Q&A: Why is it so hard to grow lettuce

Q. Why can't I grow lettuce? I planted salad greens but most of them died while two plants grew into steroid-pumped tall shrubs with flowers.


A. Lettuce remember there is a reason we don't ALL grow our own food in gardens and try to subsist from grow-your-own greens. Unlike its good friend the tomato, lettuce is much easier to buy at the supermarket than grow in our own garden or courtyard. While it is true lettuce will grow in pots, a humid Sydney summer is rarely kind to leafy green delicates.
Lettuce has a shallow root system so reacts quickly to heat, humidity or water stress. Cool-weather-loving lettuce varieties tend to bolt to seed when planted during a warm Sydney summer. And most lettuce can't stand being blown about in the wind. It's best grown by those who can offer tender loving care and understand the growing conditions needed.
There are some easy varieties to grow, like cos or rocket, which have tougher leaves and can withstand Sydney heat but it's important to select the right plant for your soil, weather conditions and patience.


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Cleaning for crawling babies: how to keep floors clean

Q I have a baby that’s just started crawling – his clothes are so dirty at the end of the day that I have realized I need to improve my cleaning, but don’t want to use harsh products.

A. American writer Dierdre Imus, who founded the Environmental Center for Pediatric Oncology and wrote Greening Your Cleaning, says the floor is often the most dangerous place in a house for babies and pets. Imus insists that the gasses given off by cleaning products and our furniture, paint or curtains often hover down at floor level, ready for the most vulnerable household members to breathe in. Ick. Carpets should be vacuumed at least once a week – probably more if you have an allergy sufferer in the house – and ideally with a HEPA filter vacuum cleaner that won’t recirculate all the dust and dirt.  Hard floors such as timber, tiles or vinyl are easier to keep clean by daily sweeping. One of the best ways to keep floors clean is to make like the Chinese and insist shoes stay off inside the house – that way dirt stays on the bottom of people’s shoes instead of being tracked in to your floors. You can also put small rugs and door mats at the entrance to capture as much dirt as possible.


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Could your house be killing you?

Has anyone else become paranoid about mould in their home following the news that actress Brittany Murphy and her husband died from pneumonia possibly caused by the fungus and mould growing in their LA home?

If the walls of your home could talk, they would say: "you have gas", "you have mould" and "you are a dead man walking".

Gasses are going off in our homes, creating indoor air pollution that can be more damaging than the air we breathe outdoors. The World Health Organisation believes indoor air pollution is one of the top 10 risks for the global disease.

There could be radioactive radon leaching out of your granite kitchen benchtops. There may be cancer-causing formaldehyde or benzene oozing out of MDF, particle board and laminate furniture. And let's not forget the paint on those walls - most hard-wearing acrylic paints off-gas VOCs (that's Volatile Organic Compounds) which can irritate asthma sufferers.

Who asked gas to start partying in our homes? Not me. Those gasses, and their good friends particulant, pollutant and chemical, just walked on in uninvited. There we were, minding our own business and hiding out in nice homes, only to discover that it's not smells, stinks or sanitation we need to worry about -- it's the materials we bring in to our homes that pollute!

CSIRO consultant Steve Brown says many homes are now built with minimal ventilation to keep out the outdoor air, which is wrongly perceived as polluted and bad. He says stale indoor air combined with off-gassing materials creates health risks.

"In America, some homes are so closed up that if someone farts, they say everyone in the house suffers for days," he says.

What's that noise? Oh, it must be the sound of my gasping.

I heat my home with an unflued gas heater which not only pollutes my house with carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon dioxide and formaldehyde but also creates moisture which turns into mould spores that I breathe in and ...

... pardon me ...

... must. get. fresh. air...

Apparently natural ventilation is one of the best solutions to indoor air pollution. Leaving a window open to air your home - like Grandma did in the good ol' days - is something Ecospecifier founder David Baggs recommends as part of a regular housekeeping routine.

Other ways to beat your home's noxious gas party are:
* clean with plant-based cleaning chemicals rather than synthetic products;
* check the radon count on any granite or natural stone products, even the New York Times has reported increased problems with kitchen counters.
* grow indoor plants, which are nature's air filters;
* avoid buying furnishings, curtains, kitchen cabinets, floor coverings and paint finishes that contain indoor air pollutants.

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Q&A: Do eco homes have higher property values?

Q. I heard that going green is all the rage and can add value to my house - how much more money can I expect to get if it has all the right eco bells and whistles?


A. How long is a piece of recycled string? Answering questions about property value is complex. While prospective buyers could be willing to pay more for a property that uses energy wisely, just how much more depends on price range, location and features. After all, that harbour view could add a few million dollars but installing one energy efficient light bulb may not add one cent. A report by the Australian Bureau of Statistics studied sale prices and eco star ratings in the Australian Capital Territory - it found that for a house worth $365,000, increasing the rating by half a star would add, on average, nearly $4500 to its price. With electricity prices in NSW expected to increase by a whopping 64 per cent over the next three years, improving your property value is just one more motivation to take up eco renovating. Everything from shower roses to solar panels can alter a property's carbon footprint, so it's worth starting somewhere.

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Cool chicken coops

 

I don't care that roosters crow at dawn. I don't care that chickens get creepy little mites or destroy your garden with their wretched scratching that is said to improve the quality of the earth - I STILL WANT MY OWN CHICKENS. My mum has some down in Tassie and they provide endless entertainment as they bawk bawk bawk around the yard. OK, I would require someone else to shovel out the chicken poo, but all those eggs would make it worth it, wouldn't it? And then there's the totally cute chicken coop I'd have to keep them in. I rather like this swanky one made in the US ... how about you? Are chickens one of your secret fantasies?

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 Chickencribs via Shelterrific

Laminex: more eco than you think

Well blow me down with some melamine, Laminex has become the first Australian company to achieve Chain of Custody certification from the oh-so-eco Forest Stewardship Council. Essentially, that means the wood fibres in those white panel doors pictured above are legally sourced and traded. The Forest Stewardship Council is a super strict independent body which offers certifications to encourage responsible management of the world’s forests. Its trademark provides international recognition to organisations that support responsible forest management. The low  pressure melamine board is available in 15 decorator colours and can even have a FSC-certified timber veneer over the top if required.

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Q&A: How to clean a bathroom the eco-friendly way

Q. How can you clean a bathroom effectively without using bleach? All those mould germs need to be killed by hospital grade disinfectant, right?

A. Oh get your tox off! Chlorine bleach is a great disinfectant but household bleach can also contain lye, which means skin contact produces caustic burns  – that slippery feel of bleach on your hands is the chemical defatting your skin!  There are better alternatives to clean the bathroom easily and effectively. Hydrogen peroxide is a cleaner with slightly less impact on humans. Hydrogen peroxide is an oxidizer that will whiten clothes and kill mould. White vinegar – especially if you clean with a smidge of bicarb soda first – will also kill mould by making the walls and surfaces too acidic for grime to grow and multiply. And Bridget Gardener’s hot soapy water cleaning method – which involves scrubbing or washing with a brush or microfiber cloth then wiping the newly cleaned surface dry with an old towel or baby nappy to prevent moisture allowing any mould to regrow.

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Q&A: Where did all the incandescent bulbs go?

Q. Hot damn, trying to find nice, glowy incandescent bulbs for my dining room light is getting harder – why?
A. Those evil CLIMATE-CHANGE-INDUCING incandescent bulbs have not been imported into Australia since earlier this year, following Malcolm Turnbull’s 2007 ban on the warm pear-shaped bulbs. Those old-fashioned pear-shaped bulbs may give a certain flattering glow, but since they actually produce more heat than light THEY ARE EVIL. They guzzle way too much electricity and don’t last as long as those curly wurly CFLs. You might be lucky enough to find a couple of smaller retail outlets still selling incandescent bulbs, as the retail ban officially starts in November. There have been a few whispers that the government may extend the retail ban until all stocks are sold out. Oh, although you will still be able to buy specialist incandescent bulbs, such as those that go inside refrigerators or ovens. Plenty of people espouse hatred for the curly CFL bulb, but they last up to five times longer than an incandescent and use less power.

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Eco idea: bamboo towels

Can you see the bamboo in the pretty picture above? No, it's not the green plant. It's not even the floors. It's those fluffy towels made from a cotton and bamboo fibre mix and apparently it makes them four times more absorbent than plain ol' cotton towel. Bamboo is a more sustainable and renewable resource from which to make towels. (Cotton not only requires intensive spraying, but loads of water.).These Baksana range of towels - which you can get at Adairs stores are priced from$21.95 for the hand towel up to $59.95 for the bath sheet but are oh-so-soft and lovely to touch. Dry me up, Scotty.

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