LUNAR HOLLOW
  • Blog
    • Recipes >
      • Food + Pantry
      • Herbs + EO's
  • About Denise
    • Denise Cusack
    • Background+Experience
    • Unschooling
  • Work With Me
    • Speaking, Presenting, Teaching >
      • Webinars, Podcasts & Classes
    • Permaculture & Garden Design >
      • Health Justice, Restorative Relationships, and Mutual Aid
    • Copywriting & Design >
      • Writing CV
      • Writing @Medium
      • eBooks
    • Art, Design, Photography >
      • Artwork
      • Photography
      • Denise Cusack Design
  • Lunar Hollow Farm
    • About Lunar Hollow
    • Live Lightly
    • Lunar Hollow 2022 Plans
    • UpS Botanical Sanctuary
    • Lunar Hollow Photos
    • Grow a Row for HWB
  • Contact+

Living LIghtly

A big part of permaculture is about reducing waste, closed systems, regenerative practices, and caretaking for the future. A big part of our work is about reducing our footprint and reducing our dependence on the grid, and reducing our waste. 

A few ways we are working on this includes the normal things you would think of - reduce/reuse/recycle - and expands into smart technologies to better manage energy use, water use, and other consumption. Optimizing high speed internet for work and school from home and smart technology use even out in the gardens. And, adding a full home solar system!

Waste:
Reusable napkins, paper towels
Reusable food containers, not disposable
Recycle yard waste into compost and scraps to chickens

Fuel:
One car family
Work from home
Homeschool
Optimize vehicle usage to reduce consumption

Energy Efficiency:
Thermostat: smart thermostat programmed with room temperature and presence detection
Smart mgmt for lighting groups in rooms
Auto on/off lights in key rooms
Fan control 
LED outlets with low voltage lighting
Timer and humidity exhaust systems 
Smart ceiling fan
LED bulbs in all areas
Motion sensor lights for hallways, closets,  and common walkways with automatic turnoff
Smart outdoor lights
Whole home smart device orchestration
Solar Power System

Other Mgmt:
Chicken coop light and door automation
Solar outdoor lighting
Light sensing landscape lighting
Solar landscape lighting and path lights
Solar greenhouse lighting
Smart controls for seed starting systems (water, warming, lighting)
Rain barrels for passive solar heating greenhouse
Garden washing station w/greywater reuse

Water: 
Low flow toilets
Low flow showerheads
Smart faucets
Smart water management and irrigation system
Automated timing and irrigation management via low flow tape

Rain barrels

Other technologies:
3D Printer for making our own garden/home components (no packaging/waste)
Weather station Davis Vantage Vue- see LunarHollow (KWIDEERF8)

Cold Storage: 
Cold room for canning, fermenting, food preservation
Bulk food and supply storage for emergencies and natural disasters
Seed bank/library storage
 
Connectivity:
Starlink: internet plus high speed DSL
Outside internet wireless system for 2 acres
Entire home automation system is ‘off grid’ 

Security:
Front & Garage Door, Basement Door: smart locks, auto lock
Home cameras front and garage doors
Garage open/close with smart system
Human sensing AI person detection cameras for privacy/safety

General:
Less shopping
Use what we have
Hand make, grow our own, DIY
Meat is purchased from local farmers
Dye plants in the garden
Wild forage food and medicine from our own land and nearby areas

Natural materials:
We have mast cell issues and allergies to petrochemical and artificial fragrances in this house, so we use all natural products. 
All natural cleaning supplies
Organic fertilizer and homemade compost
Read hardwood floors and cabinetry
Eco-friendly unscented laundry and bath/body
Reduction of petrochemicals and formaldehyde due to allergies
Organic and low waste home

Picture
Solar system design: We have a south facing large array, and also an east facing smaller array to catch the morning light. We use a smart app to track all solar charging, battery status, and usage. 
Picture
Picture
There is a lot of discussion about the sustainability of botanicals, and deservedly. The mass production of herbs for the supplement and beauty industry requires significant amounts of plant materials (with significant waste), as do mass produced essential oils. There are ethical and sustainability questions with the harvesting of at risk or endangered plants, and plants that might take a generation to grow both in aromatherapy and in herbalism. Poaching is a big concern for many wild plants as well. Many people see black and white, and I do not.

Here at Lunar Hollow I try to grow almost all of the herbs we use in a year. The things I cannot grow or gather here include salt, oils and butters, carriers for products, and certain plants like turmeric, black pepper, coffee, or ginger. I can, however, grow and dry a huge percentage of my own herbs, distill my own hydrosols, grow culinary herbs, and carefully choose what items I must purchase (such as carriers, butters, essential oils, containers, labels) to complete what we need. We rotate crops since we can store properly dried and cold storage held herbs for up to 2 years. Therefore, we always have about a year of herbs on hand for our family. We also grow herbs for seasoning our foods, and dry our own onions, garlic, and herbs to make seasoning blends. 

A few of our initiatives here:

Food & Medicine

Grow all of our own herbs for family use
Chickens provide eggs
Extensive gardens growing perennial and annual food
Can, dry, freeze, and preserve food and herbs for year round use
Mushroom logs growing in woods
Growing reishi in the home
Orchard and fruit guilds
Perennial vegetables
Perennial herbs
Sprouting at home
Hydroponics system for indoor growing in winter
Small kitchen hydroponics for fresh herbs in winter
Seed saving to grow our own every year
Preserve enough herbs to last us at least 1 year, every year
Preserve enough herbs to share out to free clinics every year
Still to distill our own hydrosols
Greenhouse for early spring starts
​
​


WHOLLY ROOTED


​Permaculture Consultations

BLOG

denise cusack

About Denise
Speaking Events
Webinars, Podcasts, Classes
Writing
Art

Resources
Contact
​

LUNAR HOLLOW

About
Growing 2022
​Botanical Sanctuary
© COPYRIGHT 2017 - 2022
​Wholly Rooted LLC
Deerfield, Wisconsin
  • Blog
    • Recipes >
      • Food + Pantry
      • Herbs + EO's
  • About Denise
    • Denise Cusack
    • Background+Experience
    • Unschooling
  • Work With Me
    • Speaking, Presenting, Teaching >
      • Webinars, Podcasts & Classes
    • Permaculture & Garden Design >
      • Health Justice, Restorative Relationships, and Mutual Aid
    • Copywriting & Design >
      • Writing CV
      • Writing @Medium
      • eBooks
    • Art, Design, Photography >
      • Artwork
      • Photography
      • Denise Cusack Design
  • Lunar Hollow Farm
    • About Lunar Hollow
    • Live Lightly
    • Lunar Hollow 2022 Plans
    • UpS Botanical Sanctuary
    • Lunar Hollow Photos
    • Grow a Row for HWB
  • Contact+