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Green on the Green Postponed

ecomotown — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 18:15:49 +0000

The festival is postponed until further notice due to the incoming hurricane. Stay safe, all!

Homeless Solutions LEED Project – Video 3

ecomotown — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 19:23:19 +0000

It doesn’t seem like it has been five months since I posted the last video in the Homeless Solutions green building project series. Time flies! Homeless Solutions is building affordable housing in Washington Township, NJ and is aiming for LEED Platinum certification. If you didn’t see the first two videos in the series, here’s your chance to catch up.

Now, without further ado, here’s the latest in the series. Time to learn about windows and siding!

To Bee or Not to Bee

The Rooster — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 16:37:27 +0000

One of the Volinksky's two beehives

The idea of keeping bees has been brewing in my mind for about 10 years now. Ever since a friend in high school’s father had bees, I was intrigued by the possibility of having an apiary. Every few years I would come back to the idea and realize there was some roadblock. Whether it was college, a lack of a proper place to keep them, or knowing that it would be hard to commit time to them, something held me back. When Abby returned from visiting Christine Volinsky (of Scented Journeys) who keeps bees, it got the two of us talking about the possibilities. Christine and her family live in a fairly residential area of Morristown and hadn’t run into any negative experiences with keeping bees, so it gave us hope. Christine was even kind enough to share some great photos of their bee experiences (throughout post). So, after much deliberation, we have decided to add another venture to our 2/3 of an acre suburban “farm” and set up an apiary.

I have done a fair amount of research on them and know pretty much what to expect. However, you can never be prepared enough so I plan on attending the Introduction to Natural Bee Keeping class run by the good people at Grow It Green Morristown on Thursday, February 10. It will be held at the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation (14 Maple Ave, 3rd Fl., Morristown) at 6:30 p.m. While reading books and internet posts is helpful, first-person instruction is always better. Plus, it’s free.

Taming of the bees (Credit: C. Volinksky)

Again, I was initially worried about not having enough land, until I saw this blog of a guy who had 2 hives on only a 100′ x 60′ piece of property in suburban NJ. He is surrounded on every side by neighbors and even has the hives right on the property line near one of his neighbors. I plan to keep the hive almost in the middle of my property, right next to the vegetable garden where it is south facing and should get good sun all day. While you can have hives assembled for you, I plan to do it myself to save costs and become more familiar with the hive setup. I hope to order the bees from Beeweaver Apiary in Lynn Grove, Texas, which has a mite-resistant strain that they have been breeding for a number of years so that no pest control won’t be an issue. They are supposed to be a very hardy, docile, heavy producing and great for beginners. But, I’ll wait to hear what the experts say in class before ordering. If I do order those bees, they would arrive April 20 to NJ, properly timed by Beeweaver so the bees will have an ample supply of pollen for the important start of building the hive.

I am sure the first few times we handle the bees will be anxious moments, I’m definitely looking forward to an introduction to this social animal. It will a fascinating and alien world, and sure, the honey will be pretty sweet, too.

From the Volinksy's hive (Credit: C. Volinksy)

Attend a screening of The Vanishing of the Bees tomorrow night Thursday, February 3 at 6:30 p.m. at the Morris Museum (6 Normandy Heights Rd., Morristown). This event is also free and put on by Grow It Green Morristown.

Follow Me on Twitter

ecomotown — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 13:27:04 +0000

Are you on Twitter? If so, you should be following @ecoMotown! I tweet more than I post to the blog, plus I like to retweet things that local NJ environmental folks tweet, as well. It’s a great way to keep up on events and news as they happen!

Follow me now! (That’s an order.)

The Crowing Game

The Rooster — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 14:43:56 +0000

Sometimes something happens to you, and it’s only in retrospect that you realize how utterly blind and stupid you look. Only a few days ago I found out that my three Barred Rock chickens were not hens, but were in fact all roosters..

All the signs were there, but I was blinded by the fact that the farm I bought them from told me they were females. About a month ago it finally had cooled off so we were sleeping with the windows open again when I was woken at 5:30 a.m. to a loud commotion coming from the coop. Thinking it was the return of a raccoon, or something else, I dressed quickly and ran out to the coop hoping my chickens weren’t being assaulted. Thankfully they weren’t, but my happiness quickly turned to confusion as one of my “hens” was trying to crow. You would think I would have started to question whether it was a rooster at this point, but instead I googled “hen crowing” and read a few articles saying that occasionally an alpha female will take the place of a rooster and try to crow. Since “she” was pretty poor at the crowing, I thought nothing of it and hoped she would stop. The second morning, we got another 5:30 wake up. I ran out there and put a twist tie around the guilty bird’s leg so I could readily identify “her” later in case I decided she needed to go. My real fear was that the neighbors would complain and then we’d have to get rid of all of the chickens.

Over the next couple of days, the weather returned to the extreme heat and we couldn’t hear the crowing anymore through closed windows. Abby and I then went on vacation for about 10 days, and my sister stopped by to feed them, give them water, and collect whatever eggs there were, so we had no way to know if the crowing continued.

Upon returning home, the crowing had only gotten louder, and only then did I started to question whether it was a rooster or not. I looked up pictures of a hen vs. arooster of a Barred Rock only to realize the only difference was the feathers on the end of a rooster’s body starts to grow up and become longer, and they had pronounced spurs. This hadn’t happened yet, so I figured that the farmer who sold them to me knew best. Also, it seemed I was not alone in trying to distinguish males from females as I found several posts on different forums trying to get help in identifying this breed.

With the return of the cooler weather and our windows open again, I attempted to trick the chickens into thinking it was not light out yet by enclosing them in their coop at night and covering the window with a black garbage bag. Alas, “she” still continued to crow, and we were frequently woken up by “her” morning salute.

Finally last Monday I called up the farm where I got them from, explaining the situation. I had a “hen” crowing, “she” was beating up one of the other Barred Rock hens, and “she” was bothering the other Rhode Island Red hens. I asked the farmer whether I could exchange the Barred Rocks for three more Reds. To my surprise she told me they had several problems with the Barred Rocks, and it was likely that I had, in fact, three roosters. Immediately walking out there, I realized what an idiot I was. I had three roosters. They all had large tail feathers growing up and only getting longer. The alpha rooster was bullying one of the other roosters and keeping him inside all day. The alpha rooster was not “bothering” the other Rhode Island Reds but instead was trying to mount them! Finally, they weren’t laying eggs when they should have been. A cold hard reality set in that I was a poor suburban farmer, and better than that: I was foolish. All the signs were there.

Within two hours I had packaged up the roosters into a truck, drove them back to the farm and exchanged them for three more Rhode Island Reds. The farmer was amazed at the size of the birds, which made me feel like less of a failed farmer.

There’s a moral to this story, and it doesn’t involve counting eggs before they hatch, but maybe before they are laid. Another life lesson learned at the hand of my feathered friends, and I’m sure it won’t be the last.

I'm still alive! with updates

ecomotown — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 15:03:02 +0000

If you’ve checked the site in the past month and a half, you’ve probably noticed there hasn’t been much action. With my transition from the working world to school life (+ a part-time job), I haven’t had too much time to focus on the blog, and the truth is that the longer I waited to post, the more intimidating it became.

Keeping up with all of the sustainable things going on in Morristown is truly overwhelming, and rather than beating myself up for not being able to post everything, I’m going to commit to blogging less (a strange commitment, I know). SO, I’m going to keep the blog going because I enjoy it, but I’m not going to post quite as frequently myself.

I’m also going to make a few changes:

I’m looking for contributors. If you live in the area and do something eco-friendly, I’d love to share your story with the community. Or, if you have the inside scoop on new places opening or events to attend, it’d be great to post those, too. Email me at ecomotown@gmail.com with the subject line “Contribution” if you’re interested!
I’m looking for a sponsor. My new student life isn’t helping me out any in the way of finances, and the blog is up for renewal (domain registration and hosting). If anyone is interested in becoming an official ecoMotown.com sponsor to cover these fairly nominal costs (in exchange for ad space), shoot me an email ecomotown@gmail.com with “Sponsor” in the subject. It’s a great way for local businesses to reach local, savvy consumers!
I’m going to add a forum. I have to look into the details and find the time to put it up, but I plan on creating a forum section where people can post questions, answers and events going on in the area.

Help me keep the blog alive! More updates and stories to come!

Stay Current with NJ Highlands News

ecomotown — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 12:24:56 +0000

At one point in time, I was compiling local environmental news articles to share on the blog as a News Round-up. But then Scott from NJ Highlands (@njhighlands) told me I should just sign up for his daily email. I’m glad I took his advice.

As a relative newbie to the area, my initial reaction was…what are the Highlands, exactly? It’s sort of self-explanatory, but they encompass most of northwestern NJ (including Morris County) and provide drinking water for much of the region, in addition to providing beautiful landscapes and wildlife habitar. NJ Highlands Council has a nifty interactive map of the region.

Every morning around 8 or 9 a.m., I get an email in my inbox with news pertinent to the Northern NJ area, which sometimes includes state and national news, too. I’ve found it very helpful and wanted to share this free service with everyone. You can sign up for it here.

Enjoy!

Growtown Motown Screening Tomorrow

ecomotown — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 12:16:24 +0000

Trailer: Growtown Motown from Christian Schuller on Vimeo.

If you haven’t seen Growtown Motown, well, you should. Filmmaker Christian Schuller wanted to volunteer for local community garden organization Grow It Green Morristown, so he did it the best way he knew how: he made a film about it.

The half-hour film tells the story of how the empty lot on Early Street in Morristown went from “trash to treasure,” and how it brought the community together along the way. I’ve seen it and can attest that it truly is an inspirational film – so much so that it won Best Short Documentary at the Awaken International Spiritual Film Festival.

Tomorrow, June 9, they’ll be showing the film at the Morristown Unitarian Church, followed by a panel discussion with Schuller, Grow It Green Morristown founders and members of the community garden. It starts at 7:30 p.m. It’s free and open to the public. For more information, contact Geri Silk at gerisilk@yahoo.com or 973-539-2854.

Some may have seen the five-minute version, or perhaps you’ve seen the full-length, but either way, I’m sure there’s still plenty to learn at the discussion.

Native Plant Sale Saturday

ecomotown — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 12:30:50 +0000

Rose Mallow (credit: flickr hkkbs)

What are the benefits of buying native plants? Native plants have adapted to this area (Northern NJ), and as a result, they’re lower maintenance. You don’t have to water them (except at first), there’s no need for fertilizers or pesticides, and you don’t have to plant new ones each year. Now, that is my kind of plant! These features all save you money, which is also nifty. They also help provide a habitat for local fauna.

Maybe I’ve piqued your interest, but you want to know more. Well, it just so happens that the New Jersey Audubon Society is hosting a Native Habitat Plant Sale at its Scherman-Hoffman Wildlife Sanctuary this Saturday from 9 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Should you decide to buy plants, your purchases will go to benefit NJAS to help support wildlife conservation. Staff and volunteers there can help you pick the right plants for your landscape.

I know one thought I had was, “Well, I still want my landscape to be pretty with flowers, not just filled with shrubs.” How naive! Check out this long list of plants available at the sale, many of which are flowering and beautiful.

Barn 54

ecomotown — Wed, 12 May 2010 12:13:48 +0000

Disco and nature? I’m a little slow to see the polyester connection, but I do know the folks at NJ Conservation Foundation are going to have a good time with it. The organization is celebrating its 50th anniversary by boogying down in a Hunterdon County barn, Barn 54-style.

On May 15, from 6-11 p.m. in Delaware Township, conservation supporters can enjoy dancing, drinks, a buffet dinner and live and silent auctions. You’re encouraged to dress a la Saturday Night Fever (go vintage!) and make Tony proud. Leisure suit anyone?

Tickets are $100 (going to a great cause) and can be purchased by emailing lauren@njconservation.org or calling 908-234-1225. More details here.