Month: January 2012

Local builder and craftsman David Kurtz has a soft spot for anything that comes from the past. The way he and his wife, Kirby, have renovated and appointed their 1935 house reflects Kurtz’s passion for accumulating timeless, functional treasures. In their living room, that means a wood burning stove, antique peach crates, two metal architectural chests of drawers, and even antique suitcases used to carry children’s clothes during World War II.
“I love patina. You don’t get this stuff at IKEA and you can’t go out and buy this stuff. You come across it and have an eye for it,” Kurtz says. Specializing in sustainable building, he’s got no qualms bartering or finding deals. In fact, it’s an area where he flourishes.
“My parents didn’t give me an allowance after I reached an age that I could use a lawnmower. They gave me a lawnmower and helped me pass out fliers to start a lawn mowing business. So from an early age I’ve never had a problem knocking on doors and offering a service.”

One things for sure: Kurtz is a collector. His space includes a vintage brass lamp he got in eighth grade, strips of wood that he kept from the house he built in North Carolina, and a wooden trunk he traded for an antique piece of his own. Each element has a history, like the house itself. “We bought this house because it was built in 1935. It’s real 2x4s, it’s not inch-and-a-half by two-and-a-half. It’s real plaster, so the walls aren’t flat. If you flash the light down the wall, it ripples. You see somebody’s hand in that. Every time I tear something out of the wall, I find people’s initials on boards who were proud of what they were doing at the time.”

Of course, Kirby has brought her touch to the mix. When two partners have equally strong opinions about how a space should look and feel, it can be tricky. But they seem to have made it work. “Kirby is Veranda. And I’m Dwell magazine meets Foxfire, which is where they build things out of twigs. I know what I like and I know what I don’t like, and so does she!”—Cate West Zahl

“We got the wood burning stove off craigslist. The house has no insulation in the walls. Sealing up this house would have ruined the charm of the house. So if you’re going to be throwing money at heat, you might as well be getting the cheapest heat you can get. And wood is pretty cheap, or at least it is around here with all the microbursts that cause trees to fall down.

“When we first moved in, everything was white. Everything. The plaster was all cracked, it was completely falling off. So, I learned how to plaster. Every time there is a crack in the plaster you have to make that crack a half inch wide and press it through to the wooden lath behind it, and then redo it. It took weeks. I’ll never do it again—I’ll get a bucket of sheetrock mud and slap that up there!

“I built a house out of compressed wheat straw panels that are made out of agricultural waste. The owner was the head of air quality and standards for the EPA, so she wanted this super green house. So I said that I would be the one to do that. These blueprint cabinets were her grandfather’s. She gifted them to me when the house was completed.

“I can’t afford having things that just look good. We don’t have enough space to go fully form over function, so everything that I have really is something that I couldn’t part with. The stereo console I made out of old peach crates that I got from an estate sale and a piece of wood that I saved from an old tobacco barn I disassembled.

“If you meet the right people, the ones that are looking out for fellow builders and appreciators of pragmatic living, you can find people who will help you out. There are plenty of ways to skin a cat. I take a common sense approach to building and design that helps me out in the long run.”

If you’re one of the 4 million American homeowners who had their homes foreclosed on in the last few years, you may be in for a pay day. In principle, anyway—but more about that in a minute.

The federal government recently announced that homeowners who believe they were unfairly or illegally kicked out of their homes between 2009 and 2010 can now request an independent review of how the foreclosure process was handled. The announcement is part of a broader enforcement action taken against big banks last April by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. This all stems from the big “robo-signing” scandal, in which banks essentially played fast and loose with borrowers’ loan documents.

Specifically, when the housing market collapsed and foreclosures flooded the system, low-level bank employees with little to no knowledge of foreclosures were tasked with determining who was qualified to stay in their homes, leaving open the possibility that more than a few Americans were erroneously foreclosed on. The enforcement is aimed at 14 large mortgage servicers, including Bank of America, Chase, Citibank, GMAC Mortgage, HSBC Finance, Wachovia, Washington Mutual, and Wells Fargo.

To qualify for a review, homeowners must meet three conditions: 1. The loan was serviced by one of the aforementioned lenders (for a full list, see http://independentforeclosurereview.com/faq.aspx). 2. The mortgage loan was active in the foreclosure process between January 1, 2009, and December 31, 2010. 3. The property was a primary residence.

Examples of foreclosure situations that warrant a review include things like a higher mortgage balance at the time of foreclosure than what was actually owed, ignored requests by the homeowner for assistance/modification from the bank in question, inaccurately calculated and processed fees, and military service members who were foreclosed on while covered by the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. (Other types of “financial injury” can be found at the link above.)

Homeowners meeting these criteria will be mailed notification letters with an enclosed Request for Review form by the end of 2011. Once the form is filled out and returned, the case is reviewed by an “independent consultant,” which can take several months.
Sounds good, right? Very above-board.

Except here’s where the government’s enforcement action gets fuzzy—these “independent consultants” are actually hired by the banks, the very institutions that caused so many homeowners’ “financial injury” in the first place, which raises the potential for serious conflict of interest and bias. The government plays merely a supervisory role (sort of like the role the SEC played when the banks destroyed the U.S. economy in 2008, but we’re not bitter at all).

Snarkiness aside, the supervisory agencies remain maddeningly vague about what payouts and restitution aggrieved homeowners can expect if the review goes in their favor. There’s scant (read no) information about compensation—how home-owners will be compensated and how long it will take. There’s also the matter of receiving the Request for Review form in the first place since it’s the lender who sends them, not the government, which suggests banks have already determined which homeowners deserve to pursue claims.

All of this sounds like another example of the federal government bowing down to big banks. Yet distressed homeowners would be wise to take action regardless. If you don’t receive a notification letter saying that you’re eligible for a review, and you believe you have a case, request one by calling 1-888-952-9105 or visit www.independentforeclosurereview.com.
Only time will tell how this enforcement action will shake out, but right now, it seems a bit like “Don’t call us, we’ll call you.”—Jessie Knadler

The world has wheeled past the winter solstice and the holidays seem to recede even more quickly than they arrived. If the end of the calendar year is heralded by bells and marked with sparkly lights and indulgent foods, the beginning of the next is draped in darkness, muffled by cold, and pierced with remorse and heartburn.

Even if holiday menus revolve around local meat, dairy, and vegetable goodies, they tend to spin out of control in the Department of Drinks and Desserts. Who can say no to a chestnut biscotti dipped in Vin Santo? Or perhaps you’d prefer a black walnut meringue with your Champagne? So even seasonal eaters get the January blues, brought on by too much sugary food and drink and difficult to kick without an arsenal of fresh, healthy vegetables pulled from garden and market.

January is a wonderful time to reevaluate the sugar and the spice in your life. In nature, sweetness peaks in fruits and vegetables simultaneously with a spike in nutritional content and seed viability—so nature is begging us to pick up a piece of fruit, eat the flesh, and spit the seeds along our omnivorous way. Humans have developed as sweet-seeking missiles; just watch a child respond to a fingerful of sweet potato, a ripe peach…and then watch a splinter of a candy cane steal the show forever.

Sugar’s dirty secret: The more you eat, the more you want. Drop the sugar and, gradually, true flavor and honest taste will emerge from the sugar haze. (It’s true that there can be a rather unpleasant detox period, for sugar creates dependency just as drugs and alcohol do—let’s hope you aren’t too far gone!)

Tea is a great example of the muffling effect of sugar on flavor: Try brewing a cup each of green tea, black tea, white tea, and mint tea. Before sweetening them, smell each cup and take a small sip. The aromas offer an introduction to the flavors and qualities of each infusion, plus differing levels of astringency and plant oil content. A sip of each (without sweetener!) will build on the scent-sation and will cement a very distinct impression of each cup.

Now, sweeten each tea with white sugar to the point that the flavor becomes pleasantly sweet—and notice that the distinctive nature of each cup is muffled by the addition of sugar! Sugar has the same effect in foods, effectively making them more easily ingested but offering less of an impression. Remove the sugar and retrain your senses on the flavors other than sweet.

Sugar detox
If you want to take the plunge and see what the rest of the world tastes like, here’s a simple guide.

Know that fast foods and convenience foods are loaded with sugar. Just know that. White breads, breakfast foods, and conventional packaged items marketed to children are the most egregious examples of a screwed-up, skewed sweetener scale. Go for old-fashioned oatmeal, whole-wheat bread products, minimally sweetened cereals…or have eggs for breakfast!
On the liquid side, try a spicy ginger ale or a seltzer water cut with juice rather than soda—and rest assured that a visual representation of the sugar in soda would put you off it for good. Try sweetening your hot beverages with raw honey; it adds flavor and body to a beverage, and the natural sugars promote digestion.

Finally, indulge your sweet tooth after a healthful meal (not at snack time, not before bed, and certainly not first thing in the morning!).—Lisa Reeder

Our kitchen columnist, Lisa Reeder, is an educator and advocate for local and regional food production in Central Virginia. She received chef’s training in New York and currently works in Farm Services and Distribution at the Local Food Hub.

RECIPE FOR SUCCESS

Primer of sweets
Honey
Gentler on blood sugar than refined sugars; also contains enzymes that help digest carbohydrates. (Put it on your toast! Drizzle on your oatmeal!) Just think: By eating local honey, you are supporting all of the bees’ good work in orchards, fields, and gardens.

Molasses
A byproduct of refined sugar production. Some molasses contains many trace minerals and has a corresponding “deep mineral” flavor. Use it in marinades, mixed with syrup for breakfast foods, cooked in baked beans, or drizzled on greens such as collards.

Sorghum
Sorghum is a cereal grain that grows on a woody stalk (up to 15 feet tall!). Sorghum syrup is made in a manner similar to maple syrup, and has recently been cultivated, milled, and concentrated locally.

Maple syrup
Source matters. Try to find small-batch maple syrup that is made in the old-fashioned way (tapping trees, collecting sap, and boiling/evaporating it to a fraction of its original volume). The Highland County Maple Festival is worth the trip and occurs the second and third weekends in March (www.highlandcounty.org).

Stevia powder
The “e” is short, not long as in Steve. Stevia leaves are VERY sweet, and can be crushed or infused into a liquid for dilution. Radical Roots Community Farm grows and sells stevia—look for them at City Market or online at www.radicalrootsfarm.com.

(Collated from Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon and Mary G. Enig)

 Rachel and Shawn Gerber have been excitedly planning a Baby Gender Reveal Party for their third child, who is due in a few months. “This is for sure our last child,” Rachel said. “We wanted to do something different. I knew I wanted it to be more of a surprise.”

How does this kind of party work? “We took a sealed envelope [from the ultrasound tech] to the bakery, and they’re making a cake. It’s either going to be pink or blue icing in the middle! My family is Skyping in from Pennsylvania and Indiana. I think it will be really fun.”
When asked what’s in his mommy’s belly, their son Connor (3), who seems to have some inside information, exclaims, “A baby. A baby girl!”

The Gerbers’ 1,600-square-foot townhouse near Riverview Park can sometimes feel a bit tight on space with two young sons (Connor’s brother Owen is 5) and two busy parents. Welcoming a new baby into their home will require a little bit of rearranging and creative thinking.

“Our current setup is just challenging, period,” says Rachel. “We don’t have a basement and we just have this little storage thing out here…Then there’s the whole plethora-of-toys situation. I’m up to my ears in toys and books and the artwork that they bring home from preschool.” Her solution? “You’ve got to find systems.”

One organizational method that Rachel uses is accordion folders, one for Connor and one for Owen, that contain mementos and artwork with a section for each year of their lives. “Those things that I come across that I know I want to save, I know where to [put] it,” she explains. “I don’t worry about organizing it or keeping it in order—I just dump it in.”

Another tactic that the Gerbers employ is to go through things regularly—taking inventory, and figuring out what they can get rid of. “Every three months I feel like it’s purge mode. That’s part of living in small spaces: You just have to go through things periodically.”

Knowing what to get rid of with another baby on the way has its own set of challenges, especially when the gender remains a surprise (at least until the reveal party). “Logistically, just talk about all of the boy clothes. If I don’t have to haul those out of storage and I can just give them away, [it’s] so much easier to do that before the child comes!”

It’s a common dilemma for parents of young children: how to keep the stuff under control and still maintain a balance of quality time with your family.

Rachel smiles knowingly, with one hand on her pregnant belly, “I heard it once said, that trying to keep a house clean with small children is like trying to brush your teeth while eating an Oreo. It just never works.”

She continues, “You can’t expect perfection, it’s just a matter of keeping things in whatever your balance is. Laundry is always there, dishes are always there, and I just have to continue to remind myself that it’s a good thing because I have people to care for.”

You can read more about Rachel’s perspective on parenting and life in general on her blog: www.everything-belongs.com.—Christy Baker

MINI-STORAGE
Art file
What to do with your preschooler’s third finger-painting this week? Take a cue from the Gerber family and use this simple yet stylish legal case from Staples ($12.99) to keep artwork and keepsakes organized. With 19 sections, you’ll have space for dozens of art projects and plenty of birthday cards.—C.B.

GREEN EYE
Long-haul gardening
Gardeners, are you thinking beyond the simple tomato plot? Once again, the Blue Ridge Permaculture Network will offer a permaculture design course this spring. Over four weekends starting January 13, learn how to think deeper about plants, houses, and even human communities as you create systems that work with the natural rhythms of the earth to promote true sustainability. Everything from renewable energy to medicinal plants to watershed restoration falls under the permaculture umbrella, which can help you improve your own home as well as your neighborhood.

The course is 72 hours total, and it’ll be taught by permaculture experts like Dave Jacke, Christine Gyovai and others. It takes place at Montfair on January 13-16, January 27-29, February 18-20, and March 3-4. Cost is on a sliding scale from $995 to $1,200. To register, see blueridgepermaculture.net, or contact Terry Lilley at tygerlilley@gmail.com or 296-3963.
If you’re interested but not ready to commit to the entire course, there’s a permaculture potluck on January 14 at 6pm, followed by a presentation by Dave Jacke at 7:30. See the website above for details.—Erika Howsare

BY THE NUMBERS
44

That’s the number of acres of forest Virginia’s losing each day, according to the state Department of Forestry. Sprawl and development are partly to blame, but so are insects like the gypsy moth and ash borer. To fight them, residents should watch out for diseased trees (brown tops, missing bark, holes in leaves or trunks) and call a professional if they spot problems.

Source: wamu.org

EVER HEARD OF…?
Better than baggies

The green-minded dog owner—especially one who lives in town and has to curb her pet—might wonder if there’s a more eco-friendly way to dispose of pooch poop than throwing it, enclosed in plastic, into the garbage. Yup: It’s called the Tumbleweed Pet Poo Converter.

If you’re familiar with the concept of a worm farm (fancy term: vermiculture), you’ll recognize the basic idea. The converter is a plastic container made of stacking layers, filled with bedding such as shredded newspaper or coco fiber. The worms live, breed and eat in the top layer, while their waste drains into the bottom. That waste makes a fertilizer that’s extremely valuable to gardeners.

So, essentially, you feed the poop to the worms, who look at it as food (how’s that for a good attitude?) and turn it into something you can actually use. Waste from cats and other pets can go in, too. One caution, though: If you’re already raising worms on kitchen scraps, don’t add pet waste to the mix. It contains pathogens that need to be digested by exclusively manure-fed worms.

The converter is easy to maintain, is said to be odorless, and costs $120 through Fifth Season Gardening.—E.H.

TIPS FROM BETTER WORLD BETTY
Pantry raid
Take a moment and consider how much coffee, chocolate, and flour you go through every week. Unfortunately, from farm to cup and bean to bar, chocolate and coffee (along with other staples) both involve an intense process to reach our mouths. This new year, green-raid your pantry and replace accordingly!

Coffee
Fair-trade, shade-grown, organic. It’s hard to keep track, and it’s about to get harder with the recent split between certifying organizations Fair Trade USA and Fairtrade International. For now, these labels are the best way to protect against land loss, help smaller producers have access to resources, promote sustainable practices, and ensure a fair wage. Significant acreage of rainforest is lost every year due to cheap, monoculturally-grown coffee. Bird- and forest-lovers (isn’t that all of us?), look for the Smithsonian Bird-Friendly and Rainforest Alliance labels. The good news: Locally roasted coffee is readily available.

Chocolate
Again, fair-trade organic chocolate is best. Divine Chocolate is 45 percent owned by the Ghanaian farmers who supply its cocoa beans.

Sugar
I recommend agave nectar, honey, stevia, or organic varieties like Florida Crystals. 

Flour
Virginia has its own mill: Wade’s Mill, sold at local markets!

Tea and spice
The same designations are important here. What better time to make the switch? The new Spice Diva at Main Street Market is offering a 30 percent discount to folks who bring in their spices to exchange.

Want to know more about specific brands or other food producers? I love these two websites: www.localharvest.org and www.greenamerica.org. Find local sources of sustainably grown food in your area along with green brands and companies.

Check out Better World Betty’s green living resource list at betterworldbetty.org and blog at http://cvillebetty.blogspot.com.

GARDEN GREEN
Winter work
Each season gives us a chance to catch the cycle of growth at another revolution and place ourselves safely in nature’s orbit. Climate change notwithstanding, we’re not a jungle yet. Plants still go dormant and most of our vegetation succumbs to colder temperatures. Take advantage of this dormant time to assess the garden’s structure, from the ground to the skyline. Here in the hollow our winter work is laying out paths in the vegetable garden and limbing up a few larger trees.

Since we erected the deer fence a few years ago, our vegetable garden has consisted of two 16’x 24’ squares bisected by a gravel path. Without interior footpaths, however, soil was needlessly trampled. The solution is to lay down permanent paths with cardboard. Ideally, it would be topped with shredded hardwood mulch, but straw and pine tags are what’s on hand, so we’ll start with that, though I’m afraid it might be too slick. With three paths in each square, running at right angles off the central walk, planted rows can be tended from either side, allowing the soil to build up into natural raised beds as repeated foot traffic gradually sinks the paths.

If you followed last month’s admonitions, your saw blades are clean and sharp and it’s time to contemplate some judicious pruning. Have a reason for every cut and you’ll not go wrong. I’ve been walking around our old ash since summer deciding which branches to remove to raise the canopy for easier tractor access and to open up the view to the east meadow. It’ll amount to three well-considered cuts.

Trees are often disfigured in the mistaken belief that they all should have their lower branches removed as a matter of course. As any knock-kneed naked holly or leaf-littered Southern magnolia will testifiy, this is not the right approach. Not all trees have the shade tree habit, naturally growing into a single trunk supporting a crown beneath which we can disport ourselves upon a grassy sward.

The red maple has a rounded shape; Japanese zelkova is upright like a vase; and willow oak has a massive horizontal branching structure (see the ones in Jackson Square by the old courthouse). All are fine shade trees, though each has a different outline against the sky. Often we can encourage natural habits with a few important cuts—removing lower branches as the tree ages, or thinning crowded branches on a young sapling.

Other trees, however, are best left with their skirts down, as privacy screens. Pin oaks and beeches have typically drooping lower branches; when they’re removed, the next tier will also grow downward. There’s nothing denser than a screen of twiggy oaks. They hold their handsome brown leaves through winter, making a bold contrast with dark green hollies and American boxwood.

Save Thursday, February 16 for the 29th annual PLA Seminar (www.piedmontlandscape.org), at The Paramount Theater. Speakers include the Smithsonian Institute’s white tail deer specialist and the curator of the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens.—Cathy Clary

Cathy Clary is a gardening teacher and consultant; she tends ornamental beds and a kitchen and cutting garden at home in a hollow south of Charlottesville. Read more about her at hollowgarden.com, and e-mail her with questions at garden@c-ville.com.
 

Begin again
I was recently asked to provide some advice for young alumni in 2012. In addition to the usual “manage your finances responsibly” piece, I told them that each New Year yields an opportunity for growth and change. January is a time when we head back to work, the holiday buzz wears off, the lights dim, and the credit card bills are neither merry, nor bright. In addition to my annual vow to lose 30 pounds, I like to start fresh at home. As the holiday decorations come down, the New Year is a perfect opportunity to do a low-budget spruce-up for your old home in the New Year.

Color me happy: There’s a reason they call it the bleak midwinter. In a vast sea of grey, white, and dead, it’s no wonder we crave color. Bringing some new color into your abode is a surefire, simple way to add positive energy and a feeling of renewal to your space. If you’re lucky enough to be able to paint, go for it. Add a deep red to your bedroom for passion, or if you’re all set in that department, go for a cooling blue. With paint, the possibilities are endless.

If your lease requires you to return the space to the original color, go for lighter, softer tones in your paint selection; they’ll be much easier to paint over. If a paintbrush isn’t in the cards, you can still splash color on the walls. Try hanging pieces of wallpaper on poster hangers. Frame colorful scarves and fabrics for a graphic art piece. Hang drapery panels from a hospital track to mask a dull wall.

Swap meet: I’m always inspired by the holidays—the one time of year we put away our everyday things to make room for special, seasonal items. Adopt this principle year-round. Think of your home as a rotating gallery. Keep your furniture as anchor pieces holding the scheme together, but swap out your accessories. Purchase some new, inexpensive pillows or pillow covers to revive a tired sofa. Browse Artifacts or Quince for some fun new accessories to adorn your tabletops. I even like to swap out photos. On the fridge or on the wall, you can continually honor the past but incorporate new, happy memories in a matter of minutes.
Organized chaos: As always, the New Year is a prime time to get organized. I like to think of fun and aesthetically pleasing ways to stay organized. Organize that junk drawer: Place your spools of string or twine in sugar shakers, threading the loose end through the spout to stay untangled and ready to use.

Now that the holiday cookies are all eaten, try a dessert stand for all of your daily items (eyeglasses, keys, watch, etc.). Even out in the open, everything can have its place.
If you really want to stay organized, steal a trick we use backstage in the theater for props. Line a drawer with brown butcher paper. Lay out the items that will be housed in the drawer. Using a black Sharpie, trace each item, providing it a designated spot. Store seasonal items, recycle old magazines and get rid of clutter that weighs you down.—Ed Warwick

Before joining the ABODE team, Ed Warwick was the author of “Simply Cville,” a blog about D.I.Y. design, entertaining, and home improvement projects. A UVA grad, Ed currently works as the Coordinator of LGBT Student Services under the University’s Dean of Students.

TOOLBOX
The keepers
If you’re purging stuff in the New Year, you might wonder: When it comes to your home tool kit, how does one determine what stays and what goes?

First off, tools are not like clothes hanging in your closet. Even if you haven’t used them in a year, it doesn’t mean that you should toss those wire cutters. There’s nothing quite as frustrating as finally needing a tool, only to realize that you took it to Goodwill six months ago along with last year’s bubble skirt.

Here’s my list of must-have tools in your home tool kit:
Cordless drill with set of quality bits (including at least two Phillips head bits, in case one gets stripped) and an extra battery
Utility knife with extra blades
At least two quality, drop-forged flat-
head and Phillips head screwdrivers
Small screwdriver set for itty bitty screws and bolts
Wood glue
5-minute two-part epoxy adhesive
Roll of blue painters’ tape
Roll of gaffers’ tape
Needle nose pliers
Adjustable wrench
Hammer
Rubber mallet
5-in-one painters’ tool (scrapes, opens, seals, etc.)
Various screws and anchors
Jar or box o’nails and wire brads
Sandpaper or sanding block with grits: 60, 100, 150, 220
Safety glasses and gloves
Locking pliers/vise grips
Rubbing alcohol
3-in-1 oil
L square
Level
Small metal file
At least two clamps (one-handed “Quick Clamps” are my fave)
Sharpie and pencil
Measuring tape
Wire cutters
Oh yes, and a toolbox, bucket or bin to put all this stuff in.—Christy Baker

Christy Baker is a local Jane-of-all-trades. Whether it’s fixing furniture, building a chicken coop or maintaining her roller skates, this creative mom of two always keeps a toolbox (or at least some duct tape) handy.