Category Archives: outdoors

Do Not Put It Off – Weatherize today

Posted on by
Reply

This says it all. Quite frankly all this stuff keeps you cool in the summer as well.

http://homerepair.about.com/od/exteriorhomerepair/ss/winterize.htm

Easy Home Winterizing Checklist

By , About.com Guide

In the fall is when you want to get ready for the winter cold. The worst thing in the world is trying to put your storm windows in when its 20 degrees outside. Or worse, not having your sprinkler system purged before the freezing weather comes.I’m going to give you a fairly easy checklist of things to do for the various systems of your home. From plumbing to roof, we’ll walk through each system and hit the major things to make sure you do before winter so you can enjoy the snow and not worry about your home.
OK, lets start with the basics of making sure you have heat when you need it. The time to check that is in the Fall, no later than the end of October. Give your system a test run through and make sure all systems are “GO“.

Heating System Checklist

  • Test Run:
    Turn the thermostat to heat mode and set it to 80 degrees just for testing. You should hear the furnace turn on and warm air should blow within a few minutes. If it’s running OK, turn the thermostat back to its normal setting. If it’s not running properly, you can try to diagnose it as outlined in Troubleshooting a Gas Furnace. Depending on what’s wrong, you can fix it yourself or you may need a qualified service technician.
  • Seasonal Maintenance:
    Either have the furnace checked by a service technician or do it yourself as outlined in Seasonal Furnace Maintenance.
  • Replace the Air Filter:
    Put in a new clean air filter. It’s easy, just follow the steps in Furnace Filter Replacement
  • Fuel:
    If you have a propane or oil furnace, make sure to have your fuel storage tank topped off and ready to go.
  • Heating Vents:
    Clear obstacles to heating vents so air can freely flow.
  • Check for Carbon Monoxide Leaks:
    This silent killer can easily be detected with either an inexpensive test badge or battery operated alarm. Whichever way you decide, just please decide to protect your family with one of these units.
    See Testing for Carbon Monoxide for more information.

:}

This is 2 pages out of 10. Please go there and read the rest. New topic next week.

:}

Fall Gardening For Produce – Yummy goodies in the bag

Posted on by
Reply

Please read the entire post because the last line is curious.

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/archives/parsons/fallgarden/fallharvest.html

HARVESTING OF FALL GARDEN PRODUCE

After gardeners have worked SO hard and SO long to grow fresh, could-be-delicious produce, many are often robbed of their potential goodness because of improper, ill-timed harvesting. To avoid the occurrence of that unfortunate situation again, we have listed a number of the most popular garden vegetables and the harvest procedure for each.

BEANS, SNAP – Harvest before maturity when pods are not completely full for maximum tenderness. Wash immediately and refrigerate.

BEETS – Early beets should be pulled from the row when about 2 inches in diameter. If they are allowed to get much larger, they become woody, especially in warm, dry weather. Remove all but about 1 to 1 1/2 inches of the tops. Wash and refrigerate immediately.

BROCCOLI – Broccoli heads should be harvested when they reach a 4 to 8 inch diameter size and are firm and compact. Maximum size potential can be determined by watching the floret development. Broccoli heads appear to be singular structures when actually they are composed of many individual flowers called florets. When individual groups of florets begin to loosen and emerge from the otherwise continuum surface and are not tightly clustered, the head is as large as it is capable of being. If allowed to remain without harvesting, the florets will continue to elongate and eventually the entire head will be a yellow blooming composite flower. To harvest cut the stalk below the head leaving 8 to 10 inches of stem and attached leaves. Chill immediately.

BRUSSELS SPROUTS – Harvesting usually begins in 3 to 3 1/2 months after transplanting. Early sprouts should be picked over several times, the lowest on the plant being taken each time, otherwise these will open out and become yellow. The first picking should not be delayed after the lower leaves begin to turn yellow as the sprouts get tough and lose their delicate flavor. In picking, the leaf below the sprout is broken off and the sprout removed by breaking away from the stalk. As the lower leaves and sprouts are removed, the plant continues to push out new leaves at the top, and in the axil of each leaf a bud, or sprout, is formed. All lower sprouts should be removed even though they may fail to make solid little heads.

Many gardeners obviously plant cabbage, cauliflower and carrots and don’t know when to harvest them. Size alone cannot be used as the determining factor since variety grown and cultural conditions can determine the size at maturity. Also many vegetables can be eaten in an immature stage before maximum size is attained.

CABBAGE – Waylon Jennings tells folks how to determine when cabbage is mature, i.e., it has to be “firm feeling.” When cabbage heads become solid and the sides or top cannot be pressed in with the thumb, it is mature and large as it will get. Often mature heads will split open. If you want to delay harvest of mature cabbage yet prevent splitting of mature heads, twist the entire plants slightly to break several roots. This will reduce uptake of water from the soil and delay splitting.

CAULIFLOWER – Cauliflower heads should be harvested when they reach a 4 to 8 inch diameter size and are firm and compact. Maximum size potential can be determined by watching the floret development. Cauliflower heads appear to be singular structures when actually they are composed of many individual flowers called florets. When individual groups of florets, termed curd, begin to loosen and emerge from the otherwise continuum surface and are not tightly clustered, the cauliflower is as large as it is capable of being. If allowed to remain the florets will continue to elongate and eventually the entire head of cauliflower will be a yellow blooming composite flower. To harvest cut the stalk just below the head. The yellowish color of cauliflower curd surface is caused by exposure to sunlight rather than roaming pets with indiscriminate urinary habits. To protect the cauliflower head from sun and subsequent discoloration, when the small bud head appears in the center of the plant draw the lower leaves of the plant loosely over the bud in a tent-like fashion. Fasten them together with string or a rubber band. Really hungry, frugal gardeners always want to know if the leaves of cauliflower, broccoli and Brussels sprouts are edible. Certainly! However, older leaves are naturally tougher and excessive leaf removal reduces overall yield and size. Leaves of cauliflower, broccoli and Brussels sprouts are just as good as collard and mustard leaves provided the correct amounts of fat-back and black-eyed peas are available. (Northerners won’t understand this sentence!)

CARROTS – Since there are many varieties with different potential sizes and lengths, when to harvest can be a mystery. Most varieties fully mature within 60 to 85 days but can be pulled and consumed earlier. Crown size can be an indicator. The crown, where the foliage attaches to the root, usually attains at least a three-fourths inch diameter size when the carrot is fully mature. Another surefire technique is to pull the largest carrot and examine the bottom or growing tip. If the tip is orange the carrot is mature. If the tip is white the carrot is still growing and will continue to enlarge. There is no need to harvest the carrot crop all at once. Carrots can be left in the ground after they mature for several weeks without adverse affects. In fact, the cool garden soil is the best place in Texas to store carrots.

:}

More tomorrow.

:}

Fall Gardening Saves So Much Energy – It is like any nontradtional gardening though

Posted on by
Reply

First there are places in the US where you can garden year round. Most of the southeast falls into this category. Yes there are issues around water use because much of off season gardening requires watering. But when you look at the exercise and healthy food it can produce, plus the off setting of transportation costs, especially in gasoline costs overall the good out weighs the bad. I would contend with a solar space attached to a house or proper cold frames you can actually year round garden up to the Great Lakes latitudes. But this is not what traditionally has been considered fall gardening. I also might add something will take up later that winter crop covers can be considered both fall gardening but also composting. I also can hear a lot of you saying that you are sooooo glad when the gardening season is “over” that the thought of getting the rototiller out in August or September is too painful to consider. But we all over plant and also underestimate the amount of work and the amout of time involved. To which I say, “Stop it”.  Here is a good primer from East Texans – the home of Stevie Ray Vaughn.

http://easttexasgardening.tamu.edu/homegardens/fallveggarden.html

Prepare In July For Fall/Winter Vegetable Harvest

by Keith C. Hansen, Extension Horticulturist

:}

I skipped to the gardening part of this article.

:}

Every time you prepare the soil to plant a new crop, always mix in as much compost as you can get your hands on. Add well-decomposed animal manure, fertilizer and lime if soil tests indicate a low fertility or pH, and work all ingredients into the soil.

Southern peas such as blackeye, purplehull, cream and crowders make a great, edible summer cover crop for building the soil and providing food. The pea vines can be mowed and rototilled under while still green for extra soil building benefits or allowed to produce peas and then tilled under.

Tomatoes and peppers need to be planted soon – by the first of August – if they are going to make a good crop before first frost. What if your garden spot is not yet ready? Buy your transplants now and grow them in a larger container to plant in the garden later.

Get either 6-pack transplants or 4-inch transplants. Put them in a 1- or 3-gallon nursery container filled with potting soil. Do not use soil from your garden. Add slow release fertilizer (like Osmocote or other slow release formulation) to the soil mix. Set the pots in a sunny spot in the yard, not in the shade!

Every time you water, use a water-soluble fertilizer solution instead of just plain water. Your transplants will continue to grow and be healthy, just as if you have transplanted them directly into the ground. Once your garden site is ready, you will have large, healthy tomato and pepper plants to set out. They will be easier to take care of and you will be assured of a bountiful harvest before the first freeze of winter.

Grow fast maturing tomato varieties for the fall harvest. Look for varieties with less than 75 days to maturity, such as ‘Merced’, ‘Bingo’, ‘Celebrity’, ‘Whirlaway’, and ‘Carnival’. ‘Surefire’ is a smaller, processing tomato variety (with thicker skin) which sets and matures all of its tomatoes very quickly, giving you a “surefire” harvest that beats the first freeze. Most cherry tomatoes will bear within 65 days of transplanting.

Timing is very important for a successful fall garden. Heat tolerant/cold sensitive crops need to be planted in time to mature before cold weather slows and stops growth, while cool season/heat sensitive crops are planted late enough to avoid the heat, but early enough to take the first frosts of winter.

The following are optimal “windows of time” for planting fall vegetables:

Beans – 8/1 – 9/1 (lima beans 7/15 – 8/15) Muskmelon (Cantaloupe) – 7/15 – 8/1
Beets – 9/1 – 10/15 Mustard – 9/15 – 10/15
Broccoli plants – 8/1 – 9/15 Parsley – 8/15 – 10/1
Brussels sprouts – 8/1 – 10/1 Peas, English – 8/15 – 9/15
Cabbage plants – 8/15 – 9/15 Peas, Southern – 7/1 – 8/1
Carrots – 8/15 – 10/15 Pepper plants – 7/1 – 8/1
Cauliflower plants – 8/15 – 9/15 Potatoes, Irish – 8/15 – 9/15
Chard, Swiss – 8/1 – 10/15 Pumpkin – 7/1 – 8/1
Collard/Kale – 8/15 – 10/1 Radish – 9/15 – 10/15
Corn, Sweet – 8/1 – 8/15 Spinach – 9/1 – 10/15
Cucumber – 8/1 – 9/1 Squash, Summer – 7/15 – 8/15
Eggplant plants – 7/15 – 8/1 Squash, Winter – 7/1 – 7/15
Garlic – 9/1 – 10/15 Tomato plants – 7/15 – 8/1
Kohlrabi – 8/15 – 9/15 Turnips – 10/1 – 11/1
Lettuce (leaf) – 9/15 – 10/15 Watermelon – 7/1 – 8/1

Seeded vegetables can be tricky to get up in the heat of summer. Soil often forms a crust on the surface after tillage and watering. This “crust” can hinder tender seedlings from breaking through. Here are a couple of tips to help get seedlings up in the summer.

:}

Please read the rest. It is good stuff. More tomorrow.

:}

The Ultimate Frontier – Composting at work

Posted on by
Reply

Yesterday I posted about corporate recycling and how they have to have plastic containers with labels on them to actually do it. Well here is a thought. Take a felt tipped marker and cross out paper and write organics. That way you are composting at work. If you have no organics other than food scraps you may have to mix in some shredded paper or go out side and collect some leaves. You will need a a tight lid and you may need to store it outside, but everything is possible.

http://bubbler.wordpress.com/2007/08/20/composting-at-work/

 

 

Composting at Work

I’ve started a composting process of the food waste at my workplace using a bin that is passively aerated. It’s kind of a prototype, as I am figuring out what kind of mix of inputs will work, how much moisture it needs, etc. During the summer, our kitchen produces a huge amount of food scraps which gets bagged up, thrown into a room, then later heaved up by staff onto our dump truck, driven into town, dumped at the refuse center, where it is then sorted and transported out of the county to a landfill 70 miles away. It’s a ridiculously inefficient process of dealing with waste that generates yet more waste.

The small bin I have currently set up will fill up within a week, so obviously it isn’t anywhere near cutting much waste out. However, once I’ve demonstrated that it works and have figured out the proper mix and all that, I’m hoping that we can expand the operation to cut out a more significant chunk of waste.

The whole science and art of composting consists of a proper ratio of carbon to nitrogen, which ideally should be around 30:1. We have a vast amount of cardboard and newspaper on-hand which I will shred to serve as bulk carbon (further reducing the transport of those materials into the recycling center in town), as well as sawdust and, every now and then, pine needles. The food waste supplies the nitrogen, as well as moisture. I will also pick up horse manure from stables down the road and mix that in there as well to provide essential microbes. It remains to be seen what kind of compost such a mixture will produce—it may be somewhat deficient on nutrients as my main sources of carbon are bland.

:}

More tomorrow.

:}

Climate Change Messed Up My Vacation – Well not completely

Posted on by
Reply

I tried not to say too much about our recent 2 week vacation, but I have to tell you that I think people are being too paranoid. The last time we did a big vacation, I posted from wherever we were. This made it obvious we were gone and even where we were exactly and nothing bad happened. This time I just hinted at it and again nothing happened. I just checked the stats and my being gone and not posting did not effect them either which bums me out but that is another story.

But how did the destabilization of the weather ruin my vacation. Well to start with I called people in Montana and asked them about the best time to schedule an off season vacation there. I had originally planned on the last week in September and the first week in October. Everyone there said that could be dicey so I moved it back to the last two weeks in September. Had I stuck to my guns we would have had to miss a day or two to morn Cate’s fathers death but we would have also missed a late season heat up. As it was, everything after South Dakota was packed. Hotels, tourists sites, you name it. The prices were expensive, and the little kids were jumping around the hotel rooms. To top it off the road through Glacier National was cut in the middle for road work so we drove around the park to Kalispell. This was the farthest point on our drive and exactly when we receive word of Frank’s demise. So that meant that we got in the car and drove for 4 more days. Cate did see glaciers and we did stop at the Crazy Horse monument on the way back, but it was warmer in Montana then it was in Illinois.

:}

More tomorrow.

:}

Transition Community In Houston – One of hundreds around the US

Posted on by
Reply

I leave you this week in Houston. An oil ton if there ever was one. Got to love a group that is trying to do without hydrocarbons altogether. They claim they are moving to a new site BUT I couldn’t get there yet, so here is a sample of their old site.

http://transitionhouston.wordpress.com/

Movin’ on…

The website subgroup of the Outreach and Education Action Group has been working on an updated website for Transition Houston for some time, and all that effort is paying off!  We are going to concentrate our information share and move content to the new site:  www.transitionhouston.org.  Please bookmark that location and check with us often for news about Transition in the Houston region, Neighborhood Initiative and Action Group updates, calendar, newsletter archive, and more!

Once again, the new Transition Houston website:

www.transitionhouston.org

 

There are several other options for connecting with us.

We are on Ning.

We are on Facebook.

We are on Twitter.

And you can subscribe to our Newsletter!

Permaculture goes mainstream, hope rises

Sometimes little things give hope that progress is possible, and that maybe “if we act as communities, it might just be enough, just in time,” to quote the Cheerful Disclaimer.  This last week the little thing for me was the discovery of permaculture by the New York Times.  Now, I’m not so naive to believe that seeing permaculture in the mainstream press is going to make a lot of difference immediately, although I wouldn’t be surprised to see a surge of interest in permie classes across the country with long-term benefits to both participants and the environment (FYI, classes are offered here in Houston by the Permaculture Guild of Houston, through Urban Harvest).

I think the important point is that awareness is growing in our country:  awareness of our ecosystem impacts, awareness of the lack of sustainability in our lifestyles and economy, and also awareness of that which is missing in our lives–community, connection, purpose.  Permaculture is a positive response to that growing awareness, as is the permaculture-based Transition movement.

There are a couple of opportunities to join with others in our Transition Houston community this week and next.  Please avail yourself of these options to increase your awareness and find connection with a community of folks working for a resilient Houston region.

Transition Houston Hub meeting, Tuesday, August 2, 7:00pm to 9:00pm

Green Film Series Presents Blue Gold: World Water Wars, Tuesday, August 9, 6:30pm to 9:00pm

Transition Houston Hub meeting, Tuesday, August 2, 7:00pm to 9:00pm
We hope to see you at Tuesday’s Transition Houston meeting, which will feature a guest speaker in addition to news from the Transition Neighborhoods and Action Groups.

We are very fortunate to have Peter Wang, League of American Bicyclists Cycling Instructor, as our guest speaker.  Peter is considered a local biking expert.  He’s everywhere as a go-to guy for media interviews about bikes, and has been involved in a lot of bicycle issues.  He is risk-averse–exactly the kind of guy you would want to help you practice being safer!–and has taught a lot of these safety classes.

Peter will present a video screening followed by a discussion. The video is Enjoy The Ride, about essential bicycling skills.

:}

More whenever.

:}

Why I Have Been Posting About Transition Communities – The basic arguement

Posted on by
Reply

Today I found two articles that define the pros and cons of Transition Communities. I would tend to call one selfish and foolish. I would call the other one “heads up”, but that is just me. I do not want to take up the space with both complete articles so I will post a taste of each.

PRO

http://peakoilmatters.com/2011/09/14/a-vision-for-the-post-peak-oil-future-pt-6/

In a harsher future we’re now in the process of consigning our children and grandchildren to, this is okay?

When so much power and prosperity is confined to so few, what then? As more and more is stripped away from more and more in order to protect the few, greater inequality will result, and a much larger percentage of those so far unaffected by that disparity will then fall into the have-nots, including our children and grandchildren—and perhaps many more of us.

Of course we ought to be legitimately worried about what massive debt will do for the prospects and opportunities of our children and grandchildren, but if we aren’t also doing all that we can right now to provide the programs and resources and opportunities and investments to innovate and grow starting now, they’ll be faced with the double whammy of the burdens of great debt and no viable means to address the problem! What a wonderful prospect … but thank God the wealthy will be okay!

“What is the crisis we face today? We have an economy scarred by mass unemployment, falling wages, and growing insecurity. In the downturn, a staggering 40 percent of American households have been afflicted by unemployment, negative home equity (‘under water homes’ worth less than their mortgages), mortgage payment arrears, or foreclosure. In November 2008, one quarter of Americans aged 50-59 reported that they’d lost more than 35 percent of their retirement savings.

“The [wage] imbalances were obscene before the recession, with finance capturing 40 percent of corporate profits, the wealthiest 1 percent capturing half of the benefits of economic growth, the US running soaring trade deficits, even in high technology products, with China and the world. Our decaying infrastructure, broken health care system, declining educational performance in relation to the industrial world all preceded the fall….

“The right question we need to ask, I would argue, is what is the new strategy, the new foundation for an economy that offers hope for rebuilding America’s economic vitality in the competitive global market place? This requires a clear and bold strategy for revitalizing American manufacturing. It requires investments in areas vital to our future — in modern infrastructure, in education and training, in research and innovation. We need to capture a lead in the green industrial revolution that is sweeping the world. It requires new trade strategy, shackles on financial speculation, empowering workers to capture a fair share of the productivity and profits they help generate to help rebuild America’s middle class. We have to figure out how to afford this, financing what we can, changing priorities and raising revenues where needed. But this is a far different question than just how we get our books in order.” [3]

As Mr. Borosage noted at the conclusion of the passage just quoted: “It is hard to get the right answer when you ask the wrong question.”

CON

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2011/06/12/bjorn-lomborg-explains-how-to-save-the-planet.html


A Roadmap for the Planet

Jun 12, 2011 10:00 AM EDT

How we live today is clearly unsustainable. Why history proves that is completely irrelevant.

From the 18th through the mid-19th century, whale oil provided light to much of the Western world. At its peak, whaling employed 70,000 people and was the United States’ fifth-largest industry. The U.S. stood as the world’s foremost whale slayer. Producing millions of gallons of oil each year, the industry was widely seen as unassailable, with advocates scoffing at would-be illumination substitutes like lard oil and camphene. Without whale oil, so the thinking went, the world would slide backward toward darkness.

By today’s standard, of course, slaughtering whales is considered barbaric.

Two hundred years ago there was no environmental movement to speak of. But one wonders if the whalers, finding that each year they needed to go farther afield from Nantucket Island to kill massive sea mammals, ever asked themselves: what will happen when we run out of whales?

Such questions today constitute the cornerstone of the ever-louder logic of sustainability.

Climate alarmists and campaigning environmentalists argue that the industrialized countries of the world have made sizable withdrawals on nature’s fixed allowance, and unless we change our ways, and soon, we are doomed to an abrupt end. Take the recent proclamation from the United Nations Environment Program, which argued that governments should dramatically cut back on the use of resources. The mantra has become commonplace: our current way of living is selfish and unsustainable. We are wrecking the world. We are gobbling up the last resources. We are cutting down the rainforest. We are polluting the water. We are polluting the air. We are killing plants and animals, destroying the ozone layer, burning the world through our addiction to fossil fuels, and leaving a devastated planet for future generations.

:}

More tomorrow.

:}

Transition Communities – Live in the flesh

Posted on by
Reply

This is a pretty good discussion of the sustainability component of it. I apologize up front for just posting the video connection and not much more. I am terrible at posting videos.

http://vimeo.com/28881870

Five minutes with Dave Hamilton
2 days ago
More
See all Show me 
nu project’s videos
 
5. Five minutes with Dave Hamilton 
12 days ago
 
2. Hackney City Farm  
by nu project1 year ago
Dave Hamilton has a degree in Nutrition, is a professional foraging,food and gardening writer. He lives in Devon, where he grows and forages for most of his own food and teaches horticulture.

:}

But here is more about the guy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Hamilton_%28author%29

Dave Hamilton (author)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

David John Hamilton (born 1974) British author, Journalist, Gardener and Forager.[1][2] Born in Northampton he now lives in Totnes, Devon.

He attended Weston Favell School in Northampton where he slipped through the education system graduating with only three G.C.S.E’s above C grade including English language.

He has lived all over the UK and amongst other things has worked as a market trader in Camden Stables Market and in Anjuna India, a postman and a gardener in Oxford and a driver’s mate and factory worker in Northampton.[3]

He later returned to education and whilst studying a BSc in Nutrition and Food Science at Oxford Brookes he began growing his own food.[4] Realising there were still bills to and full self-sufficiency was very difficult he coined the term ‘Self-Sufficientish’ which later was adopted by the website he runs with his twin brother.[5]

The website led to the publishing of his first book, with Andy Hamilton, The Self Sufficient-ish Bible: An Eco-living Guide for the 21st Century (ISBN 978-0340951026) [6]

He now lives in Devon where he is following another of his passions, that of plants, by training to be a sustainable horticulturist at the Dutchy College run course at the Schumacher College in Dartington. Along with fellow students on the course Dave has started up a sustainable bee keeping group using methods championed by Phil Chandler.[7]

He occasionally appears on TV and radio and writes a regular column for Alan Moores underground magazine Dodgem Logic.[8] He also contributes to Grow It Magazine and Country Small Holder.

:}

More tomorrow.

:}

Transition Culture – Flee hydrocarbon culture

Posted on by
Reply

I think the real questions here are, can enough of us flee in time and can the different technologies required to do it handle climate change. Unfortunately we shall see.

http://transitionculture.org/about/

About this site and me

robintotnesFor more about this website and what is all about take a look at the page Why Transition Culture?. This section is to tell you about myself.  It is written in the third person not due to delusions of grandeur, but so that people who need biog pieces can cut and paste it from here.

“Rob Hopkins is the co-founder of Transition Town Totnes and of the Transition Network. He has many years experience in education, teaching permaculture and natural building, and set up the first 2 year full-time permaculture course in the world, at Kinsale Further Education College in Ireland, as well as co-ordinating the first eco-village development in Ireland to be granted planning permission.

observerethicalawards2009logonewHe is author of ‘Woodlands for West Cork!’, ‘Energy Descent Pathways’ and most recently ‘The Transition Handbook: from oil dependence to local resilience’, which has been published in a number of other languages, and which was voted the 5th most popular book taken on holiday by MPs during the summer of 2008.  He publishes www.transitionculture.org, recently voted ‘the 4th best green blog in the UK’(!).

:}

More tomorrow.

:}

OutDoor Living Writer Melissa Anne – She writes a mean piece on Solar Fountains

Posted on by
Reply

She asked and I said yes.

:}

Top Solar Fountains for 2011

Everybody’s trying to go green these days – we’re cutting back on driving, using energy efficient light bulbs, buying Energy Star appliances, and buying products that are made using only environmentally friendly practices. One area people don’t usually think of when going green is their outdoor accessories. Yes, solar powered items around for some time, but their popularity has really taken off in recent years with all the great products coming out. One of those products is the solar fountain. Today, we’re going to look at a few of the top solar fountains for 2011.

 

First is the Alpine 2 Tier Water Fountain: Solar Panel Powered. When you first look at this, you’d swear it was carved out of a tree. But it’s actually made of fiberglass, so it’s pretty light and very durable. This model features a solar panel outside of the unit, attached by an 8 foot cord. This gives you more versatility in where you want to place it. For example, you could have your fountain sitting in the shade up on the patio but keep the panel out in the yard where it gets plenty of sun, so you can enjoy your fountain in cool comfort. Its unique look has made it a top seller this year and it’s sure to remain that way.

 

Next is the Smart Solar Portsmouth Solar Birdbath. This fountain offers a modern take on the classic stone birdbath. It features Smart Solar’s patented solar panel design, with the panel sitting in the middle of the basin so it’s perfectly positioned to get all the sunlight it can. Even when it’s not running, it still makes a great decorative accent thanks to the designs around the bowl, column, and base. And with its resin construction, it can hold up outside almost all year without showing any wear. At its value price, this fountain really can’t be beat for anywhere around the home, from a spot on the patio to a flower bed in the front yard.

 

Finally, we have another Smart Solar product, the Blenheim Two-Tier Solar-on-Demand Fountain. This model offers a little something extra, with a two tier design that gives you the beautiful sound of running water flowing from the top bowl to the bottom. Made of resin, it features a black iron finish, which is something you don’t find in a lot of fountains and looks great in a modern outdoor space. But what really separates it is the Solar-on-Demand technology. It has a backup battery that stores the sun’s energy so it can run for up to 6 hours in the evening or when the sun’s not out. This feature has made it one of the most popular solar fountains on the market today.

:}

If you’re thinking of more ways to do your part to be green while beautifying your home, try a solar fountain. No wires and no electricity costs – just a fun way to enhance your home and help the environment!

 

About The Author – Melissa Anne is a writer with OutdoorLiving.com/learning-center/ and a lifelong outdoor living enthusiast. For more on solar fountains, visit OutdoorFountains.com, where you can find everything from a solar pump to a solar bird bath.

:}

More tomorrow.

:}