A nice steel energy efficient roof

Efficient Steel Roofing

For those of us who are interested in living frugally and efficiently, when considering a new roof think about the ways that a steel roof can help you meet both goals. For me, I moved into a small, affordable home about a year ago. I knew that it would need a new roof at some point, but the house met my basic needs. These Kansas winds on older roofs really do a number on them. With each windstorm in recent months that has come up, I've had to go out and pick up the newly unattached shingles from the yard afterwards. I knew the day was imminently approaching that I'd have to do something, as in get a new roof, to address the matter.

My best friend suggested that I consider a steel roof for several reasons—one: initial cost, great insulating and reflective capacities, much longer lasting than a shingle roof, and easier to install. Plus, in my case it could go on right over the existing shingled roof making the job less involved. Even the basic steel roof lasts for 40 years. I'm told the more expensive ones can last up to 100 years. I figure at my age, the basic—40 year type—would cover my needs.

There's a new big box store in town. They began their business putting up pole barns in the northern states and have expanded from there. They know steel roofs. Based on the measurements of the roof and its pitch, they calculated all the materials that would be needed for the job. The cost was fairly reasonable as far as roofs go, in my opinion. The sheets of steel, the insulation, and all the other ancillary materials were delivered within a week or so of placing the order.

Steel sheets had to held down with boards to keep it weighted down enough to combat the Kansas winds.

The insulation that gets placed over the existing shingles and under the steel sheeting—it adds a layer of insulation to further protect the house from the heat and the cold.

The J channels and flashings arrived in this wooden box.

The box was put on saw horses and then the pieces of steel could be cut as needed to fit around the vents and the skylight that were already on the roof.

Here's a long view of the steel sheets and the other steel materials...

At first, Dan prepared the south side of edge of the roof. Then he recruited my youngest who's 15 1/2 to come help and learn a bit about roofing.

A week ago the weather was hot and windy... 

The prep work was coming along quite well...

Before I knew it, I heard calls of will you come up and sit on the insulation?

Although I had never entertained the thought of going up on my roof, with a good ladder and a helping hand, voila!, I was up there before I knew it! It was quite nice looking out over all the other houses in the areas. Fortunately, the pitch on my house is not that steep because by the end of my time on the roof I could already feel muscles I hadn't become too familiar with in recent years.

Last Saturday I began to appreciate roofers with new insight. I also started looking at roofing solutions differently. Checking out the materials and the pitch of the roof and the complicated designs of either the roof materials and how they had to be laid or the complexities of the different roof designs themselves. I was glad I had a simple roof with only one skylight on it along with its vents.

During the week it rained for a couple of days, so work was stalled for a few days. On Thursday work resumed. Dan really knows his stuff and before long the west side of the roof was completed. On Friday he started to work on the more complicated side with all the vents and the skylight. That required cutting precisely the steel sheets so they'd fit over the vents, yet come up close enough so as not to expose the roof to weather. Measuring twice, cutting once came in handy on that side of the roof. My son was recruited a little bit to help, but mostly Dan did the work on his own. Some wind made the job more challenging, so you couldn't just lay anything down without securing it. It required vigilant attention to supplies and anchoring of supplies, not to mention all the precision that was required in the cutting of the steel to fit at the right places.

By Saturday, one week later, he had a few more sheets to put up to completely cover the old shingles. 

Wow! Doesn't that look nice?! He still has to trim the east edge and then secure the steel sheets with some more screws, but the fussy work of fitting the sheeting around the vents is complete. It looks beautiful. What an upgrade over the old shingles.

As far as efficiency goes, I can already tell that the job of heating and cooling the house during the hot and cold months is going to be much easier. I'm looking forward to seeing the drop in my monthly bills and to be able to compare them to my previous years' history to see how much I save each month. I really don't think it'll take too many years before the efficiency savings ends up paying for the roof itself. Plus, this year, there is still a tax credit to take advantage of; it's not as generous as the one last year, but hey, every bit helps. Ask your tax advisor about the tax credit advantages.

Rain, rain makes a great week....

Have you ever seen a baby Cauliflower?

Yesterday, when I was out in the gardening checking out how everything was growing, deciding what work I needed to get done, I noticed this little cauliflower growing. This is the first year in all my 27 years of growing gardens that I every planted cauliflower, so it's like seeing robin eggs in a nest for the first time! So cute growing in the protective shelter of the outside leaves... take a peek.

Anyone have good tips on keeping the bunnies away while the plants grow? I discovered that there are a couple of bunnies who have finally figured out that we have a garden, so I'll have to figure out how to keep them at bay for the rest of the growing season. Suggestions accepted.

On the zucchini plants, I spotted several teeny, tiny little zucchinis starting to develop. Here's a snap for you to zero in on...

The potato towers are growing gung ho. Three towers and I think they each need to have more soil added to be able to keep developing more tubers as they grow up the tower. How much fun is this experiment?!

The sweet potato sprouts are doing well. I need to let them grow to about 6 inches and then I can take slips and plant them in the ground outside to have a sweet potato tower too. I hadn't grown sweet potatoes either until this year, so there lots of learning going on all over...

Here's what they look like from the side, in case you were wondering... (as someone asked in passing). Fortunately, with hoop house gardening available, you can extend the growing season by months regardless of where you live. Even if you got a late start on some items like I'm doing with these sweet potatoes, there's no reason not to plant them outdoors when they're tall enough because there'll still be plenty of time to grow the sweet potatoes and enjoy their harvest.

I have all sorts of different tomatoes this year... some from heirloom seed that I started indoors six weeks ahead of time, that almost were cooked in the portable greenhouse with the plastic cover on, but survived. Planted outdoors to give them a chance, but the prairie winds almost did them in right away, and these little guys still managed to survive. Thinking that might not be the case, I went out and purchased some ready to plunk in the ground heirloom plants, some hybrid that looked good, and direct seeding from the heirloom seeds I had left over. I have some of each of them, in varying sizes and stages of growth. With any luck at all I'll have a long season of harvesting fresh tomatoes.

Group shot!

Then to the victory of the day... the harvest. The green leaf lettuce is very abundant right now; and the beet greens are terrific. I couldn't believe how much they had grown in one week's time due to the two days of wonderful rain that we had last week. The peas are coming along and we're even 'thinning' the onions by bringing every other one in and enjoying their harvest. Also of note is the first picking of the red leaf lettuce. 

Side angle to see how tall the harvest is. 

Additionally, the broccoli sprouts are growing and developing as are the golden melon plants, the pole beans, the burpless cucumbers, and the English cucumbers.

Bon appetit and tell me how your garden grows...

Saturday morning in the garden

Saturday Morning Gardening

During the workaday week, I have little time for gardening... so on warm, sunny spring mornings like this one, I was eager to get out and work in the soil, get caught up on maintenance tasks, and finish planting the vegetable seeds. (I still have some more herbs to tuck in...)

The maintenance tasks completed today were: Added two inches of dirt and compost mixed on the potato tower, added compost to the onion beds, added bone meal to the shrubs that we're trying to start from volunteers (this helps them establish roots), composted the strawberries and zucchinis, and everything got a good dose of fertilizer 5-5-5 because it's a good starter fertilizer for young, tender plants. Most of everything got a good hand watering including the irises and the magnolia tree, which was just planted this spring.

I prepared three more beds for seeds: eggplant, golden melons, and pole beans—all organic.

To start it off I assessed where things were at. The lettuce looks fine and needs a good picking. I'll get that done soon...

The potatoes had grown quite a bit in the south bed, so it was time to add another layer of compost dirt around them to enable them to send out another layer of potato buds from which to grow another layer of potatoes. Think we can yield about a bushel of potatoes from one of these chicken wire cages. I'm looking forward to that. If we put a second tier of chicken wire on, we should yield about 100 lbs. of potatoes from one of these!

The microgreens are going to seed. These plants were started from organic seeds, so I'll need to capture some of the seeds to be able to use them for the next planting.

Next is the organic spinach. It too is going to seed, which means more seed capturing...

Notice the difference in the photos. Today, it was bright and sunny and the plants really are reflecting that reality. Made them look gorgeous in the photographs.

The arugula looks like a field of blossoms and seed. The last time I tried to pick the seeds was on a very windy day, making it close to impossible. I'll have to go out later tonight and gather some then. Remember this was the arugula that was planted last fall on September 19th that we ate from the whole winter. Eight months later it's finally going to seed. We ate well...

The peas, carrots, and radishes were planted a few months ago when it was still fairly chilly out. They seem like they are just now starting to take off—giving us a few blooms to look at. We're thinking that we'll have to add a lot more sand to the soil to really make the carrots take off. When I clear out one of the other beds that have gone to seed, I'll try that. I have some organic, multi-color carrots to try this experiment on...

I sprinkled the cauliflower and the red cabbage with baby powder to keep the bunnies that live next door away. I think they'll be tempted to just pull up a chair with a knife, fork, and bib and help themselves. What do you think?

OK, remember when the broccoli seedlings got fried in the portable greenhouse? I had some seeds left in the packet, so I direct seeded them last week or the week before. Right afterwards the winds were very strong. I didn't know if any of the seeds would even still be there, let alone be determined enough to sprout. This morning when I cut back the black cloth, lo and behold, I had new broccoli babies. Some in each of the holes. We're off to a good start!

The jalepeno and green peppers appear to be thriving in this soil and these conditions. I think they like the sun, the heat, the wind, and the water. Go peppers!

Today, when looking at the tomato plants (we have 12), I noticed that one has fruit on it already.

Take a look at that!

A few of the tomato seedlings from the greenhouse burn... actually survived. They hadn't really been hardened off when I felt that I had to get them out of the greenhouse and plant them. Again, the winds were brutal and I couldn't imagine how these very fragile, tender young seedlings could withstand the strong winds and the fluctuating temperatures. Today when I cut back the black weed barrier, I noticed two of the seedlings were hanging in strong. They are still small, but they'll make it. They are also heirloom plants, so I'm particularly interested to learn what quality of tomatoes they produce because I'll be able to keep their seeds for future years.

The raspberry bush looks very healthy. Planted it last fall and it looks like it'll thrive in this environment.

Planted a couple of strawberry plants a month or so ago. Didn't think I'd see any fruits from it until its second season, but alas... introductory fruit. Can't wait til I get to taste them! I put the baby powder around them also to keep those bunnies away...

The row of beets are sprouting quite nicely now. Planted those about six weeks ago now from my recollection. I subsequently read that beets don't grow well in Kansas, but I do recall how the beet greens were very well worth it last fall. If I can't grow the beets themselves, at least I can enjoy their greens.

Bon appetit!

A quickie from the garden

Tuesday's Sampling

Hi Everyone!

Just thought I'd check in for a quick little update. I planted some seeds this past Sunday and the Sunday before. I haven't observed any sprouts of the eggplant yet, but the golden melon has sprouted as well as the pole beans. The pole beans looked so strong and vigorous when they were poking their heads through the soil, I was amazed. I bought a couple of tomato trellises to stick in the ground to enable them to crawl up with support. I found after a few days of being sprouted, however, that they were turning yellow. OMG! What to do... What to do?! Dan decided to give them some fertilizer which turned them almost immediately back to a healthy green color... Whew! but then before long some of that rich color began to fade again. A good dose of water revitalized them again, so we're thinking they need more water on which to sprout and grow. I didn't take a snapshot of them tonight, but I will soon. I promise...

I did pick a few sample items though for sharing... and discussion: a strawberry (first season being planted), a carrot, and an onion.

Notice how long the root of the carrot is. This is very good because it means that the carrot plant is able to penetrate this tough clay that passes as soil here in Kansas. It also means that once the carrot starts to fill out that we'll have wonderfully long, healthy carrots to harvest.

As for the onion, did you know that each shoot of green at the top of the onion plant represents a layer of the onion bulb--sort of like rings on a tree. The more shoots on top, the larger the bulb underneath. Makes sense, doesn't it?!  I love learning these fun facts to know and tell and Dan just learns this wonderful information and passes it on to me to learn too. How fun is that?! Did you know that in the Middle Ages of Europe onions were so valued that you could pay your rent in onions. Think it'll work today? I'm hoping so because I have lots of onions and they seem to grow well here. I'm really liking that option.

Oh... and the potato towers have had dirt or compost added to them a few times already and the plants just keep growing and growing. They look like they'll need more soil or compost added to them this week as well. I can't wait to see how the potatoes develop in the towers and what kind of layered harvest we'll get from that experiment.

Lastly, for tonight, I learned that the way to know when a plants seed pod is ready to pick is when the plant starts turning brown. Then pick off a seed pod and open it up; the seeds are waiting there in abundance. I bought the heirloom seeds this year, mostly, so I'm looking forward to being able to harvest some seed pods to pass this abundance into the future. And I'm learning along the way. This gardening stuff has never been so much fun as this year.

The joy of gardening... ahhhh...

Bon appetit!

A great way to spend a Saturday morning...

Saturday Morning Gardening

During the workaday week, I have little time for gardening... so on warm, sunny spring mornings like this one, I was eager to get out and work in the soil, get caught up on maintenance tasks, and finish planting the vegetable seeds. (I still have some more herbs to tuck in...)

The maintenance tasks completed today were: Added two inches of dirt and compost mixed on the potato tower, added compost to the onion beds, added bone meal to the shrubs that we're trying to start from volunteers (this helps them establish roots), composted the strawberries and zucchinis, and everything got a good dose of fertilizer 5-5-5 because it's a good starter fertilizer for young, tender plants. Most of everything got a good hand watering including the irises and the magnolia tree, which was just planted this spring.

I prepared three more beds for seeds: eggplant, golden melons, and pole beans—all organic.

To start it off I assessed where things were at. The lettuce looks fine and needs a good picking. I'll get that done soon...

The potatoes had grown quite a bit in the south bed, so it was time to add another layer of compost dirt around them to enable them to send out another layer of potato buds from which to grow another layer of potatoes. Think we can yield about a bushel of potatoes from one of these chicken wire cages. I'm looking forward to that. If we put a second tier of chicken wire on, we should yield about 100 lbs. of potatoes from one of these!

The microgreens are going to seed. These plants were started from organic seeds, so I'll need to capture some of the seeds to be able to use them for the next planting.

Next is the organic spinach. It too is going to seed, which means more seed capturing...

Notice the difference in the photos. Today, it was bright and sunny and the plants really are reflecting that reality. Made them look gorgeous in the photographs.

The arugula looks like a field of blossoms and seed. The last time I tried to pick the seeds was on a very windy day, making it close to impossible. I'll have to go out later tonight and gather some then. Remember this was the arugula that was planted last fall on September 19th that we ate from the whole winter. Eight months later it's finally going to seed. We ate well...

The peas, carrots, and radishes were planted a few months ago when it was still fairly chilly out. They seem like they are just now starting to take off—giving us a few blooms to look at. We're thinking that we'll have to add a lot more sand to the soil to really make the carrots take off. When I clear out one of the other beds that have gone to seed, I'll try that. I have some organic, multi-color carrots to try this experiment on...

I sprinkled the cauliflower and the red cabbage with baby powder to keep the bunnies that live next door away. I think they'll be tempted to just pull up a chair with a knife, fork, and bib and help themselves. What do you think?

OK, remember when the broccoli seedlings got fried in the portable greenhouse? I had some seeds left in the packet, so I direct seeded them last week or the week before. Right afterwards the winds were very strong. I didn't know if any of the seeds would even still be there, let alone be determined enough to sprout. This morning when I cut back the black cloth, lo and behold, I had new broccoli babies. Some in each of the holes. We're off to a good start!

The jalepeno and green peppers appear to be thriving in this soil and these conditions. I think they like the sun, the heat, the wind, and the water. Go peppers!

Today, when looking at the tomato plants (we have 12), I noticed that one has fruit on it already.

Take a look at that!

A few of the tomato seedlings from the greenhouse burn... actually survived. They hadn't really been hardened off when I felt that I had to get them out of the greenhouse and plant them. Again, the winds were brutal and I couldn't imagine how these very fragile, tender young seedlings could withstand the strong winds and the fluctuating temperatures. Today when I cut back the black weed barrier, I noticed two of the seedlings were hanging in strong. They are still small, but they'll make it. They are also heirloom plants, so I'm particularly interested to learn what quality of tomatoes they produce because I'll be able to keep their seeds for future years.

The raspberry bush looks very healthy. Planted it last fall and it looks like it'll thrive in this environment.

Planted a couple of strawberry plants a month or so ago. Didn't think I'd see any fruits from it until its second season, but alas... introductory fruit. Can't wait til I get to taste them! I put the baby powder around them also to keep those bunnies away...

The row of beets are sprouting quite nicely now. Planted those about six weeks ago now from my recollection. I subsequently read that beets don't grow well in Kansas, but I do recall how the beet greens were very well worth it last fall. If I can't grow the beets themselves, at least I can enjoy their greens.

Bon appetit!

        

Posted by KnowYourTruth.com at 5/7/2011 4:28 PM | Add Comment

Spring Planting

It's that really busy time of year... spring planting time. Every year when spring rolls around there's winter clean up to do, garden bed prep to tend to, seeds and plants to buy and get in the ground, watering, lawn mowing, and mulching that demands one's time... so I often find myself wondering "What happened to spring when all is said and done?"

This year I've been out in it more, prepping a much larger garden section this year, but I have limited time to devote to planting seeds and plants that I have to pace myself to get it all in at the right times. Now that I'm shooting pictures and blogging about it to I have to plan when to do those steps as well. Needless to say... it's busy around here!

Yesterday, in preparation for more planting, I harvested the greens that had grown during the week. This was the first yield of green leaf lettuce along with the other greens that I've been harvesting all fall and winter. We consumed some of it for dinner, but I still have lots for the week.

It looks so fresh and light; and tasted as good as it looks!

Here's the bed where the green leaf lettuce came from...

With the garden experiments that we're indulging in this year, we're growing three barrels of potatoes in these cages. The first layer of sprouting is coming along quite well. As the plants grow taller, then I'll add more soil and another layer of potatoes will grow from the sides of the sprouted plants. I'm told that you can yield 100 lbs of potatoes from one of these wire cages, so we should have potatoes coming out of our ears before we know it!

Since we're on the topic of potatoes, we can include sweet potatoes into the mix. I had some fruitless sweet potato cuttings given to my by my son's piano teacher. The plant has really taken off and is such a delightful light green. I'm told that to grow the fruited sweet potato plants, just slice the potato and sprout them in water. When the sprouts are big enough cut a slip from it and plant the slip... voila, sweet potatoes. See the next exhibit. Here's hoping for my first time of growing sweet potatoes to come up with some success!

How's that for up close and personal?!

Today I planted broccoli seeds and eight different herbs from seed. I had started sprouting seeds back in the end of February, but one hot day in the portable greenhouse without proper ventilation turned them into cooked sprouts. I was very sad... I think I'm still sad about them because I wanted them to do so well. It's really hard learning to practice detachment when I was rooting for those babies so enthusiastically. It was like a tsunami of heat came and just wiped them out. Nothing in comparison to what the people in Japan are dealing with, but massive deaths, even when it's my little seedlings is still hard to take. I've been told to not put any emotional attachment on it, but it's easier said than done.

Anyway, I have these cute little signs that I can write on with permanent marker to label the herb beds. I planted chives, cilantro, basil, rosemary, greek oregano, english thyme, and sage. I hope they do well. I covered them with some manure too to give them a boost.

I remember when I lived in California that oregano turned out to be a perennial; I'll have to research that for zone 6a to see what it is here. I marvel at the power and potency of these tiny little seeds. They seem so insignificant when one can barely see a zillion of them in your hand... then when they start growing and growing and growing and producing all that they are meant to produce, it's such a marvel. I think it's a good analogy for us humans—full of potential and the ability to produce much bounty on this planet. The seed doesn't doubt its worth or its goodness, it just produces as it is meant to. I think we should take some lessons from nature, don't you?

We planted the peas, carrots, and radishes quite some time ago when it was still cold outside... They seem like they are starting to get going now... I sprinkled some baby powder around the edges to keep the bunny rabbits away. Spotted a big bunny rabbit just this morning. I don't think it has discovered the wonders of the garden yet and I'm sorta hoping to keep it that way.

You can also see in the background how the red cabbage and cauliflower are coming along. Don't they look lovely?

The peppers look pretty nice too... four of them are jalepeno plants, the rest are green peppers. We're going to have green peppers coming out of our ears. I think we'll investigate selling vegetables at the farmer's market here in town...

I have several beds of onions too: vidalia, red onions, and white onions... they're coming along too...

On the tomato side of things, there are several heirloom, a couple of hybrid types, and then some heirloom seeds that I'm hoping will sprout and turn into real plants. There's a couple of the sprouted tomatoes that actually made it through the greenhouse meltdown, so they must be tough!

Lastly, here's the flower bed... it has a raspberry bush tucked in and a blueberry bush too. There are quite a few knockout rose bushes too that bloom all summer long and give a good punch of color to the perimeter of the yard. I figured that would give the neighbors something pretty to look at, but I think they are also enjoying the vegetable foliage that's growing in the background. FYI... I also tied back my daffodils to make room for other plants that could be coming along. I planted some marigold seeds too to keep the bunnies away... first time I've ever thought that marigolds were a good thing.

OK, folks, I think I'll call it a weekend...

Back to work tomorrow... thankfully, I've been enjoying my job...

Bon appetit!