Honey harvest

Michael Strelan runs his own web tv station, Myecotv.

Michael has just made this beautiful 8 minute video called, Honey Love, showing how to harvest stingless bee honey.

The images of the bees, their hive, their honey and industry bring me as much succour as does the unusual light taste of their honey – as it’s about 70% water it’s very light and elegant to taste.

The vid shows something vital; anyone can harvest native been hives or split them, whether at home, in a unit or at the office.

Slurp . . . go to – and thank you lovely little bees, and you, too, Michael – we love your work,

M

Water diverter connected to hose from downpipe to irrigate garden

Would you like to water your garden for free?

Even an unskilled bloke like me can do it; if my unskilled self can do it, so can you.

Why:

Rain on your garden is rarely adequate to water your plants in most parts of Australia.  Many houses or units do not have either the space or the owners or tenants do not have the money for a rain tank.  This is simple way of getting good free irrigation to your garden

How:

Get a water diverter from a plumbing place; expect to pay about $20.  There are about six or more types.

With a hacksaw cut the downpipe at the top where you will insert the diverter.  Make another cut carefully located to enable you to slip in the diverter.  Hook up your hose and wait for rain to run to wherever you place the hose.

They catch the water in the downpipe and divert it to a hose you fit to a fitting on the diverter.  The higher you place the diverter in the downpipe the further you can run the hose from the downpipe to water your plants.

For a one-off cost of about $20 you can get anything from 20,000 to 250,000 litres or more going to your garden, or pool and some options allow you to put up to three hoses to the diverter.

Cost:

About $20 for the diverter.

Go to,

M

Timber floors are cool in summer, warm in winter and more sustainable than cement or tiles

Good insulation is a material and design which works well in winter and summer and uses least materials.

For a wall:

The outside material is waterproof eg colorbond + next layer is a 50 mm air gap + next layer is Polyair Performa insulation which also acts as a water barrier + rammed earth from the site

www.reflectiveinsulation.com…

There’s a useful drawing of a wall in Sustainable House p25

For a roof and ceiling:

To conserve materials and achieve high ceilings the ceiling and the roof will be combined eg Ritek which has colorbond and insulation integrated in the one sheet.

For a floor: 

Australian timber with Polyair under it -  never use overseas timber, especially from Malaysia and Indonesia – it is being logged in a massive crime against the rainforests, local people and ecology of those countries – information is in my book, Sustainable Food and in other blogs on my site, www.sustainablehouse.com….au

Unless the climate freezes there is no need for thick insulation; pink batts are a waste of time and money in most of Australia – a sheet of Polyair works well in winter and summer and has long term efficiency whilst batts decline in efficiency.

For a bathroom floor:

Slatted timber floor with tray below acting as floor waste for whole space will be warm in winter and cool in summer – just hose it down to clean; don’t use tiles as they consume large amounts of energy to make and lay and cause significant building site waste; examples of sustainable bathrooms are on my site: the photo above is from there, too:

archive.sustainablehouse.com…

Go to,

M

Got to love our oceans

Do you say to yourself something like this: “I can get mains water and sewer and pay about a thousand dollars a year for it.  Why would I spend ten or fifteen thousand dollars, perhaps more, to put in a rain tank or sewage system?”

Here’s the answer I gave myself; maybe it works for you, too?

What are the costs and savings?

My 10,000 litre cement, buried tank and rainwater system cost $11,000.  The recycled sewage system cost $11,000.  I pay no water or sewer bills and no fixed charges. It costs about $100 a year to run the systems.

In 17 years the system has saved me over $17,000 dollars in water bills.

How?

There’s one pump and pipe taking the rainwater to the solar hot water heater, kitchen and bathroom taps and dish washing machine.  There’s another pump and pipe taking recycled, treated water to the clothes washing machine, toilet and garden.  Drawings, data on quality and quantity and equipment are in my book, Sustainable House.

Why?

The two systems add value to each other because:

• By reusing wasted water to flush the toilet and wash clothes and garden with the capacity of the 10,000 litre tank is effectively doubled to a 20,000 litre tank – I’m only using rainwater for drinking and other low water using functions;
• Daily water use per person is 57 litres, not the Sydney mains water average of 274 litres a person – toilets, clothes washing can take up to half the daily water needs of a person;
• The amount of water for the waste water system to treat is halved;
• Fortnightly testing for 18 months shows my water is cleaner than mains water;
• You love back Earth which gives you free air, almost free water and offers her oceans to absorb your sewage – even offers fish for you to eat there who swim in human waste they can’t avoid – that generosity’s a good thing for me to highly value.  When I go swimming and encounter pollution from others who swim in their own waste I have to admit I don’t thank you.

A sustainable house does so much more than use water efficiently. It nourishes me.  When it rains I feel sweet inside, the sound of the water on the roof reminding me that my house respects that water, is harvesting and using it well.

Even a new house built according to the strictest BASIX requirements would consume an average 156 Litres of mains water per day. Each sustainable house saves two and a half times the mains water of such a BASIX house, with even greater savings compared to new houses in other states. The impacts this has on total mains water consumption:

• Every 1,000 sustainable houses save as much water as 2,500 BASIX houses; and
• One sustainable house saves 250,000 litres of mains water per annum, where a BASIX house only saves 100,000 litres per annum.

May the rain drops be with you,

M

When your rain tank or garden overflows into a sunken pond the water will be absorbed down there where the soil still has absorption capacity.

How

Dig a hole, squarish in shape, at least half a metre deep and half a metre square.  Line it with sturdy blocks, preferably sandstone or some other soft and partly porous material that’s easy to work with.  Stack them so they’re stable but only use bits of stabilizing mortar or cement in a few places so they’ll stay stacked.  Put sand or porous material behind the walls about 150 deep.  If you’ld like a permanent pond at the base also lay down some pool liner leaving a permanent water storage area about 150 deep for frogs and fish and water lilies and plants.

Another option is to turn your lawn or garden into a temporary ‘tank’.  Build a retaining wall or garden ‘edge’ – a 100 mm board will do the trick – around the sides to hold the water that falls there so it can be absorbed into the soil after the peak rain has ended.

With my sunken pond, rain tank and porous garden no stormwater has left my house in inner Sydney in 17 years except for about 5,000 litres in total on two heavy rainfall events.

That’s over 1.7 million litres of stormwater I’ve kept in my tiny backyard which measures 5 m  x  5 m.

Drawings, photos, details in Sustainable House p 184, 187, 191

Why

Getting water down to where the plant and trees roots are helps grow your garden to its natural capacity, sustains the life that’s in the soil and provides a habitat that attracts birds, butterflies.  If you grow water chestnuts or watercress there you’ll also have something else to eat from your garden.  And it stops your place adding to the pollution of rivers and oceans.

Oh; and it can be a home to elegant, wispy, water plants . . . lovely to behold with a cuppa at the beginning or end of the day.  And it’s fun to see the water falling into it from your tank and know you’re not wasting a drop; with a bit of thought you can make that waterfall a passing thing of beauty.

Cost

If you do it yourself the pool liner will cost about $50 and the rocks and wall material can be free from building sites or you may have enough lying around your garden.

Enjoy your rain,

M

Yes, my house is sustainable as it gets its energy from the sun and water from the rain on the roof.

But . . .  my tummy uses 30 to 40 times more energy and water than my house.

Each year, by using the rain that falls with clean, natural energy from clouds, the house saves over 100,000 litres of dam water and stops tonnes of dirty energy being used to pump it.

But, eating the typical Australian diet over ten days there is over 100,000 litres of water needed to grow, transport, make my food.

So, if you’d like to know how to grow and buy and eat sustainably do come and talk food, energy and water with me in these two talks – I’d love to hear your stories and discuss solutions with you.

Monday 17 February 14

With Permaculture North

• 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
• Location
  Lindfield Community Centre, 259 Pacific Highway, Lindfield

Join Sydney’s permaculture gardeners and I for an evening of tips and stories about food.

Wednesday 19 February 14

Town Hall, Ashfield Council, Sydney

With Maeve O’Meara 

You’ll love hearing the interesting and well-travelled chef, Maeve O’Meara; Maeve and I will talk about food and my book, Sustainable Food.