Living with the land

SWAN VALLEY – Kathy Kinzfogl, better known as Littlebird, thinks of it as eco-homesteading. Her partner Brian Parks thinks more in terms of permaculture. By whatever name, it means a style of living which endeavors not to dominate its surroundings but rather to let the area itself guide the way. Meeting as many of their needs as possible by utilizing the resources available close to their home in the Swan Valley is a lifestyle Littlebird and Parks choose to follow.

Parks said, "We're homesteading, but we're doing it ecologically, as much as possible. We try to recycle. We try to eat organic. We try to grow as much food as we can."

The couple maintains a large garden and Parks refers to it when he explains how permaculture works. An eco-homesteader doesn't plot out a garden by deciding what berries and vegetables he or she wants to grow. Rather the potential gardener looks around the property and sees what is already growing well. Parks said wild strawberries, raspberries and chokecherries grow naturally on their property. It seems logical, therefore, that cultivated versions of those berries would grow well in the garden and produce larger fruit.

That indeed is the case. Littlebird and Parks' garden produces strawberries and four different kinds of raspberries, the surplus of which they freeze for later use. Although they make jam from the fruit of their chokecherry trees, Parks said he has not yet found a domestic cherry variety that will grow well, but he's still experimenting.

In introducing each new vegetable to the garden, Parks planted a small area and waited to see if the soil, seasonal temperature changes and other variables were willing to support that crop. They now grow carrots, beets, cabbage, lettuce, peas, garlic, onions and a variety of herbs as well as fruit trees. Tomatoes are proving a little difficult but Parks is still experimenting with different varieties.

As for garden pests, Parks said, "I've become less concerned with pest control, because the more balanced the system, the less pests. The key is biodiversity."

Parks takes advantage of borage, a tall plant with small, edible, blue flowers. He said, "It is a protective plant that we grow randomly and liberally throughout the garden, like some would grow marigolds to ward off pests. Borage handles our climate's mood swings better than marigolds. Borage protects legumes, spinach, cabbages, strawberries and tomatoes from different pests. With borage, I can be a lazier gardener. It does a lot of the work for me, plus it's edible, and pretty. And it reseeds itself. I weed it out, rather than plant it. It's a beneficial weed at this point."

Gardening is not the only eco-homesteading measure the couple uses. Their house is heated by a centrally located fireplace called a Russian woodstove, which they think of as the heart of their home.

Both fire bricks and two layers of red bricks were used in the construction of the massive fireplace. It has a four-foot, upward slanting burning chamber which can accommodate long logs. The inside of the fireplace is constructed so the heated air is forced through a series of channels which return it back and pass it over the firebox causing any particulate matter to burn rather than go up the chimney and outside to pollute the atmosphere. The circuitous path the heated air travels on its way to the chimney also allows it to heat up more bricks. According to Parks, they only need to feed the fire three to five hours a day. The heat absorbed by the bricks during that time is slowly released back into the house throughout the night. The next morning the bricks are still radiating heat into the room.

Situated on the other side of the fireplace are a woodburning stove/oven and a woodburning hot water heater. The hot water heater has a small firebox, sufficient to heat up a tank of water which is piped to the shower, sink and laundry room.

Although the house has indoor plumbing, Littlebird and Parks also have a composting toilet outside. Parks said, "It just puts less strain on our septic system."

Parks explained how it works. He uses two barrels and starts by putting grass and chopped straw and some wood chips on the bottom of each. Whoever uses the toilet then sprinkles some ash, previously collected from the fireplace, and some sawdust, previously collected from wood working projects. Covering the fecal matter not only provides a pleasanter aesthetic, it also masks the smell and helps begin the breakdown process. The barrels are emptied about twice a year and dumped in the back end of the property onto a loose network of sticks that provides air space underneath. Other biological materials like chopped grass, straw and raked leaves are added. If rain is insufficient, the area is watered occasionally to help aid decomposition.

Another eco-homesteading feature on the property is the cowboy hot tub. Essentially it is a large, oval, galvanized stock tank filled with water and raised slightly above ground by large lava rocks at each end. A fire is built under the middle of the tank and a floating thermometer provides a readout on the water temperature. When it reaches 100 degrees, the fire is put out and the humans get in. The tub loses heat slowly, so the soakers can enjoy the experience for a couple of hours if they wish.

The property also houses a teepee, a small log cabin which has served a number of functions, a repurposed clay pizza oven and a root cellar. The teepee was Littlebird's first home on the property, before any of the other structures were built and before she partnered with Parks. The small cabin was built and she moved into it after her daughter Apryll was born.

Littlebird commented, "The space looks so small now, but after the teepee, it seemed pretty luxurious."

A year and a half later the big house was built and the cabin was converted into a pottery studio. When Parks started making dijeridoos, the ex-pottery studio became the dijeridoo-building workspace. When Joost Verboven came over from the Netherlands and he and Apryll were married, the cabin became their temporary home. And when they moved out, it became the guest cabin.

The outdoor pizza oven, according to Parks, was more of a fun project undertaken by himself, Apryll and Joost than a serious eco-homesteading measure. When the clay dome of the oven was finally completed, the opening was too small to allow entry to a full-sized pizza, though it can still be used to bake bread. Littlebird and Parks also occasionally cook a leisure meal in it. The trick is to have foods that can be cooked in stages, each requiring consecutively lower cooking temperatures.

Another eco-homesteading feature is the above-ground pump house and root cellar. Littlebird said, "It's kind of old fashioned but it's nice." Built the same time as the house, it has proven itself a safe and convenient place to store the garden's over-abundance of root vegetables and items which can't be saved by freezing.

Summing up their lifestyle, Littlebird said, "We have been eco-homesteading for 22 plus years. It's important for us to live this way as a commitment to living as simple and close to the earth as possible. We believe it makes a difference for all of us!"