September 15
Food Preservation and Storage (1). Now that our youngsters are back in school,
and we have had a hint or two that summer is over, we should be thinking about how we
are going to deal with autumn's bounty from the garden. Not the lovely things we
have enjoyed from the garden through the summer, but the bulk of foods we have grown
to last through the winter and spring. It seems that many of us have forgotten there
are means of storing and preserving food other than a refrigerator and freezer.
I have nothing against these modern appliances, which are marvels of efficiency
compared to their ancestors of just 15 to 20 years ago. Our refrigerator uses less
than 500 watt-hours a day of electricity - about 7 cents worth! (About half of its
EnergyStar energy consumption rating.) That's a lot less
than the value of food we might lose without the refrigerator to keep it fresh and
safe longer.
However, there are a few things you can do to reduce the power consumption of
your refrigerator and freezer still further.
1) Place the unit in a cool part of the house. For example, try not to place it
near a window that will get full sun, or directly beside the stove. Reducing the
infra-red heating on the appliance will reduce the amount of energy it consumes
to keep the contents cold. Less electricity used means less GHG emissions.
Winter Gardening. Elliott Coleman 4 season Harvest
September 1st
I owe you one. Spent the day picking up parts for the electric tractors. Had to buy gasoline
to complete the trip. On the plus side, it's the first time I have bought gasoline since December 11
last year, and the parts mean our zero-emissions electric tractors will be available to do more work.
September 2nd
I owe you another one. Spent the day today chipping ice and doing an upgrade on one of the electric tractors.
September 3rd
Contributions will be lighter this month, as I'm writing a couple of papers to present at
CIRSIP at the end of May.
September 4th
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September 14th
Today, I planted my garden - sort of. For those of you living in tropical climes, that may not seem very impressive.
However, here there is about a metre of snow on the ground, 2 metres on the snowbanks. That would give a new meaning
to iceberg lettuce. However, yesterday I received a new
Aerogarden. So, I have planted 3 heirloom cherry tomato plants and 3 of 6 herbs which came with the unit.
Set-up was easy. No soil required, and importantly for me - no window access required either. Grow lighting
is supplied by an array of LEDs, the growing system is essentially hydroponic (with a minor hybrid tweak for the
plant cones. Anyway, all seems to work as advertised. And now we wait for germination.
September 15th
September 16th
September 17th
September 18th
I got a little busy, and have not had a look at the Aerogarden since I set it up. Lo, and behold - 2 of the 3
tomato plant pods have sprouted. Water topped up. Now, I'm off to ignore it again for a few days.
September 19th
Yesterday, the Canadian federal government delivered their budget for the 2019-2020 fiscal year.
At 464 pages, it's a bit of a slog. However, there are a few items that might be worth considering.
There are about 11 pages related to climate change initiatives, but they're a bit on the fluffy side,
do there's not a lot of meat in this area. Still, they have hit a few high profile items, some of
which mark dramatic turns in past federal policy and action (more accurately, lack thereof). I'll
cover those in a bit more detail in the next few days as some items require some additional
fleshing out. It's always a concern when a major financial document uses the phrase: "Program details to follow."
But the math says they're looking to boost sales of "zero-emission vehicles" (battery-electric or hydrogen
fuel cell - plug-in hybrids and hydrogen combustion are not mentioned) by about 20,000 units a year for three years,
starting sometime after September 1 2019. Let's be charitable and colour that as not overly ambitious.
If you want to get a head start, open
[dead link: www.budget.gc.ca/2019/docs/plan/budget-2019-en.pdf] and head for page 81 (internal numbering -
pg 83 of the PDF document).
September 20th
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September 23th
All the plants in the Aerogarden have now sprouted and are doing well. Had to cut back the
foliage on the tomato plants a little bit.
September 24th
September 25th
Took the chance today to rake up some leaves. Discoverered some are still embedded in ice.
Spring may be a few more days before showing up to melt the remaining ice. But given the amount
of snow we had this year, gradual warming is desirable.
September 26th
I'm taking a few days off here because a lot of people are dealing with flooding, one of the early
consequences of climate change.
September 27th
If you are not dealing with flooding issues personally, or pitching in to help, take the next few
days to contemplate how you would deal with flooding where you live.
September 28th
If you are truly in a situation immune to flooding, contemplate one of the other climate emergency
issues you could be facing, and how you would deal with that.
September 29th
September 30th