Join us tonight starting at 6pm to listen to local Portland Jazz/Pop singer and songwriter, Devin Phillips, perform live on the Bank of America Entertainment Deck while touring the Street of Dreams homes. There will be wine tasting provided by Oak Knoll and food available.
Luxury homebuilder, Beacon Homes, is preserving trees and nativescaping in its newest neighborhood, Lady Apple in Tigard. The site had many western red cedar, oak, hawthorn, big leaf maple, douglas firs and red alder native trees. Arborists, local landscapers and tree preservation experts aided in saving over 50 mature trees, plus Beacon was able to plant over 7,000 natives such as currants, Oregon grapes, alders, douglas fir and three kinds of native roses in the neighborhood.
“The beauty of the site was clearly the trees and native plants. Our team did an outstanding job of preparing the site and the result is a really beautiful neighborhood. The buyers have certianly pointed out the trees, plants and landscaping of the site as one of the main reasons for deciding to live there,” said Kurt Dalbey, chief executive officer.
According to the Cohousing Assocition of the United States…Cohousing communities are old-fashioned neighborhoods created with a little ingenuity. They bring together the value of private homes with the benefits of more sustainable living. That means common facilities and good connections with neighbors. All in all, they stand as innovative answers to today’s environmental and social problems.
Although Cohousing communities may seem radical to some they are becoming more and more mainstream. As a matter of fact there are at least 3 cohousing projects under construction right now in the Portland Metro area. Plus, later this month a symposium is scheduled at Portland City Hall to discuss collaborative housing developements and a community-based approach to design and developement.
Read more about cohousing in the Oregonian…
and the Daily Journal of Commerce….
First-time home buyers are primarily concerned with affordability when choosing a new home, but their expectations may be too high relative to their current financial buying power, according to a recent Coldwell Banker® survey conducted among its brokers. While nearly half of the Coldwell Banker broker respondents reported that affordability was the No. 1 concern for this group, 81 percent said today’s first-time home buyers consider move-in conditions to be very important when searching for homes. In contrast, only 7 percent are looking to purchase “fixer-upper” homes that they could buy at a lower price and renovate themselves.
While it is not a substitute for fertilizer, compost contains nutrients and holds them in the soil until plants can use them. It also loosens and aerates clay soils, and retains water in sandy soils. Here are some common ways to use finished compost:
Soil amendment: Mix 2 to 5 inches of compost into vegetable and flower gardens each year before planting.
Potting mixture: Add one part compost to two parts commercial potting soil, or make your own mixture by using equal parts of compost and sand or perlite.
Mulch: Spread an inch or two of compost around annual flowers and vegetables, and up to 6 inches around trees and shrubs.
Top dressing for lawn: Mix finely sifted compost with sand and sprinkle evenly over lawns.
Click here to check out Metro’s guide to effective composting.