The House of Arden, Part 7 – Design, A...

The tour of the House of Arden began with a quick look at the exterior and then a walk through the upper level, the main level and then the lower level. The visitor is left in the foyer getting ready for a tour of the lawn and gardens.

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We stepped out on to the front porch and down a few step to the sidewalk to begin our tour of the yard and gardens. The front yard is mostly lawn, with flower gardens in the northeast and southeast corners. As it turns out, both of these are rain gardens. Rain gardens are depressions in the lawn, about 8-inches deep, designed to capture surface runoff when it rains. This prevents excess rainwater from going into the city storm sewers. These are planted with plants that like to have "wet feet," such as Cat Mint, Blue Flag Iris, Marsh Milkweed, and Prairie Phlox. The edges of the rain gardens are planted with Mother of Thyme and sedums that act as filters, keeping debris from washing into the depression. Typically, a rain garden is about 8 inches deep with a surface area of about 10 to 20% of the drainage area, depending on how well the soil drains. There is about 900 square feet of rain garden at the House of Arden.

The rain garden in the northeast corner of the front yard actually does more than capture surface runoff from the front yard. The sump pumps and the cistern overflow send water to this rain garden. The pipe is not visible on the surface as it connects under ground to a dry well (or French well) dug below the rain garden. For the dry well, the soil was dug out down to the gravel bed below. The resulting hole was then filled in with gravel left over from excavating the footings for the house. With the pipes buried in heavy gravel, they are protected from mosquitoes, rodents, and other critters.

To get to the back yard, we went back up onto the porch and walked around to the north side of the house. Just around the corner the hostess pointed out that the sump pump for the footing is actually on the outside of the house underneath a trap door in the porch floor. A two-foot diameter culvert pipe goes all the way down to the footing, ending on top of a sump basket where the sump pump is located. This was done to solve two problems. First, normally the sump for the footing is in the basement. The problem with this is that quite often when the sump pump is needed, like during a rainstorm, the electricity goes out. Now water collecting in the footing has free access to the basement – potentially causing the basement to flood. This method solves that problem by keeping any water collecting at the footing outside. The second problem this system addresses is that the house in built on top of a gravel bed, and gravel is notorious for the production of radon, a radioactive gas. If the sump is in the basement, it would need to be vented to the outside, usually through the roof. By keeping the sump outside, the sump is naturally vented to the outside.

We continue to move along the porch to the screen porch and then to the patio. The workroom opens to the patio with a double door and thus becomes an extension to the workroom. Currently, a 16-foot sailboat is in the final stages of construction on the patio. It is an Osprey, from Swallowboats, purchased in kit form. It is an elegant lightweight boat, perfect for car-top sailing, as the hull only weighs 80 pounds.

I would like to linger a bit and learn more about this sailboat, but time marches on and I am anxious to see the gardens.

As we round the garage, the

gardens come in view. The first thing we encounter is the orchard, now in full bloom. Included are dwarf varieties of cherry, pear, apple plum, and apricot. Separating the orchard from the garden beds is a patch of blackberries and raspberries, with additional berries (blue berries and highbush cranberries) on the south side of the house. The vegetable gardens are divided into 5-foot by 20 foot mounded beds that are planted using a biointensive method, a sustainable method of gardening. Biointensive gardening was first developed in China about 4,000 years ago and is being modernized and promoted worldwide by Ecology Action through their Grow Biointensive growing method. This method involves:

· Deep soil preparation

· The use of compost

· Close plant spacing

· Synergistic planting of crop combinations

· Carbon-efficient crops

· Calorie-efficient crops

At the House of Arden, there are presently 10 5-foot by 20-foot gardens separated by paths, for a total of 1302 square feet (including the paths). These gardens are sufficient to provide all of the fruits and vegetables for a family of four. Additional gardens will be added each summer with space for up to 15 additional gardens.

I would enjoy spending more time at the House of Arden, as I have so many, many questions. However, my time is short and I need to get back to Minneapolis for a family obligation. I say goodbye to my hostess and get into my car.

As I pull away from the curb I remember that I wanted to check out the roof and look for the solar collectors. I stop at the top of the rise, where I first saw the House of Arden and look back. All I see on the roof is the steel roofing glistening in the sun – no solar collectors! Now I'm really confused! I thought sure she said they were supplementing the geothermal with solar – could I have just imagined that? No – actually, she was quite emphatic about it. But, how…? Well, maybe the only way I'll find out is by attending one of the workshops – maybe next year.

So, I headed out of Cannon Falls on highway 52 – back to Minneapolis. Now the sun was high in the early afternoon sky – the sky a bright blue and the countryside fresh with spring. I was really enjoying the drive home. Then, suddenly the car radio came on. What? How did that happen? No, wait a minute – that's not the station I listen to in the car! Oh – it's the alarm. I'm in bed, I've been dreaming – Oh yah – it is still a dream – a mid-winter dream. Construction on the House of Arden doesn't start until the last week in March.

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The Mid-Winter Dream has ended, however, the ongoing saga of the House of Arden continues as the dream hits reality with The House of Arden, Part 8 – Develop: permits, contractors, the weather, and the ground beneath.