It Didn't Happen! No Visit To The Modern Prefab House Kit.

 (If you're wondering, she's holding a bird she made. I think.)

The children awoke with sore throats, sniffles, and fever.
AGAIN.
So... there was no weekend taking videos and pictures and observations in the modern prefab house kit.

Somehow I escaped the sickness. (Must be all that burnt garlic I eat out of the pan that no one will touch...)
I felt fine; the weather was beautiful... I hated to see the gorgeous weather here, and not be at the prefab house kit so... I played music and... cooked the entire weekend.
The dogs kept the sick children company, snuggling with them on the beds, couch... keeping the cranky children soothed with big eyes of empathy (as they stealthily stole their bed covers).

I realized how much I had forgotten what it's like to just cook for the joy and inventiveness of cooking, under no time or entertainment restraints - we are not used to having access to a stove on the weekend! When we *are* in Richmond, it's because we're in town for a reason and scheduled out tremendously.


Even in fever, the children whined, "We want to go to the land..."
We all miss it, when we're not there, despite the crazy suitcase lifestyle, the hectic workweek to get there, the meal planning (I cook everything the Thursday prior to the weekend), the incredible survival packing we've done for years through tick season, high summer heat with no shelter, the dark and quickly plummeting cold, then...

A light:
The prefab house kit construction this past year: exterior weather tight, yet still a lack of interior walls, restrooms or cooking stoves (or heat, and despite the fabulous passive solar design and super efficient insulation: I want heat and a stove!).

Regardless of its Coolio Net Zero Passive Solar Prefab House Kit status, our prefab modern house is still currently without systems.

The lanterns must be charged, down sleeping bags packed, multiple changes of ALL clothing items to accommodate muddy cold children, enough water, a *list* of items to have washed, charged, cooked, ready; otherwise you will be at a severe comfort disadvantage! And with that basic survival list, each week we have Important Items and Tasks - to bring out a certain drill, the chainsaw, an axe, to bring extra shovels to plant trees, sheets to drape, VMI basketball floorboards to sort,  tools to...
It never ends.

It's not so bad now that we have 1.exterior walls and 2.the children are out of diapers, but... you can imagine the routine: car packed / dogs loaded / chickens moved / wild cat fed / food cooked and in the cooler; clothes packed (and then unpacked, covered with mud)... for years now.

Hearing the children miss it terribly, despite being ill... reminds us we're doing the right thing, regardless of the stress of never doing one place well. 

(Note: that will change, new readers. We do not aspire to have multiple homes. This is not a weekend house, this is a Slowly Build Your Farm Out Of Raw Land While Holding Down Jobs In A Near City project.  You may have heard the phrase, "Makin' Somethin' Outta Nuthin'?" We embrace that. We are slowly building to our What And Where We Want To Live And Be.)

The 7year old wanted to discuss Animal Plans and informed me he has Big Ideas on how to do things, saying he does not want an electric fence like so many of our farming friends have. Although I grew up with a family farm, I too question some things, and have looked at ways to address the Fencing Issue. Solar electric fencing is a practical, effective way to protect livestock. (Did I mention the coyotes are the size o' shepherds here? The bears? Copperheads? The mountain lions no one has quite documented except for my cousin's friends who DO have a crazy photo? HECK YA, welcome to the country! If ya don't embrace it, move out! And far away! And don't make suburbs near the country!) Electric fencing is much better than the barbed wire with which I grew up unfortunately acquainted.

Re-thinking and exploring fencing (at this moment I pulled "How To Build Fences" out of the bookshelf) is educational. So I handed that sick chile' a book and told him to get back to me with a better solution.

In the meantime, I have my own research to do outside of the prefab house kit project: better energy-efficient, practical, modern design appliances.
My latest find is a stylish smoke detector that snaps on to a lamp cord vs. sticking to your ceiling...


What consumers need to understand is this: The house kit was finished long ago, and now we, as a family, are finishing the interior to our own family's needs.  So you can do with it, yourself, whatever you want.

I'm looking forward to documenting this prefab project's completion, but... it's a never-ending process.
The systems will snap on, the interior will be built; but... we have years of adventure ahead creating a sustainable farm.

P.s. Send in house kit photo / video requests via comments if you have any. I am missing it so much, can't wait to return and... dig holes. Lots of holes, for trees, as if we already didn't have any, having *not cut down a single tree for the home site*... we'll be planting more.

P.p.s. We *will* be having another Prefab Open House the weekend of April 11th, to coincide with Appomattox's History Weekend, more on that soon.

 

Civilian Conservation Corps on PBS

Saw PBS's Civilian Conservation Corps last night... WATCH IT. 
No matter what your politics, it is interesting and timely to revisit this period of United States history today.

"I remember as a child growing up in North Carolina looking up and watching Kansas fly by - the dustbowl reaching North Carolina, of course. I also remember fires... floods... drought... erosion, soil gone...What do you have to live on?

We were in a sad condition, environmentally.

The word environmental wasn't there at the time basically, but the situation was, and it was a critical situation.

We didn't have food, we didn't have jobs.

I don't think people realize how close this nation came to having a revolution."

It made me recall tales of my dad's parents in their youth: how his father rode the trains just like the men in this program, up and down the east coast looking for work.  At one time he was so thin he had a job in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania pulling out the bodies of dead miners from the mines.

He met my grandmother while riding those trains, stopping in Edenton and falling in love.

When they had my father, they left him behind to live with his grandparents on the family farm, while his parents sought their fortune in Hollywood.

What options did they have? There were none.
My grandparents somehow pulled optimism out of thin air and became entrepreneurs when there were no jobs.  Uneducated, they were able earn and save money, enough to buy a house, provide for their children, and own their own business.

Somehow, my crazy grandparents ended up meeting the Beatles, started a music studio, and had their own local tv show with my dad and aunt on it.  But farming, and food production, remained with them, reflected in my grandmother's bountiful garden.

Was it really just three generations ago topsoil flew through the air across the states?

Was it just three generations ago that pretty much everyone had food production on some level, chickens were common and practical, and your city neighborhood yard might have a pair of goats and even a pony?


[Copeland's note: No prefab pics until next week- I am volunteering for Raise The Roof, the annual fundraiser for The Children's Home Society this weekend. Because every child deserves a home.]

 

Landscape Architecture For The Prefab Modern House Kit: The Root Cellar, and More. Guest Blog Post!

We will begin to have guest bloggers (weren't you tired of listening to me anyhow?), people who know a heck of a lot more than I on the next steps of the prefab SIPs house kit as it goes from a modern house kit shell to a sustainable modern homestead in the years to come.

Please welcome Heather Barber, founder of Topos, LLC, a landscape design studio dedicated to purposeful design through creating unique natural environments in Richmond, Virginia. The sustainable landscape plan by Topos was earlier mentioned here; today, she talks about visiting the off grid prefab modern house for the first time, and how sustainability is connected in the kitchen.

The rest of the post is her own.

turning the page on sustainability and the sufficient garden...

Sustainability and landscape go hand in hand, but to really understand sustainability from a livable principal you must put form in the background and set the focus on function. The two do not have to live entirely separately, but the thing that has driven landscape design for centuries must become secondary to to the primary purpose of function. A sustainable landscape does not have to leave beauty out of the picture, but it is there for many more reasons than just aesthetics.

Let’s take green modern kits casa ti as a prototype for understanding the adaptation of the built object to the site rather than the normal process of site adaptation to accommodate the built object. casa ti is a melding of modern living principles with a centuries old notion of living with the land, off the land, and of the land. casa ti is sited in the middle of rural farmland in Virginia.

At first sight, it seems as though there is a modern box sitting in the middle of this soft, rolling earth...still viable earth that is now a repository for a very static looking building. Understanding modern sustainability will turn this perception on it’s ear. casa ti, a prefabricated green modern kit home is actually a very dynamic part of the earth and a living, breathing entity that sustains the land it inhabits. The landscape that surrounds casa ti becomes a fulcrum that allows the exchange between the site, the building and the family that lives on the land.


So many of the sustainable landscape principals are the functional values that have been used in farming and land use for thousands of years. Many have been abandoned to the contemporary notions of density, aesthetics and convenience. Having the opportunity to attend the first casa ti open house I found it absolutely astounding that many of the local farmers grasp the notion of the sustainable system (being the building, the land, and the functions of the land, the landscape) and yet many of us ‘designers’ don’t really fully understand. I learned a tremendous amount about the importance of function from the resident farmers who came to support casa ti.

It also sparked a conversation with my father, a celebrated Landscape Architect whose heyday of design was in the 60’s and 70’s, pre autocad and plotters and computerized land forming programs. Now in his 70’s, Dad still uses a sepia printer (a ‘brown’ print machine) and a typewriter and still understands working within the natural systems of the earth rather than contriving them to fit the design. All of this being said, I have really re-approached my ideals of sustainable design and casa ti this week.

We are working on many planes with the prefab house nestled in the rural landscape. Foremost, casa ti is a structure drawn from modern design tenets. It is constructed in a way that would blow the doors off of most LEED and Earthcraft rated buildings. The siting (the location of casa ti) in a rural, traditional farming community is a great opportunity and hindrance equally. It allows casa ti to function as intended, as a fully self supporting, energy producing entity that forms a relationship with the land, the profile, the context, the climate, the macro and micro environments. The challenge is finding the craftsmen, the materials and the technology to make it all happen in a natural and budgetary way. It is all a learning process and I am honored to be a part of it.


So, how do we meld the aesthetics and function of the modern style prefabricated green modern kit home with a traditional rural site?

Again, we look at many of the sustainable attributes that already lie within the site. The immediate area around casa ti will become an extension of the living space and reflect the modern form / aesthetic. The people who live here want to live in a healthy way without sacrificing comfort and enjoyment and that is an absolute. Clipped hedges, exterior fireplaces, large planes for dining, and family entertainment areas will all be designed to express the modern style. The choices of plant material and hardscape materials will lend to the functionary aspect. The true beauty lies in how these areas are also those which sustain the mechanical, solar, and water treatment for casa ti.

The secondary environs become the threshold that allows the aesthetic transition between modern style and traditional farm style. Open space, groves, and more naturalized land forms set up view shed and flow into the actual working land and forested areas of the site. Again using native plant material and land forms from recycled earth becomes the functional aspect. They lend to the shade value and thermal support of casa ti, and provide sustenance.
Water harvesting and recharging will reduce the necessity for potable water waste on gardens and cyclical necessities within the residence. Vegetable gardens and fruit trees will be planted down hill and irrigated with the traditional agricultural flooding methods. Green walls add to the thermal value of the home and earthen berms protect the home from energy stripping climatic effects. A small pool will be used to house and recharge the water supply. UV filtering and a baffled rill will do the actual recharging. Seasonal crops will be used in the larger fields, always cycled one season with a green crop for essential nitrogen restoration. Seasonal fruit trees, berry shrubs, vegetables will be planted for 3 1/2 seasons of additional food stores.

A root cellar (which has been the most logical, yet baffling part of the design) will serve many functions. It will house the minimal mechanical equipment needed for casa ti, as well as add natural storage for vegetables and fruits, thus minimizing loss and the need for refrigeration.

This lends to another necessary discussion...the contemporary kitchen in a sustainable setting. The things that are of the utmost importance are storage, accessibility to the edible landscape and waste. Composting areas need to be close in order to minimize unnecessary waste in the kitchen, yet need the space and the ‘privacy’ to be their ugly smelly selves. The kitchen is also a great area for the collection of gray water for non potable use, and relatively economical to make happen. The kitchen garden must fulfill a certain portion of the food supply for at least 3 1/2 seasons. Sorry, you’re not going to get much out of this garden when the surprise March blanketing of snow occurs. Enter root cellar...again, the proximity to the house is important, but equally the type is too. Banked into grade change allows light and airflow and doesn’t turn it into the dungeon (horrors), but equally allows the proper amount of moisture to circulate so your carrots and potatoes don’t turn to chalk or worse. Of course, dependent on the size and location, additional venting and drainage is necessary. I’ve found several articles helpful, posted below for your reading pleasure. It truly is fun stuff.

As the casa ti plans evolve, the next chat will be about addressing other aspects of the sustainable site, such as parking courts, natives vs. invasives, and positive drainage for maximum water efficiency.

Relevant links:

• www.organicgardening.com/feature/0,7518,s1-5-19-173,00.html
• http://oldfashionedliving.com/rootcellar.html
• www.motherearthnews.com/Modern-Homesteading/1980-07-01/How-To-Build-Root-Cellar.aspx

-- Heather Barber, Topos LLC
    GLA, ASLA
    Richmond, Virginia
     http://www.ToposLLC.net

 

Sustainable Landscape Architecture For The Land Surrounding The Prefab House

Ohhhhhhhh this off grid zero energy prefab house is never going to be done.
Ohhhhhhhh I'm exhausted (but excited).

Ohhhhhhhh. Wait a second: Once the prefab house kit is done, there's more to do:
The Land.

Ohhhhhhhh.

Well, thanks to the sustainable landscape architect Heather Barber of Topos LLC, our sustainable land management plan has been expanded beyond crop tree release and bush hogging.

And if you thought it took long to build the prefab house, wait until we journey years to gently shape the land to function more sustainably.

Great. I just set myself up with decades of more work. ; ) And we have no money.
But the landscape architecture plan by Topos is delicious.

And I mean that literally: There's blueberries and a root cellar in them thar plans!

So, c'mon, what are you waiting for? Let's check it out!

From Heather, the landscape architect of Topos LLC:

"casa-ti is a remarkable example of how far prefab residential architecture has come. this greenmodernkits kit home is located on 55 acres in a heritage area in the western portion of virginia. the most exciting yet challenging thing about the casa ti project is that it contradicts any idea that the landscape is a stayed design, or an anchor for the architecture. we are taking a very historical site contextually speaking and turning it on its ear...creating a post modern design that connects the home with it’s expansive environs. i think the opportunity to design a functionally sustainable, yet whimsical site plan for casa ti is a true honor and an evolutionary process. we are talking about the first kit / prefab modern home that is completely ‘off-grid’ / fully sustainable in the state of virginia.* this shows that the greenmodernkit home can translate anywhere, in any capacity. it is my job and again, opportunity, to create that threshold between the prefab sustainable home and the environs in which the owners choose to site it. this is a luxury for me. i can take a very simple form of architecture, which has it’s own inherent beauty in that it’s simple, and connect it to it’s site through the landscape architecture. whether it is urban, sub-urban, or farmland, the modern pre-fabricated homes that are greenmodernkit homes do, in fact speak the language of their location. and it’s a language that is very sensitive to the people living in it as well as the environment."

[ *Heather said we're the first off grid prefab in Virginia, I haven't heard of any others, but I don't know for sure if that's true... will research, but no, I haven't heard of any other modern prefabs that are off grid here... ]

Wow, Heather, I'm honored by your words! When Topos originally inquired into what our landscape architecture would be, I laughed and replied, "Um... a bush hogg, Handsome Husband and a shovel?"

I thank Topos immeasurably for giving OUR FAMILY the opportunity, through their experience, to turn an abandoned, briar-filled plot into, one day, a sustainable farm.

So... let's go through it:

• Starting with field #1, Topos created a figure 8 access road which allows us to easily navigate the drive, house, and shed while maintaining the field. This eight acre field was previously farmed. By bush hogging it regularly we have been reducing the briars which had cropped up before we bought it, and will start planting cover crops to enrich the soil this fall. Wildlife such as quail will be encouraged through allowing patches to not be mowed but to create the habitat quail, turkey, and rabbits enjoy.
• I also envision field #1 being used to grow potatoes and garlic...
  
• Field #2 is downhill from the house kit. Rainwater will easily help irrigate it.

The area around the prefab house is geared for high traffic and fun...
more on that in a minute!

• Back to Field #2: Being downhill, rainwater will naturally run towards this plot, and if you can look closely Topos has created furrows and a collection area for water- which is the way they used to irrigate fields in times past.
• Not only will we be using that existing field for crops but it will also harbor fruit and nut trees, and a berry hedge.
  
• This area is surrounded by woods that had been cut-over twenty-ish years ago. Lots of pine, cedar, but a surprising amount of diversity in the trees- poplar, birch, hickory, walnut...
  

Ok, let's get to the prefab house kit area:

• Pavers made with recycled fly ash for high-traffic areas in poor soil areas
  
• Cisterns for rainwater collection
  
• Baffle (you always wanted to know what a baffle was, didn't you?)
  
• Root Cellar
• Terrace for High Traffic Areas
  
• Retention Pool (more on what this does later...)
  
• Blueberry Hedge
• Berm to lounge against while watching Casa Blanca projected onto the side of the prefab house like David Day always wanted to do with a bunch o' friends
  
• ...and more...

I will go into this, and more, later, but in the meantime need to pack up for another camping weekend in the prefab house kit! In the meantime, check out Topos, a modern landscape architecture firm!

 

Food, Inc. And Local, Affordable Food

Last night I went to see Food, Inc.
In my opinion the movie did not have anything new to say about Big Agribusiness but it was well worth seeing, to see how many key people in government that have determination over our national food policy have previous relationships with companies like Monsanto, as well as reaffirm the fragility consumers have over their food choices.



The panel discussion that followed the movie included friends Lisa Taranto of Tricycle Gardens and Lisa Dearden of The Center For Rural Culture and The Goochland's Farmer's Market. The audience participation was lively- I particularly liked a cardiologist who said, "Everyone complains about the high cost of eating better, but don't understand that the medicine to treat the ailments caused by poor health and not eating well are more expensive. We all need to understand that we, individuals, need to be responsible for our own health."

One question asked repeatedly was "How can we make good food affordable for those that need it most and can't afford it?"

We rely on the grocers, the farmers. We can vote with our purchase dollars, telling these businesses that we, as consumers, want humanely raised, pastured meat, and fresh, local vegetables. But what was not discussed was that not only should you take responsibility for your own personal health (eat well, work out, to prevent sickness and disease), but that each person should have the RIGHT to responsibly grow their own backyard (and frontyard) veggies, that each person should have the RIGHT to responsibly have a few laying hens and mini-goats for (here's where I reel it back to economics) AFFORDABLE fresh eggs and milk for their family.

Have you seen the statistics on childhood diabetes and obesity lately?!?

Address affordability, health, passing on a sense of connection to animals and land to our children while providing them exercise:
If you have a back yard: Get some frickin' chickunz.
I promise you, your children will chase and play with those chickens allllllllllllll day long, while teaching them about animals and where their food comes from.

For those (including zoning) that feel chickens are messy and smelly, I offer up an urban coop for your inspection.

Chickens naturally want to be in the brush, scratching for grubs while being protected from predators. So in your average residential back yard, they will be eating the japanese beetles from underneath your rose bushes, hiding in the acuba, pecking through your ivy. Therefore, their "mess" remains in areas that are not trafficked by the rest of the family.

...If only the dogs behaved so!

Unfortunately, many counties and cities have forbidden responsible urban farming.
Did you know that a pair of mini-goats, each about 50 pounds, can provide your family with a gallon of fresh milk a day? Both of my dogs are larger than that. My local zoning says I have have three dogs - so I could have three 200 pound mastiffs - yet won't allow a few laying hens in the same back yard?

This is where we, as consumers, need to not only buy locally, eat well, but tell our local government that it should be everyone's right to be sustainable, to have, if they choose, those affordable, healthy options for their family.

P.s. If you like, join our FaceBook urban chicken group, CHICKUNZ, and if you're local, sign the petition for urban chicken in Henrico!

 

Why We Not Only Need To Have Prime Agricultural Zoning, But Need To Viligantly Protect It

As you all know, I could go on and on (and often do!) about smart growth and preservation. But Nicole Anderson Ellis outlines much more succinctly and beautifully why Central Virginia and counties *everywhere* need to not only maintain their Prime Agricultural zoning, but protect it. We have seen firsthand the planning disasters that destroyed local farmland to turn western Henrico and surrounding areas into Anywhere, USA.

Let me say first: My big frustration with my encounters with my local government is that:

As a web developer, it is my job to keep up with technology trends and the latest information. My clients and my reputation depends upon it.

As a green building company, it is MY JOB to stay abreast of green building.
Yes, a note to developers and others who will jump to criticize that we're "anti-development" / progress freaks: My business is green building. I am not anti-development, I am anti mass grading, anti "I don't care about Smart Growth," anti "I am going to bulldoze and thrust up a development of homes that are inefficient with no existing need into a saturated market." I am anti doing something, anything, for which there is not an obvious need.

Do I serve a viable purpose in the building industry? Yes. How 'bout yourself?

It seems that the Board of Supervisors, as well as Richmond city council, and much of Virginia, do not look to what their peers are doing nationwide, do not expand their knowledge base to reach out to Smart Growth, preservation of farmland, and sustainability: this is their JOB.

Regarding the need for huge development locally, I see tract after tract of failed, outdated, unwanted development projects. I see house after house for sale in existing neighborhoods. I see inadequate infrastructure. I see row after row of empty retail space.

In yesterday's Times-Dispatch, Mrs. Ellis wrote:

LAND USE: To Pave or Save Henrico’s Farmland?

NICOLE ANDERSON ELLIS TIMES-DISPATCH COLUMNIST
Published: June 5, 2009

NICOLE ANDERSON ELLIS On Tuesday, June 9, at 7 p.m. Henrico County's Board of Supervisors is holding a hearing for public feedback on the latest version of Henrico's draft 2026 Comprehensive Land Use Plan. They call it the county's "road map for growth."

At the same meeting, having supposedly weighed citizen input, the board "will consider adoption of the proposed 2026 comprehensive plan."

If the board does adopt it, for the first time in 400 years Henrico would not have a single acre of Prime Agricultural land. At least, not according to the land use map. Instead, the county's fields would be labeled "Rural Residential/Prime Ag." The draft also suggests that massive residential/retail construction is the best use -- in fact, the final use -- for thousands of acres of fertile riverfront land, America's first farms.

The changes encouraged by this "road map" would have certain consequences -- the loss of landscapes familiar to generations, rural roads clogged with traffic, etc. -- felt most sharply in the county's east end. Yet there are broader ramifications. And despite suggestions that this land use draft is a Varina problem, there is clear, quantified, and county-wide opposition to the proposed destruction of Henrico's last farm district.

ACCORDING to the county's own survey, 82 percent of county residents "support further restricting or managing new development in rural areas."

It's easy to see why. Farmland is increasingly rare, so it's increasingly valuable. Burying it under new houses is one way to cash in on this resource. But it's not the only way. And it's not the best.

Shifting consumer interests and investment trends have created a new wealth of open-space prospects. And Henrico's farmland comes "value added." Our farmland hugs the capital city. It is bordered by rivers. And it is home to historic gold.

Henrico's east end was Pocahontas' backyard. She bathed in creeks that still flow here. John Smith hunted these very forests. In our soil lie the bones of fallen Union and Confederate boys.

One million people visit Williamsburg each year, many driving through Varina on the way. So, is it time for the county to promote historic tourism? Is it time to court development of a living history site on the Henrico bank of the James River, just a boat ride across from Hopewell's Henricus State Park? Is it time for area schoolchildren to mingle with international tour groups at living museums dedicated to farm life, Powhatan culture, the role of Africans in Virginia history, the Civil War, and environmental science?

Then there's the equestrian industry, which generated $1.62 billion in the commonwealth last year. Varina is rich with barns and paddocks. Add trails, and Henrico could promote the landscape between the Chickahominy and the James as a rider's paradise, maximizing our market share.

Varina is already a destination for cyclists. They head east from the city every sunny day. And we received international attention when the 2007 U.S. Open Cycling Championship raced up Osborne Turnpike. Now the Capital-to-Capital trail is coming though the district, drawing bikers (and money) from Richmond and Williamsburg. Isn't it time to nurture that opportunity?

The Virginia Department of Forestry filed official comment noting the word "forestry" is absent from all 300 pages of Henrico's draft plan. But it doesn't have to be. The county's mature forests are a valuable resource. As green building hits the mainstream, Henrico is poised to offer builders sustainably raised and locally harvested timber.

THE IDEAS for profiting by keeping land green are limitless, and all provide healthy diversification to Henrico's tax base. In addition, open space generates revenue for the county -- the entire county -- without demanding the expensive services residential projects require.

So it's no surprise that Henrico citizens want our farmland preserved. What's surprising is that the Board of Supervisors is toying with a land use plan that pushes the county toward a future without farms.

But I have faith they'll reject this draft plan. They'll reject it, not just because it is political suicide to vote for anything that openly flouts 82 percent of voters. And not just because it is legal folly to flout the Virginia law mandating that each county's Land Use Plan "promote the health, safety, morals, order, convenience, prosperity, and general welfare of inhabitants." And not just because, according to the county's own statistics, Henrico's already approved subdivisions more than satisfy projected population growth through 2026 and beyond.

Tuesday night Supervisors James Donati, Richard Glover, David Kaechele, Pat O'Bannon, and Frank Thornton will face their constituents -- people like you and me, people who work hard for every tax dollar they pay, people who would rather be home with their families than at a public hearing but come anyway because they know that sometimes elected officials need to see the people they represent. And I believe that faced with that crowd, all five supervisors will vote against this draft land use plan because Henrico's real economic growth lies in the sustainable development of the history, productivity and beauty of America's first farms.

But don't take my word for it. Come on Tuesday. Watch them vote.

Thank you, Mrs. Ellis, for your practical words.
I hope our local leaders will listen.
It amazes me the plan removes the word "forest." It floors me that with our air quality marks were recently graded so poorly, yet the area would consider further destroying habitat / razing woods and allowing farms to turn into subdivisions!

Quizzical yet? Here's more food for fodder.

• See Virginia Vanishing, Part 1 and Part 2 by our local CBS 6.
• Check out all the invaluable information a local organization, Historic Varina, has pulled together here!
• Read "For Henrico, land deals cost plenty" by Michael Paul Williams.
• See what's going on in Chesterfield and their mass leapfrog developments like Magnolia Green, filing for bankruptcy in a market consumers don't want or need:
• "I would go meetings think they'd be pro-active, but they were using outdated plans from 1989 to 1991. They just didn't understand, Durfee says. Magnolia Green, for instance, was approved for rezoning in 1991 and like many projects in Chesterfield, sat dormant for years.
  
  Supervisors did not heed long-term predictions that the demographic patterns that favored Chesterfield's family-oriented growth patterns in the 1980s and 1990s were coming to an abrupt halt now. Baby boomers who wanted the house and lot and land for their kids now aren't willing to upsize after their kids move on. The kids themselves tend not to want big, single family houses on big lots, preferring smaller units closer to urban centers.
  
  The result, according to Chesterfield's planning deparment, is that the county has about 50,000 rezoned lots not yet built upon. That's more than the rest of suburban Richmond combined and exceeds even the number in Loudoun County, once the nation's fastest-growing suburban area. Builders complain that a lot of these rezoned lots are in places where people don't want to live, ignoring the fact that they were cheerleaders for rezoning back in the day. And, due to peculiarities in state law, it is very hard to downzone upzoned property. So who knows what will happen to places such as Magnolia Green."
  
• From Historic Richmond: Preservation Begins With Grass Roots:
• "What's at stake is not just a structure, it is also a story, and an example that can give hope to future generations. The work is about bricks and mortar, of course, but it's also about broad-ranging benefits and engaging many people with varied interests to maintain and strengthen a sense of place."
• It ripples further to the historic village of Ashland, where "Developments near Ashland stir concerns."
  
  • "Four developments totaling more than 1,300 residential units and at least 850,000 square feet of commercial space could dramatically alter the landscape of Ashland's fringes.
    
    But some Hanover County residents worry that their rural community is on the verge of becoming congested, overdeveloped and indistinguishable from other suburban areas."
• For those that want to see what citizens can do, read "21 Years And Counting" on Bacon's Rebellion. It beautifully illustrates how communities can come together to shape their future, and deepen, preserve, and protect their own culture.
  

It is the responsibility of the citizens to take the time and go attend these meetings to have their voices heard. Otherwise officials only hear what they want. If Varina is paved over, if Ashland turns into a mall... it is our fault.

I believe in creating villages, pockets of community, where people can work, bike, live well.

As a region, our lack of public participation (Did I really hear that only THIRTY citizens showed up to the last comprehensive plan meeting? Really?) to *tell,* via actually showing their faces as proof of endorsement, to show their representatives what we collectively feel is an obvious growing sentiment... How can they listen and react, if you don't speak?

But it is also the responsibility of the elected officials to keep abreast in their industry to see the data to realize that this leap-frog development trend was long ago stopped in many successful cities that are now ranked highest in the nation for their quality of life.

So I will be there Tuesday, on a boring weekday evening, presenting my voice, opinion, and encouragement for Smart Growth and preservation of our natural resources.
Hope to see you there.

 

Zero Energy Prefab House Kit Update: We Look To The Land.

The zero energy prefab house kit exterior is complete.

In about 2 weeks we move on to the next steps: interior walls of the modern house, off grid systems (solar energy, solar heat, and rainwater collection and filtration), and with it all, stepping back for a larger view: the land, and how we will encourage its health while bearing sustenance for our family.

Heather Barber, ASLA, of Topos met with us last week to discuss the land, and landscape architecture.

From the beginning, here are my thoughts about the land:

• I love the fact we did not have to cut down ONE TREE for the home site.
• However, we are big believers in crop tree release to help the woods become healthy. What that means, in short, is removing weed/competing trees to let the native, desirable trees grow strong and healthy. Along the field we have a mixture of poplar, hickory, oaks, walnut... mixed in with cedar, red bud, pine, a few dogwoods and... non-native evil ghetto palms! Ghetto palms, I'm out to get you!
  
• The 8 acre field can be rotated with
  
• cover crops of warm season grasses that encourage the quail habitat (as well as leaving strips here & there in the fields, and other quail / wildlife management practices)
• potatoes, garlic, onions: With friends we can plant the field, then harvest it together, keeping enough for our families and donating the rest to the Society of St. Andrews. I mean, why glean (although I do look forward to doing that with my friend Peggy, what fun combined with hard work on a gorgeous weekend!) when you could actually plant a field for hunger? (Also note: store bought potatoes have one of the biggest carbon footprints as they often travel quite far to reach the consumer. They're so easy to grow, try growing your own in your back yard!)
  
• eventually move to the Rodale Institute's cover crop roller. Currently we have a tractor with a bush hog and blade.
  
• There is a smaller field downhill from the home site we could irrigate with rainwater... we've tossed around ideas of growing some kind of crop there, like asparagus... but the reality is that as it is much deeper in the woods it will be much more accessible to wildlife... but it's something to think about...
  
• I would love a root cellar in which to store food.
• ...and, I admit, we have a hankering for mid-century coolio functional cooking grills- purposeful practicality with kickin' design. YES I realize this is a murky area, in which I struggle. Half o' me is survivalist (heck my family has survived here for hundreds of years), half of me is forward thinkin' design, and half (fine I never said I was good at math!) o' me wants a third option from the solar cooker and propane marine stove. I mean, if the weed tree is felled, why not use it? (Or not? Considering.)
  
• Handsome Husband and the casa ti green building architect, David Day thought it would be plenty fun to have our friends hang on the slope next to the east side of the house in the evening and project old movies onto that north-east side of the house. They were even tossing around words like, "amphitheater." We'll see.
  They're such romantics. Which is why I love 'em. Which is why they're both more talented than I. : )
• We've already planted apple trees around the shed, and I was pleased to see they are all in bloom and healthy! In a few years we can invite friends over to pick apples!

Now I also must remind myself that we are on a STRICT BUDGET. So maybe most of these ideas will not happen for years. But in the meantime, here are a BUNCH of land pictures, so that the Virginia landscape architect Heather Barber can get a better feel of the entry, field, and area surrounding the modern house kit. I commented on many of the photos, so if there is something that interests you, click on it to see it larger, and with commentary.



We also met with Ron Bernaldo, also known as The Most Fabulous Contractor In The History of the World about our next steps. I can not re-iterate enough how critical having a knowledgeable, experienced contractor has been to the success of our house kit completion. The house kit itself erected easily; but the decisions we had to make as consumers, making the modern off grid house kit "our own"- could not have been affordably or successfully achieved without a contractor like Ron.

Regarding our green building progress, as I mentioned we start again framing the interior, then move on to solar and rainwater collection integration. And THEN we move to interior design of the house kit. Married to a fellow design enthusiast, living our role as house building consumers, I suspect there *might* be design fights ahead.

The first hint came when Handsome Husband nailed up some old sconces. Yes, they do help light the interior of the unfinished SIPs - exposed house kit, but... um...
Fortunately they dribbled wax onto his pristine-just-polished concrete floor so I suspect that will be that. But we shall see... never underestimate Handsome Husband.

So maybe I should start a new blog category, called, "design fight" just in case...

In the meantime, here are a few more pictures of the zero energy modern house, it was a *lovely* weekend on the land!

 

Land, and Legal Land Issues.

My thoughts this week have been on land.
This weekend I discovered a bunch of old pictures of our family farm, Rotherwood, on my computer. It is always a weird sensation when I think of Rotherwood- a part of me, I will carry deeply with me always, yet dead. I was in my late 20s when the farm I had grown up with since birth, told I would one day pass on to my children, was sold to my uncles.

But enough about that, you get up, work hard, and get your own darned piece of earth. It will never be Rotherwood, but it's ours and they can't take it away.

To say it has made us keenly aware of inheritance issues for our own children (and their children) is an understatement.

We have had many discussions with farming friends about how they plan to handle their own land inheritance. Dividing up property will only expose it to future sale and then development. How to protect, preserve, and pass on to the next generation in a way that envisions they work together, not feud?

My friend Steve has one way of addressing this: "Whomever is working the farm when we die, gets the farm."

Virginia's land conservation easements are generous. Maybe some of you "green construction lawyers" reading this should include land conservation in your practice area... I expect you to. Green building is not just about urban infill. But it still does not satisfy the issue of passing on the land to future generations.

My musing took a new twist when I considered the implications for a cohousing smart growth intentional community.

Suppose a group of five families pools their resources to build a smart growth, co-housing community on fifty acres. Smart growth principles have the homes clustered together to foster community, shared spaces, community recreation and other buildings (why have a guest room in each home when you can have a guest lodge for all the families?), with the remaining property dedicated to wildlife, walking trails, and other preservation means.


This raised my curiousity: Each family is not purchasing a "lot", they are all sharing in on a parcel of land. Do lawyers have recommendations on how smart growth communities can protect and pass on their philosophy to future owners or generations?

Lawyers, I'd love to hear from you... : )

P.s. My friend Mason's family lived in a similar intentional community beginning in the '60s in Sewanee, Tennesee. I will see if he has thoughts on his family's experiences as well in a group of friends pooling resources to purchase rural property and how they passed it on.

You also might enjoy learning about Monteagle Assembly, founded in the 1880s, and still in existence. There are some great pictures here, and I stayed there for Mason & Anna's wedding and experienced myself the wonderful shared community buildings, gorgeous landscape, bridges, walking trails and charming cottages that are there today.

(Here's the above link as a slideshow as this cute couple walked all over the grounds- I recommend you browse through the larger version! Beautiful smart growth space!)



Monteagle Assembly, TN

 

I just got solicited by a timbering company. For my trees. That I'm preserving, THANK-YOU-VERY-MUCH.

Oh. Yes. I. Did.
Livid...
Look at all their pretty graphics, you would almost think they were green.

Since I don't curse, please take a few moments to pause and chew over in your mind what verbal assault might occur aloud from someone who has passionately railed against clear cutting and is a huge enthusiast for preservation of our natural landscape upon receiving a direct mail piece from people who are using FEAR TACTICS to acquire timber from land owners.

 

Lewa Children's Home: Fall/Winter Update 2008

This post has nothing to do with modern design nor vintage hats.

This is a subject much more dear to my heart: The Lewa Children's Home in Kenya.

The Lewa Children's Home is a Home for Orphans, Abandoned, Destitute and Needy Children. The Home, Farm and School were an initiative of and founded by Phyllis Chepkoech Keino

I thought someone out there might enjoy reading the latest newsletter from my family friends, who run and founded the Lewa Children's Home.

I will be thinking about how I, in the green building industry, can help them... they are an amazing organization. In short, Phyliss has taken in abandoned children my entire life (er, actually... longer!), regardless of tribe, and has created an oasis for the desperate.

Dear friends of Lewa Children’s Home,

We hope each and every one of you all is well! Kindly find our September Newsletter for 2008; this will be our last one for this year. Otherwise, all our news worthy updates will be posted on our facebook page of our group —Friends of Lewa Children’s Home. You can become a member and/or support our cause—Lewa Children’s Home, Eldoret, Kenya .

CHILDREN’S HOME

Since May, the Home has admitted a total of 13 children in total; 4 babies-all whom were abandoned and taken to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH), 3 from Eldoret Street Rehabilitation Program and the remaining 6 from the Internally Displaced families as a result of the 2007 post-election violence.

The (6) six children were abandoned by their mother at the Eldoret Show ground-IDP camp. The father, a shoe-shiner and the sole breadwinner could, not afford to meet all the family’s needs, as he too was living at the camp. As a result, the father would spend most of his time trying to look for ways to feed his children, which meant leaving the children alone for long periods of time. The eldest girl (age 12) would take care of her 5 siblings in the harsh environments of the IDP camp. The situation at the camp exposed the children to inadequate food & shelter, cold & rainy nights, desperation and to a point of abuse by the elder men at the camp. The 6 children were brought to the Home on 27^th May 2008 and were eventually reunited with their relatives on September 2^nd 2008.

All our children in school are doing their best in school. We managed to attend academic meetings, personal school visits and reviewed all progress report forms of all our children for the second term.

During the August holidays, 14 of our children were baptized by our local Catholic parish priest. The event was a success as all the children participated actively in all the church proceedings; singing, Bible readings and prayer requests. The children also participated in various weekend activities such as a sports day, which was arranged by one of our volunteers from France.

In general the children had a good holiday, assisting with work duties both at the Home and the Farm. The holidays also saw the older boys moving into the old round house which had been renovated due to lack of enough space in the main house. They were all happy as they also got a fun patron who lives with and assists them at the same time. Furthermore, a general meeting was held with all of our children concerning issues as their general behavior, discipline, and conduct with fellow children and workers. Responsibility was the main issue in addition to, their personal feelings about life at the home and at their respective schools as well. A few days after the meeting, we had great changes from everyone on all the issues raised at the meeting.

On health matters at the Home, the children have been falling sick more often than usual; most concerns being malaria, and chickenpox-which circulated from Kipkeino School to the Home. All our children of different ages were affected. Benard Kamar, one of our toddlers, managed to attend his eye check-up at Kenyatta National Hospital , Nairobi , thanks to his donors.

Compiled by Social Worker Lillian Nyongesa

BARAKA FARM

Since the beginning of August, the Farm was busy preparing for the 2008 harvest season; this meant that the forage harvester needed to be in working order, all 4 tractors have to work and the trailers need to be adjusted to be able to take bigger loads. It is a bit like a circus really! As it only happens once a year and if all- no mechanical failures, good weather conditions and dry farm roads- goes well we usually finish within 3-4 weeks. If the situation is ideal we only stop the forage harvester in the evening as it gets dark and we fill and cover the silage pit after 3-5 days of harvesting.

Unfortunately, this has not been the case this year. The last week of August saw us starting off very well. The silage harvest was going on well and on a speedy note but when September rolled around, things went down hill. The first two weeks of the month it rained nearly on a daily basis- a total of 136 mm up till the 14^th of September. Off-loading the trailers with the chopped maize is done manually, so when it rains we have to stop. Furthermore, the amount of rainfall in such a short period causes the roads to become impassable and some of the maize fields were water-logged. In such situations, we are required to wait for 1-2 days for dry weather in order to continue, which delays the whole process.

The third week of September, FarmChem-Seedlinks a Kenyan based company selling farm inputs like maize and vegetable seeds etc, used our small holder unit (zero grazing unit) to demonstrate some of their maize and vegetable varieties to farmers from within the district. Having seen the small-holder unit (a small farm of about 1 ha. that caters for 2 cows) they then visited the large scale farming system on Baraka Farm. The farmers were very interested in the dairy cows; as we explained to them how the cows are kept, fed and taken care of from the day they are born until the day they have their first baby calf.

The biggest obstacle to improved milk production in this area of Kenya is the little/poor fodder that is available for the animals. Improved genetics are more and more accessible to farmers and the infrastructure in the milk industry has also improved tremendously in the past 6 years, as dairy meals (concentrates) are made available. The quality of the dairy meals may not always be good and the price often high compared to the milk prices farmers receive. As a result, we still see fodder production as lagging behind to what it should be considering the location we are in which is relatively fertile and with a pleasant climate. Improved fodder production on farms could create employment and improved living standards for families through higher milk production.

Our horticulture department, especially our vegetable production needs a lot of attention. We are trying to focus on improving the soils fertility through the addition of organic matter (i.e.: farm yard manure, compost & green manure), the use of non-acidic, cheaper and regionally produced fertilizers (i.e.: rock phosphate, lime) and the need of a regular water supply to the growing plants. In the dry season that sounds logical but in the rainy season bouts of dry spells of 2-3 weeks or longer can also occur, especially when the water supply to the plant is far from ideal. Therefore, an irrigation system (i.e.: watering-can, overhead sprinklers or drip irrigation) is then essential, especially to harvest a good crop of vegetables after 3-4 months.

Compiled by Baraka Farm Manager, Jos Creemers

KIPKEINO SCHOOL

The last few weeks of the second term of the year were exciting ones for Kipkeino School . The 10^th Annual Sports Day was held on June 21^st and was probably the best ever. Kenya Power and Lighting donated numerous quick growing eucalyptus trees and as parents arrived they each had to plant a tree with their child. The trees are thriving and will supply the school with firewood within 6 years. The planting of trees for fuel is an on-going process on the school compound and at Baraka Farm.

Sergoit House made a clean sweep of the Junior and Senior Trophies and emerged the overall winners, followed by Elgon, Ndalat and Cherangany. The Guest of Honour was the famous Kenyan athlete, Ezekiel Kemboi. The parents’ team once again proved too strong for the staff team and won the tug-of-war.

July saw the long awaited return of the Administrator, Mr. Paul Scott and his wife Liz. During his stay in UK he had been hospitalized and had a total hip replacement. The arrival day was graced by the Bishop of Eldoret, Cornelius Korir who said Mass in school and blessed the whole community.

The first 2 weeks of the school ‘holiday’ were still very busy with activities which included the following:

· The Senior Girls’ Choir traveled to Kisumu, on the shores of Lake Victoria , for the Annual Music Festival. They managed to score 85% in their class and were placed 4^th in the Republic of Kenya .

· Bongo Patrol of the Kipkeino Boy Scouts’ Troop headed off to Nairobi for the annual camp competition. Due to miscommunication, they arrived a day late and lost some initial marks, but they fought back bravely and managed to obtain 7^th place out of the 18 finalists present.

· Three patrols of Girl Guides entered the District competition at a school on the outskirts of Eldoret. Drakensburg Patrol came 1^st followed by Atlas Patrol in 2^nd position and Everest in 4^th position. The first 2 patrols now have to succeed in a Provincial Camp to decide who will go to Nairobi in December for the National Finals.

In the following months the school will embark upon the next phase of development. We are in urgent need of a sick bay where those boarding children who fall sick can be treated by a qualified nurse and, if necessary, spend a peaceful night away from the hustle and bustle of the dormitory.

We also need a well equipped laundry so that children’s clothes can be washed, dried and ironed. At present, the older children do most of their own washing as this is training them for entry into secondary school where they will be in full control of their own personal belongings. The clothes of the younger children are washed in a bath and ironed on a table.

One other requirement is a water purification plant which will make double sure that the water in the school maintains the necessary standards of purity.

Bread and Water for Africa has already supplied the funding for the completion of most of these projects and work will start in early October and continue into the new-year. We are grateful to our donors for the assistance in getting the infrastructure of the school completed.

In other news, Kipkeino School is one of an elite group of schools worldwide which are classified as “Olympic Schools”. The teacher designated to be the coordinator in the school, Mr. Roger Ogola, has already attended Youth Fora in The Czech Republic and Austria and will attend the 6^th World Forum on Sport, Education and Culture to be held in Busan , South Korea during the month of September. This is all sponsored by the International Olympic Committee with the aim of teaching the Olympic principles to the Kipkeino children who will then spread them to schools in the area.

We also look forward to the end of this year when we intend to hold our Thanksgiving Day when we recognize the work and achievements of 2007. This would normally be held in January but that was not possible or appropriate this year. Those involved will be the entire school community whose members work tirelessly for the children entrusted to our care.

We look forward to continued peace so that we can continue with our work of educating young Kenyans to be upstanding citizens of the world.

Compiled by KKS Administrator, Paul Scott

OUTREACH PROGRAM

Lewa Community Health Centre

We are still in the process of drafting our proposals for a community health centre on the farm. Fundraising efforts are under way.

We thank you for all your support and always assisting us with our work.

Sincerely yours,

Phyllis Keino

LEWA CHILDREN'S HOME
www.lewachildrenshome.info

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