Hello from my igloo
 

Hello,

My name is Lee, I'm from Winnipeg, Manitoba in Canada. I'm an old online friend of Daox's. I think we've been online friends for about 10 years now. We met playing online gaming when he kicked everyone's butt from here to tomorrow, but now he's gone and got all sophisticated on me and doesn't play anymore...actually I don't play games anymore either. :)

I live in a 1446 SQ FT house in a newer suburb of Winnipeg. I'm very into being green and making my living area as well as our planet a better place to live. I even go so far as to shut the computer off when I'm not using it now...this coming from a huge computer geek. Most of the lightbulbs in our house are CFL. There are still a few stragglers left but not many. Some of the stuff I've done to my house so far are, scrubbing and sealing my basement and garage floor to prevent mold and moisture, insulated my entire garage as well as the roof of the garage (the garage is attached to the house), sealed up my furnace vents to allow for better heating and cooling in the house, and created a nice vegetable garden out back. I also try and take good care of my lawn by keeping the grass at least 2 1/2 - 3 inches high so I don't have to water it as much and use Scotts ecosense lawn fertilizer on my lawn so that I don't put in too many chemicals into the ground. We also use a lot of quality ecosense soaps and energy smart appliances in our home. I'd also like to upgrade my water heater at some point to 1 larger or 2 smaller electric water heaters. And I'm always looking at new ways to improve.

I'm here to learn as well as help (if I can). It's nice to meet everyone. I'm looking forward to seeing what we can all do to help each other improve our homes.

Below are some garden pics in case anyone would like to see. I told Daox I'd put them up.

Below are some pictures of my garden. I hope I don't go into overkill posting them all. I'm new to gardening, sort of. I use to help my dad and grandparents with theres, but other then that I've never done my own garden, until now...

http://www.mts.net/~lsenden/Garden1.jpg

http://www.mts.net/~lsenden/Garden3.jpg

http://www.mts.net/~lsenden/Garden5.jpg

http://www.mts.net/~lsenden/Garden6.jpg

http://www.mts.net/~lsenden/Garden10.jpg

http://www.mts.net/~lsenden/Garden11.jpg

http://www.mts.net/~lsenden/Garden12.jpg

FYI these tomato plants are 6 feet tall. They would have kept growing had I not pruned them. Tomato plants can actually grow very tall (something I just learned).
http://www.mts.net/~lsenden/Garden13.jpg

http://www.mts.net/~lsenden/Garden14.jpg

http://www.mts.net/~lsenden/Garden15.jpg

http://www.mts.net/~lsenden/Garden16.jpg

http://www.mts.net/~lsenden/Garden17.jpg

http://www.mts.net/~lsenden/Garden18.jpg

http://www.mts.net/~lsenden/Garden19.jpg

Welcome to ecorenovator! That's a great looking garden! Glad to have you here.

That garden is awesome!

welcome. :)

Hey Hig! Welcome to the site. That garden really does look great!

Have you been looking into doing anything specific with the house? BTW, post pics of it too!

Welcome and great garden.

I'd like to have such a beautiful lawn, but I hate using the lawnmower... In summer we have sun, no rain, and water restrictions : my lawn is brownish :(

My parents in law were tomato producers :) now retired.

Denis.

awesome garden design! i'm taking notes

I just need to find a rain barrel small enough now to fit in the 2 feet that is available to me beside the house. Then I can use the rain water to water the garden.

Higgy that garden is awesome! Like Tony said, I'm taking notes!
A design like that woul work perfect in my back yard.
Check out the water barrell designs on these sites:
A Spouse's Guide to Building the Perfect Rain Barrel System
Rain Barrels, Downspout Diverters and Filters, Rain Barrel Kits
I think you have plenty of room for at least two, if you build a raised platform. Personally I wouldn't buy a rain barrel already made (cost too much) you can build one pretty cheap.