Kelley ([info]kelglitter) wrote in [info]urban_sustain,
@ 2008-03-05 15:42:00
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Hi. I'm not actually very good at that whole sustainable living thing but I'm working on it. I have two things I'd like to know about:

(1) Has anyone here ever actually used those upside-down tomato-growing containers? How do they work? Can you use them for bush cucumbers too?

(2) I have a gas dryer at my house but I've been thinking of hanging my clothes up outside when the weather gets a little nicer. What're the best options if I do not want to put a big concrete block into my yard (my house is 95 years old and, sadly, those blocks already exist from long ago and I have to mow around them, the posts long ago having rusted out)? Am I actually saving enough energy to make a difference if I do that?

Update: I ordered some of the upside-down hangers from the site that was mentioned in the post two entries down. Last frost date here is April 15 so it'll be a while before I use them, but that's OK.

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[info]nobodyhere
2008-03-05 09:53 pm UTC (link)
I typed 'clothesline' into google and the first hit I got was this site: http://www.clotheslineshop.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=C&Category_Code=OCI. They might be able to advise you whether you can affix new posts to your existing concrete blocks (since you're mowing around them anyway).

I currently have an umbrella-style clothes line outside.

I'm intrigued by the indoor retractable clotheslines as I'd like to be set up for indoor clothes drying so I will be more likely to do it year round.

As I understand it, clothes drying saves a significant amount of power (or gas in your case).

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[info]waywardcats
2008-03-05 10:08 pm UTC (link)
I use this expandable, portable rack both inside and outside:

http://www.clotheslineshop.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=C&Product_Code=5125&Category_Code=IC6

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[info]yarrowkat
2008-03-05 10:29 pm UTC (link)
clothes dryers are actually the least efficient appliances in the average home, so drying your clothes in the sunshine saves a lot of energy and/or gas. at my last house, i tied lines between a fence and a tree, and currently, i've tied lines between a tree and the bars on a window of the house. :) we're planning to put in an actual clothesline with concrete footers---but there's an old one on the property (complete with footers already) that we're going to use; it just needs to be made vertical and put in a hole.

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[info]aummaster
2008-03-05 10:35 pm UTC (link)
The upside down tomato things work OK. I used to have a neighbor who used them. Except the ones they used were free buckets from Publix bakery with holes drilled in the bottom. -better to reuse than recycle or fill landfills with- The lids had holes in them also to allow some air movement. They always got plenty of tomatoes -except when the vines got really large and broke the arms they had holding them, make sure the suspension system is adequate.

I have never tried any vines in the buckets but I am really curious about say squash, cucumbers, and some others... Give us (me and the mouse in my pocket that is) an update if you learn anything!

I used to dry my clothes outside but found that it was labor intensive. I would hang them and go to work then pull them down when I got home. Be aware if you leave them out that long they do start to fade. The fading will not be uniform and will look stupid - it did for me.

You will save a good bit of energy by hang drying your clothes outside.

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[info]bunn
2008-03-05 11:01 pm UTC (link)
*thinks longingly of sun bright enough to fade clothing*

Here in the Land of Fog and Rain (Britain), the common thing is to have an airing cupboard built around the hot water cylinder for indoor clothes drying. Heat leakage from the tank dries the clothes hung on rails or hangers round the cupboard.

In our case we don't have a hot water tank, so I have a small electric dehumidifier that I turn on for a few minutes in the airing cupboard wh instead. So, not ideal, but it uses a lot less than an automatic dryer, and it also reduces the amount of ironing needed, as clothes can be dried hung flat on hangers rather than jumbled about in a dryer.

If you live somewhere hot and dry, I wonder, would it be possible to build a cupboard vented to the outside, so that hot air would come into the house and past the clothes then out again with the water? Thus avoiding fading, but still using the supply of warm dry air?

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[info]atalanta0jess
2008-03-05 11:14 pm UTC (link)
I use one of these to dry my clothes. Not your sturdiest option for high winds! But they are cheap, and I can fit a full load onto it. Of course since I can ONLY fit one load, I end up doing laundry almost every day...keeping things in constant rotation! It works out alright for me though, especially given the fact that my budget doesn't really have room for a fancier rack at the moment.

I've never really used it outside though (only once or twice) because I can only hang my clothes to dry in the winter. In the summer, it's just TOO HUMID...things get moldy/stinky before they dry. I'd love tips for preventing this, if anyone has any!

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[info]cathellisen
2008-03-06 04:08 am UTC (link)
There's a retractable outdoor line that screws into the wall. That's quite handy.

The thing you can't beat with sun-dryed clothes is the smell. I love taking clothes off the line that have that sun and wind smell to them. We don't have a tumble dryer and do fine with sun-drying, although sometimes when we get set in rain it gets a bit tedious because then my damp laundry piles up. But in general it works for us.

The upside down tomato thing never worked for me, but I have seen some people get great results. I think it would be a cool thing to grow cherry toms in though.

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[info]gigglingwizard
2008-03-06 07:45 am UTC (link)
Could you post some links illustrating what you're talking about? All my tomatoes grow up out of the ground, and in all my years of hanging laundry and watching it be hung, I've never seen a method that involves concrete blocks, just clothesline tied to something on each end with maybe some boards to prop up the line to keep it from sagging. I'm interested in learning what these things are.

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[info]kelglitter
2008-03-06 05:00 pm UTC (link)
http://topsyturvys.com/10001.html shows the upside down tomato hangers.

For the clothesline I really just mean somebody had a big iron clothesline set into the ground with concrete and then I suspect it rusted over time and then somebody else cut it down (but left the big chunks of concrete in the ground where it had been anchored).

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