Jan Schwartz feels she and partner, Judith McDaniel, are all set for retirement.
The 1999 house they bought in 2002 has been insulated with cork walls and roof. The solar panels save on the electrical bills.
The water-harvesting cisterns, gray-water systems and earthworks have pretty much eliminated outside irrigation costs.
The chickens, fruit trees and the in-ground, raised-bed and hydroponics edible gardens provide food. The soil gardens are sustained by the couple’s compost and vermicompost bins.
Pollinators are attracted to nectar-laden plants that Schwartz and McDaniel nurture and to the bee houses they’ve erected.
The efforts on their quarter-acre midtown property, which will be showcased on the Oct. 17 tour organized by Watershed Management Group, were spurred by looming retirement...
This is the third tour in which the pair have opened their garden to the public.
Homes on the tour demonstrate the cooperative projects the group organizes and include other sustainable features such as compostable toilets and hydroponic gardens.
“I just love the work that (Watershed Management Group is) doing,” says Schwartz. “To get people educated, the tour is a fun and interesting way to do it.”