Methods to My Madness

Being a political animal in the center of the District of Calamity (sic), I was bemused by Democrat presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg’s put down of farmers.

As that callous quip grew into a full borne controversy, critics pointed out how scientific and refined is modern agribusiness.  It is much more refined than the crude characterization of subsistence farming.

At the same time, I have been educating myself about urban gardening techniques. I have quickly learned that there are a variety of gardening method: container gardening; permaculture; hydroculture, aquataculture, aeroculture et ali.   These techniques range from being quite thrifty to rather pricey.

Before one begins, it helps to discern what are one’s objectives.  I am not looking to get a photoshoot for Better Homes and Gardens.  I have a small space, so I am not going to dig up all of my “postage stamp” of a back yard. In fact, I want to keep some grass. I do not plan to feed the world with my yield, but in most cases supplement my cuisine and have some strategic ornamentals.   

Two other factors which dictate my druthers is that once the planting occurs, I hope to contain my daily drudgery to fifteen minutes a day. In addition, I need to start my gardening on a shoe-string budget.

I have pretty much discerned that it would be best for me to do container gardening. But even that choice has various permutations.  I already have a sill planter which acted as a pepper pot.  I have a planter with mint (aside from the mint which grows wild in the front yard).  I have a container that has been growing stunted hops for five years, but perhaps it will do better now.  The two Seedsheet containers (from Sharktank)  did not produce much, but the planters could be useful.

While I do have southern exposure sunlight, much of that space is taken by sidewalk. With some reordering, I believe that I could have a green wall, accomplished by a converted door shoe organizer that would be great for herbs.  

When a neighbor was renovating to flip the townhouse, I acquired a wrought iron security door, which I recognized would make for a good planter table, raised with some cinder blocks.  Since that is heavy duty, I should be able to do some global buckets (wicked planters) and bucket planters on the eastern light end of the property. 

The northern exposure side has hosted the compost pile and an improvised table for holding small planters.

My sitting area is the western exposure.  Presuming that there is sufficient sunlight, that may be where hop trellises are situated. I am also toying with the notion of growing microgreens with a bag method. 

If I were able to get my hands on a wood pallet, I would consider trying to convert it into a standing planter. The idea is intriguing but I am hesitant at how to get my hands on one, and my lack of handyman acumen at converting it.  It’s wonderful to conceptually knowing how to do it, but having the tools and the skill set is another matter. 

To better educate myself, I will attend a day long urban gardening seminar. The some of the topics seem interesting, but I bet that I’ll have to blend in wearing tie dye and “Imagining whirl peas” mindset.  At least it will provide an opportunity to exchange ideas and gauge if I am being overly ambitious with the methods of my madness.

Growing Aspirations

I live in a small townhome in practically the center of the District of Calamity (sic).  Since my quarters are so “intimate”, I have sought to utilize my urban back yard as an extension of my living room. When the weather is warm, I tend to spend my evenings sitting outside.

In the past, I have made some tentative steps to garden.  For years, I have maintained a small, in ground compost pile. Due to the presence of vermin, the only foodstuff which I compost are coffee and tea grounds.  Lately, I have started to supplement the compost with eggshells. I can see the contrast between the good soil in the compost area and the clay on much of the rest of the yard.

For the past couple of years, I have cultivated a few plants.  The pepper pot was pretty successful. I also managed to keep some herb plants alive, albeit without transplanting them out of the starter containers.

This spring, I am inspired to create more of an urban garden. Buoyed by the tantalizing taste of really fresh produce and considering the space limitations of a packed refrigerator, I hope to have some crops which supplement our groceries.  

I want to eat more salad.  Aside from liking the crunch of fresh vegetables, I know that it is healthier for me to have more fresh greens. My beloved likes bag salads mainly comprised of Iceberg lettuce or and baby carrots, both of which I find bland and have a short shelf life.  

 As an adult, I discovered that I liked spinach, as long as it was fresh (NEVER in a can or frozen) and that it worked as a mixed salad. But when we bought bagged baby spinach, it persistently got buried in the produce drawer and went bad. Personally, I like arugula, but that is something which others would pick out of a salad.  I also enjoy sprouts, but that does not suit my other half. Thus, I see growing some greens as an opportunity to get more of what I like with less of a chance of storage spoilage.

I also have nurtured an interest in cooking, which has a nexus with gardening.  I like to pickle but bristle at the grocery store price of Kirby cukes. I also had some price shock with dill. Buy growing them in a garden, it will be tasting fresh, presumably thrifty AND giving a sense of accomplishment.   While I am not a huge tomato enthusiast, fresh ‘maters in a salad or a sandwich might please my palate.

One other objective which I think could be accomplished by gardening is having some cover. I have longed to get a bicycle for short city trips, but there is no place to put it.  My shed is quite packed and there is no room in the abode.  The last time I locked a covered bike in the yard, some thief hacked the chain off when stealing the wheels (and he had time to enjoy a cigarette and a cheap can of beer).   Now that my satellite dish pole is redundant, I realized that it would make for a sturdy bicycle rack, but it would have to be obscured from street view.  

When some handy guys helped with some home improvements, one of the guys heard that I homebrewed so he wondered if I would want some hop rhizomes.  Since hops grow like gangbusters and they need a trellis for support, this might be a way to honor my homebrewing interest, do some fun gardening and provide camouflage during the growing season.

Even though I am interested in doing some gardening, I don’t want the pursuit to fully occupy all my free time. While the image of a city center rooftop garden, ala Green Card, might seem romantic, that is not my passion.  My neighbor is a fanatical gardener, but she seems to concentrate on flora and her yard is cluttered with pots (of the garden variety).

After planting, I hope to limit maintenance to fifteen minutes a day.  

Metanoia

Even though putting architectural dreams to paper is intriguing, the reality it is a long aways off for us.  But that doesn't mean that the exercise of "Containing Yourself" is for naught. For me, it is being thrifty, thoughtful and unconventional in re-utilizing things in a way that furthers one's life.

Keeping such notions in mind, when I look at buildings, many times I think about the construction methods or the utility of a layout.  When I see architectural plans for residential housing, I contrast it to the anticipated lifestyle and think about how I would modify it.

These Containing Yourself thoughts are not relegated to the future, but also the here and now.  I have been know to collect some "Future Clutters", odds and ends that I believe will be useful for some future project.

For instance, when we switched out a dying refrigerator, I felt compelled to save the crisper drawers, the glass shelves and the plastic door shelves.  The glass shelf can be overlayed on the stove to temporarily expend counter space in what we affectionately call our current "One Butt Kitchen" with limited counter space. The Crisper Bin will serve well as a container when using the immersion Sous Vide cooker.  And I am toying with incorporating the door shelves as part of a vertical garden.

When the neighbor sought to flip the adjacent townhome, he replaced the security door. Initially, I thought that the glass on that door would be a good replacement for our broken pane, but it didn't quite fit. But I realized that if it were raised by some cinder blocks, it would make for a sturdy table for container gardening, especially with Earth Boxes (or Global Buckets).

My metanoia is to consciously incorporate the lessons of Containing Yourself of  thriftiness, ingenuity, and unconventionality to improve my life today, without being overwrought or too clever by half.

Initial Inklings

My concept is to use two parallel 45 ft. (or 40 ft. if necessary) containers connected by a covered 25 ft. (or 20 ft.) interor courtyard that would act as a great room and full kitchen.  There would be a 20 ft. by 45 ft (40 ft) cement foundation for the breezeway. One wing would effectively be a Master Suite, with a bedroom, en suite bathroom and a walk in closet.  The other wing would have a guest bedroom, a media room, a bathroom (maybe just a WC, or a wt room), a mud room (with a pantry and laundry area) and storag

Since the breezeway does not extend to the far end of the containers, it creates a patio.This is welcome to push living outward.  Conceivably, this be like a deck, pergola or a sunroom.

 By having the roof extended into the patio, this would create an indoor/outdoor covered area which would minimize heating and cooling. The roof above the outdoor patio may be usuable for attic storage.  The natural light could be provided by a clear roll up door.  The roof above the outdoor patio may be usuable for attic storage.  Prospectively, this would be 1180 sf of habitable space (or 1004 sf) with a 340 sf covered patio.

The downsides of expanding semi- conditioned space outward are twofold.  This approach kind of defeats the purpose of a Tiny House, necessitating cleaning and maintenance to yet another 340 sf of space.  The more important drawback is that the extended wings of the parallel container in an enclosed space would not provide adequate circulation for gas grilling or having a fire pit.

Another approach would be a deck.  This certainly would accomdate grilling and perhaps a fire element (though there might be flamability concerns).  Whether a deck is made of wood or composite, it will be worn by the weather and need maintenance and eventual replacement.  A fire element might not pass safety muster.

The third way is to create an extended patio.  To have low maintenance, I would anticipate extended the cement foundation outwards.  It might be possible to create a courtyard like effect with a gate.  As it is a large area, it could serve to be entertainment, grilling, brewing and have some light storage.  The cement foundation would require less maintenance.   I can eventaually envision a pergola, but would not be structurally necessary to be installed at the start.  In the meantime,  we could use pop up canopies and discern how best to proceed. 

Customizing Cargotecture Concepts

I am impressed by the utility of converting cargo containers into homes.  This may well be the way to go as my household "right sizes" in a new situation.

While it would be wonderful to buy a pre-fab cargo home  off the shelf, they tend to have inflated bottom lines and do not have my prized qualities in mind within their design.  I want to keep it one level, so that it is easy to age in place and not have to go up stairs.  To add room to the narrow width of Cargo-tecture, most builders weld together containers.  In my estimation two 40 ft High Capacity containers is still too small, because they lack virtually any storage space. A third container might be a good size, but the hollowing out through welding really seems to considerably drive up costs.   So I may have to go another way.

Jon and Kristen Meiers' designed a stunning "Modern Farmhouse" container home for their show on DIY Network.  The design linked two 40 ft HC units with a covered breezeway.  This solution gave plenty of habitable space.  It was intended as a place where a Texas grandmother could host her daughter and two teenaged grandsons, so one of the bedrooms was decked out with bunkbeds.  On the episode, all seemed happy that it met their stated needs.

Backcountry Container (Jon Meier) design of DIY Modern Farmhouse on Contain-ables 

Reality Television is replete with home makeover shows, which is great for for sparking creativity and inspiring  appealing designs.  But reality shows often do not represent reality, more like Reality Blurred. Enquiring minds might wonder what is the rest of the story, as to whether the design concept really worked as living space.

The Contain-able Modern Farmhouse seemed great, but as I studied the design, the plans did not account for a television watching area.  Granted, that may have been a conscious choice.  But the space also did not have any real closet or storage space in it.  My best guess is that it was a weekend retreat aimed at extended family outings but it would for full time living it would need storage supplementals. 

Another reality home improvement show which told compelling stories but sometimes proferred questionable designs was TLC's Trading Spaces (2000-2008), which has recently been revived.  Trading Spaces would have two couples redo a neighbor's room over two days on a budget under the tutelage of a celebrity designer and shared carpenter.  Many of the show pieces were thematic and provocative, sometimes resulting in cringeworthy conclusions, especially from notorious designer Hildi Santo-Tomas.  The Beach Cabana Living Room looked more like a Circus Big Top filled with river sand.   Then there was straw living room which festoonied walls with hay for a household with two curious children prone to pluck straw  the more adult gathering space.   Reportedly, producers paid to correct the epic fail and it took 17 hours to fix the mess. 

The lessons that I've learned from Reality Blurred is to clearly discern lifestyle and practical considerations when designing a dream home and not to be afraid to customize cargotecture to suit those priorities.  Presumably there will be a tension between being stylish and being practical.  But  because I will have to live with the decision, I want any Cargotecture to be right size both spacially and liveable. 

Size Matters--But Bigger Isn't Always Better

I am trying to keep a hand full of principles in mind while planning my next abode.  I anticipate this being several years in the future when downtown development forces me out of El Barroco (my urban townhouse in the District of Calamity).  I anticipate that if a developer buys us out, there will be a chunk of change to work with, but I do not want to be house poor going into retirement.

One of the challenges of my modus vivendi is dealing with clutter. My spouse has sentimental clutter which she has vowed to winnow  but the song remains the same.  I have to anticipate "If there is free space, then it will be filled". I certainly have some share of "junk" but that mainly is "future clutter", or things that may be useful sometime later. While there is talk about getting rid of "junk", this impetus would be imposed by right sizing and smart architectural design.

The answer which I am exploring is a modified cargo container home.  Cargo containers are plentiful, sturdy and prima facia cost effective. That being said, the narrow width (7.5 feet) causes some crimps in planning Cargotecture.  Those who delight in Tiny Homes can modify one 40' cargo unit and have around 300 sf of habitation, which could even be mobile.  For those who do not want to dwell in crampted conditions, the standard practice is to weld together boxes to increase the dimensions or to stack and build vertically.

The tendancy in home building nowadays is to have larger and larger manses with dedicated rooms.  According to the American Enterprise Institute, the average new single famlyhouse size has exploded from 1,660 sf in 1973 to 2,687 in 2015.  The Tiny House phenomenon is a reaction against that inclination.

 Honestly, I am somewhere in between those polarities.  While I admire the efficiency and multi-purpose of Tiny Homes, I am not willing slog through life without any storage, dealing with composting toilets and cooking in a mini kitchen akin to heat and eat cuisine in a college dorm room.  But many off-the-shelf plans have lots of "wasted space".  And pre-fab cargo home plans often have open plans which require costly welding.

To prioritize planning, I thought about homes that have many dedicated rooms that rarely get used.  In my experience, the formal dining room that effectively gets used at Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Many formal living rooms which are never used. Or offices which devolve into storage areas (guilty as charged). While I hope to create multi-use out of most space, I hope to get away from the habit of encouraging web surfing, snacking or doing busy work  from  the bedroom. 

In recent years, I have learned to love sitting outside, to get the natural light and fresh breeze.  But my beloved can get bugged by mosquitos or experiencing too much sunshine.  Thus I would seek to design a dream home to accommodate both interests.

I have been into home brewing for years, but due to logistics in a townhouse, I do not get to brew beer. Of late, I have been brewing Kombucha but the fermenters freak out my spouse. So I want to create a brew friendly space which would not be focused in the kitchen. I also have been doing pickling and some canning, which is tough to do in a small space.  I should plan so that real cooking as opposed to heating and eating is the main culinary approach.

As for kitchens, we do not need high end Viking appliances or built in refrigerators.  But we definitely ought to design a more than a "one butt kitchen", as it is vexing to be in the midst of cooking and have to dance around each other.  Since we do not have a big family and often we eat on the run, it would seem wise to have a breakfast bar option.  Perhaps combine the breakfast bar with a countertop/storage island.

I do not see the need for a formal dining room.  To facilitate hosting dinners, I would want to explore a portable table which would be more than a couple of card tables but less than a dining room furniture set.  This is an instance that a custom build utilizing Tiny Home techniques would be instrumental.  There was a DIY design for a six person table that was stored in a converted horse trough seat.

Before we were married, my beloved loved to do crafting.  But that is hard to do in the mire of clutter.  In a Tiny Home, there is not to luxury of a dedicated crafting room. However, if a space could be readied to do crafting, that would work.  Perhaps a guest room could have a multi-purpose as a open area for hobbying. 

This discernment process directs me to drop any thought of a formal dining room and that I should be chary about a parlor.  I need to think about pushing liveable space outside for entertainment and avocational activities. For our purposes, a bedroom ought not be designed as a place to hang out or do work. 

Size does matter but bigger isn't always better.  Right sizing could be likened to a skirt: You want it long enough to cover the essentials but short enough to be interesting. 

Reconsidering Rooms

Planning a dream house ought to include an idiosyncratic analysis on how one uses space at home. Perhaps the well to do can build abodes that have singular uses.  Then one merely needs to pay to build it, clean it and maintain it.  Most of us do not have that luxury.

Different eras had different needs and priorities.  I think about a place where my friend visits on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.  I suspect that it was a farm house built in the late 1800s.  The original structure had a sitting room downstairs and a kitchen.  Up a steep stairway, there was a Master Bedroom and another bedroom with a closet.  That's it.  Presumably prior to having running water, there was no loo. Minimal closet space.  Additions make the house more liveable as seen through the prism of today.

Until  the 1930s, American homes mostly did not have closets per se.  The norm was a  mobile wardrobe that took up some of the bedroom. Of course, people did not have as many clothes and would iron their "Sunday best" nightly to look presentable.  In the post World War II enviroment, closets tended to be narrow and modest by contemporary standards. Nowadays, people seem to devote rooms for their clothes.  Bathrooms have also become a big deal.

It used to be that everyone had a Parlor or a misnamed "Living Room", which typically was not used unless one hosted company.  There is the stereotype that some persnickety housewives sought to keep their good furniture from being soiled, so they always kept it in plastic seat cushions, which made it uncomfortable and not particularly aesthetic.  Up until recently, most homes were designed with formal dining rooms.  But from my experience, those rooms were rarely used, mainly for the holidays.

Since the advent of television in the 1950s, living spaces have been oriented to watch the flickering screen.  In the 1990s, I recall a boomlet in trying to hide a big TV in an armoire with doors, so that it did not appear to be a focal point of a family room.  But televisions are much bigger and flatter.  Fortunately, we have not (yet) "evolved" into wall sized interactive telescreens as George Orwell envisioned in 1984.

Whether or not people will admit it, most people still like to watch television for much of their entertainment.   This prompts the question of to where to position "the boob tube".

It would be nice to have an entertainment space that is not dominated by television.  But if our inclination is still to watch media, designing a Great Room without a TV risks making it into the Living Room, like those rarely used parlors from the mid 20th Century.  Yet by positioning a TV set in a room can make conversation rooms moot because broadcasts punctuate the space. 

When there were only three channels, there was little debate as to what to watch.  As the price of television sets plunged, the amount of niche programming exponentially rose and TVs could show broadcasts, recorded programming, video games and can even stream the internet, having a few different sets does make sense.

My initial concept is to limit the television to a media room/office and one in the bedroom. Technology continues to advance.  It is easy to anticipate that one could stream (or mirror) programming on a laptop computer or tablet if one wished to lounge in a comfy chair away from a TV.

At George Washington's Mount Vernon estate, the kitchen was detached from the main manse and needed ventillation space for cooking fires and caves for proto-refrigeration.

The kitchen at Mount Vernon, Virginia 

In 20th Century America, Suzie Homemaker would not want guests in the kitchen, so dining areas were away from the cooking zones (even in formal dining rooms).  Nowadays, kitchens often serve as gathering places, so they are designed to have breakfast bars or islands which facilitate gathering while cooking. 

Then there is the question of overnight guests.  For a relatively Tiny Home, my instinct is to have a guest room and an ability to have a convertable love seat/ bed in the media room/office.  It seems like a waste of space to just have a dedicated bedroom which is rarely used.  My hunch is to plan for a convertable room, with a Murphy Bed like unit (perhaps a chest bed), which could be folded up and the space used for crafts or just uncluttered.

Since my household has struggled with clutter, I have sought to design a large walk in Master Bedroom closet.  I anticipate having two storage areas on the ends of each wing, which would take advantage of a cargo containers end doors. 

But until it is built (and then lived in), nothing is written in stone.  I suspect that I will seek lots of input and have to make some compromises in the process.