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Private Notes
The family move into the house, and with the help of friends - beer guzzling students and local businesses, they plant crops, re-tile the roof and construct a wooden aqueduct from a stream to a water wheel, which it is hoped will provide enough energy to power the lights of the house.
A greenhouse is erected with a unique heatsink designed by Dick and made from recycled bottle glass to keep it warm, and the family acquire two pigs, ominously named 'Christmas' and 'New Year'.
Dick attaches a generator to the water wheel that powers all the lights in the house and the family enjoys a bumper first harvest.
A heating distribution system is installed to help spread the warmth from the efficient wood burning stoves to the rest of the house and to clear the house of damp. Dick and Jim make bio-diesel from chip fat.
Winter is closing in, but the heating distribution system is not working as well as intended - the wood burners can't quite keep up with the cold Cornwall winds. The children are off at university, spreading the green message. The well at the bottom of the garden gets a wind turbine-powered pump, and the water mains is disconnected.
Both the heat sink and the water wheel have proven reliable. Dick installs a solar hot-water panel to complement the wood burners in the spring and autumn. December 28 arrives, and with help from Mike the farmer, and Chris the butcher, the pigs are slaughtered and butchered on the farm. People gather for the big New Year's Eve party, the centrepiece of which is spit-roast pig.
A second wind turbine is erected, and a composting toilet is installed. Brigit gets into the cosmetics business by making her own moisturiser. Donnachadh McCarthy returns for a new ecological review. Result 9/10 (up from 6/10 before the move to Cornwall.)
In the first programme, Dick helped the Keenan family in Wirral build an eco-house, setting up a ground-source heat pump, wind-turbine, and rainwater harvesting system. Then Dick, helped by James and assistant Jim, went to the aid of the Hunts family, who needed to grow fresh fruit and vegetables for their son who has multiple allergies.
In programme two, Dick helped Duncan and Steve in Bath to give their scruffy city garden the green treatment. Using only free, recycled materials, they start building a greenhouse. Then in Cornwall, Dick helped the Moriaty family to build an eco-campsite.
In programme three, Dick and James revisited would-be green gardeners Duncan and Steve to see how their urban garden was progressing. Then in Cornwall, Dick learned the mysterious art of water-divining when he returned to the Moriaty family project to build an eco-campsite. Dick, James and Jim also visited Chris and Carla Fletcher, who moved to rural Scotland to become more self-sufficient.
James meets Maggie, who is determined to decorate her 1930s house using eco-paints, whilst restoring and reusing the original features. In Northampton, we meet Julie and her Dad, who with Dick's help, install a solar panel on the roof. We return to the Keenans on the Wirral. The guest wing of their big eco-build is nearing completion. They get stuck in and learn how to use environmentally friendly lime plaster.
In this episode, we meet Andrew Martin from East London, who wants a solar panel but has no budget. Dick comes up with an ingenious do-it-yourself solution. In Bournemouth, we meet Danette Whittle who wants to green up her life, so she gets a wood burner, and starts using menstrual cups. In Cornwall, sisters Jake and Candy acquire some very unlikely livestock to graze their eco-campsite. On New House Farm, Dick and James build a pond for their new ducks.
Dick Strawbridge and his son James venture out from New House Farm in Cornwall to meet aspiring individuals and families who want to try and make their lives greener. Eco-campsite sisters Jake and Candy get their wind-turbine in Cornwall, but not before being tested by Dick on their knowledge of electricity. How do you insulate a centuries old cottage if you still want to enjoy the timber beams? In Lincolnshire, we meet Zannah and Arthur who discover that going green in a conservation area isn't easy. They've got their solar panel, but will they be allowed to keep it? In Somerset, we meet the Warrens, who with Dick's help start sustainable livestock farming when they get their first Gloucester Old Spot pigs.
In this programme, Dick met Matt, who has a heavenly New Forest house by the beach, but a hellish heating bill. He had a solution, but a visit from Dick led to a change of plan. In Staffordshire, we met Maggie again. Having moved into her eco-decorated house, she wanted a wildlife pond in the garden. Dick, Jim and James assisted. Niel and Zoë live in the Yorkshire Dales. They wanted to be self-sufficient with food, so they took on a large allotment, but it was a neglected wilderness. James turned it into a neat eco-garden.
Dick Strawbridge and his son James venture out from New House Farm in Cornwall to meet individuals and families in cities and countryside around Britain who are trying to make their lives greener. This week, a primary school in St Albans calls in Dick to cut their water bills In Camridgeshire, mechanic Gary gets used cooking oil from his local take-away and a visit from Dick and Jim. The result - his own bio-diesel production to run his four-wheel drive. And on the Wirral, Dick sees the Keenan family get their massive wind turbine that'll give them all the electricity they'll ever need
:Newhouse Farm has the outbuildings re-roofed and there is a major investment as we get solar photovoltaics (PV) so when the sun shines we make electricity - a lot of it. We bought our system through the chaps at 'Plug into the Sun'. :James shares a special eco-tip that involves a lot of semi-naked footballers. :Lauren looks at green swimming pools. :We visit Chris and Jay in London - they have their own website with details of what they have been using at Ready Steady Eco. :Phil Tufnell has a wander around Newhouse Farm and we find out how green his lifestyle is.
Dick Strawbridge and son James team up with Lauren Laverne to find out more about living the green life. Dick tries to understand why honey bees are having a tough time at the moment. Lauren recycles and revamps antique furniture, and guest Alex James takes the eco test, with a surprising result. James builds a clay oven, and his mum Brigit makes a guest appearance to help him with a spot of gardening.
This week at Newhouse Farm we are dealing with the reality of eating bacon sandwiches and Christmas turkey. Apologies to vegans and vegetarians but we are embracing the ‘rear-your-own’ philosophy as well as the grow-your-own. So, it’s goodbye to our two Cornish black pigs and hello to our new turkeys.
Here at Newhouse Farm local life takes on a huge role in our day to day activities. From popping into the local butchers to going to our green grocers we are fortunate to still have a thriving community. Another establishment that is still a key part of our lives is of course the local, our pub the New Inn. This week the team helps out the local pub with their soaring fuel bills. Plenty of projects that can just as easily be employed by other struggling businesses.
This week at Newhouse Farm we go a bit space-age. Taking delivery of a geodesic dome and setting up a new organic hydroponic system. The dome is the first of its kind for domestic use in the UK but the design concept itself has been around for about 100 years. New domes and information are available from Grow-Dome. Most famously on show at the Eden project in Cornwall it was our chosen sustainable structure for growing more food at home. Read more here. It’s important to stress that for people interested in growing outside there are other cheaper options ranging from getting really lucky on Freecycle with a greenhouse, to buying a polytunnel in the classifieds (which proved well worthwhile here on the farm!), or building your own cloches out of rubbish. Cloches are essentially mini green houses that cover vegetables in order to start them early, protect seedlings or accelerate growth rates. The simplest DIY version has to be a plastic bottle with the bottom chopped off and then placed over a seedling. We have also found old scrap windows are great for building cloches. Happy growing…
This week at Newhouse Farm it’s homebrew moments fermenting away. The team collects bucket loads of local apples to make their very own cider and reinstate an old farm tradition.
Dick and his team get their rags oily building a ram pump. It is technical stuff - will it work? Lauren visits an eco-hotel in Norfolk and helps out behind the scenes weighing the leftover teas and coffees. Toby Sawday meets a young bride at a wedding fair and sets about trying to green-up her wedding and her honeymoon. Jon Kay looks at carbon offsetting.
At Newhouse Farm this week Dick and James are preparing one of their home reared Turkeys and their organic vegetables for a special lunch to be delivered on Bodmin Moor. This week’s eco-test guest is Phill Jupitus who is on a road trip with his mate Lauren. Together they are test driving the latest Airstream eco caravan and sing a lot along the way... James visits his mate Duncan who is launching his Thoughtful Bread Company in Bath with a tasting session at the local farmer’s market. Let’s see how beetroot bread goes down with the punters?! Thrift is a word that is coming back into fashion and for some people is a matter of habit. James talks to journalist Hunter Davies about the frugal nature of the Past. Lastly, it’s the final visit to Chris and Jay at their Victorian terrace in London. Have they moved in yet? And just how eco is their renovation?
