January
is traditionally the month of stock-taking.
For
the last 6 months we have been living almost continually in the
garden house
(at least me, Andreas), a good moment to evaluate things, especially
because
an important number of smaller projects has been finished or is
being finished. Besides, I find myself in the situation of quite
some time available but without the
possibility to
go online, as we haven’t got an internet connection in the garden
house. So instead of some short
paragraphs every week,
here I
present a larger exposition. I will not only evaluate but would also
like to expose some guidelines for the near future.
Looking north-west towards the Central Pyrenees.
28 Jan 9:15
The different shades on the
walls come from the earth taken from different places on the
terrain.
Looking south.
14 Jan 16:47
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The GARDEN HOUSE needs only some minor finishing touches, especially
the plastering of the exterior walls, and we can now conclude that
it is a mayor success. There were considerable problems in the
construction particularly because of some faults in the design, and
by and large the project took more time and work than we had
imagined, but the final result is also beyond expectation: the house
is comfortable, pleasant, relatively spacious,
practical, with a style of its own. The straw bale walls, plastered
with
earth, create a pleasant interior climate. In the middle of winter
and with only one lighting of the wood stove (5 wood sticks), the
temperature varies between 15°C and 22°,
while humidity doesn’t get above 50% and usually fluctuates around
40%. On clear days the sun entering the main south window usually
raises the temperature with 2 or 3°C. What surprised us a lot was
when we opened the door, which has a south-west orientation, to let
the sun in, we gained up to 4° when it was 7°C outside (without
wind). Humidity fell under 20% then. The presence of one or more
people has also a noticeable effect on the inside temperature.
The garden house features now gas from a butane bottle, running
water, solar electricity and a water drain from the kitchen to mulch
beds around some fruit trees.
The success of the garden house comes on a moment when our original
project for a detached house (for which the garden house would have
been a rehearsal) has been left somewhat in the air. We have
obtained the license for construction but the so-called economic
crisis has also affected us in such a way that for the moment we
don’t want to assume the costs for such a project. We are also a bit
worried about the amount of work, while at the same time doubting if
a much larger house actually means a substantial improvement. So,
for the moment we contend with this idyllic ‘garden shed’.
With the
door wide open the temperature inside reached 20ºC.
1 Feb 14:27
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Time will also tell to what extend our COMPOST TOILET will be
temporal. The system
itself works fine. Surprising is the almost complete
absence of any bad smells. The toilet is in an outhouse, built with
straw bales, unfixed and without plaster. To make the building
somewhat more durable, I am considering plastering the walls with
just one layer and then let some plants like Ivy climb the walls,
protecting them against sun and rain and perhaps also fix the bales
in position. A weak point of the straw bales are the strings, which
can be bitten by mice. Of the bales that we (badly) kept under some
PE sheets for almost a year,
about 1% suffered from this problem. It is an incognito, and a nice
experiment whether the Ivy would be able to stick well to the
plaster and cover the building in a couple of years, wrapping up
and stabilizing the bales together with the plaster, even when some
strings get cut.
On the left the toilet bucket
and on the right the bucket with straw.
To avoid confusion: the brush is for brushing the furniture.
2 Feb 12:32
The
outhouse with a shed for firewood. 24 Jan 13:16
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The GREEN ROOF, that is to say it is
getting greener and
greener. The 4 Sedum species and Sempervivum
tectorum grow as they should. The role of Iris
germanica, a spontaneous invader, is still uncertain, as is the
fate of Achilleatomentosa, which was planted for its
promising behaviour: resistant, low, evergreen, with nice flowers.
There aren’t any leaks and the drain of the roof works well. The old
wine barrel, to harvest rain water, hasn’t been connected yet.
Originally the destination of this water was the ponds on the other
side of the terrain, for which I installed a 100m tube. The water
doesn’t flow
well on its own right; you have to manipulate the tube to get rid of
the air bubbles. I suppose that the barrel will increase the
pressure and improve the flow. The interest of transporting rain
water to the ponds lies in the pure and nutrient-poor
characteristics. This favours water transparency and the aquatic
ecosystems.
We also
planted Sedum and Sempervivum on the firewood shed. 24
Jan 13:18
The old wine barrel will be
placed on the cupboard.
North face of the house. 2 Feb 12:37
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The SOLAR PANELS haven’t produced any problems so far. The
system generates a
maximum of 750 watt y this is sufficient for what use: some lights
(summing 30W), a laptop computer (100W), stereo equipment (110W) and
the occasional charging of a mobile phone or mp3 player (10W). We
haven’t suffered any exhaustion of the batteries in spite of some
rather persisting fog during several days. Very important is the
absence of a refrigerator, which is the biggest consumer of
watt-hours. Our cellar, under a floor filled with straws, is doing
very well as a fridge: the temperature doesn’t pass 7ºC these days.
I suppose that in summer we do need a fridge (of the A++ category,
80W), but then there is much more sun to charge the batteries.
For safety and aesthetics the panels were installed at a distance of
200m from the house. To make up for the voltage loss on the way, we
used thick electric cables (16mm2). When we measured the voltage at
the house we found 230 volt, so losses were minimal.
The solar panels on a rotating
structure.
Looking north.
1 Feb 14:10
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The KITCHEN DRAIN is of a simple design, advocated by Art Ludwig,
and consists of a PE tube (1 inch) of 20m length, that goes down
from the kitchen sink
to some swales around fruit trees, filled with straw.
Like the compost toilet, the straw absorbs
smells and nutrients, which little by little become available
for the fruit trees. We use of course biodegradable soap.
The system works irregularly due to the frequent frosts in the
mornings (under -4ºC) when the tube freezes and clogs up. (Later on
it usually melts). The cause will be fundamentally an inadequate
fall, about 2m over a length of 20m, which doesn’t permit a complete
emptying after each charge of water. I am considering cutting the
tube and diverting the water temporarily through a shorter stretch
with a better fall.
______________
The
outlet of the kitchen drain on the swale around a pear tree.
2 Feb 12:36
The two PONDS are a constant point of attraction, for us as well as
for wildlife. There is always something to see, not only plants,
birds, toads or insects but also the ever-changing play of light and
form in or outside the water or the ice.
The affluence of water by gravity, from the different higher
terraces was during some heavy thunderstorms surprisingly abundant.
But this water was quite dirty because of the ballast of mud, which
improved a bit when the ground was little by little covered by
vegetation. More problematic is the whimsical character of the
frequency of heavy thunderstorms, which are needed to form a
substantial inflow of water. Generally, without any other water
source, the (upper) pond is likely to stay completely dry for
several weeks in summer. Curiously, the lower pond never dried up
completely, certainly because of the absence of vegetation and the
accompanying transpiration. So in this pond the important predators
of mosquito larvae, the Backswimmers, were never absent. In the
upper pond there did appear some outbreaks
of these larvae.
We can now count on public running water so we will depend less on
the erratic thunderstorms.
The green leaves are from the
grass Loliumperenne. 1 Feb 14:15
Lower pond 3 Feb 12:34
Lower pond.
(P.S. Compare the patterns with this image from
25 January 2011) 14 Jan 16:20
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With
respect to the VEGETATION and its maintenance and development, I
must admit that my dedication has been somewhat deficient lately,
due to so many construction activities. My intervention was limited
to some cuts with the scythe and the creation of a hill (also as a
place to install the solar panels) of rocks and earth with an
interesting south exposition, the only one on the terrain.
An
important datum is the number of 9 different species of orchids. I
have got the impression that the total number of plants as well as
the number of species has been growing during the almost 4 years
that we have stayed here. An important factor could be the absence
during this period of the relatively heavy pressure of sheep
grazing in
the region and the fact that sheep seem to find the orchid leaves
quite tasteful.
In the near future, when the construction activities slow down, I
would like to introduce more rock, stone and walls on several sites.
The material is relatively easy to obtain and use and I have also
been fascinated by rock garden, stone walls, ruins and their
accompanying vegetation. But also the influence of Louis LeRoy and
his Ecocathedral must be mentioned.
I also intend to improve and complete the distribution maps of the
species on the terrain, with special attention to the family of
grasses, of which I have got too many doubts.
South
facing slope with the solar panels.1 Feb 14:05
3
emerging plants of a group of 13
Orchispurpurea in an area where I had lost all hope
for them because of bulldozer activities. 1 Feb 14:08
Orchis
purpurea in the half-shade of some oak trees. 1 Feb 14:19
3 Plants of the orchid Anacamptispyramidalis
with Brutus, an abandoned cat which is just that: a bit
brute. 1 Feb 14:00
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Also the VEGETABLE GARDEN has suffered from the constant and more
urgent construction bustle. The first results are nevertheless
promising and inspiring to go on with the horticulture. Curiously,
at the beginning I wasn’t
so keen on this manipulation of plants, being devoted to spontaneous
and natural vegetation. It seems that straw has convinced me, simply
because I ordered too many bales (thinking of our definitive
accommodation) and I didn’t know what to do with them. Mulching with
straw can be really an important instrument to get several results:
getting rid of weeds, stimulation of soil life, retention of
humidity. And last but not least: the aforementioned features make
the tilling of the soil unnecessary. In fact, I haven’t lifted a
spade of earth in the garden and the few vegetables that escaped
from predation by slugs grew marvellously. Yes, straw has some mayor
inconveniences: it attracts slugs and snails and it increases
considerably the risk of freezing or very slow development in
spring.
In the futures I want to continue with mulching, but little by
little I will substitute the straw (which is finally running out)
with the cuttings from other parts of the terrain and I will take
away the mulch layer in spring. I would also like to continue
experimenting with the use of legumes (White clover and Bird's-foot
Trefoil) as green manure.
Now, the vegetable garden seems to be a normal and natural part of
our life here and our philosophy of ‘Nature Switched On’.
The
vegetable garden with a mulching of straw.
Looking north-west 1 Feb 14:21
The harvest of only one plant of
Jerusalem Artichoke(Helianthustuberosus). The
tubercles taste a bit like artichoke and can be eaten cooked, fried
or raw. 3 Feb 13:06
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A project that is being executed right now is a solar GREENHOUSE. It
is built with, you guess it, straw bales and second hand
double-glazed aluminium windows. Only the south wall will have
windows while the roof of transparent fibre will also let the sun
in. Like the compost toilet shed, I will probably plaster the walls
with a layer of earth and straw, with the posterior plantation of
vines like Ivy to cover everything up.
This greenhouse will also accommodate the shower, which in the
future will also become solar, heating the water with a system of
radial black tubes. Principally
all greenhouses are ‘solar’ but it seems that in this case,
according to information on the internet, it refers especially to
the temperature buffering in water containers, the more the better.
Ideally it would consist of some thousand litres in black barrels
placed against the north wall but my greenhouse measures only 6 x 2
m (12 m2 interior) and I don’t know yet how to set it up.
In the greenhouse I will grow vegetables in winter and sow in early
spring to plant vegetables later on in the garden.
The heat
will be probably of the same order as the cold so ventilation will
be crucial. Two windows (and the door) can be opened and two bales
can be taken away at both extremes of the greenhouse.
3 Feb 11:01
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Taking everything into account we can say that we are more than
satisfied with the whole enterprise. Right now, at 8 o'clock in the
evening, while I am writing, it is icy cold outside (2ºC) and here
inside the wood stove roars and I am wearing a T-shirt. Like the
heating, the cold of the
cellar (6ºC) is free and abundant and makes a refrigerator in
winter unnecessary. The few other electric devices we use, consume
the also virtually
everlasting supply of solar energy. The compost toilet produces a
useful fertilizer
and doesn’t use water and the kitchen drain irrigates and fertilizes
some fruit trees in the vegetable garden, as does the future shower
in the greenhouse.
You can imagine our feeling of satisfaction, independence
and efficiency.
This tenant is also feeling at
home, sitting in its cave at the bottom of the cellar. I put a board
to let it get out but it preferred to stay.
22 Jan 10:25