The Full Monty on Sustainable Living

Hello Gardeners                                                                                                               

Sustainability is the buzz word according to my mate Bob. Although his idea of sustainability probably refers to making enough home brew to last until the next mix! But the course I am engaged in at Durack Institute of Technology, (DIT is the new nickname,) is towards a diploma in sustainability. Since no one actually knows what that is, it is a bit of a worry if we can pass it!

So that’s what bought me to have a look at what Peter and his partner are doing up there at Howatharra on his thirty acres of land near the highway. Gardening is only part of sustainability and Peter has gone the whole monty by designing  his nine and half star rated house. He decided to invent a new slant on straw walls by building inside with fastwall bricks. On the outside of them, he will fasten about 300 mm width of straw bales, covered outside with three layers of plaster to form a very effective insulated 540mm thick wall around his open living house. The windows are all double glazed and filled inside with Argon gas. 

I rang my builder son about energy ratings  and he said from a builder’s point of view, steel frames with approved insulation are the highest energy rated construction today, followed by timber frames but the old style of double brick doesn’t rate at all he said. Peter’s twist on this is interesting and the inside brick can be chased out for power and water connections.

Before they started on the house a shed was constructed to mount his solar panel system. They aren’t connected to the power grid. A small room houses a big bank of batteries and electric invertors etc.  The toilet is one of those resurrected long drops designed to be okay to use because of fans and ducts.  No water is used at all in these composting system toilets and the design enables you to extract the material after about a year and re-cycle it!

Peter built a tank up on the hill behind the house and connected it to mains water which gravitates to his place. Once the house roof is up they will harvest the rain water into tanks. Powerful electric magnets are now used on the intake to the shed to break up calcium deposits. The black water from the kitchen sink will be fed through a separation tank and put out onto a garden below it, same for the showers. NACC supplied them with 8500 trees which have been planted to re-forest the area. A holistic approach has been taken in the overall planning. This house could be built anywhere in the state without requiring any public utilities! Internet connects are via wireless technology.

He also uses and is agent for Solar Oz evacuated glass tube solar hot water systems. Looks a bit like the insides of the old thermos flask. Peter also does drafting and you can ring him on 0448970601 if you have any questions.                                                                                                                              

Readers questions;

Bill from Walkaway asked; why is his couch lawn dying? This was before the rain. He said could it be the salt from his bore?

Carol from Sydney Street is still looking for someone to help or advise how to prune her multiple fruiting stone fruit trees.

Sue from Walkaway has only been here a short time and wants advice on species of trees to plant on their property. She was thinking of putting the Kumquats and a Dwarf lemon in some wine tubs and said apart from putting holes in the bottom of the tubs do I have to do anything else to the tubs?

Readers are invited to call if they can help with answers to these questions and I will publish them.