Stored, not bought
Put some food by for the marketless months
If you’re like us, you’re eyeing the end of the gardening and farmers’ market season with a vague feeling of dread. No more fresh local veggies? No more goodies growing out in the yard? What the heck are we gonna eat all winter, canned soup?
Take those taters and shove ‘em—in the basement.
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There is hope for local produce even through the coldest months—if you get ready now. Many foods will make it to the New Year and beyond in the right conditions, which boil down to “cool” (32 to 40 degrees for most crops, 55 to 60 degrees for sweet potatoes) and “moist.” Consider stocking up at the farmer’s market while you can, then investing a little time in proper storage:
The easiest way: If you’ve got carrots, parsnips or turnips in your garden, just leave them in the ground with their tops cut and 1′ of mulch laid over them.
Down below: Put apples, potatoes, beets, squash, pumpkins, sweet potatoes or onions in your basement. Apples, potatoes and beets like things moist and the rest prefer dry conditions. Keep apples separate, as they release a gas that’ll cause veggies to spoil.
It’s no fun getting the lead out, but it’s worth doing it right.
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Advanced move: Dig a storage pit, bury a metal can or wooden barrel, or—if you’re really ambitious—construct a full-fledged root cellar. All of these take advantage of the temperature stability found underground. More info is at www.motherearthnews.com.—Erika Howsare
One-stop green
New shop has your household covered
Blue Ridge Eco Shop is on a mission to purvey products made from renewable materials, responsibly harvested and healthy to people and the planet. At this stage of the global market, we’d settle for nontoxic, and they’ve got that covered, too, with soy-based paints and stains along with natural insecticides for plants and pets. Glass baby bottles and adult water bottles offer choices for those concerned about leaching plastics. Ultra-sleek, safety-coated SIGG aluminum sports bottles are selling briskly.
Energy-saving bulbs, organic cleaners, recycled glass jewelry, live mouse traps and organic cottons and hemp make an eclectic display along the walls of this small shop in Preston Plaza (296-0042). Paige Mattson (paige@blueridgeecoshop.com), co-owner with husband Hakon, researches her products and believes being green also means supporting local and regional enterprises. Thus, she has on hand insecticides from Orange, Green Power t-shirts from Floyd (the town, not the guy) and diapers from North Carolina. Composters, rain barrels and manual push mowers help gardeners keep a light footprint.
The Mattsons relocated to Charlottesville in April after a year’s stint in the Peace Corps where they worked on a sustainable organic farm in Costa Rica. The shop opened in August and according to Paige received “a very warm welcome” from neighbors at Integral Yoga—no surprise, considering the shared, down-to-earth sensibility.—Cathy Clary
Enter a “solar village” on the National Mall. By the way, in the 2002 Solar Decathlon, a team from UVA picked up several awards.
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Lead? Wait.
Caution is the keyword when you deal with lead paint
If your home was built before 1978, you probably already know whether it has lead paint. However, if you’ve got renovations on the brain, you’ll have to work extra hard to keep you and your family lead-safe. Joel Loving, president of Environmental Health Consultants and lead inspector, gave us some need-to-know precautions for DIY projects.
First, know that renovations that stir up lead dust—replacing windows and doors, scraping paint, tearing down walls—put you at risk for lead exposure. According to Loving, “the best thing you can do is clean, clean, clean.” He recommends that you use a lead dust attracting solution, which you can pick up at any home improvement store, and that you mist the air with water to minimize the dust. Be sure to dampen paint before scraping it, and keep away heat or flames which release toxic lead fumes. Lastly, consider buying an M95 gas mask from Lowe’s.
And when should you call a professional? “It all depends on your comfort level with the project,” Loving said. “But if you’re going to contract it out, make sure your worker is qualified to work with lead.” For more information, give Loving a call at 977-1409, or check out the Environmental Protection Agency’s guidelines for lead-safe renovations at www.epa.gov/lead/.—Carianne King
Blue Ridge Eco Shop helps you—and helps you help others— stay green by stocking products from local and regional companies.
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Healthy competition
Take a trip to D.C. for solar-powered ideas
Astronomical power bills in the mailbox every month are something we all just have to deal with, right? Maybe not, if you lived in a solar house like the ones designed for U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon. This October 12-20, a “solar village” of 20 sun-powered houses built by teams from U.S. and international colleges will be on exhibit on the National Mall in D.C. These houses have been in the works for the past two years, and not only are they heated, cooled, and lighted all by solar energy, they produce enough juice to power an electric car, too.
So maybe you can’t exactly recruit a team of MIT undergrads to build you a solar pad in Belmont anytime soon, but the Decathlon will offer realistic ideas and tools to help the average consumer like you make your house more efficient (and your energy bill lower!). The solar houses will be open for free public tours every day. Extra exhibits will give you ideas to bring home—from low-emissivity windows that reduce heat loss in the winter, to radiant heating systems powered by solar-warmed water running under floorboards. Check out www.solardecathlon.org for more info.—Lee Vanderwerff
Stone cold savings
This isn’t the first time we’ve written in these pages about the Alberene Soapstone Company, a quarry in the Nelson County village of Schuyler that produces a soft, gray-to-black stone prized by artists and builders alike. But we thought you should know this: For $75, the quarry will let you take all you can haul (no fair bringing a semi trailer) from its scrap pile! My husband and I took advantage while remodeling our bathroom, and wound up with a beautiful puzzle-style soapstone floor. What’s more, we feel virtuous for using a local material, and a salvaged one, at that. Give the quarry a call at 831-1051.—E.H.
By the Numbers
“Low-flow showerheads deliver no more than 2.5 gallons per minute compared to standard showerheads that release 4.5 gallons per minute. A family of four using low-flow showerheads can save about 20,000 gallons of water per year.”—National Resources Defense Council, www.nrdc.org
