Christmas is over, but you’ve still got time to enjoy your tree before Keep Cobb Beautiful’s annual free recycling event.
The date for “Bring One for the Chipper” is next Saturday, Jan. 6, and there’s one East Cobb location change from previous years.
Sewell Park is not a drop-off point due to the construction of the new library and road entrance that’s still being finished.
But four other locations in East Cobb return as venues. Two of them are Cobb public parks:
Fullers Park, 3499 Robinson Road;
Noonday Creek Park, 489 Hawkins Store Road.
The other locations are the Home Depot stores at Providence Square Shopping Center, 4101 Roswell Road, and at Highland Plaza, 3605 Sandy Plains Road.
The times to drop off trees at all locations are between 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The Chipper program includes free mulch; only trees with all decorations removed will be accepted.
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The Hyde brothers were the last in a long line of family farmers in what was rural East Cobb County. The Hyde property, located at the end of the road named for them, Hyde Road, runs off Lower Roswell Road. It is now owned by Cobb County government who have allocated a piece of land and have partnered with the Cobb Master Gardeners to create the brand new Hyde Farm Community Garden. The space is completely fenced with irrigation available and will be comprised of 40 garden plots measuring 4 ft. by 8 ft. each.
“It will be a fantastic space for our community! We believe community gardens really connect people to their food, their land and each other,” says Master Gardener Randy Threatte.
Plots will be filled with excellent planting soil from SuperSo Soil3 and will be ready for planting winter crops and herbs around Thanksgiving. Plots are available to rent at a cost of $50/year for a 12-month growing season from March 1 through February 28. The first gardeners renting will get an added advantage of an additional free 3 months as the first rental year will run from November 2017 through February 2019. Two handicap accessible raised beds are available as well as two beds with priority to veterans. Reservations may be made on a first come first serve basis by contacting Master Gardener Randy Threatte at 404-431-3112 or threatte@bellsouth.net. Educational gardening and seed starting classes will also be held at the property – free and open to the public.
Solar panels on the roof of Montrose Animal Hospital were installed in July. (East Cobb News photos by Wendy Parker)
Dr. James Davis was admittedly an unlikely advocate of solar energy when he began researching the topic. Since 2011, Davis has been the owner of the Montrose Animal Hospital, an East Cobb veterinary clinic, and was looking for cost savings, as many business owners do.
While the benefits of solar energy have been touted by environmentalists, Davis, who says he personally believes in nuclear energy, kept an open mind.
He noticed that as the cost for purchasing solar panels was coming down, the energy savings were going up, as far as he could discern from government estimates that he found during his research.
“I’m not exactly a save the planet guy,” Davis said, “but if I can save a little money and the planet at the same time, then I’m all on board.”
Dr. James Davis of the Montrose Animal Hospital keeps track of energy production from the rooftop solar panels with an app on his mobile phone.
In July, his clinic on Woodlawn Drive was equipped with solar panels on the roof that produce enough electricity to seriously cut into energy use. He said the panels already are reducing the clinic’s electricity bill, which had averaged around $1,700 a month, by around 45 percent.
He said about 20 percent of Montrose’s electric bill is for lighting, and the solar panels could reduce that to four percent.
“I’ve done a lot of analysis, and it makes more sense for businesses” to adopt solar solutions, he said. In addition to federal tax credits he said that another advantage to having the panels “is zero maintenance.”
But deciding to make the switch is still a sizable investment, and one with a longer term payoff. After making a down payment, Davis secured a loan for the panels, similar to buying a home, purchasing them from Creative Solar USA in Kennesaw.
“The costs are coming down, they’re more affordable,” he said. “We could make the payments.”
The solar panels at the 7,000-square-foot Montrose clinic are projected to have a break-even effect in about six-and-a-half years. Davis said he also tracks other local businesses that have solar equipment, and said he’s found “surprisingly few” in the East Cobb area.
The clinic’s solar production momentarily dropped to zero during the eclipse.
Davis, who also operates the Shiloh Veterinary Clinic in Kennesaw, follows solar production figures on a mobile phone app included his purchase of the panels. He familiarized himself with its features just in time to track the energy drop that came on the solar eclipse on Aug. 21.
The Montrose staff celebrated the event with a barbecue in the clinic’s back yard. Davis looked at his app, and noticed solar production was “basically was at zero” as the eclipse passed over Georgia on a bright, sunny afternoon.
Another tool Davis uses is Google’s Project Sunroof, which estimates available sunlight for a particular location.
As his new solar investment continues to evolve, tracking data like that will be helpful, not only because solar production generally falls in the winter months, but also because he’s considering buying panels for his other clinic.
The McFarlane Nature Park features a 1940s-era country home and nature garden that’s open to the public. (East Cobb News photos and slideshow by Wendy Parker)
At the end of a short gravel road off Paper Mill Road is a slice of Southern rural life that’s been preserved close to what its longtime owner had in mind. In addition to a rustic farm home and wide open green spaces, the McFarlane Nature Park also includes a nature garden that was featured on Sunday as part of the first East Cobb Garden Tour. Four nearby private homes also were part of the tour.
The dining room of the 1941 home, designed by Henry Toombs, architect of the Little White House in Warm Springs. Florence and William McFarlane bought the house in 1958. John Stewart has been caretaker at McFarlane for 22 years. Valerie Stewart, John’s wife and also a caretaker, points out the wall and ceiling panels that were part of the home’s original construction.A guest room on the ground floor. The home has two chimneys and four fireplaces, including one with materials from the Sope Creek quarry.
The McFarlanes rode horses and raised lineage dogs on their property, which at one time stretched to 1,500 acres. When Florence McFarlane died in 1990, she stated in her will a desire to keep the remaining 11.5 acres of her property for a natural preserve and green space, instead of suburban development.
After court rulings, the non-profit Cobb Land Trust became the lease owner of the McFarlane property in 1992, and the nearby Chattahoochee Plantation Community Association donated funding for repairs and renovations that were needed. Restoring McFarlane was the first project for the Cobb Land Trust, which preserves land and property with historical and cultural value.
Before the McFarlanes lived here, the land was part of a larger agricultural spread owned by Hughes Spalding Sr., a noted Atlanta attorney.
Flowers and plants on the McFarlane property are tended to by volunteers from Cobb Master Gardeners, which has a spring flower show here in the spring. Continued support also comes from the Chattahoochee Plantation Women’s Club and there have been Art in the Park fundraisers since 2013.
Garden paths are common throughout the McFarlane property, which also has a pavilion and picnic tables. The paths have been built and maintained by local boys as part of their Eagle Scout commitments. East Cobb resident Ed Cahill painting in the nature garden.
