Jay Gaulard Blog

The EPA, Gardening, Biodiesel, Renewables and Natural Gas

Monday, June 30th, 2008

Pentagon Fights EPA On Pollution Cleanup

The Defense Department, the nation’s biggest polluter, is resisting orders from the Environmental Protection Agency to clean up Fort Meade and two other military bases where the EPA says dumped chemicals pose ‘imminent and substantial’ dangers to public health and the environment.

8 Ways to Green Your Garden

Summer is a great opportunity to spend time in the garden. Sunny days provide nice weather and extra daylight. School is out so you’ve got extra potential workers. The ground is fertile from springtime rain.

Biodiesel’s New Approval Rating Could Ease Warranty Concerns

Lack of warranty support for biodiesel has been a major stumbling block for new diesel owners who want to start using the fuel. But three long-awaited ASTM specifications could help change that.

Unprecedented bill could spark renewables in US

A new feed-in tarriff bill, mimicing many laws already in place in Europe, could pave the road for a renewable energy revolution in the United States.

Cost Benefits Could Bring Natural Gas Vehicles To Forefront

There is nothing really new about using Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) as a vehicle. The new thing, the reason that talk about CNG is growing, is that natural gas now costs about half as much per unit energy as gasoline and has an even greater cost advantage over diesel fuel.

Our Easter Lily (Lilium longiflorum) - Photo

Sunday, July 8th, 2007

I was outside strolling around, when I noticed that our Easter Lilys are almost in full bloom. Laura’s friend gave us a few of these flowers last summer. We planted them and they immediately died. I left them there and within a few weeks, new sprouts were coming up out of the ground. When I saw that, I transplanted them into the front garden where they could get some sun.

These flowers have been doing extraordinarily well. The flower is huge and the pollen almost drips, there is so much. Here, take a look…

Soaker Hose for the Garden

Tuesday, June 19th, 2007

As you may know, I like to plant things and admire the things I plant. I even like Planters Peanuts. I take it personally when things droop or die.

You may also know that the success of any new plant depends on many things, but one of them is the amount of water they receive. So many people sit there and watch the trees and shrubs that they just planted a few days ago die. I would think that many of them scratch their heads in wonder.

If you ask any of my neighbors what I do in the evening, they would probably tell you that I like to walk down the road and back as well as water the gardens. I do water a lot. I always knew that my hose and sprinkler method was not the most efficient way to do things, but that’s what I have to work with.

Laura came home the other night with a new shipment of plants she got from her friend. We planted them with some success. Some are taking off and some are half dead. Since such new plants require a lot of water and a lot of attention, I decided to get some of those soaker hoses I have heard about in the past. They are much more efficient than regular watering methods and are partially made with recycled tires. It’s all good.

If you are interested in water conservation via soaker hoses, you can check out these resources…

- Saving Water Partnership
- Fiskars Bulk Soaker Hose
- Garden and Soaker Hoses (EPA)

I have to say, these hoses are pretty cool. When you turn them on, you just watch them get wet. I did this last night and wondered if they were actually doing anything. Then, I dug my hand under the mulch to see that they were.

Save some water, give ‘em a shot.

What Can I Compost?

Thursday, June 14th, 2007

So Laura and I have decided that it would be a good idea to cut down even more on our garbage output. We thought that composting would be a great thing to do…and it is.

I started looking up different things online about composting, such as various composters, what I can compost and different composting blogs. The “How to Make Compost” link has a great table down towards the middle of the page that includes what to and what not to compost.

So far, we are just separating our garbage. Right now, we actually have more garbage to recycle than regular trash, so that’s good. The only thing is that we won’t really have much to compost and that’s a little disappointing. Oh well…

I thought that I might offer a few links about composting and gardening as a whole…I just took the list from the blog I mentioned above. I am fairly sure that the site owners won’t mind a few extra links to them.

Clean Air Gardening
Compost Guide Home
Composter Store
Practical Environmentalist
Dirt: Amy Stewart organic gardening blog
Compost Bin Blog
Onion Gardening
Garden Plant Care
Garden Tool Guide
Texas Gardening Tips
Urban Farmer
Veggie Gardening Tips
Calendula & Concrete
North Country Maturing Gardener
skippy’s vegetable garden
The Inadvertent Gardener
In My Kitchen Garden
Can You Dig It
Vegetables for Breakfast
Outdoor Furniture Guide
Clean Air Gardening blog
Italian Cooking Supply blog

I want to get one of those really cool tumbler type composters in the future, but I think it would be a good idea to wait until we actually have something to put in it. I don’t bag or rake up our grass clippings, because that would be taking all the Nitrogen right off the lawn…the very thing I want to keep in there.

If I pick up a composter in the future, you can count on some nice photos right here.

The Azalea Festival in Wilmington, North Carolina

Tuesday, May 8th, 2007

This post was written by Kristin Gaulard

If you’re the type of person who sees a beautiful garden and can’t wait to get home and incorporate some of the ideas you’ve seen into your own backyard, take the garden tour some year at the Azalea Festival in Wilmington, North Carolina. I’ve been lucky enough to have lived in Wilmington since 1998 and this tour is the highlight of the year for me.

Of course you can also attend the street fair on the beautiful Cape Fear River, or attend one or two of the “big name” concerts given in the auditorium of the UNCW campus, or take the home tour of some of the gorgeously restored homes in the downtown area, or attend the parade chock full of princesses and queens from local communities, etc., etc., but to my taste the garden tour beats all the other festivities.

A ribbon cutting at the most impressive house on the Friday of the festival starts the tour and can be attended by anybody who buys the $15 (early bird) or $20 ticket. Every cent of the proceeds which is collected by the Cape Fear Garden Club goes back to community beautification and conservation.

Not only is the home surrounded by colorful gardens exuding Southern charm, but it is adorned with high school-age belles, dressed in handmade antebellum hooped gowns, holding their delicate parasols and escorted by the extremely handsome Summerall Guards from the Citadel, South Carolina’s state-supported military college. Lording over all these youths is the queen who is the center of attention for the week.

But for me, the best part is the exploring of the gardens on the tour, which range from the manicured lawns and flower beds professionally done by landscape artists, to the hidden “secret gardens” in small spaces overflowing with the imagination of dedicated gardeners. As an added bonus, each garden has one or two of the belles welcoming you, usually with her skirt spread out under the shade of a live oak tree and her curls bouncing under her parasol.

If the hot sun gets to you, a few of the gardens are designated as “night-time” gardens and there is a magical quality walking through these special places which makes you realize how beautiful a spring evening in the South can be. As you can see I’ve been completely won over by the charm and friendliness of my new home state!

Visiting Block Island, RI

Monday, September 4th, 2006

If you have ever wanted to visit one of those real “No shoes” beach towns, you know the ones where people think of nothing more than eating ice cream and chilling out, then Block Island, RI is your place.

How is it that I have been living in NY for 32 of the 33 years I have been alive and never visited this little paradise that is only 3 hours away? Let’s just say, I am glad Laura pushed me into going. It was kind of difficult for me to pull away from my work, but I had my sister, Steph, handle things while I was gone.

There are a few ways to Block Island, either by small plane (hmmm…inspiration), the Block Island Ferry from New London, CT or Point Judith, RI. We decided that we would take the shorter and less expnsive ($15 round trip instead of the $30 round trip) ferry from Point Judith.

Now, you have to remember that this little vacation was only for a few days, but I haven’t been away for quite a few years, so I was very excited. The minute we reached Point Judith, I was just giddy. I hopped out of the car and called my mother asking her if we have ever been camping here, because the entrance to a campground we passed on the way in looked very familiar. She said yes, so that brought up a lot of memories of running around ankle deep in water looking for clams. We made it to the ferry and jumped on for our 55 minute trip. I really didn’t know what we would find.

The minute you see the port for Block Island, you just want to jump off the boat. You see people all over the place and really cool looking historic Bed & Breakfasts. People are riding bicycles and scooters up and down the roads. It really is a great vacation spot. I guess that’s why people like islands, because they are cut off from the rest of the world.

So we got off the ferry and walked up the road. Laura wanted to show me this great hotel she had discovered with her friend Jade on a previous trip here. On our way up the road, we passed an awesome farm and some great gardens that gave us lots of good ideas.

We finally made it to The Spring House Hotel. Now this was something. They had a large front porch were people were eating lunch and had a really interesting inside. We walked through and could sense the age by the uneven floors with carpeting over the original wood. I can only imagine how many families have had great vacations here. Their website says that important people have stayed here, such as Ulysses S. Grant, Mark Twain and Billy Joel. They have even hosted weddings for the Kennedys. This was my kind of place.

As we walked through, we came to the back patio, where there was a great view of the road heading south towards the cliffs.

I think maybe next summer we will stay at The Spring House. After a bunch of walking around taking tons of pictures, we had a great lunch/dinner at one of the hotels near the water. A nice ending to a perfect late July day.