I looked at the display of potted tulips and daffodils in the grocery store and let out a deep sigh. Each flower was perfectly coiffed, the stems standing tall and pristine, the display awash with color. If only they were in my garden. Too early for that. With several feet of snow and ice, it
Search Results for: eco-home/energy-efficient-lighting/light-bulbs
8 Gorgeous Spring Bulbs To Plant This Fall
If you want a bold display of color in the spring, fall is the time to start planting! Spring bulbs like daffodils, tulips, crocus, alliums, and hyacinths, as well as tubers, tuberous roots, corms, and rhizomes, should be planted in the fall before the soil freezes. These types of plants require a lengthy period of
Pendant Lighting: 30 Rustic, Modern, And Farmhouse Options
We’ve all been there. You move into a new house or apartment, and everything seems perfect until you realize just how dark certain parts of your home are. Or, you find your dream home, but the 90s light fixtures are begging for an update. When you’re lighting your home, your options include recessed lighting, chandeliers,
Edison Bulbs
Edison light bulbs refer to those wound filament bulbs made popular by the Edison Electric Light Company. Marked by twisty and almost decorative-looking filaments of tungsten and carbonized bamboo, these light bulbs have mostly fallen out of favor due to high energy consumption. Most homes are illuminated through compact fluorescent lighting (CFL) or light emitting
Homestead Stories: My Great-Grandfather’s Gladiolus
I have fond memories of walking with my great-grandfather through his garden. In late August, the gladioli would be in full bloom and much taller than me. Of course, I was only a 6-year-old at the time. With clippers in hand, Great-Grandpa would cut stalks full of blooms, and carefully lay them in my outstretched
Homestead Stories: Parrot Tulips
“Is something wrong with your tulips?” It was late spring, and I was admiring the colorful display of tulips in my friend’s garden. “They appear rather ruffled.” “They’re supposed to be ruffled,” came the answer. “They’re called parrot tulips, and the ruffled edges make them look like a parrot’s feathers.” “Ruffled,” I repeated. “Yes. They’re
Growing Saffron Crocus Bulbs
Known around the globe as a spice worth more than its weight in gold, saffron is expensive, but the intense color and incredible flavor it brings to food is priceless. A single grain of pure saffron will add distinctive bright yellow color to 10 gallons of water, or embellish the flavor of 10 pounds of
Growing Shallots
I love growing shallots. Shallots don’t take up much space in the garden, are a flavorful addition to salads, salsa, soups, sauces, and stews, are easy to grow, and can be enjoyed both raw and cooked. Native to the Mediterranean, shallots are often thought to be a variety of onion, but they are a separate
Best Outdoor Solar Lights
Outdoor lights can bring ambiance to a backyard, or ensure safety in a dark walkway. Many traditional outdoor lights require an excessive amount of wiring and setup. Not to mention, additional lighting means an inflation in your energy bill. Outdoor solar lights are a cost-saving alternative that provides you the benefits of outdoor lights, without
Tiny House Builders
With so many individuals and companies building tiny houses, how are you supposed to know who to choose? Some tiny house builders can build and ship homes nationwide or send their design plans across the world. Other, smaller builders, focus on their region and work primarily with locals. Choosing a Tiny House Builder The thing
14 Things You Didn’t Know About Onions
We’re all familiar with onions, but with this tasty vegetable, there’s more than meets the eye. Read on to learn more facts about onions that you probably didn’t know! 1. Onions Played A Surprising Role In The Olympics In the first century, the Greek physician Dioscorides advocated a diverse array of medicinal uses of onions.
Earth-Sheltered Home: An Eco-Friendly, Passive Housing Alternative
Folks on the street may call them “hobbit houses” in reference to J.R.R. Tolkien’s work, but earth-sheltered homes have been around for far longer than 1937 when the novel was published. Though the practice of using a protective layer of earth to embrace your home exploded in popularity in the 1970s, it’s truly been around
Outdoor String Lights
There is almost no place and no occasion that cannot be improved with ambient string lighting. Most places and occasions become that much more special because of the lighting. The trick is to make the moment special without anyone really realizing that the lights are creating half of the magic. The trend toward decorating outdoor
Homestead Stories: Autumn Crocus
“I haven’t seen those for a few years. Tulips in autumn? Strange, isn’t it?” “Actually,” my friend replied. “They’re not really tulips.” “But the flower is shaped like a tulip, and it’s so tall.” “It is tall, but the flower hasn’t fully opened. This is an autumn crocus. It is strange, however, that you don’t
Outdoor Wall Sconces
An outdoor wall sconce can be: A functional item. Just there to make sure you don’t trip over the patio stairs. A contributing design element. Follows the theme or style you’ve chosen for your outdoor decor. A focal point. If you don’t have incredible landscaping, or stunning furniture, sconces are an inexpensive backyard conversation piece.
Outdoor Chandeliers
An outdoor chandelier can create the perfect, mood-setting lighting to make your spring and summer nights last even longer. I love those afternoons with friends that move into dinner in the backyard with a great bottle of wine, which turns into another great bottle after the sun is already setting. Have you ever noticed that
Plastic Bottle Homes and Greenhouses
Plastic bottle houses, PET houses, recycled plastic home, plastic bottle building
Best LED Shop Lights
Fluorescent shop lights were standard in most workshops, but LED tubes have recently become a viable replacement. In fact, some new LED tubes work in fixtures designed for fluorescents. The upfront cost of LEDs is much higher than fluorescent bulbs, however, they have several benefits. Most importantly, they’re much more energy efficient than fluorescents, so
Low Light Plants
Not all of us have the luxury of owning a plot of land to fulfill our gardening dreams. Some of us just have to face the fact that we are, for now, apartment-dwellers. Not only do I live in an apartment with no garden space, but I happen to live in what feels like the
Shipping Container Homes
Shipping container homes seem like a no-brainer. Approximately 30 million steel shipping containers are in existence, filled and floating, or standing empty in a port. 8 feet wide by 8.5 feet high, and either 20 or 40 feet long, the steel shipping container has been the globally standardized transportation module since 1956. Sending empty containers
The Best Amazon Prime Day Deals For Homesteaders
Amazon’s massive Prime Day promotion started Monday, July 15th at 12 am PT. They’ll be announcing deals throughout the day. This year’s Prime Day will last for 48 hours. Each deal will be one of four types: Prime Day Deals: Deep discounts on top products that last until Amazon runs out of stock (in some cases,
Types of Onion
Onion is layered produce, full of surprising flavors and textures in its varieties. From the common brown-skinned onions to the rarer pearl-sized types, let’s take a look at this kitchen staple to help you choose the right variety.
Quonset Huts
The Quonset hut, designed for military use, is finding its way into contemporary living— with some important upgrades. The original huts, developed on Quonset Island, Rhode Island, were cheap, temporary housing for troops on the move. They were easy to put up, easy to take down and pack, and made of inexpensive materials—corrugated steel and
34 Unique Solar Lights For Paths, Gardens, And Backyards
Whether you’re wanting to illuminate a pathway or add a bit of ambiance to your backyard or garden, solar lights offer a lighting source that won’t add any extra expense to your electricity bill. A solar light charges during the day and typically turns on automatically at dusk. Most lights can last 8-10 hours on a
Top 10 Reasons to Live in an Electricity-Free Home (PPB #27)
When I designed my cob house here at Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage two years ago, I decided that I was going to live without electricity. I had no plans to buy a solar power system or a wind turbine. I was going to make the leap to live electricity-free in my home, in order to live
How To Choose The Best Greenhouse Materials To Extend Your Gardening Season
By extending the growing season, greenhouse growing enables the cultivation of organic, pesticide-free produce all year round. Whether you have a small greenhouse for just a few of your favorite plants, or your entire vegetable garden is reliant on a huge structure, choosing the right greenhouse materials for your needs is key to having a bountiful
Masonry Heaters: Benefits, How They Work, And Photos
When you think of heating with fire, the first image that might leap to your mind is a crackling wood stove, the mainstay of cozy homesteading living rooms everywhere. But despite it’s current ubiquity in back-to-the-land imagery, the wood stove is a relatively recent invention, having been invented by Benjamin Franklin in 1742. If you
Harvesting Garlic: How To Gather, Store, And Enjoy Your Garlic Harvest
There are few garden plants I know that require as little upkeep as garlic, yet require as much time as garlic. If you’ve grown this wonderfully spicy, flavorful bulb in your garden, you are well acquainted with the near-year wait time till you’re finally at the point of harvesting garlic. You also know that the
23 DIY Chandelier Projects To Illuminate Your Space
Lighting is one of the best ways to create ambiance or set the mood in any room. It’s also one of the ways that homeowners can showcase their own style. When you go to add new lighting to the rooms of your home, however, it’s easy to get sticker shock when shopping retail to find
Eco-Friendly Kitchen Sinks
Seekers of eco-friendly sinks, I have some bad news and some good news. The bad news first: Affordable, new kitchen sinks aren’t 100% eco-friendly. When choosing a sink you’ll be balancing different aspects of sustainability. We’ve tried to give you a starting point for all the buying choices you’ll have to make. Kitchen Sink Materials/Colors
12 Office Plants to Add Greenery to Your Workspace
As gardeners, we all aspire to spend our mornings and afternoons planting seeds, pulling weeds, and finishing the day off with a dinner made of home-grown vegetables. But for some of us, gardening is a passion we unfortunately only get to enjoy on the weekends and evenings. If you find yourself at the office wishing
Try An Eco Friendly Christmas Tree
Upcycled, recycled, reused eco-friendly Christmas trees are a sustainable alternative to chopping down a living tree or buying a tree that’s been chopped down and shipped to you. Christmas tree farms are a classic example of monoculture, where a single crop is cultivated in a wide area. Row after row of similar trees does not make for a
Foraging for Field Garlic
Winter is long. Even if you have a well-stocked root cellar brimming with canned goods and root vegetables, by the time January and February roll around, most anything that was green is long, long gone. And if you’re like me, your eyes and palate might start yearning for that verdant, lively color to return. Watch
Eco-Friendly Playgrounds
Parents know the benefits of installing playgrounds and playsets. Beyond being a fun activity that gets children outdoors, playground equipment is important for a child’s cognitive, emotional, physical, and interpersonal development. A day in the backyard or at the park does wonders for kids’ physical health, as well as improving their self-confidence and social skills,
Cordwood Homes
Cordwood Homes and Barns
Organic Mattress Guide
Many mattresses contain harsh fire-retardant chemicals and inexpensive synthetic fabrics. Are these mattresses safe for you to lie on for 8 hours every night? Only a few mattress companies sell 100% organic mattresses. Most mattress companies use a mix of natural and synthetic materials. An organic mattress doesn’t contain harsh chemicals—it meets fire safety standards
Kitchen Of The Future
“Energy-saving light bulbs will only take us so far. We need to push ourselves to rethink domestic appliances entirely, to rethink how homes consume energy, and how entire communities can pool resources” says Clive van Heerden, Senior Director of Design-led Innovation at Philips Design. Philips believes the solution is likely to come from biological processes,
How Much Does It Cost To Customize A Tiny House?
If you’ve researched buying a tiny house you know prices are usually listed as a “starting price,” just like new cars are. Why? Because a tiny house is too personal for a one-size-fits-all option to work. So builders offer options to match a customer’s budget or lifestyle. Someone doing a lot of outdoor work might
How to Buy an Eco-Friendly Dishwasher (In 2014)
While an eco-friendly dishwasher is already a bit of a redundancy, the model you choose & the way you run it can save even more energy & water.
How to Store Garlic
A staple in homestead gardens, garlic is easy to plant, easy to maintain, easy to harvest, and transports and stores well. With a little effort, homesteaders can grow garlic for home consumption and a supplemental cash crop. Garlic: fresh, pickled, dehydrated, packed in olive oil, or used to season savory edibles, is always a big
Can I Compost Flowers?
Fresh or dried, flowers are more than just their visible beauty. Some flower types can contribute to your compost pile under optimal conditions and correct preparation.
How Energy Efficient is Induction Cooking?
Induction cooking is a promising new technology that could make food preparation much more energy-efficient (as well as time-saving).
Growing Herbs Indoors
The long, cold, winter months or even the fate of living in a small apartment are not enough to stifle the need for fresh herbs. The smell of basil, the sight of green cilantro, is something that we should be able to enjoy all year round, no matter where we live. If it’s the weather,
Eco Friendly Tips To Redecorate Your Living Room
These eco-friendly redecorating tip for your living room will save you money and help the environment all at the same time. EPA reported in 2009 that 9.9 million tons of furniture were thrown in the landfills compared to only 2.2 million tons in 1960, that is an increase of 450%! If you compared the increase
Growing Leeks: From Starting Seeds to Blanching Bulbs
If you’ve never had the experience of growing leeks, you don’t know what you’re missing! This straight-laced member of the allium family has a milder flavor than onions, and it’s extremely cold hardy, making it a great choice for Northern gardeners looking for fresh vegetables in the dead of winter. To reap the fancier flavor
Growing Garlic
So you love garlic, and you are ready to take the leap into growing garlic on your own. This culinary staple is easy to grow and has a long shelf life, to keep your kitchen stocked all year. Look no further than this article for the basics of growing garlic, along with some tips, tricks,
DECT Phone Safety
DECT Phone Safety, Dangers of DECT, low radiation dect phones
Flooring Ideas: 18 Eco-Friendly Options For Your Next Home Renovation
If you’re doing a home renovation or are in the market for some new flooring, you’re in luck. Right now, it appears that just about every type of flooring company has some exciting option you’re bound to love. Before choosing your flooring there are a few things to keep in mind. First, be sure that
How To Cool Down A Room: 15 Easy Methods
Lately, summers have been getting hotter. Without some sort of home cooling mechanism, the scorching temperatures quickly become unbearable — and in some cases, deadly. The human body isn’t designed to withstand high heat for long periods. Without reprieve, high temperatures eventually lead to heat illness and heat stroke. Discomfort, dizziness, profuse sweating, and disorientation
Fork and Spoon Chandeliers
Fork and Spoon Chandeliers