2005-12-26

Posted at 18:21 UT by Tamara

From the Ground Up
Creating Energy Self Reliant
Environmentally Friendly
Homes, Gardens, and Systems

Architectural Prototype Designs

The Art Institute of San Francisco has completed
another round of innovative,
Green Architectural Designs for the series
From the Ground Up,
which will be featured in segments
205, 206, and 207
and will be featuring products and manufacturers
being highlighted in the series.

Ecotimber is featured in several of the designs utilizing bamboo for flooring, ceilings, walls, and bookcase insets.

Absolute roofing is being featured with roofing slates created from recycled automobile tires.

Americh, and Zuma are being featured for bathroom tubs, whirlpool tubs, and sinks.

Toto is being featured for water saving toilets, as well as kitchen and utility room sinks.

Trex composite decking is being featured for exterior walkway decks.

Quietside is being featured for radiant floor heating systems in several of the homes that are utilizing cement as a flooring.

Jeld-Wen Aurolast doors, and windows, as well as hand carved wooden doors have been utilized, and arched windows and doorways have been selected.

Milgard Vinyl windows are being utilized in a custom conservatory space on the rooftop patio area.

Admiral Sunrooms is being featured for a sunroom on the northern shaded side of the rooftop patio area, as well as a stand alone gardening room on the terraced mountain top.

Velux Skylights are also being featured in the baths, kitchens, and the rooftop patio areas

Rastra block is being featured to create pool walls, fireplace areas, and garage and battery storage areas.

Gopla is being utilized for driveway and parking retention systems.

D Rainwater tanks by Funke are being featured to hold and store rainwater collection systems which will be buried, and hidden on the rooftop under seating areas, to help provide some gravity feed water to home, fountains. and gardens.

Dimension One Spas is being featured for a ground level exterior patio spa.

Energy systems are featuring Xantrex 48 volt inverter and Blue Sky Energy Charge Controller

Design Prototypes will be continuing for another 4 months in what will be the finishing rounds of initial design concepting, with elements then to be drawn up and selected for submission to the Planning and Building department of Santa Cruz County, which will be providing essential engineering commentary prior to being delivered up for blueprint stages of the building project.

Other manufacturers of energy efficient, environmentally friendly product are continuing to come into the series for consideration by the architects and to be incorporated into the prototype designs, and all are encouraged to send their brochures and information to the production studios by contacting the Producer at TamaraLynnScott@gmail.com.

2005-12-10

Posted at 23:45 UT by Tamara

From the Ground Up
Creating Energy Self-Reliant,
Environmentally Friendly,
Homes and Systems

Segment 203 is currently being produced to
highlight the native plants of the area
as self-reliant, once established,
requiring no added soil amendments,
established in native soils.
Some naturally deer and drought resistant.

Completion of the Segment is currently
estimated in mid January,
with airings anticipated in early April.

Several Native Plant Nurseries have provided
the plants,
Central Coast Wilds,
and Elkhorn Slough,,
and local Botantist, Valerie Hailey,
demonstrates useful planting placements
and procedures.

The Watershed Project Volunteers,
from San Lorenzo Valley High School,
are on-hand to assist with the planting,
and to help enclose a small area
where the deer loving roses,
and other delicious natives
are being planted.

Posted at 02:48 UT by Tamara

Peace on Earth,

Toy Soldier,
Babes in the Woods,
In Toyland,
In shoulds,
In a world of woulds
If only we make,

Peace on Earth.

Fighting to regain,
To remain,
To refrain,

Peace on Earth.

2005-12-02

Posted at 01:10 UT by Tamara

From the Ground Up
Creating Energy Self-Reliant,
Environmentally Friendly,
Homes, Systems, and Gardens

Interviews at Central Coast Wilds Native Plant Nursery with Josh Fodor

A few of the Native Plants
discussed for inclusion
in the forty acres of prototype Gardens
being created for the Broadcast Cable Series,
From the Ground Up,
are including
the following plants.

SEGMENT 194 Interviews at Central Coast Wilds Native Plant Nursery
with Josh Fodor

6 1g Artemesia douglasiana,MUGWORT

6 1g penstemon het blue bedder

6 1G Ribes sanguineum Currant

6 1G Rosa californica ROSE

6 1G Epilobium canum FUSHIA

6 1g Salvia apiana SAGE

6 1G salvia mellifera SAGE

4 1g Sambucus mexicana

Fragaria vesca, the wood strawberry

Arbutus menziesi, madrone edible berries

Arctostaphylos andersoni, manzanitas

Corylus cornuta hazelnut,

Juglans californica, the black walnut

Rhaminus californica, the coffeeberry

San Buchus Mexicana, the BLUE Elderberry

For wetland areas
Food and jams out of the berries
It can grow rapidly.
Some natives in dry areas can
grow very slowly.

Some Plants won't require any
water.

Like

Salvia Melifera, the Black Sage

Occurs in Chapperel
And coastal scrubs.

You can use it in your cooking.
but, it's not as good as the white sage,

Salvia apeanna, the White sage

It occurs all the way down to southern California,

For cooking medicinal effects, it's all about the volatile oils.

White sage might be in dryer southern California.

Black sage grows in a moister place.

Sage has an uplifting,
bright feeling for the landscape,

Another Related Plant,

Artemesia Douglesiana, Mugwort,
Commonly referred to as Coastal Sages,
There are several varieties of Artemesia in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Known for its medicinal usages.
It grows In wet and seepy areas,
But it can also grow
In hot areas of santa cruz.

It will brown up a little
if you give it zero water.

If you water it just once a month,
deep,
That can keep it going
through all the dry season.

Mugwort is also used as a dream enhancer.
Many make Mugwort Pillows.

It makes dreams more vivid.

So planting this right outside your bedroom would be a good place.

It can be used in a liver formulation.
It's also generally used for the stomach.
A poulstice of it
people will rub on the skin
for minor skin abrasions
or even poison oak.

Ribys malvaceum - a flowering current,

It will have pink or white flowers,
It gets pretty good stature,
It's a good space filling shrub.

Ribes include both flowering currents,
And the gooseberries.

They are edible berries.

You can make jelly out of them.

The Difference between a current and a gooseberry,
is that the Currents don't have any spines on the stems or the leaves,
whereas gooseberries will always have prickelly hairs on the stems and the leaves.

Will the deer like to eat them?

The deer will potentially taste any
native plant in your garden.

Depending on where you are,
the deer may prefer one thing,
or the other.
They may chew your ivys down.
Or not.

What we've found out is that if
you're willing to wait and watch,
Ssometimes they've just pruning
for you and stimulating the plants.
So you don't have to build a
10,000 fence.

"Do all the birds like to eat the currents off them?

The birds definitely like to eat the berries, and that's one reason for planting a species such as this, as food for wildlife, birds, insects.

Other animals find cover under it, squirrels, rabbits.

You've got to get out there early to fend off all the other creatures and get your own share of the bounty before it's all gone.

This one, again,
is going to need once a month,
deep watering.

This can grow in sun or shade, both.

Often its found under a california oak,

Excellent as mixed woodland in your residential landscape.

Most plants you can take cuttings of.

Our preferred method is always collecting the seeds,
In this case,
collecting the berries and bringing them into the nursery environment,
and Treating them, if they need treatment,
Propogating them in flats,
and then transferring them out.

Treatments
are sometimes, just letting them age,
and the rotting, fermenting berry
is what is stimulating the seedcoating inside to germinate

So it can be time.

Ceanopus,
which is another blue blossom shrub
needs hot water treatment.

We take boiling water and pour it over the seeds and let that sit until it cools.

Time and Temperature fluxuation trigger these events in the wild.

Stratification is the typical term to describe temperature flucuation, moisture fluctuation.

It can just be sitting in the duff in the moisture of the forest floor,
and in time it is breaking down the seed coat,
Or an animal can eat it.

The heat of an animal.

The stomach acids in particular,
breaking down the seed coat.

Penstemon heterophylus hybrid,
native, a blue bedder,
is great to plant en mass.
You get great blue purpelish flowers.
It's a Perrineal.
Long lived.
Very drought tolerant.

It will flower and do well with zero water.
But if you want to extend it's flowering,
give it a deep watering once a month.

Use the Leaves fresh,
macerating with oil,
as a salve for minor skin irritations.

It has natural vitamin E oils.

It has natural Antibacterial properties.

It has more of a Mutilagenous type of effect to knit together and bind wounds.

Hazelnut Corylus cormula,

Likes shade or , dappled sun.

It produces the famous Hazel nut.

This is the Californianative variety,
different from the eastern variety,
and doesn't produce quite as many nuts.

You really have to do battle with the squirrels to get your share of them.

They will have a little Pod and a fuzzy coating to it, and the nut is inside is entirely edible.

Add them to your salads for your protein.

These can get quite large, Up to 12 to 15 feet.
But typically you can keep them in the 5 to 7 foot range,

They do well with trimming.

They have a Simple open structure.

Be ready to harvest them as soon as possible

Oaks supply a major form of starch.

American Indians leached it.

Native woodland strawberries, in the oak woodland.
spread runners.
Take the nubs and plant them,

Like all native plants,
they can survive
with the native water flow in California.

RibesVibercarumthe Gooseberry
menziesi, californicum

Sal epilobia, the hummingbird fuschia,

Is used as a bitter,
for the liver,
and induces vomiting,
Purging poisens.

The Bay tree produce fruits,
and a husk like a walnut.
Don't eat the husk.
Age them like walnuts for several months.
Peel off the slimy mess,
roast in the oven, or over the fire.
Or Hose off the husks.

It's like a Roasted coffee bean,
good with chocolate.

Rhamnus californica, the Coffeeberry,
is a Laxitive.
eat the fruit as a medicinal and effective Jam.

Rheumatism tea from the bark,
helps reduce swelling.

Contact the California Native Plant Society
at CNPS.org
Guildelines for landscaping.

California WALNUT TREE,
Juglans californica
is used for root stock for the English walnut.

Interviews at Central Coast Wilds Native Plant Nursery with Josh Fodor.

2005-12-01

Posted at 06:15 UT by Tamara

Mosaics of Recycled marble, stone, tile, and wood
are laid out
on a 40 acre mountain top with
prototype, energy efficient gardens,
featuring Native Edible Plants.

Plantings are occurring
when the rains have deeply saturated the soils.

Mosaics help keep weeds down,
and preserve water.