It ’s a clear , early - June day in Frankfort , Kentucky , and Connie Lemley and Andy McDonald are ready for the Dominicus .
The couple recently bought a Nissan Leaf , which they refer “ Erica ” for Leif Erikson . They want to see if their nine - jury solar array can return Cedar Ring Greens ’ annual grid - sourced electrical energy usage to net zero .
The couple ’s grid - tiedsolar photovoltaic arrayis important to them . So are the various sustainability measure employed throughout their certified - constitutive farmplace .
arrive at last zero on their one-year electricity usage — which is to say , their solar system produces as much electricity as their family of three ( Lemley has a teenage girl , Ella ) utilise in a year — is a goal they ’ve pursued and hit most of the 10 years they ’ve own the land . And their independent ground for purchasing a used electric auto was to maximise on the supererogatory electricity their array produced since a 2017 improver of four panels .
Another ground they bought the Leaf ? “ It ’s so fun to plug your car in ! ” Lemley says .
A Bluegrass Tale
Lemley and McDonald ’s central Kentucky farm is n’t off the grid , per se . But their home exhibits a bit of sustainability measures vernacular to off - storage-battery grid homes .
They ’re proud of with their low-down - wallop lifestyle , which is a culmination of the interest group both pursued even before their matrimony 15 years ago . In fact , the duo match study sustainability in college .
Lemley is the full - time farmer of the two , though McDonald , who works as the director of the sustainable systems program at Kentucky - based Earth Tools , is heavily mired . But she did n’t grow up wanting to be a farmer .
Carla Wilson
“ Going into college , I think I would do something connect to the environment , but more activism or … I did n’t have a light sense , ” say Lemley .
During her senior year , two consequence move the environmental studies major and turn her attention toward growing food . “ My grandfather sold his farm to a developer , and I discovered [ Kentucky writer ] Wendell Berry . That ’s when I really became concerned in USDA . ”
Finding Farming
Lemley follow undergraduate school day with an internship at an organic farm , a couple of old age in New York City and a teaching job at a embarkment school with an on - land site workings farm . Then , she made her path to Pennsylvania’sSlippery Rock Universityto check more about constituent factory farm in the schooltime ’s sustainable systems alum programme .
McDonald was also in the programme . He was studying appropriate engineering after an internship with Kentucky - ground “ Appalachia — scientific discipline in the Public Interest ” and subsequent projects in Peru and Texas .
The two meet and fell in love life , and when their sentence in Pennsylvania arrive to an end , they were draw off to Kentucky . The DoS had become a second home to McDonald over the years both for his experiences there and friendships he ’d established .
Carla Wilson
“ We got engaged , ” he says , “ and both make out we want to stay in one place and put into practice what we ’d been learning . ”
For Lemley , the ready - made meshing of friends and opportunity to raise meshed well with her desire to homeschool Ella . They spent their first five years on the fringe of Frankfort , instal their farm and exploring sustainability .
Then , on Mother ’s Day weekend in 2009 , they purchase the property that would becomeCedar Ring Greens , along with a dilapidate house that left Andy palpate queasy .
Carla Wilson
Housing Distress
When he first meet the theatre , he enunciate : “ I do n’t want to get by with this . ” He did n’t see potential . He saw only work . Carla Wilson
“ We could fancy doing the sort of farming that Connie wanted to do on this demesne . But I really dream of designing and building a house from scratch that would incorporate all the things I ’d learned , ” he say .
“ Once we decided to go ahead , though , it became an exciting challengeto adapt this theatre to become a top-notch - efficient passive solar domicile . In some ways , that ’s as valuable a demonstration for others , if not more so . Everybody who be in a theater survive in an existing business firm . ”
The home lived in an RV for the first few months , followed by a reach bivouacking out in the barn while tear down half the house and rehabbing the remainder .
Finally , in December , they move into the firm , which , though only nominally repaired , offered welcome protection from the elements .
“ It was very much tender than the b because we had the woodstove in here , ” Lemley tell .
It’s in the Soil
Walking the land of the 121⁄2 - Accho farm , one can quick confirm their former vision for an agricultural speculation in the space .
Lemley points out that it ’s not as bland as many produce farmers might prefer . But in hilly central Kentucky , flat ’s not that well-off to follow by .
Plus , the farm is a bikeable distance to Ithiel Town , where Lemley sells greens at theFranklin County Farmers Market , which she also aid manage . It ’s also snug to the couple ’s class friends . Carla Wilson
Her husbandry methods are inspire by the teachings of Eliot Coleman , writer of , among many books , the seminalFour Season Harvest . Using a greenhouse , Hargrove burrow and two tunnel build according to the University of Kentucky ’s low-down - price burrow design , Lemley grows and sells greenness throughout the wintertime — spinach , kale , salad jet , Swiss chard , Petroselinum crispum and Indian mustard greens .
In the warm month , she farm in four of five blocks she ’s designated for dissimilar crops and raises capsicum pepper plant in the tunnel .
Rotation Station
“ I ’ve grouped my crops by family . Hopefully , it ’s five years before they come back for most families , ” Lemley says .
“ My revolution is : There ’s one block for all the salad - admixture stuff . One pulley-block is for ail and onions , butthat does n’t satiate a whole block , so greens kind of spillinto there , too . One block is for tomatoes , squash , Basil the Great , peas , okra — all the things that I do n’t develop a net ton of . I have oneblock for sweet potatoes . Then there ’s one block that ’s fallow .
“ Every five years , a engine block will lie fallow . Then , either in the late fall or early bounce , we travail all the track into the beds , because the mulch will have bring out down . So we build up natality in the itinerary for four geezerhood , then we pile them on top of the beds , then put new mulch in the track . ”
If it sounds like a lot of body of work , it ’s because it is .
But Lemley and McDonald enjoy putting into drill sustainable agriculture techniques such as crop rotary motion , embrace cropping , row cover and minimal tillage . ( They use a flail lawn mower and black credit card to prepare most of their blocks . )
And Cedar Ring Green ’s constitutive certification from the Kentucky Department of Agriculture means her market client never have to worry about undesirable chemical residue on her garden truck .
(Re)Building the Dream
The fields may be largely Lemley ’s domain , but she ’s also quick to disembowel attending to her husband ’s contributions throughout — modifications to improve the bedroller ’s usability , for example , or cunning pepper trellises .
But back at the star sign , McDonald ’s mania for sustainable animation and appropriate technologies is on full showing .
Over the decade they ’ve lived in the home , he ’s translate a once - unliveable structure into a demonstration site , more or less , of various technique for low - impact and off - grid life , take up with passive solar designing .
Keeping Comfortable
“ This area we call a Trombe wall , ” he says , pointing to the Dixie - facing exterior . “ A Trombe bulwark is an region where the glazing is on the exterior of a with child Freemasonry wall . The space in between is not necessarily the living infinite . It lento heats it during the day in the winter , then our living space is really on the other side of the brick bulwark . Then in the kitchen , we just have a sunlight space where the sun add up into the living space . ”
Employing these two elements of passive solar design , their house abide warm during wintertime days , contract their reliance on the woodstove . ( There ’s no central estrus or air conditioning . )
And though the house is plumbed and receives metropolis water ( “ Your reader should know about the wonders of running weewee ! ” McDonald gag ) , he ’s have various measures to ensure the family ’s water usage is environmentally responsible for .
No Flush Needed
The compost commode — a two - chambered , epoxy glue - draw wood box with a hindquarters atop — is one large example .
“ Each time you expend it , you put in a handful or less of Ellen Price Wood shavings , ” he explains . “ Toilet report goes in the box . There are two William Chambers . You use one bedroom until it fills up , then you switch to the other bedroom . When that chamber fills up , you empty the first chamber . ”
McDonald count on he empties a sleeping room every four calendar month . The content bust down in an outside bin for a couple of years . After that , it ’s applied around trees in the field — never in the garden .
“ The mass of liquidness make out out of a compost throne is minuscule liken to a flush can , ” he say .
Additionally , the abode boasts a green roof and a gray water system that irrigate a raspberry and blackberry patch . There ’s also a solar water bullet for warm showers after a long day of land .
Harness the Sun
But the on-key asterisk of the sustainable farm is that nine - instrument panel solar PV raiment . It produces enough big businessman annually to power a traditional kitchen range and icebox , fans , three computers , various light and , during most months , a manner of walking - in cooler for harvested green goods . And now , the sun also accuse their motorcar .
“ We had the PV system before we had plumbing or running water , ” McDonald says . “ When we first put it in , it was 1.12kilowatts . That actually made us final zero . We carry on to be final zero until sometimein the last two years , when we find our electric bill starting to go up a little . ”
“ We were running the base on balls - in tank more because we were going to more marketplace , ” Lemley says . ( They do , however , match that the enticement of the water supply bullet ’s electric backup to Ella may have also contributed to the wage increase . )
“ So two years ago , ” he go on , “ we expanded the solar array and basically doubled its capacitance . We only reallyneeded to append one panel to get back to net zero . But the price of modules had fallen so much that we settle to tally four .
“ It produces , I think , about 2.2 kilowatts . For reference , when it was 1.1 kilowatt , it was bring forth about 1,400 kilowatt hours a year . That was our total one-year usage .
“ The middling habitation in Kentucky use about 1,100 amonth . So we were using about 10 percent the amount of electricity as the average home . That includes running a walking - in cooler once a week for 40 weeks . ”
Simplicity is Key
Yes , the kinfolk enjoys some creature comfort uncommon to off - grid life style . And the two even consider someday installing a mini split gentle wind conditioner someday to aid with allergies . But the core of their environmental sweat is , quite simply , simple mindedness .
“ It ’s worthwhile for people to realize that if you know frugally , you’re able to have a completely solar - powered base that does n’t command a huge PV system , ” McDonald say .
And , according to Lemley , “ you do n’t have to have the absolute perfect spot to be able-bodied to figure something out . ”
This story originally appeared in the September / October 2019 issue ofHobby Farmsmagazine .
