Rabid Chipmunk

I did the sod cutter method when I planted a wildflower garden over my septic bed a couple of years ago. In the areas where I turned the sod over, the grass basically grew back and took over. In other areas, I removed the sod altogether and these worked out better, although it has taken some time for the wildflowers to establish themselves. I think I would have had better results with the sheet mulch trick.

I remember reading an article in Scientific American about cancer cells. They were these mutant cells with four or five times the normal number of chromosomes. I guess the normal gene sequences to limit cell division were often corrupted in bizarre ways. I was left with the impression that we all "have" cancer all of the time - and our body is continually getting rid of these mutant cells. The more healthy the immune system, the better able you are to get rid of the stuff - although there is always the probability that some mutation will get missed by the immune system and you'll need some sort of invasive intervention like chemo or radiation to kill it.

So my view is lots of exercise, eat yer veggies and you'll significantly reduce your risk of cancer - but despite all of this you can still get it. Pretty conventional but I think it makes sense.

There are PV products that have the inverters built into the panels themselves. This means for installation you are working with conventional AC which is more familiar to your average electrician than the DC. The manufacturer has taken care of all of the DC code provisions in the product itself.

Get the book "edible wild plants" from John Kallas. This is the best identification book that I've seen - he only covers a handful of plants but there are dozens of great pictures at all stages of growth.

"...Mohawk like hairs running along the length of each stem segment" was one of the recommended identification features that separates chickweed from other similar plants. The book also covers poisonous look alikes. Scarlet pumpernel is one to watch out for - it has a square stem and red flowers.

Know your farmer indeed. It would be ironic if growing organic harmed people more indirectly through contributing to antibiotic resistance than conventional use of pesticides.

I just came across this link:

http://www.beyondpesticides.org/infoservices/pesticidesandyou/Summer2011/antibiotics-fruit.pdf

I can't believe first that it is allowed to spray tetracycline and streptomycin on fruit trees. Secondly, I can't believe this is considered "Organic". I guess this is what happens when "certified organic" becomes big business eh?

I remember as a kid using those antibiotics - they are probably useless now.

Pools lose most of their heat through evaporation.  The most cost effective thing you can do is put a pool cover on when your pool is not in use. 

Congrads on the new place!  I'd agree with insulation and sealing for air tightness as first priority. Install programmable thermostats on all of your rooms.  When I was on electric heat I used to set back the temperature in my spare rooms - they then acted as kind of extra insulation.  I'd also suggest installing a high efficency stove right away if you don't have one.  The savings this winter would offset the cost considerably - and as cool as those RMH stoves are, I doubt they'd be popular with your insurers, building department, or future real estate agents!   

OK I'm confused.  Is planting plants under trees better than mulch - or is this more about not having to replenish the mulch every few years?  I can understand the concept of plants providing living fertilizer as they die - but how does one distinguish between a "weed" plant that competes with the tree versus a beneficial plant - I mean, they are both feeding from the same soil right? 

This plant is proposed for Ontario where we have pretty low amounts of electricity from coal - something like 60 or 70% of electricity from nuclear and hydro.  I did some rough calcs on the greenhouse gas emissions of a 10MW solar farm versus 50 acres of trees.  Something like 34 million kg of CO2 will be offset by the solar over 20 years vs 1 million if trees were planted (not including the CO2 caused by making the panels in the first place...).  Advantage solar. 

In this case, the funding of these programs is being paid through higher electricity prices - a good thing since it will tend to reduce overall consumption.  The whole concept would be easier to sell politically if they left the soil intact and used livestock for keeping the grass down or something like that.

Here in Ontario they're getting some political backlash on these incentive programs - I think the incentive levels were a little too lucrative.  There was one company offering to build barns - for free - as long as they had the rights to the proceeds from the PV sales from the panels on the roof!