Healthy Homes of Rochester

If you invest a bit of time now, you can ensure a bountiful harvest and a beautiful landscape to make this your best gardening season yet. Preparing a strong spring foundation means new plantings are better able to survive the heat, drought and pest attacks of summer.

“Start your garden off right by adding several inches of organic matter to the top 6- to 12- inches of soil,” recommends horticulture expert and author Melinda Myers. “Peat moss, compost, aged manure and other organic materials improve drainage in heavy clay soil and increase the water holding capacity of sandy soils.”

Incorporate a slow-release, low-nitrogen fertilizer like Milorganite before planting flowers and vegetables. “I like Milorganite’s low nitrogen formulation” says Myers. “This makes it goof proof so you will not harm young tender plants no matter what your gardening skill. Its slow-release nitrogen encourages overall growth without preventing flowering and fruit production that can occur when too much nitrogen is applied.”

Reduce weed problems and increase the health and vigor of your lawn by properly mowing, watering and fertilizing. “Mow high to encourage deep roots that are more pest- and drought-resistant,” Myers suggests. “Taller grass is better able to fend off weeds.” Mow often and leave the short clippings on the lawn to add nutrients, organic matter and moisture to the soil. Use a sharp blade for quicker recovery and a better-looking lawn.

Water thoroughly but less frequently to encourage deep roots. Water your lawn early in the morning to minimize water loss. If you allow your lawn to go dormant during drought, leave it dormant until temperatures cool, rains return and nature brings it back to life.

Use a low-nitrogen, slow-release fertilizer for your spring feeding. An organic nitrogen type fertilizer will not promote lush growth that is more susceptible to disease and requires more mowing. Plus if you stop watering or your community institutes a watering ban, it won’t damage the lawn. In fact, the fertilizer will stay in the soil until the weather improves and your lawn starts to grow.

Improve the health of trees and shrubs with proper watering and mulch. Water new plantings whenever the top few inches of soil are dry. Don’t forget about established plants. These need a helping hand during extended periods of drought. Always water thoroughly to encourage deep drought-resistant roots.

Maintain a 2- to 3-inch layer of mulch around trees and shrubs. Woodchips, shredded bark and other organic materials help conserve moisture, suppress weeds and improve the soil as they decompose. Keep mulch away from the trunk of trees and crowns of other plants to reduce the risk of disease.

Myers suggests you create or expand existing mulch rings without the use of chemicals.  She says it’s simple, “Just edge the mulch bed, cut the existing grass short, spread a layer of newspaper or cardboard over the area and cover with woodchips or shredded bark.  The paper provides an extra weed barrier and eventually breaks down adding organic matter to the soil.”

Use an all-purpose fertilizer to give existing trees, shrubs and perennials a nutrient boost.  A low-nitrogen, slow-release formula encourages moderate growth that needs less pruning and is less susceptible to certain pests.

And don’t forget to take a moment to enjoy the beauty of spring while preparing your landscape for the season ahead.

Recycling is great, but precycling is even better! Pre-thinking our purchases is a great way to get one-step-ahead on the road to reducing our impact on the environment.

The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) estimates that in 1996, New Yorkers disposed of more than 17.7 million tons of solid waste? And the DEC warns that it is becoming more expensive to dispose of our wastes. Recycling helps, but it is only part of the solution. Consider the amount of energy that is used to transport the materials, melt them down and then re-manufacture items.

The idea behind precycling is trying to avoid the amount of material that winds up in landfills and the recycling bin to begin with.

Some of the common steps we are all taking, like re-using cloth grocery bags instead of paper or plastic, has certainly had an impact. For every bag that’s used just twice, the number of bags used per year is cut in half. That amounts to half the trash right?

Same goes for packaging and reusing other products. Choosing consciousness over convenience is always the way to go when it comes to our environment.

My favorite precycling practices include:

Using cloth napkins instead of paper ones and using microfiber cleaning towels instead of paper ones. BONUS: I never run out!

Purchasing items like hand soap in bulk and using refillable soap containers.

Buying concentrated laundry detergent in bulk (and using less then recommended).

When I need to make a new purchase, I look for “long-life” items like batteries and light bulbs.

What about you? I’d love to hear your thoughts and tips on precycling. Give me a call on Property Source Radio, 585-222-6397 Saturday from 9-10am.

Thanks for reading,

-The Fixie Chick

Here is a slick new gadget that I purchased and wanted to recommend to you. It very simply uses infrared sensors to measure surface temperatures and gives you a digital read out of the temperature. This device is designed to help homeowners track down power-draining drafts in the home for obvious energy savings. The leak detector comes with a 5 step guide to fixing basic energy leaks, offering guidance on everything from caulking to weatherproofing windows and doors. I have fun using the tool as it comes in handy around my house to find where the cold air is coming in during the winter. It can also be used in the summer months to see where you are losing cool air-conditioned air. I purchased this thermal leak detector from Amazon.com where I purchase most of the items around my home. In addition, this item is listed as a bestseller on Amazon.com
Here is a link below where you can get yours:

Since I live in New York State, our growing season is not as long as I would like it to be. It seems plenty of us enjoy growing our own gardens as it allows us to save money, live healthier and enjoy the outdoors. However, some of us would like to start working outdoors on our gardening as a hobby sooner. Actually home gardening has increased tremendously in the past couple of years due to commodity and fuel prices escalating. Let’s explore my latest venture.
My latest purchase was a nice freestanding greenhouse. It is a comfortable size for my gardening needs. It is about 5 feet high, 2 feet wide and approximately 19 inches deep with 4 shelves. Since I wanted to extend the growing season of my plants, I thought this would be the perfect idea. The greenhouse was very easy to set up. I actually placed a bag of sand on the bottom shelf in case we had high winds come through the area any time this winter.
I like the fact that is uses very little space outside. It is placed up nicely against the back of our home. I will not use it until March as it is still too cold in January to try and start seedlings in it. However, this will allow me to start planting in pots in March well before a thaw in New York State therefore giving me the jump on spring and saving me money on purchasing established plants in May! I am very excited as I can enjoy my hobby earlier in the winter months. The greenhouse should keep my plants cozy warm and get them growing faster.
-The Fixie Chick
To get an affordable greenhouse like mine visit link below:

Whatever you pour down your drain eventually become someone else’s drinking water. To help keep your drains clear pour a tea kettle of boiling water down the kitchen laundry and bathroom sinks, and tubs or showers. Do not pour boiling water down the toilet or any other fixture that has an integrated trap, such as a bidet or urinal since the sudden change in temperature could damage the porcelain. This is the best preventive maintenance, homeowners can do. If you do this frequently it will keep the buildup in the drains from getting to the point where they get clogged.
Use chemicals in clogged drains as a last resort, after plunging pouring boiling water down the drains and using an auger or plumbers snake. Using harsh drain clearing chemicals as a last resort ensures the least amount of toxins gets into the water systems. Also, a gas is formed by the chemicals in the drain cleaner which are released into the air in your home. After using chemicals flush them completely with water. Never plunge drains after using chemicals since they could splash up in your face.
In most cities water that flows into storm drains does not go through wastewater treatment. So it is important not to let chemicals and contaminants reached the storm drains. For example, don’t drain your pool into or poor auto fluids down the storm drains. These materials have no place in our water. Just some simple ideas to keep us all a little healthier.

Just another green tip from the Fixie Chick

January is National Radon Action Month. According to the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), exposure to radon in the home is responsible for an estimated 20,000 lung cancer deaths each year and is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the U.S. Although testing for radon is easy and inexpensive, 80 percent of the homes in the U.S. have not been tested. Nearly 1 out of every 15 homes in the U.S. is estimated to have elevated radon levels. Radon is a colorless, odorless, tasteless gas that is best detected when doors and windows are all tightly closed.

Radon is a radioactive gas produced from the uranium which is in the geological formation under the soil. The amount or radon gas varies depending on the amount of uranium in the formation. The type of soil under the house, the design of the house and the life style or the family living in the house all affect the amount of radon gas that enters a home.

The only way to know if you and your family are at risk from radon is to test your home for radon or have it tested by a certified professional radon tester. For do-it-yourselfers, radon kits can be purchased for $25 at building supply, hardware and general merchandise stores. A basic test takes 10 minutes to set up and when complete is mailed to a lab for analysis.

If test results are above the EPA recommended action level you need to have the radon level reduced by a certified radon ‘mitigator.’ Reducing radon is not technically difficult and costs approximately $800 – $2,500.

Tune into Property Source Radio with the Fixie Chick, Saturday morning at 9 am to learn four easy things you as homeowners, renters, and parents can do to take action in January.

Thanks for reading,

-The Fixie Chick
Here is another link for radon information:

http://www.epa.gov/radon/nram/event_kit.html

I don’t care to be one of those consumers who has to have the latest toys and gadgets when they first come out. I am talking about LCD and Plasma Flat screen TV’s.
We have had the old tube style televisions which worked just fine for my family. Several years ago the large plasmas were very expensive and I could not justify the cost to upgrade. Since this site is all about Green Living and saving money I am writing this to explain what has changed lately.
I have read in several places that the large flat screen televisions were much more energy efficient and actually have the Energy Star rating so I kept that in the back of my head until last month. I notice the prices came down huge year after year. So we made the decision to upgrade two 10 year old televisions to two new ones. We purchased a 50” Panasonic Plasma for our family room and a 32” LCD for our bedroom.
The combined cost was about $1600.00 total. We thought that was a bargain. The pictures are beautiful compared to the old tube style and we do not have them hooked up to a High Definition signal yet(HD)! Needless to say, we are very pleased with the decision we have made and are saving electricity as we go.

-The Fixie chick

I have included the models that I have and recommend below.

I am sure all of you have seen part or all of the steam cleaner infomercials on TV. I know what you were thinking when you watched. Is that true? Does it really clean without cleaners or chemicals?
Well, yes it does to put it simply. I purchased a steam mop during the holidays. All I had to do is fill the small tank with tap water and plug it in. To my surprise it started to generate steam very quickly, within a minute. I mopped the tile floors in my home with the steam mop quite easily. The mop has a cloth attached to it to pick up any dirt or spills as it steams. It worked perfectly. There was nothing left on the floor! Not even the light film that you get when you use a regular mop with floor cleaners. I love the new gadget!
This is the perfect way to clean around your home by saving money on cleaners over time and not using those toxins that can harm children and pets.
Here is one that I would recommend.

There’s a new show in town!  Join Brenna Hartmann, THE FIXIE CHICK, with Patrick Coyne, live Saturday’s at 9:00 am on ESPN 950 to hear Property Source Radio.  Property Source Radio, a local radio talk show in the Rochester, NY market which will be bringing listeners currents trends in real estate, rentals & home improvement.  It is the listener’s companion to the Property Source Newspaper available at over 700 locations including Tops and the Mall Boards.

 Tune into to hear who’s-who, what’s-what, and how-to’s. Have questions about your mortgage, your realtor, your contractor, your neighbor?  We’ll be taking your calls every Saturday, Live at 9:00 am.  Don’t miss the premier January 9, 2010. www.propertysourceradio.com 

About Brenna:

Brenna Hartmann is the Fixie Chick.  She is an award winning info-prenuer and has published hundreds of articles on home improvement and green living.  Brenna is the founder of Home&Yard Media Group, which recently merged with www.PropertySourceOnline.com.  Brenna lives in Webster with her husband and two children.

About Patrick:

Patrick Coyne is an accomplished business consultant with years of real estate, rental and remodeling experience.  He is the co-founder of HealthyHomesofRochester.com and other successful web based businesses.  Patrick lives in Pittsford, NY with his wife and two children.

 You can also listen live at this link 9am EST:

http://player.streamtheworld.com/_players/entercom/player/?id=WROCAM

What’s Green with the Fixie Chick

by Brenna Hartmann

We have all been learning about the need for energy independence and how solar energy plays an important roll in the sustainable and renewable energy market.

I once read an article about the country Germany, and how most residential buildings are solar powered.  Not only do these homeowners incur ZERO electricity costs, but they actually get paid by the utility for energy they  “over-produce” and sell. I thought that was pretty smart and I wanted to find out how I could pay zero dollars for electricity AND make money on excess energy the sun can produce and I can sell! 

That led me to have a certified renewable energy company come out to my home to perform what is called a “Solar Site Analysis”.

The whole process took about two hours. The first step was to set up a small device known as the “solar pathfinder” on the south side of my home.  This would be the most logical place to install a solar device on my home. A “solar pathfinder” is basically a high-tech sundial that the auditor carefully positioned outside my home.  The auditor then photographed the data presented on the pathfinder.  As I understand it, the pathfinder measures the shade in this particular area of my property. The shade will determine the ‘loss’ of solar power at different times of the day and months of the year.

Next, the photograph was digitally inserted into the auditors computer program, the data was processed and calculated, and turned into a “solar site analysis report”.

Once the report was completed, the auditor sent the report data  to a NYSERDA (New York State Energy And Research Development) program that is able to calculate a “solar electric system costs and savings” report.

This report features estimated annual results along with a net system cost.  Additionally, it calculates state and federal government incentives. Ultimately, the final printed report shows all of the above plus the total cost for the solar system and the estimated return on investment.

To learn how you can have your own Solar Site Analysis Performed and what government incentives are available, contact  NYSERDA (New York State Energy And Research Development) 1-866-NYSERDA.