Local Restaurants; Grow Your Own Herbs!

There is no better tasting herbs and salads than organic, locally grown edibles. Very few restaurants have zero space to grow herbs outside. Most chains load their green space up with water abusive lawns and tropical vegetation. Why not consider growing fresh herbs and salads on the grounds of the eatery?
It's a growing trend. It's green. It's fresh and it can give your establishment an edge over the competition.
What if we enlarged the scope of our operation to install and maintain organic herb gardens at local restaurants? We have a network with local garden consultants such as Bruce Stephens that could provide knowledge and assistance. I can imagine that the staff at restaurants are too busy to maintain these gardens, but the idea is sound.

A Boston eatery grows fresh herbs seasonally using drip irrigation.

" Fresh culinary herbs have become an important part of southern California's cuisine. Restauranteurs are interested in enhancing the flavor of foods without increasing the foods' caloric, sugar, salt, and cholesterol contents. Local restaurants have led the way in developing and popularizing the use of fresh herbs. This shift to natural flavor enhancers is in keeping with today's lifestyle of healthier, lighter meals. "

Some interesting facts from a 1991 California University Survey;
A minority of restaurants (15.6%) would like to attempt to grow most of their fresh herbs.

Asian restaurants' median weekly purchase (3.8lb. and $37.50/week, both summer and winter) is less than for all other restaurant types. Mediterranean restaurants' expenditure on fresh herbs exceeds that of all other restaurant types ($200.00/week, summer and winter). Mediterranean restaurants purchase a median quantity of 11 lb/week year-round, or spend about $10,000 annually on just fresh herbs.

San Diego and Southern California have an ideal growing climate year round and get more rain than is commonly believed. With the growing trend of shunning GMO crops and favoring locally grown organic food
it seems like common sense to incorporate this practice and make it part of the marketing approach.

Imagine, fresh herbs and salads, grown onsite and irrigated with rain and reclaimed water.

We envision roof top container gardens providing fresh edibles in downtown locations. Patio seating lined with herbs that are harvested daily and consumed and used as garnish. There are attractive architectural designs that can do more than consume space; they can produce food!

With the super expensive water rates why not divert some of the rinse water into a tank and use it to water the edibles between rains? We not allow us to create and maintain edible container gardens in patio seating areas? In this challenging economy I am always seeking paths to revenue streams and this idea came to me as I thought about genetically modified foods, organics and the tough times many small restaurants face as people flock to chains. All businesses need an edge. Grow yours.
Link to California University study: http://californiaagriculture.ucanr.org/landingpage.cfm?article=ca.v045n01p4&fulltext=yes 

Rain Tax?

Believe it or not a battle to stop a " rain tax " is going on just past the Orange Curtain to our direct North. A plan to charge as much as one dollar per gallon of storm water run off is being proposed by the county of Los Angeles. A parking lot of a Walmart exceeds 100,000 square feet, which yields 62,400 gallons per inch of rain. If they were not regulating their rainwater runoff to official guidelines that parking lot would generate $624,000.00 a year in fines based on an average rain year in Southern California.
It's as crazy as North Korea announcing recently that they were going to nuke us.
Apparently governments act by threatening as much force as you could imagine, say a nuke, or a dollar per gallon rain tax. Can education stop this aquaclypse?
Instead of threatening business killing taxes to penalize what is essentially poor civic engineering, why not spend money promoting changes in landscape designs that funnel the storm water back into the ground, instead of along to our oceans, full of cigarette butts, garbage and a toxic tea of urban runoff?
Educating landscape architects to work in coordination with civic engineers to totally rethink rainwater and storm water management combined with common sense funding would both spur an economic boom and help solve the problem of urban runoff and ground water depletion. By having construction companies cut bio-swales into streets and curbs in existing infrastructure, million of gallons of water will revert back where it belongs, which is in the ground. Making education about the benefits and capabilities of rainwater harvesting part of government spending will help make rain and grey water use widespread. I believe it should be even mandated in new construction.
If Los Angeles is able to pass any type of a rain tax other cities will follow their lead.
Any new tax, fine or operating cost placed on businesses will be passed on to consumers, or the businesses will cease to exist because they cannot pay the increased demands of the state. The government is saying, " now you got this nice company here, we gotta tax you for the water tax runs down our street when it rains. "
I mean, shouldn't they just follow Arizona's lead and get serious about rainwater harvesting?
Rainwater harvesting isn't just about rain barrels, its about the way cities manage storm water. The civic engineers created urban environments where water is not allowed to soak into the ground. The government agencies signed off on it and now they want to tax us for what is essentially ignorance about the way rainwater should be managed.
The system we have depletes the aquifers, which allows salt water from our nearby ocean to seep in, which makes the plants not grow, which makes food more expensive.  
If only I could get people to watch this video. It would help to end The Cycle Of Insanity, and perhaps lead people to consider having a Rainwater System on their home.


The Cycle of Insanity: The Real Story of Water from Surfrider Foundation on Vimeo.

Supporting links;
http://www.altadenablog.com/2013/03/superviso.html
 http://www.lacountycleanwater.org/

The Home Of The Future

The ideal home of the future, especially in Southern California will be a micro-infrastructure.

The electricity will be provided for by the Sun, and the roof and home will yield enough water to provide for all the exterior water usage. The land not occupied by our homes will either not consume, or it will provide food for our families and neighborhoods. 

Native vegetation is drought resistant and attracts wildlife like hummingbirds and butterflies.

The time for the ideal of the future is now.

Southern California just got hit by a water balloon, and it burst upon impact. The water supply for FOUR MILLION PEOPLE for a year just evaporated. “In the span of 92 days, we lost out on water that could have been used to supply more than four million people for an entire year. That’s a huge amount of water,” said State Water Contractors General Manager Terry Erlewine.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE ABOUT THE ANNOUNCED WATER SUPPLY CUTS 

The ideal home of the future would be built on a raised foundation, such as in this example; 

 All the homes downspouts would lead into a cistern, that was built into the foundation of the home. The entire footprint of the home would be a cistern and the grey water from the home would be filtered before feeding into the storage. Post cistern filtration would be used to render the water potable for use in showers or for cooking and a city water feed would top off the cistern between rains. Solar panels would array the roof producing most of the homes electricity needs and the majority of the landscaping would be edible food gardens or xeriscaped or artificial grass.

In an ideal situation there would be an informal organization in each neighborhood where people discussed what edibles would be grown and how to share the food because as we all know when there is a garden, even a small one, it usually provides more food that can be eaten by one family, so having a co-op of sorts would build up the communities by getting people talking and working together. Such a neighborhood would pay little to nothing for produce, it would help to decentralize food production and the citizens would have fun!

Part of the impact in the story about the water cuts is that it will have a big impact on new home construction in Southern California because if there is no water, there can be no new building. With no construction, the economy can never fully recover. It is socially responsible to not let the water from your roof go to waste. Rain water harvesting is not just a fad or trend; it is a requirement for growth.
Wide spread use of rain water harvesting systems in San Diego and other parts of California will free up potentially billions of gallons of water per year, allowing for economic recovery and growth.

Call us today to schedule a FREE consultation. 

Rain Water System Package Deal

This 1,320 gallon tank kit with rainhead debris filter, first flush device, level gage,  pump and fittings is only $2,200.00 with shipping, anywhere in California. A solar version of the pump is available for an extra $40.00.

You will save time and money buy purchasing this complete set up. The tank size can be scaled up or down from 205 through 2,850 gallons. Over the course of hundreds of installations of rainwater harvesting systems we have gotten our custom first flush devices down and replicable. The accessories of these kits can be shipped inside of the tanks and would freight from the Bushman factory in Temecula California.

1,100 gallon  tank package, $2,000.00

Our First Flush Devices can be placed at each downspout or next to the tanks when they are placed away from the house. They are designed to help prevent sediment from reaching the tanks. They feature a cleanout and a fully adjustable drain that is ready to have a garden hose attached to drain the first flush water away from the foundation or to be used to water plants.

The accessories kit has everything you need to use the tank right away and to be ready to daisychain additional tanks. The number one complaint I hear of folks purchasing tanks from other companies is that they then have to spend hours and days chasing down the misc. fittings.

I can match any wholesalers price on tanks that are f.o.b ( picked up by the customer ) in Temecula.

Rainwater Harvesting, Wet Systems

 

 

Large rain tanks and cisterns need not be placed next to the house.

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It is more economical to place the tanks next to the house, but that is not the only way.

 

 

     Called a wet system; the downpipes from the gutters lead underground to the cisterns that are placed in a far corner of the property. This works in the same way ancient Roman fountains work; as water always seeks its own level gravity will feed raintanks where ever they are located as long as there is at least eighteen inches of clearance between the bottom of the gutter and the top of the tank. 

This method allows for more aesthetically pleasing rainwater harvesting systems. The pipes must be glued and water tight. I have taken to favoring placing first flush devices next to the tanks, instead of on the house. Here are two case studies.

This is what the client had before contacting me.

The client had simple recycled barrels she was using to collect rain. They were open topped and teeming with life. Open top rain barrels are a drowning hazard for children and bug factories. These cheap barrels also leech toxic plastic in to the water.

She had prepared compressed soil beds for the three 1,110 gallon tanks and dug her own trenches to save money.

People in San Diego in particular pay a lot for water and they tend to be aware of how much rain they have coming off their roofs.

Rain gage in Alpine, Ca in tank area before placement. Below; one of two 1,110 gallon tanks.

Rolling the large tank in; you can see a pipe trench leading across the driveway to the tank beds.

Trade secret; lever large tanks over fences with an extension ladder;

Completed set up in Alpine

Detail of custom first flush device ( placed next to tanks.

I will detail my versions of wet systems sediment traps and other debris management in a future post. Keeping muck out of your tanks and under ground feed pipes is a huge part of keeping these Rain Water Systems working.

This amazing desert garden is in Vista California and has one of the most beautiful rainwater harvest systems yet. The red pipes are the feeder pipes for this wet system. The white is the overflow.

Remember; a small 1,000 square foot home yields 624 gallons of water per inch of rain.

Read more.

Contact me.

The Anatomy of a Weather Vane

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A weather vane is a instrument that is designed to show the direction, and sometimes speed of the wind. In the proper hands they can become objects de art. A weather vane typically goes on the highest part of the building. 

The Directionals are fixed with a compass as a guide to the correct geographic orientation.

 

Directions are the North, East, West and South pointers. Did you know that this is where the term " news " came from?

At Rain Water Systems, we know customers can buy cheap imports for a lot less than the hand crafted pieces we offer. We are not about warehousing sweatshop made junk and blowing it out for a fraction of a profit on the internet; we are into making one of a kind pieces to last generations in the tradition of European and East Coast artisans. 

The Orb is a key feature on many weather vanes. These are usually large copper balls. I usually use a six or eight inch copper ball that is made in a spinning process in halves and soldered together.

Six inch copper ball

The Finial or Base is a feature I like to use to give stature and size to my weather vanes. Typically these might be 24 inches in height and have six sides;

Six sided finial/base for large weather vane

The Spindle; I like to call the base of the weather vane itself a " spindle ". There is no good reason for this. That is just what they are to me and I have no good explanation. I usually craft my spindles from heavy solid cast bronze. This piece is ten inches tall and weighs about twenty pounds; I carve the pattern from oak and then have it sand cast at a foundry. This shows the 3/4" threaded brass rod that makes up part of the guts of my weather vanes;

Weather vane spindle; placed near the bottom and very heavy cast bronze.

The Anemometer; these give an indication of wind speed. I like to think of them as " the living " part of these weather vanes. They are little copper cups with a sealed bearing and they are the only part of my vanes that are purchased;

Wind Speed Indicator, aka a Anemometer.

 The Arrow; These are designed with a " sail " on the end to catch the wind. The idea is that the sail will direct the arrow to the direction the wind is blowing. I have five different arrows that cannot be found anywhere else. The sail may be out of exotic materials like gold or thin decorative stone. This example is hammered copper and is typically what I use. I confess that on my first weather vane, installed on the Long Beach City College , I didn't ' get ' how weather vanes worked and fixed the arrow so it would not turn. I was pleased to overhear people say that they thought my new creation was a original historical piece.

Bronze weather vane arrow with hammered copper " sail ".

 The Rod;

This is a 3/4" brass rod that goes through the finial and into the roof. There are different ways to attach the weather vane to the structure. Ideally it is bolted into the beams with a rod.

3/4 inch solid brass rod

The Guardians; I like to put these little gargoyles on the four points of the compass. They overlook the home and stand vigilant.

mini-gargoyles 

The Spike: I am found of using turned, European style spikes as a main feature. Many weather vane artists use roosters and themed elements such as boats or golfers. I wanted to do something original;

Turned style bronze Spike

Themed Element;  many weather vanes feature typical decorative or themed elements. I called this one " Boy on the Moon ". I also have a Celtic horse and am I open to commissions.

Boy on the Moon, weather vane element.

I hope to have the chance to do more of these as the economy recovers. If you are looking for something extraordinary please give me a call. These are generally made at my shop and assembled at your home or job site.

Large finial and five foot spike weather vane.

To see more picture and some of my other roof ornaments please visit; the Rain Water Systems gallery.

How to Install Gutterglove with Copper Rain Gutters

6" Lily gutter brackets, Cubic Leaderheads with Mission Panels, mitered ends.

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Copper gutters are not only beautiful, they last  longer than any other type of material when installed properly. With the proper care Gutterglove can be compatible with ornate copper gutter systems even though the metals are dissimilar.


Rain Water Systems makes and sells the most extreme copper gutter parts you can imagine as well as being zealous about water conservation. Extreme gutters call for the very finest in leaf protection and in our opinion the top shelf product is Gutterglove.

One of a kind leaderhead at a graveyard in Hollywood California

Gutterglove is on the higher end in terms of cost, but the fact is that it will be subject to accelerated deterioration if the metals are not separated in some fashion. A internet search with the term " IS ANODIZED ALUMINUM SAFE WITH COPPER? " will yield a lot of results but the consensus is NO.

Fortunately, this is a mild problem if you have a good plan and the best gutters can have the best gutter protection. Here is how;

5" seamless half round copper gutters with external fascia brackets and Gutterglove Ultra

The first thing you need to do is remember that even if anodization creates a thin barrier between the metals you have to pierce the aluminum with screws or rivets, so no matter what you do the metals will have a contact. The key is to keep it to a minimum.
The larger amount of metal wins; a large aluminum gutter system draining onto a small copper roof will have some effect on the copper but the aluminum will not be affected much even if they are in contact. A large copper gutter system in contact directly with aluminum, such as gutter screen will corrode the aluminum much quicker than otherwise. The point is your clients expensive copper gutter systems will not be damaged by the aluminum Gutterglove, but the Gutterglove may deteriorate and that may cause warranty issues or client unhappiness. Expansion and contraction of the copper ( 1'8" per 40' in a twenty degree temperature span ) will quickly rub the anodization off the screen, no matter how thick and awesome it is.

The Gutterglove is laid on its back on our saw table.

We use 3M Temflex Corrosion barrier tape.

Pre-place the barrier on the Gutterglove and trim it clean with a razor knife.

Have an assistant pull the tape tight and press it into the corner where the Gutterglove will contact the copper gutters.

 I use an oversized drill bit ( compared to the #42 rivets ) and attach the Gutterglove to the copper gutters with a stainless steel rivet. The stainless is compatible with the copper, the 3M tape wraps tightly around the mandrel of the rivet and the oversized hole reduces contact between the steel rivet and the aluminum screen.

Gutterglove is an elite product. I spare no step in doing it right.

If you have done it right the clients will have a virtually maintainence free product that you can be proud of. As always, feel free to email me or call me with questions or comments. If you are in San Diego or Orange Counties and need expert gutter beyond the average, we want to talk to you today.

See it on the News and Consumer Reports: