Autumn always means climbing around on the roof at home unwrapping the solar panels, most of which we have to cover at the beginning of summer because they generate way too much hot water for us to deal with. The solar panels work together with the wood fire in the living room and a pellet heater to create all the heating and hot water we need throughout the cold winter months.

This commitment to sustainability includes mulching rather than burning our prunings, which is required by our biological certification; the mulch is supplemented by all the food scraps and vegetable waste from the kitchen, which makes the compost that ends up in the vegetable gardens. The wood fires are started by the paper and cardboard waste we generate, and like many, we recycle the plastic we use.