A New Solar Clothes Dryer and Sweet Woodruff

Putting up the clothes line...

And now all done! Ta Da!! .........
The two favorite men in my life putting up our new "solar" clothes dryer...aka.... clothes line. :) Handmade by Ger and put up by Ger and Kyle.

Here's what I found on the Internet about saving energy and money with a clothes line:

...if Americans are really going to fight climate change, one obvious place to start is by reducing the use of the third most energy sapping appliance in the home (after the refrigerator and washing machine).

Not only does it save us money, but it cuts down on CO₂ use as well. Let’s look to see what kind of impact letting our garments air dry on a clothes line has:

Cost/load (electric):	$ .35
CO2/load (electric):	5.6 lbs.
Loads/year for a family:	365
Cost of a clothes line:	$ 5-10
$ saving/year (1/2 loads air dried):	$63.88
lbs CO2 saved/year (1/2 loads air dried):	1016 lbs.

To be honest Gerry said it cost him $50 to buy the lumber, cement, and line to make our new clothes line. And we certainly don't do a load of laundry a day, it's more like 2 loads of laundry a week. And we have a gas dryer so not sure how that fits into these calculations. But still, it just seems like the right thing to do.

Now back to gardening.

Sweet Woodruff -
Do you have a woodland spot that is shady? Would you like a lovely spring blooming ground cover for that spot? Then try the lovely and spreading Sweet Woodruff (Galium odoratum). This low growing ground cover that prefers shade, coolness, and moisture. I have mine growing along side some Lily-of -the-Valley and under a magnificent maple tree. Sweet Wooodruff is a lovely plant!! It has a lovely white flower and wonderful smelling green foliage. And it's the magical ingredient for May Wine. Here's my May wine recipe that I got years ago from a large herb farm in Coventry CT called Caprilands.

Caprilands May Wine:
1 Gallon of Rhine Wine
1 Cup of fresh Sweet Woodruff leaves and flowers (it's in bloom now, Memorial Day weekend)
Mix the above ingredients together and let sit for one month. Strain. Rebottle into quart bottles add 2-3 sprigs of fresh woodruff to each bottle.
Optional - Add some brandy to the steeping wine.

May Bowl (to be served during fresh strawberry season)
1 Gallon May Wine
A handful of Johnny Jump Up leaves
1 pint of strawberries
Serve chilled with a strawberry in each glass.
Optional - add a dash of brandy in each glass if it didn't steep in the May Wine. I don't usually add brandy but maybe I'll try it this year.Coming next (within a day or two) ...Memorial Day planting and the harvesting/cooking Rhubarb, radishes and radish sandwiches, oregano, and asparagus!