Author: c-ville-abode

What it comes down to is marriage.

That includes the kind with rings and honeymoons. When Sara Dexter and Koli Cutler exchanged vows last May, the newlyweds chose to nix the limo and reception hall, instead leading their wedding party on an exuberant march from the steps of the Woolen Mills chapel down the road to their home. There, they had thrown open the doors of the bottom floor towards the River’s Edge common garden, where they held the reception on that long strip of open grass, lit by chandeliers and starlight.

Angled 15 degrees off true south, the front façade of Sara Dexter and Koli Cutler’s house avoids sun from the west while optimizing southern exposure. Deliberate positioning plus low-E glazing on the windows, designed to moderate heat and light flow into the house, make for a heat-efficient, solar savvy design.

“That’s why we bought the house,” Dexter jokes. Who could blame them? It’s easy to get caught up in the romance of the idea: bringing together the people you love under a roof that you love, all in one rollicking celebration. Their home, a lean, gray, three-floor structure, more skyscraper than picket-fenced cottage, is itself a union of sorts: the intersection of Dexter and Cutler’s lives as their first home together, but also the meeting place of form and function—the practical needs and realities of everyday life blended with modern eco-friendly innovations.

Many see green building as an exercise in restraint, yet Dexter and Cutler’s home, designed by Allison Ewing of Hays+Ewing Design Studio, addresses the “For me, or for Earth?” question by asking, Why not both? Throughout the house, there are touches of both conscious green economies and of personalization; there is no sense of sacrifice or thrift. Sitting at the crossroads of green building and everyday living, within a mixed neighborhood of architecture both notable and humble, the house boasts a design that marries beauty, function, and sustainability.

River’s reclamation

Born in the spirit of preservation, the River’s Edge project, encompassing 10 lots and a central green space along the Rivanna River, is the baby of the Rivanna Collaborative, a design team including Ewing, her husband Chris Hays, and three other partners (see box, page 21). When they noticed the prime location of the plot, they quickly plucked up the land for safekeeping. “We worried that someone would do something we wouldn’t like there,” says Ewing, conjuring a fear of vinyl-sided townhomes on this site across the street from her own home. “So we became our own developers.”

Blue stove, tailored cabinets, and a tiled backsplash that refracts and dazzles: custom kitchen details make cooking comfortable and personal.

Location also attracted Dexter and Cutler to River’s Edge. Buying the house in its skeletal stage, the couple was knee-deep in the last months of both construction and engagement, looking for ways to fit their lives—and accumulated stuff—together. It had been a stroke of luck that brought Dexter to River’s Edge. “One day I was running past the community and I looked up at the [River’s Edge] sign,” she says. With its proximity to Downtown and modern design, the spot had definite appeal. “I thought, why not give it a shot?”

Originally considering the lot next door, Dexter had her doubts when shown the house that would ultimately become home. “I saw the house and thought, O.K., that’s tall and kind of odd looking,” she says. However, after she was through the front door, she quickly changed her mind. “Once you’re inside, you get what it’s all about,” she says with obvious affection.

It’s true—as strange as the house appears from a distance, looking out from the raised first floor, you can see from horizon to horizon. There’s a treehouse feeling here, speaking of a playfulness and creativity in design while simultaneously serving a practical purpose: to raise the house off the flood plain, per building specifications. Despite its modest 2,000-square-foot floor plan, the house feels spacious—more than that, Dexter says, it feels comfortable.

Inside looking out

Nine-foot ceilings and a long, open plan capped by windows open up the first floor to light and movement.

Comfort was one of the main qualities the developers wanted to bring to life inside this house—without sacrificing greenness, and with an eye on the bigger picture. Ewing focused on community-level design, thinking “in terms of the physical and emotional well-being of homeowners” and using low-emissions building materials and practices. Beyond that, the Rivanna Collaborative also sought “to explore sustainability on a larger scale”—in, for example, Ewing and Hays’ arrangement of community spaces that promote meeting and mingling. The group was looking not only to nurture the earth—including this sensitive riparian site—but to create spaces that encourage homeowners to look outward.

Though the shared garden is right now the only visible evidence of this plan, community feeling also manifests itself in the planning of each home. Walking along the first floor, Cutler points out that each window frames trees; one was designed with a desk in mind, while another sits, like a painted landscape, on a dining room shelf. Running floor to ceiling and bookending both the north and south faces of the house, first-floor windows allow for a long sightline that expands the space beyond its square footage.

For Dexter, this conscious placement of glass has brought the community inside—especially regular users of Riverview Park, some of whom wave as they run past. 

Tight ship

Beyond this friendly aesthetic, the home’s green aspects create comfort as well as savings. Take the windows: Their arrangement, along with the angling of the house, deliberately maximizes thermal efficiency, capturing sunlight in the winter but avoiding direct exposure in high summer. Using solar orientation, and innovative building practices like spray foam insulation and structurally insulated panels (SIPs)—Ewing and Hays’ design sought to tighten the house’s “thermal envelope” and prevent costly heat leakage for more efficient temperature control—an estimated 40 percent cost reduction.

“We were interested in a modernism that grow out of an approach to sustainability,” says Ewing. “If there’s something there, there should be a reason for it.”

For Dexter and Cutler, who weren’t green enthusiasts from the start, these innovations translate to reassurance in a time of increasingly tight wallets. “Overall, the energy efficiency feels directly related with comfort,” Dexter says. “My hands and feet are always cold, so I love feeling comfortable turning up the temperature.” Other innovations include a rain chain and barrel for water savings as well as solar panels and an angled pop-out to accommodate the stairs.

While these design quirks translate to a number of different savings—water, cash, and space—they also speak to the opportunities that have recently become available to owners within the realm of green design and customization. Green-minded buyers have more than a handful of options in the current market, and many of them don’t mean living like an eco-minded monk or dolling out enormous sums of cash.
 
For Dexter and Cutler, this version of green living includes waking up to leafy views on summer mornings, deck-top barbecues, and finding room between windows for their favorite paintings—it has become such a part of the fabric of their lives that it is inseparable from the house’s other aspects and their own story. As such, the house is more than a sum of its green efficiencies, but a place of meaningful overlap—a shared space for family and community, for interiors and exteriors—a place for tying knots.—Lucy Zhou

Harmony garden

It’s been three years since Marlene Condon, who lives in Albemarle, published her book Nature-Friendly Garden, but her wisdom only gets more relevant with time. If your urge to dig in the dirt is waking up with these longer, warmer days, but you’re not too thrilled about fighting off aphids and groundhogs, heed Condon’s advice: Drop the battle metaphor, work with nature instead of resisting it, and your garden will be healthier and more satisfying.

Example? Slugs and snails, says Condon, do not deserve to be trapped or poisoned. They actually help fertilize the garden by breaking down organic matter. If they’re eating your plants, she explains, it’s because they’re too numerous and a bit desperate for food. One solution is to make sure you have some moss in your yard. Lightning bugs will lay their eggs there, and when the larvae hatch, they’ll prey on the slugs and snails, controlling their numbers without any suspicious chemicals.

Besides gardening (and observing everything from woodpeckers to grey foxes in her yard), Condon teaches classes on gardening and wildlife at PVCC. Check out her book—an earth-friendly favorite for spring.—Erika Howsare

Share your food

It’ll be a little while until the local-produce season is back in full swing, but it’s not too early to join a CSA. Some farms are already signing up members—for starters, check out Appalachia Star, Roundabout and Ploughshares, and open up the Buy Fresh/Buy Local guide for a longer list of local CSAs.

One way to support local ag: Join a CSA. Here, the folks at Appalachia Star work their fields.

Still wondering what a CSA is? Briefly, it’s a subscription-based farm, to which you pay a lump sum at the beginning of the season. As long as there’s something growing (usually May to October), you’ll get a bag of veggies every week. Sometimes there are flowers, eggs or honey, too. And though your share may have you drowning in beets for a week or two, in general it’ll be a fun way to eat locally and seasonally. (Don’t worry: You can still brave the hoardes at the farmer’s market if you want to.)

According to a recent Daily Progress story, Albemarle’s lost 8 percent of its farmland over the last five years. Meanwhile, a Local Food Hub project, which would establish a centralized spot where farmers can store, process and distribute their stuff, took a blow from the county supes. The upshot? The people who bring us our food could use our support. Find a CSA list at pecva.org.—E.H.

Accidental preservation

Biscuit Run will stay green a bit longer than planned.

Some green-minded folks were not too disappointed to hear that because of the bum economy, Biscuit Run, the 3,100-unit housing development planned for Old Lynchburg Road, is going to hang out on the drawing board longer than expected.

Biscuit Run, probably on account of its sheer size, inspired plenty of outcry when it was going through the approval process back in 2007. Though the project’s 1,400 acres are seen as a prime spot for development, given their proximity to Charlottesville, opponents had argued against it on grounds of traffic, open space and car-centric planning.

A post about Biscuit Run on C-VILLE’s Green Scene blog drew comments like this one from “Rich”: “This is a beautiful and historic area, (there are civil war era ruins and graveyards on this land), and it should be perserved for generations to enjoy, not developed. Let’s hear it for silver linings!” While the project hasn’t been killed by any means, it’s interesting to think that the construction hiatus provides a window for renewed discussion.—E.H.

Recycling’s finer points

Some of us do-gooders can take recycling to the extreme—disregarding the numbers on plastic, leaving plastic pour spouts on paper milk cartons, or trying to recycle bottles which may contain hazardous waste. But such things could contaminate an entire bale of plastics ready for market. Here’s the 411 from Betty. 

First, if the container is labeled “danger” or “caution,” use extra care when disposing. Empty motor oil bottles, lawn and garden containers, and antifreeze are not allowed for recycling because of potential contamination issues. Save these for “Household Hazardous Waste Day” (check betterworldbetty.org/events.html for spring dates). 

Second, use common sense when cleaning empty peanut butter or mayonnaise containers, reports Bruce Edmonds, Rivanna Solid Waste Authority’s Recycling Coordinator. Namely, don’t use excessive amounts of water for cleaning, but enough to deter insects. 

Empty bleach bottles (1s or 2s) are recyclable.

Unused prescription drugs should be thrown in the trash or sealed in a bag with undesirables (orange peels, coffee grounds) according to the EPA.  About a dozen are O.K. to flush (check the list: epa.gov). Unfortunately, Charlottesville does not (yet) have a pharmaceutical take-back program. Recycle the leftover pill bottle (numbers 1 and 2) normally.

Empty aerosol cans (hairspray, bathroom cleaners), which are steel, are recyclable, unless they still contain chemicals or paint. The spring “Household Hazardous Waste Day” is your best bet for those. 

Finally, items containing mercury—old thermometers or CFLs—are accepted at the McIntire facility.—Betty World Betty

 

 

Does plane trip = tree? Offset your long trips by contributing a carbon-reducer.

Dee tree, boss!

We’d like to think that our growing eco-conscience won’t prevent us from ever again seeing our friends in other states. And while it’s true that flying on a plane contributes to carbon emissions—2.8 tons per passenger on a round-trip flight from Richmond to Los Angeles—you can attempt to offset the damage by planting a tree. Two ways to fly the greener skies:

—Buy a young fruit tree at Edible Landscaping (361-9134) and give it a home in your backyard, for delicious, local carbon reduction.

—Have a tree planted on your behalf through friendsoftrees.org or arborday.org.—E.H.

Ready, set, grow

If April showers bring May flowers, March is the time to get prepared for all that growing. Repotting your plants before the onset of spring gives them a fresh start and encourages more vigorous growth; however, uprooting is undoubtedly traumatic for even the most patient of plants. To make the ordeal easier for your leafy friends, mind these repotting essentials:

1. First, ask yourself if it’s absolutely necessary to relocate. The whole point is to improve drainage conditions. Plants that are too big for their britches, sitting in puddles, or going quickly Sahara-dry are good candidates for a new pot, since these are red-light indicators that Sprout isn’t getting the best of his H2O.

2. If changing pots is unavoidable, pick a pot that is one size larger than the previous—about one to two inches wider and deeper—to give roots just enough room to sprawl. Drainage holes are essential, since leaving roots in standing water can quickly kill the plant.

3. Remember, all soils are NOT made equal—while plants with fleshy roots go for coarser soil (think chunkier Perlite or lava rock), others like finer, soilless mixes that are better at holding water for more delicate roots.

4. Be gentle but firm when coaxing plants of the pot. Tease out and loosen up the roots—don’t be afraid to cut off any large coils up to an inch—before potting on top of a few inches of new potting mix, and patting down as you fill in around it.

5. Post-transfer care means giving your plant a good long drink and keeping it away from direct sunlight during recovery. If all goes well, it’ll bounce back bigger and badder.—Lucy Zhou

Basic blue and white

More than an ode to dichromatic decorating, Carolyne Roehm’s A Passion for Blue & White is escapism at its best. Flip through and indulge in a world of old-fashioned elegance, full of frills, flourishes, embroidery, and antique china, with demure corner captions and plenty of cursive script. Certainly not for the nouveau riche.—L.Z.

 

 

 

 

Diamond storage

“Whimsy” can sometimes stray into “gimmick,” but not in this case. We think this sideboard has what it takes to be a member of your furniture family for a long time to come. It’ll perk up a staid dining or living room nicely. We spotted it at Kane Furniture.

 

 

 

 

 

Framing the question

Laura Roseberry, owner of Roseberries Graphic Design Associates, went looking in local stores for notable photo frames, and found these three options. As for the photos, that’s up to you.

 

 

Distressed-finish frame from O’Suzannah
“I have become most grateful for yellow this winter and this reminds me of summers on the porch,” says Laura. We love the way this one could swing shabby-chic or be at home in a modern setting.

 

 

 

 

 

Round cutout frame from Andrea Wynne Fine Furnishings
“This is sweet and has a cool tactile element as well,” Laura says. Though we’d relish the challenge of choosing an image for the circular frame, we think it might also look great framing a small mirror.

 

 

 

 

Silver frame from Signet Gallery
Emanating a kind of graceful luxury, this one has sentimental appeal for Laura: “This reminds me of the frame my mother had on her dresser which held a lovely portrait of my grandmother,” she says.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bye-bye, Bambi

Faithful readers will remember that we’ve been constructing a cedar post deer fence over the course of the last few months. The vegetable plot (24′ x 36′) thus enclosed is also the main entry to the larger garden beyond—a magnificent beech dominating a handful of shrubberies and island beds underplanted with aggressive perennials and various ornamental weeds.

Ornamental grasses should be cut to the ground this time of year. New growth will appear from the crown of the plant.

Therefore, we elected to erect a custom-made structure with two gates (ah, the gates, the sorest trial of all) rather than just throw up some 2×4"s and string electric wire or plastic netting—all of which would keep out the deer, but would spoil the whole effect and give rather a ramshackle air to this prominent part of the garden.

That was the rationale at the time. Tallying up receipts for construction (final price tag published next month) and the first seed/plant order, while contemplating the purchase of straw bales, a soil thermometer and a few flats of globe amaranth to line the central path, I’m beginning to wonder if this project will ever be economically efficient.

MARCH IN THE GARDEN • Sow poppies and larkspur • Cut last of the grasses • Look for dogwood sale

The ideal is a “closed-gate” operation where everything is recycled and nothing brought in. My fear is that I’m living an illusion that will lead to dependence on commercial consumption of horticultural products. If I want to produce my own compost to use as mulch instead of buying straw bales each year, should I buy a chipper or shredder to help compost faster? Where will it end?

The lower strip of galvanized wire is buried 6" to deter rabbits. After final contouring, I’ll sow poppy and larkspur seeds on the bare soil for a quick annual show this spring. The old garlic chive hedge uprooted during construction will be transplanted to the edges and the annuals allowed to go to seed for next year.

As soon as the ground can be worked, I’ll plant Jerusalem artichokes, bought as edible “sun chokes” at $3.99 a pound from C’ville Market, and sow early greens. Asparagus crowns should be available at garden centers by mid-month. All we await are the gates.

This is the time to cut the last of the ornamental grasses. Some of them stand up to winter better than others. Northern sea oats (Chasmanthium latifolium), an aggressive seeder, is lovely to the end, but many a Miscanthus is bedraggled by now. All should be cut to the ground. Don’t leave 3′ of old dry stems, as I’ve seen around town; it’s not coming back from the dead stuff.

Rather, new growth will appear from the crown of the plant. Use shears or trimmers on large grasses, not neglecting to protect your eyes. Smaller ones can be cut with hand clippers. Plan your bulb order for next fall so you have something to look at next year in between the grass clumps. Or sow poppies and larkspur.

Preen Freak Alert: If you do not know what this means, please skip this paragraph and count yourself among the innocent. Those of you who know who you are, for God’s sake eschew this chemical pre-emergent and think of the watershed instead. Use hand-weeding, layering of newspaper and other organics with judicious mulch instead of poisoning the soil and water for your own ease.

The Charlottesville Dogwood Festival raises funds by selling well priced high quality balled and burlapped dogwoods ranging from 3′ to 6′. These small trees establish quickly and help propagate our iconic native. March 13 is the deadline for pre-orders. Sale takes place March 27. Contact treesale@charlottesvilledogwoodfestival.org or 961-9824.—Cathy Clary

Everything but the squeak

Heritage breed pork has entered the limelight in the last 10 years.

“You take that hog, I’m as good as dead!” screamed Natalie Portman’s character Sara in the film Cold Mountain. She knew that every part of that animal could and would be used for sustenance and homesteading. From the inches of snow-white fat (rendered into lard for cooking and baking) to the fresh meat (like chops, loin, and ribs) to the cured pieces (bacon, Virginia ham, and salt pork) to the bits of trim and fat that become sausage and salami, the homely pig provides provender aplenty. 

PORK CHOPS WITH APPLE-HORSERADISH SAUCE Hamiltons’ recipe serves 10, so cut it down if it’s just you and the chickens. Pork chops 10 pork chops 2 tsp. thyme 2 tsp. minced garlic 1 Tbs. sugar 2 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil salt & pepper to taste Marinate chops in thyme, garlic, sugar, oil, salt and pepper at least two hours. Grill or pan roast. Apple-horseradish sauce 4 local apples, peeled, cored and halved 1 cup white wine 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice 3-5 Tbs. grated fresh horseradish 1/2-1 cup mayonnaise (Hamiltons’ uses homemade) Poach apples in wine and lemon juice (be sure apples are covered with liquid in sauce pan). Once soft, let them cool, then puree and strain. Mix with horseradish and mayo. Serve cold; season to taste.

In the past 10 years, the commercial pork supply has been bred leaner and higher in protein, but quality of life and feed variety have been sacrificed to deliver “the other white meat” to the table. In the same span of time, “heritage breed” pork has grown in popularity. Locally, farmers and artisans keep pigs with such exotic names as Berkshire, Tamworth, and Ossabaw for their superior heartiness and meat quality. While these piggies may take longer to mature, and therefore cost more per pound, their divine swine flavor will get you through the winter. Local pork is available at The Organic Butcher (theorganicbutcher.com, 244-7400), and starting in April, at City Market.—Lisa Reeder

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The handbook

Rarely does a book qualify as “equipment” in the kitchen, but the combination of photographs, technique, and recipes in Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s Meat equips any cook to tackle larger cuts of meat, as well as game and fowl. In addition to its cooking direction, Meat also offers a guided tour of animal husbandry in Fearnley-Whittingstall’s corner of England; he makes simple and sublime the connection between the farm and the plate. 

In our corner of the world, this single tome serves as admission to the wide world of meat that is grown and available locally. (Meat is available at The Organic Butcher, as well as at bookstores and online).—L.R.

Say the word “foreclosure property” to a prospective homebuyer, and watch her eyes light up as if Apple just announced 75 percent off the iPhone.

The deals are out there, even in a place like Charlottesville where foreclosure rates are actually very low relative to the rest of the country (though they’re expected to rise). But like any killer sale, this type of transaction is not for the faint of heart.

A little insight into how foreclosures work: Once a homeowner defaults on his/her mortgage, roughly 60 to 90 days pass before the lender auctions off the property. At auction, “the lender is only interested in selling the home for what’s still owed on it,” explains Janine Williams, vice president of marketing at UVA Community Credit Union, which hosted two packed foreclosure seminars this winter. So if the house was bought for $400,000 and only $150,000 is owed on it—that’s an incredible deal.

Unfortunately, those dream scenarios are few and far between because the majority of homeowners currently defaulting on their loans have scant equity. At most foreclosure auctions, expect to pay 10 to 20 percent less than the market price. A deal, yes—but not a screaming one.

Another major hurdle: At auction, financing isn’t allowed. “You have to have cash in hand and be ready to put at least 10 percent down,” says Williams. Also, you’re expected to buy the house sight unseen (which is never recommended, says Williams), nor are you allowed to get title insurance. So if the house has a $50,000 lien on it, you have to pay it off.

This is why it’s a good idea to find homes in the pre-foreclosure stage—the time between when the Notice of Default is sent and the day of the auction. Scouring the paper for upcoming foreclosure sales is a good way to start. There are also websites like RealtyTrac.com, Foreclosure.com and Foreclosures.com that allow you to access their database of properties for a monthly (sometimes hefty) subscription fee.

Once you find a property you like, go to the home yourself and try to talk to the owners; ask about liens and whether you can bring over an inspector so that at the auction, you know what you’re bidding on. Who knows? You might get lucky. But be forewarned: There’s no guarantee the homeowner will want to talk to you, especially if you’ve got nothing to offer, and some houses will contain renters, not owners. Some seasoned investors try to buy the defaulted property from the homeowner directly by offering them more than they owe on the house, but still less than the current market value. But even for the pros, this scenario can be risky since the buyer has very little time to get all the financing in order and close on the house before auction.

For the non-seasoned investor, the easiest and least risky way to buy a foreclosed home is when it becomes a real estate owned property (REO). In other words, if no one buys the house at auction, the bank takes ownership of it and puts it up for sale through a real-estate broker. In normal, non-recessionary times, REOs are not likely to save buyers any real money since the bank will usually list the property at or close to market price.

But given that there are so many foreclosure properties on the market right now, banks may be more willing to negotiate on price. That’s why it’s advisable to work with a broker who has experience in this area. For a list of REO brokers and agents in and around Charlottesville, go to reonetwork.com.

UVA Community Credit Union’s next foreclosure seminar will happen in March; call 964-2001 or visit uvacreditunion.org.—Jessie Knadler

When we bought our house, the steps to the front porch were a crumbling monolith of concrete. We didn’t want to keep them, but removing them would have been insanely difficult, so instead we decided to build new wooden steps right over the concrete.
 

This project was a family affair, and also a big math problem. It was easy to total up the lumber we’d need to buy. The hard part was marking our cuts into the 2×12′ planks that would form the staircase’s stringers. But once that was done, it got easy again. My husband started the cuts with the circular saw and his sister finished them with the handsaw. Meanwhile, my brother was gleefully sledgehammering the front edges of the old steps to make sure the new ones would fit.

We screwed the stringers to the porch at the top, and at the bottom, into 4×4" posts. Now we could add the risers, screwing them into the stringers. Next, another hard part: We had to figure out how to support the treads in the center, so they wouldn’t sag. The winning idea was blocking made from 2×4"s, set into mounds of concrete so as to be level with the risers. My father-in-law mixed up the concrete in our wheelbarrow and the rest of us made an assembly line of it, setting the blocks and screwing them to the risers.

Now it was time to add the treads! This truly was a cakewalk. We got out our best power drill and screwed those puppies right in, then toasted our hard work.

As for the railings, that’s a whole different story.—Spackled Egg

 

The fruits and the bees

February and March look like great months for those of you who like raising food in all its forms. First of all, there’s a beekeeping course through the Central Virginia Beekeepers Association, February 5, 12, 19 and 26, from 7-9pm. You pay $25 for lots of apicultural wisdom, plus a chance to win your own bee colony! Call 296-5844.

Then there are three days of fruit-tree-growing info from Vintage Virginia Apples: February 14, 21 and 28. You’ll learn planning, planting, pruning and grafting. Sign up separately for each day ($25 or $85) at vintagevirginiaapples.com.

And mark your calendars for a March 14 mushroom-growing workshop at Sharondale Farm, including what’s called “a bag of spawn” to start your own ’shroom garden. It’s $55; call 296-3301. Then, start planning a homegrown, home-cooked meal: mushroom omelets, accompanied by sliced apples and biscuits topped with honey from your hive.—Erika Howsare

Hunt, gather and heat

The woods are lovely, dark and deep—and full of fuel for your stove.

For all you misers donning parkas and double-layering socks to avoid cranking up the thermostat: How about heating that igloo for 20 bucks a year? If you’ve got a wood-burning heater, flatbed truck, and a set of sturdy shoulders, George Washington and Jefferson National Forests sell fuel-wood-gathering permits, good for six cords of wood—anywhere from 12 to 24 loads, depending on your truck’s carrying capacity. 

By selling hundreds of permits every year, the National Forests are able to get rid of dead and downed wood to help clear the way for new growth. It’s nice to know your fuel is coming from already-downed trees; plus, as all you woodstove-and-boiler types will agree, it’s one helluva bargain. Going for $20 a pop, the permits give would-be wood-gatherers access to most of the park, excluding those marked for recreation, timber sales, or designated Wilderness areas. Further guidelines are available on the GW National Forest website.—Lucy Zhou

 

 

Bundle me up, Spotty

Dogs aren’t polar bears, y’know! They’ll stay warmer with your worn-out blankets.

Come frosty February, everyone ought to have a little somethin’-somethin’ to snuggle up with—even if you’re already covered in fur. Animal shelters like the Charlottesville Albemarle SPCA ask for blanket donations during the blustery months to help combat cold paws and winter woes.

Past drives have been wildly successful, with over 630 donations. If you have blankets too worn for human use, consider sending them to your local shelter instead of the landfill. Gently and lovingly used, please, and the snugglier, the better—see caspca.org for the deets and a list of other donatables.—L.Z.

 

 

 

 

 

How does Betty recycle?

This month I want to share some personal home strategies for recycling. Without an efficient and easy system in place, you may be tempted to “just toss it.” A better answer is to responsibly reallocate all the stuff we humans accumulate daily and thus close the loop.
 
Reyclables
I confess it took me over a year to figure out a decent home recycling strategy when I moved to Albemarle (unless you call piling the recyclables like an artist’s depiction of the Eiffel tower a strategy). Now I have six sturdy, space-saving, stackable plastic bins. Fortunately, we have a garage; but you really only need the width of one bin, 24", and a high ceiling. If you are feeling extra Betty-like, you could take your bins to swim meets or any event where recycling isn’t currently offered. We’re human, which means we don’t walk the recyclables out to the bins every time, so we have a large canvas basket on the kitchen counter for a once-a-day trip.
 
Compost
We made our compost strategy contained and simple with the purchase of a large outdoor compost tumbler. In the kitchen, I hung a Simple Human container on my pantry door. We toss food waste into 3-gallon biodegradable bags, which can then be transported into the tumbler. An oversized glass cookie jar also works. Container strategies abound, but make sure it’s sealable and easily accessible.
 
Donate or fix it
I dedicate a closet or attic corner to items for donation. Three or four times a year, we do the recycling circuit—giving away clothing, old electronics, and toys. I’m still waiting for Charlottesville to open a cute small-appliance repair shop like my hometown had. Until then, a box in the garage is dedicated to items that need fixing, like shoe soles and belts.  Finally, if I don’t know where to take it, I go to betterworldbetty.org’s recycle search tool.—Betty World Betty

Check out Better World Betty’s local green living resource list at betterworldbetty.com and blog at cvillebettyblog.blogspot.com.

Bulb blues

Lately, we’ve been hearing some troubling buzz locally about CFLs, the light bulbs that everyone (including ABODE) has been saying are a greener choice. Word is, they may not actually be so great. One concern is the mercury the bulbs contain, which means they have to be disposed of quite carefully; you can drop off your used CFLs at the McIntire Recycling Center or the Ivy landfill, but do so gently so as not to break them. What’s more, the mercury may also be doing mischief in China, where many bulbs are manufactured; as we know, that country’s reputation for environmental safeguards and, well, regulation in general is itself a bit of a broken bulb.

Another troubling point: Many folks are unhappy with the bulbs’ performance, saying that CFLs do not last nearly as long as they’re supposed to—a big hole in the argument that they’re worth the substantially higher cost compared to incandescents. One tip we picked up on this point: CFLs that aren’t turned on and off frequently will probably perform best. So if you just want to try them out, the basement or a hallway might be a better choice than the bathroom shared by your three teenagers.—Erika Howsare

 

We did our level best, but the results were less than level. Next time around, we broke down and hired a drywaller.

We are more than a little proud of our D.I.Y. ethic, but on a couple of occasions, we’ve taken the big step of admitting that we’d be better off hiring someone for a specific task. One of these occasions came about only after we’d satisfied our curiosity by trying the task in question—drywalling—ourselves.

It’s not that drywalling is incredibly strenuous or filthy or dangerous—in each case, it’s only mildly so. But it takes practice to make drywall look like it was installed by a human being and not by a monkey. “Practice” for us meant laboring over a bathroom ceiling and walls that, despite our thorough efforts, look —well—amateurish. And the job had gobbled tons of time, with repeated applications of drywall mud, then sessions with sandpaper, then more mud…

In the middle of this process, we had a visit from a bank inspector who is also an expert drywaller. He gave us a little demo: With one motion of the knife, he accomplished what we couldn’t in days of work. That did it. Our next drywall project, in the kitchen, had us on the phone to a local handyman. He came over and looked at the job, then quoted us $75. Sold!

Not only was this person infinitely more skilled with the gypsum and mud than we, he was pleasantly talkative and said nice things about the other work we’d done on our house. In other words, the perfect subcontractor. Sipping coffee while someone else made things happen in our house was a strange feeling, and not entirely comfortable. But we’re glad we powered through it.—Spackled Egg