Frontenac ResilienceSustainable community and more

Country Know-how is hosting Renewable Energy Information Night, an alternative energy information evening April 27th at Oso Hall in Sharbot Lake, 7:30 pm. This is a chance to ask an energy expert all the questions you want about your energy future. Cam Mather, from over near Tamworth, will speak and field questions. Cam is the author of Thriving During Challenging Times: the Energy, Food, and Financial Independence Handbook, and the publisher of The Renewable Energy Handbook. The evening is an opportunity to consider what long term options there might be for providing power to your property, some of them potential strong money earners too.

The three main reasons that people want to move to renewables are cost, (since energy prices are only going to go up), independence (whether a story or cascading failure takes out the grid, you have power), and being part of the necessary world-wide move to reduce our carbon footprint. The options competing for your attention include wind, solar from photo-voltaic panels, and solar power heaters; “systems” can range from a tiny photo-voltaic panel from Canadian Tire that powers your electric fence to a system that powers your whole house. You can mix and match power sources, with some of this and some of that. What you do depends on where you see energy prices going, how much you value doing it yourself, and the resources you have at hand. Efforts you make installing renewable energy are likely to be an ongoing source of pride and satisfaction. Cam enjoys watching the meter that measures the input from his wind turbine almost as much as he enjoys watching movies! Apparently it can get like that!

All systems that reduce your need for electricity will “make” you money eventually, once they’re paid for by savings. The Ontario Government’s MicroFIT program is a potential big earner. The government (actually the Ontario Power Authority) will pay you for producing a small (or micro) amount of power, less than 10 kW, and feeding it into the grid. They’ll pay .82 cents kW/hour – which is a lot since we buy it for under .10 cents kW/hr. They’ll continue to payfor twenty years; the panels will last quite a bit longer. (The OPA will also pay you for wind power, but not nearly as much.) Sounds great, but there is much to consider before putting serious money in a solar power project. The Renewable Energy Information Night is a place to explore your options. It’ll help you decide what you should do first with what you have to invest? (And yes, there are simple things we can do right now, with very little money that will provide short-term savings; those savings amount to money in your pocket. Cam will go into just what the economics are and you’ll come away with a better sense of what you can do. Because with some cost up front, you can permanently reduce your energy bill to one extent of another. You don’t need to be a fortune teller to know prices are only going up.

Although Cam will be the presenter on this evening, Central Frontenac has a first class provider / installer of renewable energy systems in Ron Kortekaas of EcoAlt Energy. I’m a big fan of Ron’s work – and am hoping to to get Ron to present at a Country Know-how workshop soon after Cam, as you might be closer to making a purchase. The Renewable Energy Information Night is to provide you with a fully independent source to question the entire gamut of questions. We might get members of the Wood Gas Club up for a moment or two to tell you how they’re doing with building prototypes for providing gas from specially designed stoves.

Like all Country Know-how workshops the evening is free. It’s 7:30 pm, Tuesday April 27th at Soldier’s Memorial Hall (Oso Hall) in Sharbot Lake.

Making Fire with Flint and Steel

Like a lot of kids, I was fascinated by primitive technologies . . . like making fire by flint and steel or by “rubbing two sticks together,” – as we called the bow and drill method. Mike Procter,one of a number of locals knowledgeable about ancient technologies, will be demonstrating the flint and steel method, and helping you prepare your own fire kit, at a free Country Know-how mini-workshop on April 17th at 10 am.
Making a fire with flint and steel requires striking a piece of hard quartz against steel and sending off a spark that can ignite some flammable material. It’s exactly how a lighter works, without the gas as ignition and fuel. A hard stone can be substituted for the steel and was used in ancient times; it needs to be less hard than the flint.
Flint and stone have been used for making fire since ancient times, and during much of the historic period, was the way it was done. It’s how Shakespeare lit his fire for example – or was Anne Hathaway the firekeeper? Around that time matches were introduced but they were dangerous devices: flaming meteors of broken off matchheads burned down houses.
Mike will help workshop participants create their own fire kit, the ingredients they’ll need to make fire when they want. He has some flint or some tips on finding your own. The tinder that the spark will ignite can be natural materials like dandelion fluff or birchbark (Mike hasn’t found bulrush seeds efficient though they’re in the literature), or something pre-prepared – a natural fibre like linen or cotton half-charred will catch easily. Workshop participants can bring a small tight-fitting tin can ) like the ones some lozenges come in) and make their own tinder – Mike provides the cloth.
A candle is another useful part of your fire kit. Start a candle with the burgeoning flame to provide back-up till things are really going. One great source of the steel that’s perfect for great sparks is a file melted down and hammered smooth.
Come to the workshop, rain or shine, April 27th at 10 am, 2657 Zealand Rd., (just north and east of Sharbot Lake). Afterwards, weather (and my technical skills permitting) we hope to make a wee video of Mike creating a fire on a street corner after someone stops him to ask for a light.

If you haven’t already, time to get on those spring seeds started – inside for now so you can put them outside later when the weather’s warmer. The advantage of starting indoors of course, is that you can extend your growing season by many a couple of months. Sprouts and seedlings don’t need much space to grow. Later when it’s time to plant them you can give them room. But for germinating and sprouting, you need very little space. We have ours in plastic 4-plex bedding plant pots sitting on clear plastic trays from the dollar store which are fitted into some slotted boards Lynn picked up for a dollar at Rona in the off-cuts cart.

My gardening mentor is local producer Tom Waller, a market gardener from Central Frontenac west. Tom and wife Allaine’s Elm Tree Farm is prolific producer of quality food to farmer’s markets. Tom and Allaine are setting up to make more of their produce available to locals, and to support local growers like you. Tom will host an spring “start” mini-workshop on April 10th from 2-4 pm. Call for directions, (613) 335-3361 or visit elmtreefarm.ca.

A strong advantage of planting indoors is that you can control the soil temperature and light. Your planting trays can be moved to take advantage of the sun. Generally plants that thrive in high heat also like starting out life warmer too – carrots for example. To learn the requirements of particular vegetables and vegetable varieties, Tom recommends Johnny’s Selected Seeds for all kinds of reasons – he “smacks his lips” after getting off the phone ordering. The catalog is one way you can check for plant hardiness, growing seasons, soil temperature requirements and more. Take advantage of the fact that lot of the learning has been done before you by other gardeners – the good news about gardening can only be kept under the ground so long.

Now is the time to plant your onions and leeks from seed. And peppers and tomatoes. Tomatoes will need eight weeks before being stuck in the ground; they’re easier to transplant if they’re not too old. If they get long and spindly from not being transplanted too long, they may never fully recover. If you put them outside you’ll also need to be able to protect them or cover them in the event of a frost, especially one that will last for a few days.

May first you can direct plant arugala, mizuna, and kohlrabi, kale, spring turnips and beets. An early frost won’t be likely to pick them off.

If you come out to Tom’s mini-workshop you can ask any questions you have, see his working greenhouse and get some ideas of your own. You’ll also know a place where you can go to buy produce during the summer, and maybe slip in a gardening question as you hand over your cash. Tom is also the mentor to the Abundance Garden project, in which growers grow a little extra for free trading with other project participants; registration info through Country Know-how.

Decorative painting, or folk art, has always been around to make our lives more beautiful and reflective of who we are. It encompasses a broad variety of painting styles and techniques passed down, and in some cases, forgotten and refound. It can be a response to a new technology too, as in the case of the original tole painting, which was painting on tin.

Local artist and art teacher Marlene Leeson is enthusiastic about decorative painting’s power to inspire and enrich the lives of people who don’t consider themselves artists, but who go on to do amazing things anyway. (I saw a motif painted on a primitive bow at the Heritage Festival in Crow Lake School House recently, painted by a certain C.J. Very nice!)

Marlene’s been teaching, sharing, and working teaching folk art techniques for some years now up in Plevna. (She will be doing a free Country Know-how mini-workshop on March 27th – details below.)

Marlene feels that the way to understand decorative painting is to do it, rather than talk about it. Accordingly folks who come to learn start right away putting paint on canvas, learning a half-dozen techniques, working with different size brushes and getting a feel for them – each brush has its purpose. Those who come to her mini-workshop will walk away with something in hand they’ve done!

Decorative painting can be a source of household pride, and carry a value that store-bought stuff doesn’t – I remember being inordinately proud of a certain lamp shade with simple house and sun on it. Outside things can be painted too, sap buckets and wheelbarrows, making them one of a kind. Wall painting with sponges and stencils is also decorative painting, though not what Marlene teaches.

It’s cheap to get into. Twenty-five dollars will buy acrylic paints (cheaper and quicker than oil), and basic brushes and with those you’re away. Like a lot of things, learning, practicing, and hanging out with others makes actually doing the work and continuing more likely. Marlene will lend what you need at her mini-workshop. You don’t have to be able to draw to do decorative painting, or do detailed work like painting from a photograph would entail. More women than men come to her workshops, but men do too, and have a good time.

To attend the mini-workshop with Marlene and learn about, or actually create something for your place, contact Marlene at (613) 479-0297.

Not so long ago there used to be barn-raisings around here as the community rallied to do together what would be hard for one pair of hands to do. There was no set of instructions and certainly none downloaded from the Internet. However there were plenty of resourceful people in the community and together they figured out how to get a good barn built with the resources they had.

No doubt there are many Frontenac News readers who would benefit from, and enjoy, helping build small buildings in a team this year, with others’ help. Parents with their children for example, codgers needing a project (I know you’re out there), teenagers wanting some healthy first independence from the family. Or a separate place for granny or grandpa that’s just away from the family, meditation hut, a guest place for family members to visit, a place for interns or hired hands to sleep, a shed. Or something you build just because!

Here’s how it works. We (Eric Joss who’s built a few, Lynn Shwadchuck and myself) are inviting everybody who’d like to help with building a number of new tiny houses this summer to come together with others and pool our resources to get these mini-mansions built. You could be in for a day, or if you’re having a house built, in for more. Whether there are four or forty-four people, we’ll take an inventory of our resources and interest levels and figure out how to proceed. Taking inventory means identifying who has what: building experience, a truck, existing materials, time, youthful strength, organizational ability, tunes and food for the downtime after a work day.

A group is able to take advantage of economies of scale, buying things in common and making one trip instead of many. Bowing to the spirit of the old barn-raisings, some individuals will doubtless give more than they get, paying it forward.

Tiny houses can range from the very simple (and very inexpensive, for example, built with scrounged materials), to elaborate and grand. For today’s purposes, we’re really talking about a 10×10 structure that fits under the building code requirement for inspection. But really other small structures could be “tiny.” (I’ve posted some pictures and resources at www.FrontenacResilience.org.) Eric is committed to this project as advisor and helper and I am on as organizer and Lynn as support. Speaking of commitment, since participants will depend on each other, success will depend on our accountability for what we say we’re going to do. This is a bottom-line real cost of participating.

The planning meeting will be March 6th at 1:30 at Oso Hall in Sharbot Lake. If there are a large number of us it may take a while to figure out how to proceed so the hall is booked till 4:30. With a lot of people showing up, we may need to break into separate teams. We’ll see how we stack up against those barn-raisers of old, and perhaps there will be a few out who can remember that far back.

Although I’d like people to let me know in advance if they’re coming (it helps with initial planning), no one will be turned away. To reply, add a comment below, you can email Andrew at countryknowhow (at) frontenac (dot) net, or phone 613.279.1966

I’ve heard so many variations about what could and couldn’t be built I went to the source, Central Frontenac Township’s gentle but efficient Chief Building Inspector, Ian Trickett. Ian doesn’t make the rules by the way (the provincial government does);he just helps you work with them and ensures that they’re followed.

My own question was this: I wanted to build a “Tiny House” or “bunkie,” a structure that fits under the 10 square metre (108 sq. ft.) floor space limit after which a permit is required. I wanted to build it largely with used and scrap wood that I’ve been accumulating. What features could I have and what couldn’t I.

The 10 square metre limit refers to the total area covered by the foundation – the outside in other words, not the inside. Your Tiny House must be just one story so no lofts on top; that would add to the area. No inspection is necessary though if you want a fireplace or stove, you’ll have to have that inspected. A deck would count as part of your area too. Nor can there be be a cantilevered section that juts out past the 108 sq. ft. to get around the size limit. The 108 sq. ft. goes all the way up, in other words, though a normal roof overhang doesn’t count.

But you don’t have to stop at 108 sq. ft. You can build a sleeping cabin on your property that can be up to 400 sq. ft. as long as it doesn’t have kitchen facilities, which would make it like a second house. This much larger sleeping cabin would require a building permit ($80) and wood that’s been stamped as being of sufficient grade. If you use wood from your own property or other wood that’s been milled for you, you can have it evaluated by local people who are empowered give it the necessary stamp of approval if everything’s OK. And a toilet in the sleeping cabin may need to be tied into your septic system. This is true for a composting toilet too if it releases liquid into the ground as some do.

While you need approved lumber, old or new, for joists and studs in your sleeping cabin, you don’t need approval on siding, sheathing, trim or strapping. So it could be that you can build a much bigger space than 108 sq. ft. without spending too much on wood. Some of your used wood, if you have any, might be fine.

The next Country Know-how will be about a plan for a number of us to collectively plan, scrounge and buy materials, and build our own “Tiny House.” You’re welcome to join us and build a small structure on your property, with recycled materials if you like, this summer.

Ian Trickett will answer your questions about buildings, tiny or not, on Friday, February 19th at 1:00 pm at the Township Office. (613) 279-2935 Ext 226.

Seven people showed up for a Country Know-how workshop chez Pat Furlong and Laurie Brownlee at Elphin Gold, their Elphin heritage farm on Feb 1. They talked about the economics and practicalities of raising chickens. (I missed the mini-workshop myself helping bring a friend’s lumber up from Kingston.)

Folks were treated to a time at the kitchen table and barn-time too with the chickens.

Here’s a pic of Pat and Laurie. Thanks for helping out with Country Know-how you guys! I know you’re both busy, Laurie with multiple farm tasks and Pat most recently preparing for a community dinner at MERA this Friday evening (demo of east Indian cooking at 5:30, supper at 6:00, just $5).

On the right, green eggs, proving that Dr. Seuss had some things right all along!

green eggs

Keeping a few chickens

The Country Know-how column for the week of January 21 . . .

Can you keep a few chickens to give yourself fresh eggs and a little meat with personality? Sure you can. It requires some work, a bit of money and quite a bit of know-how though and we’ll just touch on a few basics here. An upcoming Country Know-how mini-workshop with Laurie Brownlee and wife Pat Furlong’s heritage Elphin farm will enable you to have another look.

The hundred acre property near the heart of Elphin has been in the family since early in the nineteenth century. A Brownlee married the original Stokes family’s daughter and it’s been Brownlees ever since. I was amazed at the number of breeds among the fifty or so chickens in the coop. Apparently, keeping the lovely and distinctive breeds apart so that they don’t all devolve into one McChicken is an art all by itself. These are heritage chickens with exotic names (e.g., Buff Orpington ), not the modern breeds that mature for the table in 12 to 14 weeks. Those varieties are raised in incubators and are unable to set on fertilized eggs to grow a new generation. .

Pat and Laurie’s chickens, like many in the area, don’t run around outside where predators can snatch them. Hawks from above, foxes, weasels, minks and fishers for example. Even the coop or the “chicken tractor,” a little houseful of chickens on wheels that is moved over fresh grass, must be kept tight so invaders can’t get in. One mink can wipe out the the whole bunch though the polite fox will just take one! So in winter the chickens are inside a coop, the hens separated for the most part from the roosters; in the summer they move in the chicken tractor over fresh grass. Egg production goes way down in winter’s depth and starts to pick up when the days lengthen.

Chickens eat grass, bugs, some kitchen scraps, fruit and grain twice a day. The grain is the main expense (a buck a kilo for the organic stuff). They’re fed grain year round, the amount they can eat in about ten minutes. Grain really increases egg production. A half-dozen birds will give you four or five eggs a day, beauties with deep yellow yolks that stand up on their own. Some of their eggs have green shells by the way – Dr. Seuss had it right all along!

Hens lay most frequently the first year, less the second year and much less after that. They can live for ten years but are usually destined to become meat after two or three. One option is to buy one-year olds for two dollars or less, house and feed them for the eggs for a year or two and eat them after. Preparing them for the table is a job you should be prepared to do yourself!

Pat and Laurie welcome you to admire and talk chicken at a mini-workshop based on your questions and answers on Monday February 1 from 2-4 pm. Call them for directions at 613.278.2868.

A reminder of this Saturday’s Country Know-how mini-workshop (January 23rd, 2 pm, Oso Hall in Sharbot Lake). The workshop is on the humble bean, and how useful it can be to you.

Here’s the Country Know-how column for the week of January 7th.

–
The simple bean, nutritious, inexpensive, adaptable and delicious as it is, has made itself a staple of country cuisine the world over.I’m speaking of dried beans here. Green beans are what you eat out of the garden, dry beans are the many varieties of the same basic plant when shelled or threshed and stored. After original cultivation in the Andes and Central America at least six thousand years ago, beans became the foundation of Native Americans’ extensive agriculture. If they were eaten here in the north country they were more likely traded than grown, but old settlers in Central Frontenac remember when they were grown locally, with the threshing being done in a bucket.

Beans keep for years if dry. Newer beans cook quickly but if they’re older as they frequently are when purchased, you’d best soak them overnight before cooking. They’re easy to grown and despite the rainy summer we had last year we had enough success to get some seed crop for what we hope’ll be success this year. As beans become adapted to your garden’s soil they build up a relationship with rhizobia, a nitrogen-fixing bacteria, which helps them grow even more successfully. In other words, the more years you grow them the better they grow.

Even if you don’t grow your own, you can buy them inexpensively in bulk and store them. In mylar bags, especially when de-oxygenated, they’ll store a long time indeed. You can take advantage of your freezer and pre-cook them in large batches, saving time and energy. What you freeze could be just the cooked beans themselves, or the ready-for-eating bean dish you’ve prepared in bulk. With your beans stacked up in one-meal servings in the freezer you can pull them out for a quick and delicious addition to your supper. They’re cheap and eating more beans is often linked to eating a bit less meat, which is linked to health benefits. If you can grow beans as well as vegetables, you’re a long way toward being self-sufficient in food.

Country Know-how will have a mini-workshop on “Making the Most of Beans,” hosted by Lynn Shawdchuck on January 23rd at Soldiers Memorial Hall (Oso Hall) in Sharbot Lake. Lynn’s a talented local cook with a wealth of experience preparing bean dishes from a range of ethnic traditions. This isn’t a cooking class, but an opportunity to sample different bean dishes, ask questions about growing and preparing beans. Drop-ins on the day are acceptable but if you can, please call Lynn at 613.279.1966 if you’re planning on coming so she has a sense of how much food to bring.

Making Christmas candles today with Dorina Friedli (not shown) showing how. Thanks Dorina!
Here are a few pix. Country Know-how returns after Christmas.