July 2008 Archives

There was an article recently in the Chronicle detailing the Bay Area Air Quality Management District's new set of rules design to limit emissions from wood burning fireplaces. While outdoor cooking itself is not directly regulated by this rule change, many municipalities have recently made the requirements for outdoor fireplaces more strict.

Provisions of the new rule:
- Limits excessive visible emissions from wood-burning at all times.

- Requires cleaner burning technology such as EPA-certified wood-burning devices, pellet stoves, low-mass fireplaces or masonry heaters in new construction or when the stoves are sold, resold or installed.
- Prohibits the burning of garbage, plastics, chemically treated wood, waste petroleum products and other inappropriate materials.
- Requires labeling and disclosure of the moisture content on wood sold for use within the nine-county district, including instructions on how to dry the wood if it has a moisture content greater than 20 percent by weight. Sellers of seasoned firewood must properly label it as seasoned.

Fires used outdoor for residential cooking won't be regulated.

For More:
Bay Area Air Quality Management District

Smart irrigation controllers that automatically adjust based on plant water needs and weather patterns are becoming more and more common in landscaping of all scales. The Chronicle had a good overview in today's paper about the role of climate-based controllers and some different manufacturers. Definitely worth a look; in the current drought conditions, water districts are going to start mandating these controllers be installed for new and existing landscapes.

We attended an interesting talk yesterday in San Francisco by Fritz Haeg put on by the Garden Conservancy and held at Flora Grubb in San Francisco. His Edible Estates project was an interesting project undertaken at 9 residential  homes across the country to tear out front lawns and plant vegetable gardens in were the landscape was previously dominated by little used front lawns.

Haeg's ideas were to promote gardening, highlight discussion and debate about how we use residential landscapes, and how lawns are often traditionally used as filler with no real practical usage.

An interesting lecture and an idea that promotes sustainable and local food production. His work on the project in chronicled in his book, Edible Estates: Attack on the Front Lawn, well worth a look.

This project we are working on in the conceptual design phase in Corte Madera works on redeveloping the front and back yards of the residence. The design creates more planted garden space and more usable outdoor living space.