2022 was a busy year, but a productive one. I am fortunate because I had a warm place to sleep, some food to eat, and was overall healthy. Here is some reflection on the year.
Goals for 2022
Goals I set for myself at the start of the year:
Add to our garden space. Grow more food. I tried a new ‘fast’ type of winter squash this year to see how big it could grow in our short season.
Set up a water barrel to collect rain water. I wanted to see how feasible it would be to harvest free rainwater for use in the garden and yard.
Passive house improvement DIY. Working to make our home more passive and stay warmer in winter/cooler in summer. This year I aimed to add some insulation in the attic, and to seal and block airflow.
Plant at least one more perennial food tree. Continuing my work from last year.
Volunteer with our local tree planting group. I aimed to lead at least two outings, and have several families interested to try it this year for the first time.
Successes
House fixing and air-sealing
I spent more than 1,000 hours this year DIY fixing and air-sealing the house. I learned a lot. I would like to write up a post on the process.
My target to receive a rebate was improving air-tightness by 10%. I was able to achieve 13%. Excellent.
The house stayed so much cooler in the summer. Previously the upstairs floor would be the same temperature as the outside, but now I was able to keep the house 10 to 20 degrees cooler, without using any energy!
Besides improved comfort this should also lower our utility usage and bills. I only have one month of data (November), but so far this is making a good impact lowering our usage. We will see what the next few months bring.
I learned about the concept of Degree Days, and am able to use this to figure out the full impact of my fixes.
This project was a huge and undertaking and I am glad to be done. But I learned a lot about house construction and repair.
I was able to publish a book review on “Pretty Good House” and a calculation of which house energy improvements are the most cost-effective.
I began learning about Indoor Air Quality.
I started to measure our own air quality and check for radon. This is something I will need to fix next year.
Planted food trees.
This year I planted seven more perennial fruit trees - more saskatoons and haskaps. Some of them will also pull double duty as windbreaks and shade for the house, on the hottest west side. I am excited for them to grow, especially trying some “Complete Organic Fertilizer” from Solomon’s gardening book.
Gardening
Added garden space. I added one extra garden bed and four vertical trellises. I was able to find some coupons and get the trellises at a discount, which was great.
Learned about cover crops. I did many hours of research across multiple books and sources on how to plan and use cover crops. I published a summary of the results. I also learned at least one way that does *not* work by trying something, experimenting, and failing. This cost me growing squash - I grew zero edible squash this year. But at least I’m practicing and learning.
Learned about drought. I was able to publish book reviews on “The Drought-Resilient Farm” and “Gardening When It Counts”.
I was able to find a source for micro-clover, and replace some of our grass lawn with this more drought-resistant plant.
I learned about Solomon’s “complete organic fertilizer” (COF), and was able to find the best, cheapest local farm supply stores where I could get the ingredients. I am interested to try this next year.
Rain Barrels
I spent several dozen hours researching rain barrel systems and downspout diverters. After much work, calculations on the ROI, and successfully setting up a rain barrel system, I published a guide and my end-of-year results.
Despite setting up one barrel incorrectly and having to learn how to fix it, I was able to capture and use about 2,500 gallons of free rain water.
I reduced water usage in my house as well.
I only had to use irrigation for a very few days during the entire summer, despite planting additional trees this year and some hot temperatures.
I am very happy with this setup, and I learned a lot. Excited to use it again next year.
Other
Joined a CSA. I have been getting a good supply of healthy, high-quality vegetables from a local farmer. This feels good to support my neighbour and keep my money flowing back into the local economy. Plus, we get healthy food.
Fermenting. I have been reading “Wild Fermentation” by Sandor Katz, and learning how to ferment food. I was able to work through the recipes to make sauerkraut, mead, and kimchi. I learned several ways to not do it. I want to try at least two more of the recipes. This has been fun to learn, and greatly helped by a regular pickup of healthy, local vegetables.
Fasting. Still working on this. It is difficult during December.
Reading. I read several good books this year, including three on mental resilience which I am working to put to good use.
Exercise. Created a new stretching and muscle-strengthening routine this year. It feels like it helps.
Community. We have done several activities and a bunch of outreach this year to meet more of our neighbours, help everyone get to know each other, and build strong, positive bonds. This has been fantastic.
Healthy family. Once again I am very fortunate to have as much health as I have, and to have healthy family members as well.
Writing! Creating this substack and collecting everything in one place has given me new enthusiasm for analyzing, summarizing, and writing. Somehow between all of the DIY house fixing this year I managed to also write 47,000 words. That is by far the most I have written in half a decade.
I have been meaning to publish a book review of “An Astronaut’s Guide To Life On Earth” for years, and finally did it.
Failures
Did not volunteer with the tree planting club. I was too busy fixing the house. Oh well - I was still able to focus and deliver house fixes. I am quite fine making this tradeoff of getting the house fixed.
Did not use the extra garden space. The winter squash and front of my garden bed got shaded out by barley that grew so tall. Two of the trellises did not grow anything. I learned several steps about what to *not* do next year.
Goals For Next Year 2023
Rain Barrels: I would like to find a spigot with a faster flow rate. Despite raising my barrels up 2-4 feet off the ground, when the water level is low it still pours very slowly. I will research hardware options to see if any spigots flow faster.
House:
Fix the radon in our house. We received a bad radon rating (220 units in a 10 month test). Need to fix it right away.
Learn more about ventilation. Now that I have done air-sealing, how do I tell how much ventilation I need.
Install a long shade on the hottest, west side.
Garden:
Do more actual gardening. If I’m not so busy fixing the house next year, hopefully I can:
Plan and grow a better garden
Use better, more appropriate cover crops
Try out COF
Plant some more pollinator-friendly flowers and species
Join a local gardening club
Food:
Try making sourdough pancakes and yogurt. Publish everything as a blog post.
Writing:
Write an article on air sealing. “Air-Sealing Your House For Comfort And Profit”. Or determine if this is the right article to write.
Finish compiling my notes on mental resilience.
Stretch Goal: Write a book review of “The Resilient Gardener”. This has been on my list for at least a year. Fantastic book, but lots of dense content. It has taken me a while to summarize.
Overall: a solid year. I have been more productive in the past 12 months than in many recent years. Let’s see if we can continue that.
May you all have a happy, healthy, and successful 2023.
More Reflection
Year Compass Booklet. A tool to help you reflect on the past year, and prepare for the next one.