alex hackett

Hello,

I live in Idaho in Zone 7 and just got a bunch of Baby Blue Eucalyptus starts from a high school that is no longer able to take care of them because of the stay at home order. I was wondering when I could be able to transplant them into my yard? Our last frost is the weekend of Mother’s Day, should I wait until then?

Thanks for your help!

Hello,
I live near Boise, Idaho in Zone 7 and am wondering if I could start growing salad greens right now in a raised bed with some sort of protection? What type of protection should I use, frost blanket and/or plastic covering? What seeds would you suggest?
Attached is a picture of my growing space and it is on the south facing side. The boards are covering the soil since my puppy likes to sit in the bed.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

Hello,

I came across this older Treehugger article about the Power-Pipe which is a heat exchanger for hot water heaters and wanted to see if anyone has heard more about these or has one installed. It sounds like a great way to conserve hot water coming off of a shower and am considering it for my bathroom remodeling project. Here is the Treehugger article: https://www.treehugger.com/clean-technology/power-pipe-heat-exchanger-could-reduce-water-heating-costs-40.html & here is the company website: http://renewability.com

Any firsthand knowledge would be helpful. Thanks.

Miles, the toilet is already separate from the sinks, tub, and washer and it just goes into the main sewer pipe along with a separate toilet pipe. I don’t want to fully disconnect the greywater from the sewage but thought about a branched system to be able to have the option to divert the greywater outside or route it back into the sewage line. I assume there are systems like that. I do see your point in going out of the wood portion of the house and not the foundation and will need to look at the wall more to see if there is any other access from the basement, there is a basement window right next to the pipes so that might be an option. I think a pump and holding tank is what I was thinking. Any suggestions on a pump, holding tank or branched pipe?

Hello, I am wanting to set up a grey water system in my home to reuse for watering fruit trees in my yard. I live outside of Boise, Idaho where it is a high desert and I already have a couple of rain barrels connected to my gutter system but I want to reuse as much water resources as I can.

I have a kitchen and bathroom sink, a shower/tub and basement clothes washer that all funnel into one pipe in my basement. Just to clarify, the kitchen and bathroom sink, as well as, the shower/tub is located on the ground floor while my clothes washer is in the basement directly below. The help and advice I am looking for is whether I should individually send the grey water out of the house from each with their own branched drain or if I should/can have one branched drain from the main pipe in my basement out to the yard? Attached is a picture of the basement piping.

I am open to any other advice and ideas but this was my initial thought. This is all new to me but would love to reuse that water another time especially with 5 fruit trees in my front and backyard. I do already use biodegradable laundry detergent, hand & dish soap as well as biodegradable bodywash.

Thank you!

Hello,

Last Fall I laid out newspaper and straw mulch to cover my raised beds and new areas in the ground that I plan to plant in this Spring and I wasn’t able to amend with compost before doing so. I recently got a truck load of compost and I am wondering what would be the best way to apply the compost? Should I remove the straw mulch and spread out the compost on the soil then cover it back up with straw or spread out the compost on top of the straw mulch?

Thank you for your insight and advice in advance.

Thank you all for your suggestions, they were all very helpful and creative! I am going to look into the hardy kiwi, fiber banana and Maypop passionflower for that space.

I just built a wire wall trellis on the south facing wall of my house and I am wanting to grow something that will help shade the house in the summer and die back in the winter. Any ideas of some plants would be helpful, especially if they are fruit producing or great for pollinators. I live just outside of Boise, Idaho in zone 7A. I am also planning on growing some hops on an eaves trellis on the other side of a window on that side too.

Only thing I know of is this setup: http://www.econvergence.net/product-p/hppawa-1.htm