days - in driving rain, strong winds and snow on the mountain! Not too shabby for 6 guys who have never heard of hurricane clips nor beam filling, and who have never put a roof on before. The tiles went on easier than the sisalation (which tends to fly about in the wind) but Resin Roof Tiles forgot to give RMan the adhesive weatherproofing strips for the apex of the roof so those will tiles have to come off again so that we can lay that adhesive.

 

When RMan returned from town where he was buying more materials, he found that the "carpenter" had hung the front happy doors inside out, and put the handle on the wrong door. When that installation was queried the carpenter replied that they are correct. After demonstrating to the carpenter how incorrect they were he then re-hung them correctly, and put the handle on the correct door - all of which means that we'll probably have to buy new ones - chipping out the door and frame to hang doors twice doesn't leave a pretty picture - neither does a door handle hole without a handle appeal!

 

We also got the plumber round to install the bathroom basin, and check that the loo was correctly installed - and discovered that plumbers charge R300.00 per tap! Ah, well, guess we do have a working toilet and basin now! And at least the plumber knew what he was doing.

Lime render, 220 / 12volts and Double glazing

At the beginning of October 2009 RMan and I decided to try and get the plastering started, as we want to take our kids there for a few days before Christmas, and need the inside of the house to be available as living space. Having been given the name of a "reputable" plasterer, whom we had spoken to over the phone, we left Cape Town on Sunday 4th October. We organised to meet him at the local Coastal Equipment Hire branch in Swellendam at 8.45 Monday 5th October. Naturally the plasterer was late. But, as it turns out, that was a blessing in disguise. His tardiness gave us the time to chat to the owner of Coastal Hire, Jannie, who knows all the local builders very well. When he found out who we were waiting for, he warned us: "if it is the chap I think it is, don't use him. He's untrustworthy and he owes me money!" It was "that" person. It turns out he had also been in prision! Not quite the kind of person we wanted to work on our house, even if he had done his time and paid his bill to society, after all our little house is vulnerable when we're not there. So much for that "recommendation

We then asked Jannie if he knew of anyone who could plaster for us during the 4 days we planned on being there. After a couple of phone calls he gave us the name of a guy who could start straight away, so off we went to meet with him. His quote was acceptable and the plastering began.  Mother Nature tried to intervene by dropping 100mm of rain within 36 hours, but thankfully we had decided to begin by plastering the internal walls, so that was able to proceed. But, in place of the 4 days quoted for plastering, it took 6 - apparently the walls weren't straight, and thus, in some cases, needed three coats of plaster. And, in addition, the rain poured in through the brickwork on the one wall and flooded one end of the floor. Our brilliant builder again!

Our makeshift shower (including the sheep trough which we used as a shower pan) beats showering in the cold early morning

On the positive side, RMan completed the conduits which will run the 5mm heavy core cable for our 220 / 12 volt electrical requirements. And, as all the internal plastering is now complete, and as soon as we get our floor in, we can basically move out of the caravan into some "lebensraum" (living space). Ronnie is fighting me - he wants to lay clay terracotta tiles as opposed to the lime / oxide tinted screed that I am keen on. One of the positives for the clay tiles is that they are produced in Swellendam, so the transport footprint is dramatically reduced. The costs are exhorbitant, so we are going to check out their "seconds" next time we go up. We have also discovered that the double glazing is absolutely amazing and worth every cent - even with the damp plaster on the walls it was noticably warmer inside the house at night and very much cooler during the heat of the day. Wish it was possible to replace all the windows of our house in Cape Town! At night it is so warm in the house that Ronnie has scrapped his idea of using the Dover Stove to heat the water for underfloor heating - it just won't be necessary.

Also, we have now found a brilliant builder / plasterer and, all things being equal, it should be plain sailing from here on, not only for completion of phase 1, but for phase 2 hopefully sometime next year!

The 100mm of rain managed to fill half our dam - hopefully it doesn't seep away again - we have been told that it takes approximately 2 years for a dam to hold water - and we're heading for our 2nd year!

The rain, inconvenient as it was, was worth it, for we had the most incredible sunrise the morning after the rain - it was absolutely stunning!