I'm Thinking Gardening...

Last year I became so disgusted at the weather impact on my garden that I vowed NOT to do another garden this year. However, as time rolls around and the catalogs roll in, I seem to be wavering.

Right now, and whether I put in a garden or not, I'm working on how to make an inexpensive biochar crusher. I'm convinced biochar that's been inoculated with beneficial microbes is the best thing next to homemade bread hot from the oven. The problem isn't making biochar, it is in getting it crushed small enough for distribution in my garden.

The charcoal bits remaining in the ashes from my wood stove are 75% perfectly sized, but not many folks have a wood stove anymore. Last year one of my gardening friends up the road crushed some Cowboy Charcoal (which you can buy at Lowe's and is pure biochar) with the help of her husband and son, and said it was a messy and dirty business.

Biochar is easily made by burning any organic matter (sticks, deadfall, tree trimmings, even green plant material) in a drum; the trick is to char it thoroughly rather than burn it to pure ash. Another consideration in making biochar is controling the gases given off in burning rather than adding them to the atmosphere. The optimal idea is to capture the gases and recycle them back under the drum as fuel; that's called a retort.

I have several ideas about making a crusher, but I want to do it cheaply. The roller mills made for crushing feed would do the job but they are hundreds of dollars to purchase. The home grain grinders the beer hobbyists use to crush the grains look like they would grind too small; fine for mash but maybe not biochar.

This project probably won't make much progress until it gets warm enough for me to spend some time working outside. I'll post any progress.

Cash for Junk Appliances Next?

Photo: Creative Commons License by elsie

Cash for clunkers ended this week — for cars.

But old energy-hogging refrigerators and freezers qualify for recycling and cash from more than 60 utilities across the nation. And the federal government is making money available to states so consumers could get rebates of $50 to $200 for new, more energy-efficient appliances later this year in a so-called "cash for appliances" program.

Combined, the appliance initiatives have a goal similar to the cash-for-clunker program for autos: They get less-efficient appliances off the nation's energy grid in favor of newer efficient ones.

Solar-Powered and Biodegradable Cell Phone

Photo CreativeCommons License by tuexperto_com

Cell phones, like many consumer electronics, create a lot of waste... some in manufacturing, some in plastic in the landfills, plus some toxic waste in the batteries which usually get tossed in our landfills, too. Samsung may be on the right track with their new "Reclaim" cell phone that is solar-charged, and 40% of the plastic case is corn-based, biodegradable plastic.

That doesn't mean you can toss it in the compost pile, though. The other 60% of the plastic housing is still conventional, and won't break down any better than all those zillions of plastic bags in the landfills. BUT, it's a start.

Please do your part and recycle your old cell phone: here.

Stolen Photo

Yes, I stole this photo from a cool blog by 4 young designers, The Crew. The post is titled, "A little 'green' irony"... I thought it was a terrific post and I loved the comments!

Now THIS is Being Green!

Nedbank (in South Africa) who bills itself as a "truly green bank" recently put up a billboard made of recycled plastic bags. The billboard is over 120 feet long and is woven of more than 2,000 recycled bags. The project took 7 Crafters about 6 weeks to weave. THAT's Recycling!

Nedbank was in the news before, winning an award in 2006 for it's "Power to the People" solar-powered billboard east of Johannesburg. The solar billboard is on the grounds of a primary school, and its 10 PV solar panels provide electricity to the school, and light the billboard at night. The school uses some of that electricity to supply a hot daily meal to the 1,100 students, many of whom would not get a decent meal elsewhere.

My hat is off to corporations who help their own business by helping others, and being truly green. Think more will get the picture?