If you live in a region with cold winters, you probably spent some cold days and nights dreaming of gardening or planning out next seasons garden plot. Rest assured you can still grow fresh lettuce, spinach, radishes, onions and more if you build a Cold Frame for your winter garden.

Cold Frame gardens are very easy to build and even better can be built with 100% recycled materials. All you need is an old window sash or aluminum, glass door frame. You can use fiberglass, polyethylene or other transparent material is glass is not readily available. Build a frame according to the dimensions of the window sash or other material you decided to recycle and use. Ideal dimensions would be approximately 18 inches at the back and 12 at the front to provide a good angle facing the sun and rain/snow drain off.

There are two ways to setup your cold frame garden: above ground or partially below ground. Insulating factors will be much better if the Cold Frame is partially below ground. Like Solar Panels, Cold Frame bins should face south for maximum sunlight exposure and have at least a 10 percent angle to make the most of the limited sunlight in northern regions.

If the weather gets extremely cold, say low twenties, it would be best to cover the Cold Frame in burlap or moving blankets for protection. You can also add a heating cable, the same kind you wrap around water pipes to keep them from freezing. Warm weather days are just as crucial to keeping your garden in top shape. You will have to monitor and open the top glass hatch to allow proper ventilation. Don't forget to water ;o)

The best veggies to grow are lettuce, radishes, chard and green onions. You can also try small carrots and other greens. What you can grow in your Cold Frame will depend on your local weather. We will build and chronicle the success of 2 Cold Frame plantations over the fall and winter to see what we can grow. Hopefully we can harvest enough for a nice fresh winter salad!

Keep it Green!

PART 1

Before you start shopping for Solar Panels and related Solar Power Equipment, you must first determine your electrical consumption to size the system that is required to meet your needs. It is more cost effective to reduce consumption then to produce or harness the Solar Energy. There is no need to buy everything immediately. It is easier to proceed one step at a time and avoid buying equipment that will have to be replaced later.

Start by listing the electrical equipment that will be used and determine how energy will be consumed. There are products such as the cent-a-meter that is wired directly to your electrical panel and can be used to monitor and trend your electrical use. This research, monitoring and planned reduction will open your eyes as to how much electricity we waste. The more accurately you define your energy requirements, the easier it is to determine which photovoltaic energy system meets your expectations.

After you have accurately defined your present and extrapolated future needs and identified your consumption habits, you can decide what size of system you need. Some of the factors that need to be considered include:

• the seasonal profile of the load, i.e. the period when electricity demand is highest and electricity output is lowest, which is usually in fall or winter.

• the weekly/monthly profile of the load.

• the daily profile of the load (power required and number of hours per day) for each appliance.

• -type of load to be powered (motors, lights, etc.)

As the consumption for each household is different, so will the configuration of the system. Just remember, you do not have to create a 100% self sufficient Solar PV Array or invest hundreds of thousands of dollars to setup an off-grid or grid-tie renewable energy system. Start slow, research and plan... the point is to start and take action. Keep it Green!

Wind turbines come in a few different configurations. The most popular being horizontal-axis and the vertical-axis. Horizontal-axis wind turbines are the most common you will find for small personal use in homes. Single small turbines, below 100 kilowatts, are used for homes, telecommunications dishes, or water pumping. Small turbines are sometimes used in connection with diesel generators, batteries, and photovoltaic systems. These systems are called hybrid wind systems and are typically used in remote, off-grid locations, where a connection to the utility grid is not available. In some instances you can tie in these systems to your local power company which will actually send power to the grid adding credits to your account which you will use when consuming more power then you are generating.

Although most parts are interchangeable between horizontal and vertical axis wind turbines, here is a breakdown of a horizontal-axis wind turbine for reference:

• Blades: Most turbines have either two or three blades. Wind blowing over the blades causes the blades to "lift" and rotate.

• Brake: A disc brake, which can be applied mechanically, electrically, or hydraulically to stop the rotor in emergencies.

• Controller: The controller starts up the machine at wind speeds of about 8 to 16 miles per hour (mph) and shuts off the machine at about 55 mph. Turbines do not operate at wind speeds above about 55 mph because they might be damaged by the high winds.

• Gear box: Gears connect the low-speed shaft to the high-speed shaft and increase the rotational speeds from about 30 to 60 rotations per minute (rpm) to about 1000 to 1800 rpm, the rotational speed required by most generators to produce electricity. The gear box is a costly (and heavy) part of the wind turbine and engineers are exploring "direct-drive" generators that operate at lower rotational speeds and don't need gear boxes.

• Generator: Usually an off-the-shelf induction generator that produces 60-cycle AC electricity.

• High-speed shaft: Drives the generator.

• Low-speed shaft: The rotor turns the low-speed shaft at about 30 to 60 rotations per minute.

• Nacelle: The nacelle sits atop the tower and contains the gear box, low- and high-speed shafts, generator, controller, and brake. Some nacelles are large enough for a helicopter to land on.

• Pitch: Blades are turned, or pitched, out of the wind to control the rotor speed and keep the rotor from turning in winds that are too high or too low to produce electricity.

• Rotor: The blades and the hub together are called the rotor.

• Tower: Towers are made from tubular steel (shown here), concrete, or steel lattice. Because wind speed increases with height, taller towers enable turbines tocapture more energy and generate more electricity.

• Wind direction: This is an "upwind" turbine, so-called because it operates facing into the wind. Other turbines are designed to run "downwind," facing away from the wind.

• Wind vane: Measures wind direction and communicates with the yaw drive to orient the turbine properly with respect to the wind.

• Yaw drive: Upwind turbines face into the wind; the yaw drive is used to keep the rotor facing into the wind as the wind direction changes. Downwind turbines don't require a yaw drive, the wind blows the rotor downwind.

• Yaw motor: Powers the yaw drive.

This is a general overview of the horizontal-axis wind turbine. Remember... keep it Green!

There is a lot of talk lately about wind energy for both personal and public generation. The US alone is set to increase its wind farm capacity 45% in 2008. This trend will continue into personal wind energy generation. Wind turbines are dropping in price and becoming more efficient in design to capture all the energy it can from the wind.

Wind energy converts kinetic energy that is present in the wind into more useful forms of energy such as mechanical energy or electricity. Wind energy is a pollution-free, infinitely sustainable form of energy. It doesn’t use fuel; it doesn’t produce greenhouse gass's, and it doesn’t produce toxic or radioactive waste.

Wind energy is one renewable resource we are able to capture to generate clean, sustainable energy systems that can be relied on for the long-term future. Modern aerodynamics and engineering have improved wind turbines. They now provide reliable, cost-effective, pollution-free energy for individual, community, and national applications.

Wind energy is the kinetic energy that is present in moving air. The amount of potential energy depends mainly on wind speed, but is also affected slightly by the density of the air, which is determined by the air temperature, barometric pressure, and altitude.

For any wind turbine, the power and energy output increases dramatically as the wind speed increases. Therefore, the most cost-effective wind turbines are located in the windiest areas. Wind speed is affected by the local terrain and increases with height above the ground, so wind turbines are usually mounted on tall towers.

Wind turbines are only one part in a complex setup to harness the power of the wind. We will cover each part of the complete configuration in up coming posts, including a shoppers guide and how to select proper location for your new wind turbine.

Stay tuned and Keep in Green!!

Before you start digging up your backyard to plant your garden, a plan should be made to ensure the best use of your available land and effective selection of vegetables and plants to get the most of your garden layout. The first thing to do is decide how much space you can dedicate to your garden plans. This choice is based on both the amount of yard you want to give up as well as the amount of space required by your selected crops. These two work hand in hand. If you are planning to grow a lot of large vegetables, your garden layout needs to reflect that.

The best way to start your garden is to take measurements of your backyard, decide on the crops you wish to grow and draw out your plans on paper. This will help while planting your garden as well as selecting the best logical location for your items such as compost bin, crops proximity to rain catcher and potting shed or green house if you have one.

Garden Plan

If you decide to change your crop or add anything to your plans, this is normal and at least you will have your general layout, look and feel. Adjustments can always be made as your plans are not set in stone. Having a fluid, functional garden is what you want, not chaos. So take your time in planning and research the space required for the yield of crop you wish to harvest.

Some of the other things to consider when laying out your vegetable garden plans include:

• Do you have pets that will be running around the yard? If so, think about fencing your garden off or planning your garden layout so they can't run through your freshly-planted crops.

• The same goes for children. If your kids are playing soccer or baseball in the backyard, you don't want them running through your garden.

• Think about how much time you have to water and maintain your garden. Don't plant an entire field of vegetables if you can only spend hour working on it every couple of days.

• Think about where your water faucets, or even better, the location of your rain catchers. You'll need to water your garden regularly, so it should be somewhere that is within reach of your hose.

These tips are just a primer of some things you need to keep in mind before jumping into planting your vegetable garden. Remember planning makes perfect and the same for your garden. Hopefully it is where you will be spending lots of time so make it functional.

Most of all have fun... Keep it Green!