At about 11:15 p.m. on New Year’s Eve, Pete heard an alarming sound that came from his roof.  He ran outside in the dark, wondering if something had fallen onto his roof, and worried about his solar panels.

After climbing up a ladder to get a better look at the roof in the dark, he found one of his solar panels had a hole in it.  At first he thought maybe a fire cracker had hit the roof – a number of people in his neighborhood were shooting them off, celebrating the incoming new year.

When the police arrived, they went up on the roof and informed Pete his house had been hit by a stray bullet.  Apparently someone thought it would be festive to celebrate the new year with gun fire!  Pete figures it is going to cost him about $2000.00 to repair the damage caused by the bullet.

*** Incidentally, a 4 year old child in Atlanta was killed New Year’s Eve night when a stray bullet traveled through the roof of the church his family were worshiping in that evening.  The child was struck in the head.  Can you imagine losing a child that way?  We all need to remember that guns are weapons and thus should be treated with the utmost of respect.  They aren’t to be fired off randomly for celebration.  I’m thankful I still have my brother – the solar panel may have saved his life – but my heart goes out to the family in Atlanta who lost their           precious child.

I’ve been waiting for the first day of 2010 for weeks!  Pete gave me tons of seeds for Christmas and a Jiffy pellet tray to start seeds in.

Today I got out the tray and removed all but 10 of the pellets.

I poured plenty of water into the tray in order for the pellets to swell.

After the pellets had swollen to full-size,  I carefully peeled back the netting on the top and exposed the moist peat moss.  I made a hole in the center of each pellet to place two broccoli seeds in.

Although I prefer to use open pollinated and organic seed, I’ve got tons of seed on hand already and want to use that first.  Going forward, I plan to collect and use only open pollinated seed and I prefer it to be organic.

At last all 20 little seeds are snug in their peat pellets.  I placed the plastic cover over the tray and put it in a warm spot.

I’ll be planting broccoli each week for the next 8 weeks in order to have a continuous supply right through May.   I love fresh broccoli from the garden – few things compare to it!

I just pulled a package of green beans out of the freezer for tonights dinner.  It was dated July 19, 2009.  I smiled as I looked down at the emerald green spears within the shrink wrapped package.  I spent a lot of time picking and freezing green beans this summer!

We were basically pleased with the garden results this year although we have various changes and challenges ahead for next year.

For instance, we plan to grow many more tomatoes in 2010 with the hope that we will be able to can all the tomatoes we’ll need for sauces, soups and more for all of winter 2010/2011.   Toward the end of the growing season this year, some weird bug came along and began sucking the life out of our tomato plants, and we lost 3 or 4 weeks of harvest because of them.  We’ll identify that pest through our extension office and find natural remedies so that doesn’t happen again.

We’re putting in two apple tree’s this fall as well as blueberry bushes, red raspberries, black berries, and strawberries.  I’m excited about the prospects of growing our own fruit but also challenged to learn the best growing practices.  One thing is for sure, walking outside on summer mornings, with the dew making my bare feet all wet and slippery as I cross the yard to the berries and feasting on a breakfast made my Mother Nature is something I can’t wait for!

Many folks have asked us how we grow the majority of our food while living in a subdivision on well less than an acre of land.

Good question!  I will share more about that in upcoming posts.  Suffice it to say that we are probably a rare breed – many people wouldn’t attempt what we have.  But in light of our current economic crisis, more people will look to ways to help out their grocery bill by growing some of their vegetables.  I’ll share with you things that have worked for us (and things that didn’t) and our experiences in general.  Feel free to leave suggestions of your own.  We can all learn from each other!

I’ll discuss edible landscapes in yet another upcoming post.  Remember this: you don’t need a lot of land to greatly impact your weekly food bill.  There are always ways to grow your own healthy vegetables and fruit.   Where there’s a will, there’s a way….

“We are living in exceptional times. Scientists tell us that we have 10 years to change the way we live, avert the depletion of natural resources and the catastrophic evolution of the Earth’s climate.

The stakes are high for us and our children. Everyone should take part in the effort, and HOME has been conceived to take a message of mobilization out to every human being.

For this purpose, HOME needs to be free. A patron, the PPR Group, made this possible. EuropaCorp, the distributor, also pledged not to make any profit because Home is a non-profit film.

HOME has been made for you : share it! And act for the planet.

Yann Arthus-Bertrand

PPR is proud to support HOME
http://www.ppr.com

HOME is a carbon offset movie
http://www.actioncarbone.org

More information about the Planet
http://www.goodplanet.info ”

Rain Barrel Sketch

 Rain barrels have become increasingly popular in recent years.  Drought ridden areas, such as the Atlanta-metro region, have turned to rain barrels as a way to keep flowers and plant life alive during the parched summer months when watering restrictions and bans would otherwise prevent home owners from being able to water and maintain outside landscaping and plant life.

The above sketch shows how easy it is to assemble your own rain barrel.  There are a number of companies who now sell fully assembled rain barrels as well.

Further, many creative artists have begun offering rain barrel design services where the homeowner can choose the design they desire for their rainbarrel(s), thus adding to the beauty of their yards.  The rainbarrels become part of the landscape.

Below are examples of painted rain barrels.

In Pete’s attic he installed  bubble wrap radiant barrier insulation.   The buble wrap is attached to the rafters and helps to reflect the UV rays back out through the roof. This helps to reduce the high temps in the attic, (remember, Pete lives in Florida).  By keeping air moving in the attic the temps will be lower thus making the house cooler in the summer.  During the long, Florida  summer, the outside roof temps on can get up to 180*. That heat is transferred into the attic making the air conditioner work harder to cool the house and utility costs much higher.

This is an effective way to keep all houses cooler in the summer, not just for those living in a southern climate.  

To help cool off the attic Pete installed 2 solar attic fans for air movement. There is an air change of about 1200cfm or cubic feet per minute to help reduce the excessive heat that can build up in the attic.  One blows air into the attic and roof peak the other one is exhausting the air from the attic to the outside. You can use electric ones, but Pete believes in letting the sun do the work.

Additionally, Pete made up a hatch cover that is used to cover up the attic stairs.  He insulated this wood box with an insulation foam batt that has an R-value of 5.0. This is sealed once closed and it helps to reduce warm air in the summer and cold air in the winter from entering the house. The box is made from ¾” pine and is sealed with foam door sealer. Simple little fixes, such as this, can help reduce your energy usage.

Stair Cover/Hatch

Lastly,  an R-38 of insulation was added to help keep this warm air out of the house.  The higher the R values the better the blockage of hot air  getting into your home.  Here we can see that Pete used two layers of R-19 laid north to south then over top east to west to cover up any missed places.

If you have questions about any of the information on the Solar Pete blog or any ‘green’ questions at all, just email Pete at:

Click on the above link to see Pete’s house and learn a little about his solar panels.

*Remember: leave us a message anytime and we’ll be sure to respond back to you quickly!  Solar Pete is a virtual encyclopedia of knowledge about all things green and he’s here to help YOU find solutions to your needs.