Urban Homesteader

Dear Ms. U.H.,

Now that the holidays are over, my poinsettia is lackluster; lately it’s become downright limp and wilty. My wife suggested I throw it in the compost pile, but I thought I remembered reading that poinsettias are poisonous. To compost or not to compost?

Sincerely yours,

Poindexter Settya

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Dear Mr. Settya,

Ms. U.H. is sorry to hear about your poinsettia’s disappointing performance, but the wonderful thing about the internet is the way it connects us with a community of others who are sympathetic to our situations. Our own experience is that not everyone’s poinsettia remains perky, so thank you for writing with your well-timed question.

You will be happy to hear that poinsettias are not poisonous, so yours can be safely added to the compost heap. Some people are sensitive to the milky sap that comes from the poinsettia’s branches; it can occasionally cause an itchy rash. Wear your gardening gloves when you add the plant to the compost, and be careful not to rub your eyes after touching the plants. Here at the urban homestead, we composted our very own poinsettia plant just yesterday, and it immediately transformed the compost heap into a festive and colorful montage:

Sincerely,

Ms. U.H.  

Do you know that we Americans use around 84 billion plastic bags annually? (I know I’ve probably got a cool million or so stuffed in the kitchen drawers and pantry.) What’s worse is what happens when the bags end up in the landfill:  they don’t biodegrade, they photodegrade—breaking down into smaller and smaller toxic bits and contaminating soil and waterways.

So when I saw these cool black reusable grocery bags for a mere $1 each, I bought ten. (Disclosure time: the bags are from Wal-Mart. I know, I know, the mega-retailer has a long way to go to become an eco-friendly company. But Wal-Mart’s management is improving its environmental practices, and the company’s prices on organic foods are hard to beat.) The bags are made from 85% recycled materials — including 4 plastic soda bottles — and they can carry the same weight as 2 to 3 plastic shopping bags.

It was time to try out the new bags, but I’m ashamed to say that during the next two trips to the grocery store I forgot to take them inside. I didn’t remember my newfound zeal to use my eco-bags at all, in fact, until the checker was halfway done with my order and the bagger said “Are plastic bags okay?” I solved that by writing “BRING BAGS INSIDE” at the top of my grocery list. (It’s a pity that my brain is so compromised, but that’s what happens when you kill too many brain cells in your youth.)

I remembered the bags today, and tucked them in my grocery cart. I wondered if the bagger would say anything, but the checker just handed the bags to her and she happily packed my groceries in the bags. $40 worth of groceries fit into just two bags. When she was done, she said “Don’t forget to credit her for her bags!” to the checker, and he opened the cash register and handed me a dime! That’s right, King Soopers gives you 5 cents each if you reuse a bag. The checker explained that you could even bring your plastic bags in to reuse them, and you’ll get the rebate. So check with your local store and see if a similar program is offered, and “Sack it To ‘Em!”

2008 begins with a terrific improvement here at the Urban Homestead - a new bamboo floor in the office!

Our journey started when I read Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan’s compelling book, “Apartment Therapy: The Eight Step Home Cure.” Along with some great ideas for simplifying one’s home environment and paring down one’s possessions, the author suggests indentifying the room in our house that bugs us the most; he then gently guides readers on how to “cure” the space. In my case, the room with the most problems happened to be the space where I spend at least 50% of my time — my home office. For starters, the floor was covered with the grungiest, worn, dog-hair and lint-laden, impossible-to-clean shag carpeting. Think I’m exaggerating? Take a gander at THIS:

When our professional carpet cleaner said he simply couldn’t get the scuzzy carpet any cleaner, I decided to have it removed and install a strong, clean, sustainable floor of bamboo. Bamboo is harder and stronger than most hardwoods and is a highly-renewable resource; bamboo is one of the fasted growing plants in the world, and it can be harvested in 3 to 5 years, versus 10 to 50 years for trees. Bamboo also generates 33% more oxygen than trees, and I loved the look of the 4-inch planks.  I ordered the flooring and installation services from my home-away-from-home, Lowe’s.

However, like so many home improvement projects, we soon discovered that this one wasn’t going to be simple. When the carpeting and floorboards were removed, the installer showed me that due to the ground under the house settling the floor had “dropped” several inches on two sides of the room. (No wonder the filing cabinet always opened itself!) What’s more, there was a sizeable gap between the subfloor and the adjacent garage floor, which was leaking cold air into the room. (No wonder my feet were always cold!) To deal with the gap, I lay on my stomach on the floor and carefully sprayed expandable insulating foam in the gap:

Next, Dino from Focus on Floors (who has to be just about the Cutest Floor Guy on the Planet) mixed and poured a leveling compound on the floors. He had to do this process twice, allowing some time between applications for the mixture to dry:

Finally, the subfloor was ready. The new bamboo flooring was installed, we let it dry for 24 hours and moved the furniture back in. This change has absolutely transformed the room, and now I don’t have any excuses — it’s time to get busy and productive in the office!

We’ve always had tons of yellowjackets here. They are aggressive and pesky, and often get inside the house. Last year I tried some ugly yellow plastic traps that use chemical attractant and caught, perhaps, two dozen yellowjackets. This year, I’ve purchased some vintage-style, reusable glass traps that can be baited with sweetened fruit juice. I read that springtime is the best time to set out traps, because the early season yellowjackets are often queens.

As you can see from the photo on the right, about an hour after I hung the traps we had a visitor. But it was a fly, not a yellowjacket, and it managed to get itself out of the trap and fly off a little while after I took the photo.

Strangely, I was happy.

Update: The glass traps may be prettier than the plastic ones, but they caught nary a single yellowjacket during the 2007 summer season. Meanwhile, the tacky yellow plastic trap with commercial attractant caught about a hundred yellowjackets in three months. We clearly need to find a better bait for the glass traps; watch for an update in spring of 2008.

In my last post I wrote about trying to unclog a drain with a natural, enzyme-based drain cleaner. Unfortunately, although the formula was all-natural and one could feel wonderfully guilt-free using it, it didn’t have any effect on the slow sink.

The following day I tried a new tactic on the stubborn drain, one that you often see in old housekeeping books and “Hints from Heloise.” I poured 1/4 cup of baking soda down the drain, followed by 1/2 cup of plain white vinegar. The mixture foamed up spectacularly for a couple of seconds and then settled down, at which point I covered the drain with a small saucepan lid. After a few minutes I removed the lid and poured a gallon of boiling water down the drain. Within the next 90 seconds there were some wonderful gurgling noises followed by a “whoosh” and the drain was clear.

This method was natural and inexpensive, and it had the added thrill of feeling like a high school science experiment!

After a spectacular show of golden foliage, the locust tree out front is quickly losing all of its leaves. The leaves are small - not easy to rake up, but excellent for composting. The basic ‘recipe’ for compost is slightly more than half brown stuff, and slightly less than half green stuff. Brown things like leaves and pine needles have high amounts of the element carbon. Green things include grass clippings and other plant wastes that have high amounts of nitrogen. You can also add some dirt to speed up the process. The other important ingredient is water, which helps break down the clippings. You also need to make sure that air can circulate around the pile so the mixture doesn’t rot or get moldy. Autumn is the perfect time to create a big compost pile; you can fuss with it all winter and let it age for the recommended 4 to 6 months, at which time you’ll have a wonderful batch of rich compost for spring planting.  

Thanks to all of you for your patience during these last few weeks. In early August my father became very ill, and he passed away on August 27. 

Those who have experienced grief know that it does ease with the passage of time,  and eventually it feels good to let the pain take a rest and get back to the old familiar rhythms. This autumn has been especially beautiful in Colorado, and while I don’t fully understand the mysteries of death I often feel my father’s spirit when I’m out in the yard.  In the front garden I see that without much TLC from me, the currant bush has been thriving in its new location and appears to be well established for the cooler months to come. The circle of life continues, the changing seasons a reassuring constant during life’s inevitable trials.

I have been trying to dig a hole in the front yard to plant a currant bush. After two attempts, I am only halfway there. The hole is full of roots, and the clay soil is so hard I can barely get the spade in, even after filling it with water. The hole needs to be at least twice as large as the container so I can amend as much of the soil as possible with compost.

To to it off, I unearthed a nice grouping of tulip bulbs when I started digging. So they will all need a new home as well. 

Sometimes when I am writing against a tight deadline and the words just won’t come, I grumble and say it’s “like shoveling rocks.” It feels just like digging this hole - slow and seemingly futile. The only way to work through is just to keep on writing, or keep on digging. Hack, hack, chisel, chisel…..

The new “spreadable” butters contain butter and canola oil, and promise “Soft Even When Cold!” “Low in saturated fats and cholesterol!” and “No transfatty acids!” At my local grocery store, an 8-ounce plastic tub of Challenge Spreadable Butter sells for $2.49. We make our own instead, for about 80 cents. Simply whisk together one softened 4-ounce stick of butter (I buy it on sale and freeze it, when it’s $2.50 a pound, or 63 cents a stick) and ½ cup of canola oil (about 17 cents) and add a little salt if you like. Spoon it into a container, cover and chill in the refrigerator. Makes 1 cup.