Residents’ rent at the Earnshaw Ecohouse supports sustainability practices at the ecohouse and around Mt Auburn.
Ecohouse sustainability practices:
-Chicken Coop Construction
- Includes sourcing recycled materials for:
- -fencing
- -coop
- -gates
- -heating source
-Transplanting plants in future chicken run
-Expanding Side Garden Along Driveway
-Removing portion of fence for relocation for fencing around chicken coop
-Xplanting grasses
-Laying down compost/green manure
-Elevating house approximately 50 meters to be closer to sun during winter months.
-Laying down reclaimed stone to make uphill climb easier while carrying buckets of waste. 10/9/14
-Heightening Rain Barrel Foundation using reclaimed bricks to make rain barrel high enough for 5-gallon buckets to fit under spigot.
-Invasives Removal
- -Killing honeysuckle on hillside in 2 steps
- 1 Cutting/hacking plant at base with axe or saw
- 2 Applying poison via paint brush only to exposed stump
-Truck Bed Window Box upcycling truck bed insert into a passive solar heater
Other Projects as of 6 Oct 2014
Transplant fig tree
Repaint porch
Acquire used solar system
Install more rain barrels
Repair truck
Paint and install porch swing
Expand back porch into passive solar heater/greenhouse
Install window boxes
Create workspace in basement
Replace bathroom window
Here’s some things we’ll be doing in the future or are presently doing:
- Maintaining a house which is over 100 years old
- Installing a rain catchment system
- Building a chicken coop
- Installing a biodigester
- Planting native grasses
- Expanding the existing gardens
- Installing a water filtration system
- Garden work
- Installing solar panels
- Winterizing the house
- Elevating house approximately 50 – 100 feet (to be closer to the sun for more warmth)
- Killing invasives
- Composting