Newsletter:20061124/Welcome

From EcoReality

Welcome!

Thank you for being on our Advisory Council, and for putting up with some sporadic email from us! A few have expressed concern that the email burden was getting higher than they had envisioned, so we thought we'd roll all the news, meeting announcements, minutes, etc. into one monthly newsletter. So scroll down to see links to minutes and meetings and other stuff that we used to send out as separate emails. Please let us know how you like the new format.

It's been an interesting month at EcoReality. The turn in the weather and diminished daylight hours spell the end of much of the garden work, and we begin heating with wood scavenged from construction sites. It takes a lot of sawing and chopping to get a cord of green wood into the woodshed. Most of it will be drying until next winter, but some of it was milled this summer, and is pretty dry.

The "good stuff" is from neighbor Dave & Sasha (who run the Pet Hospital). They cut some of their trees, and had it milled on-site, and are now building a barn with the results. They had these big slash piles of mill ends and slabs laying around, so we asked if they'd like us to clean them up for them. Wood scraps burn just fine, you just have to re-load more often!

Our new biodiesel processor is not quite on-line yet, but we picked up a 1200 liter fuel storage tank for free, and bought the materials needed for completing the site. Of course, there will be at least one trip to Mouat's for some minor bits, but it should be ready for final connections and brewing at the next work party.

We just scored a biodiesel tractor and tiller. It's a Ford 1700, 18kW (24 hp), 24 forward speeds, 8 reverse. I think it was made in the '80's. We bought it in North Saanich, and drove it all the way home, at 20kph! It took an hour and a half, not including the ferry time. We got some great looks when we drove it on the ferry, Carol following behind in Bubba (the biodiesel Dodge pickup) with flashers going. By the time we got off the ferry, it was quite dark and cold. I was glad to have brought a hooded winter jacket, but my legs were frozen by the time we got home!

If anyone has some great nickname for the tractor, please send it in! (What's a vehicle without a nickname?)

At other doings around here, we just had an energy audit by City Green, an organization that distributes energy savings incentive grants. It turns out the main house is pretty average, and Elizabeth White, the energy advisor, made some recommendations for improvements that should qualify for grants. So some of our work parties will be weather-stripping doors, installing a vapor barrier, and putting in some insulation. And if Elizabeth's follow up tests indicates we've reached the desired level of improvement, the entire amount may be covered by a grant!

--Communication Steward, Jan Steinman