At Home Living 012316

‘Bare Bones’ tour

Saturday, January 23, 2016 An advertising feature of The Topeka Capital-Journal

Design team to transform Lake Sherwood home pages 6, 7, 9 Jamie Kidd on rose hips, page 2 Ideas to keep your home warm, page 5 n Replacing giant trees, page 10 n n

homes.cjonline.com REALTOR

®

Rex Wolf/Special to THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

2 | Saturday, January 23, 2016 | The Topeka Capital-Journal | At Home

Rose hips edible, pack nutritious punch In all the times I have been given roses, I have never been told to eat them. Wear them, arrange them, plant them, but never eat them. With today’s “buy it at the store” mentality, we are losing sight of the things in nature that are still edible.

The rose is actually a member of the apple family. Rose hips are the edible, nutritious fruit of the beautiful deciduous rose.

The size of crabapples, these tiny achenes, or hips, each enclose a single seed containing all the genetics for the next rose generation.

Additionally, they have tissues containing vitamins C, E, B and K, tannin, pectin, carotene, malic and citric acids, flavonoids, proteins and fatty

Jamie Kidd

jamiehan@ksu.edu

and volatile oils.

The nutritional content depends on the species, the growing conditions, manner and time of harvest, the care taken in drying and storage. Rose hips from colder climates tend to have a higher vitamin C content.

In 1941, World War II took its toll on overseas shipping. Citrus foods were in short supply, and scurvy became a grave disease in Great Britain.

The British government promoted rose hips as an easy, accessible source of vitamin C. The British Ministry of Health organized volunteers to gather rose hips to make nutritious syrup.

Children were granted days off school in the fall to go rose hip hunting in the hedgerows. The Ministry of Food also published recipes.

Rose hips have a number of names, including rose haws, pig noses, hedge-pedgies and pixie pears. A variety of products using rose petals, hips and seeds are commercially available, including perfumes, lotions, essential oil, rosewater, tablets and tinctures. Rose petals can be sprinkled on salads, used as garnish or made

DATES TO REMEMBER

n The Shawnee County Extension Master Gardeners will present “Using Recycled Materials in Your Garden and Landscape” at 7 p.m.

Feb. 11 at the the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library, 1515 S.W. 10th Ave. The program features free door prizes, a display of homemade repurposed items made by the Master Gardeners and a presentation. n The Kansas Garden Show is Feb. 12-14 at the Kansas Expocentre, 1 Expocentre Drive. Hours are from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Feb. 12-13 and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Feb. 14. into a rose-petal jelly. Petals from the Rosa rugosa alba have been reported to have the best flavor.

Among the species of rose particularly valued for the hips are Rosa rugosa, known as Japanese rose; R. canina, known as wild briar, witches briar, dog rose, hip fruit or hip tree; R. acicularis; and R. cinnamomea.

It used to be believed that the bite of a rabid

dog could be cured by R. canina, thus the name dog rose. Rosa rugosa alba and Rosa rugosa rubra are recommended by K-State Research and Extension as varieties well suited for growing in eastern Kansas locations.

How and why of rose hips

n Stop deadheading your roses in August.

Rose hips will begin to generate (go to seed) over the next several weeks.

Rose hips develop on the stem tips. n Hips will have better flavor after a light frost. n Generally speaking, orange hips aren’t ripe yet and dark red are too ripe. Try to find nice reddish-orange hips. n Pick them when they are about the size of cherries. Small ones will be all seed and little pulp. n Trim off the stem and blossom ends, cut the hips in half and remove the seeds, then wash well. The seeds have a hairy covering than can make you itch. Use gloves to remove the seeds and hairs completely.

KIDD continues on 3

At Home | The Topeka Capital-Journal | Saturday, January 23, 2016 | 3

Lights keep plants growing Kidd: Dry rose hips to store them

By Lee Reich The Associated Press

Short days put sunlight at a premium. Even houseplants feel it.

Mostly, they just sit and wait for better growing conditions. But for indoor gardeners who want plants to keep growing and even flowering this time of year, artificial light is the answer.

Fluorescent light is rich in blue and the shorter wavelengths of red light, important for healthy foliage; incandescent light is rich in “far-red” — the longer wavelengths of red light — and is important for flowering.

Without belaboring all

the pros and cons of different lights, let’s just say that plants can be grown to perfection indoors with a combination of run-ofthe-mill, cool-white, fluorescent bulbs and screw-in incandescent bulbs. A good balance of light is achieved with one 15-watt incandescent bulb for every 40-watt fluorescent bulb.

Plant growth is almost as good if you use fluorescent bulbs alone, especially if only foliage houseplants are grown. But incandescent bulbs, besides affecting flowering, cast a light that gives plants a warmer, more pleasant appearance.

Still in the experimental stage, but with a lot of po-

tential for offering specific wavelengths and low energy use, are LED lights.

Some 2-by-4s, light fixtures and electrical equipment are all you need to build a stepped-down version of the phytotrons — research greenhouses — used by botanists. These phytotrons are plant growth chambers within which light, temperature and humidity can be carefully controlled and studied. You almost need sunglasses to look into or enter phytotrons, where every inch of reflective wall and ceiling is covered with fluorescent and incandescent lights. Or, in some newer installations, LEDs.

Continued from 2 Tip: Don’t use hips that have been treated with a pesticide that isn’t labeled for use on edibles.

Storage

Rose hips can be dried whole. But, it would be better to spread the cut and cleaned halves in a single layer on screening or trays and placed in a dehydrator, an oven set on the lowest setting or a dark, dry, well-ventilated place.

Store them in glass jars in a dark, cool place.

They can retain most of their potency for about a year.

Usage

Rose hips have a very tangy, tart flavor, just like cranberries. They can be used for making syrup, jams, jellies, teas, drink mix, soups, seasoning, breads, pies, marmalade, wine or as a dessert sauce.

There are lots of recipes online; many of them are hundreds of years old. For a shortcut, many rose hip teas are available in stores.

Cooking tip: Don’t use aluminum pans or utensils.

They can discolor the hips and destroy the vitamin C. It’s OK to use stainless steel.

If you don’t wish to cook with rose hips, leave them on your rose bush. They

will persist after the leaves have fallen and give you a little fall and winter interest.

Note: Last week, I wrote on wildflowers, but I neglected to tell you about the wildflower/native plant garden the Master Gardeners have at the corner of S.W. Fairlawn and S.W. Cedar Crest Road, on the way to the governor’s residence.

Check it out this spring, and look across the street from it to the Master Gardener perennial garden.

The flowers in both gardens are labeled for your convenience and pleasure.

Jamie Kidd is a horticulturist with Kansas State Research and Extension in Shawnee County.

4 | Saturday, January 23, 2016 | The Topeka Capital-Journal | At Home

Topeka home sales up in 2015; market ‘pretty stable’

By Linda A. Ditch Special to The Capital-Journal

According to numbers provided by the Sunflower Association of Realtors, 3,176 homes were sold in Topeka in 2015, up 211 from the previous year. In the 2016 Kansas Housing Markets Forecast, published in September 2015 by Wichita State University’s Center for Real Estate, the number of homes sold in Topeka is expected to increase by 4.6 percent this year.

“Our market has remained pretty stable the last couple years,” Carrie Calhoon, president of the Sunflower Association of Realtors, said. “More and more buyers are becoming tech savvy, and I’ve seen an

increase in the amount of people searching for homes online.”

The WSU report notes the number of mid-priced homes in popular neighborhoods available for sale is limited. Realtors are reporting homes selling in a matter of days with multiple offers. This means Topeka is a seller’s market, with a limited number of homes in the most in-demand price ranges.

“Any house that shows well, is move-in ready and priced competitively is flying off the market right now,” Calhoon said. “Inventory is low, and buyers are constantly looking for a house that has been already updated.”

Sunflower Association

statistics, as reported in December, show the median price for a home sold in 2015 in Shawnee County was $118,141, up 6.4 percent from the previous year.

These homes were on the market about 29 days. At the end of the year in Shawnee County, there were 556 active real estate listings, which means a threemonth supply of homes for sale.

To put this number in perspective, a six-month supply shows a balanced market, so anything below that indicates a lack of surplus in homes for sale.

Thus, it is a seller’s market.

The WSU report also showed new home construction permits for single-family dwellings

looked to increase by 16.4 percent in 2015. The pace is expected to slow down this year, moving up just 3.3 percent.

The only concerning numbers in the 2016 projection are related to home price appreciation. While prices in the state rose 4 percent in 2015 and are projected to rise 4.7 percent in 2016, Topeka’s numbers show a rise of just 0.4 percent in 2015, with a projection of 0.9 percent in 2016.

“First, it’s important to know that as economic forecasters, we predict the future by looking backward,” Stanley Longhofer, director of the Center for Real Estate at Wichita State, wrote in a recent email. “We forecasted very little price appre-

ciation in Topeka, in large part, because we hadn’t seen Topeka’s prices begin to rise by the middle of last summer.”

Longhofer noted the data used to measure home price appreciation is gathered from the Federal Housing Finance Administration’s all-transactions home price index. The numbers are based only on homes with mortgages through Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, which means very expensive homes or ones bought with a different mortgage type will not show up in the index.

“Regardless, average appreciation is just that, an average, and different market segments may be performing better or worse than the

average,” Longhofer wrote.

Calhoon pointed out a trend away from homes being sold by owners. She cited a report from the National Association of Realtors that stated only 8 percent of houses in 2015 were sold by owners not using a Realtor.

The WSU report projected interest rates would rise in 2016, but it is a prediction made in the past few years that has never come true.

“Interest rates have continued to stay low,” Calhoon said. “I would expect to continue to see an increase in first-time buyers as a result of this.”

Linda A. Ditch is a freelance writer from Topeka. She can be reached at thompson.lindaa@gmail.com.

At Home | The Topeka Capital-Journal | Saturday, January 23, 2016 | 5

Keep home warm, save energy

By Katherine Roth The Associated Press

As winter wears on, a few cheap and easy fixes can help keep homes warm while saving energy and money.

The average household spends about $2,000 a year on utilities, almost half of which goes toward heating and cooling, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Luckily, a little savvy can go a long way toward reducing heating bills. Some ideas from the energy experts: n Think clean, clear and efficient.

The EPA recommends cleaning or replacing furnace filters every three months.

If you’re in the market for a new furnace, opt for an Energy Star-certified model. Some upgrades can reduce heating costs by as much as 30 percent. n Get with the program.

Consider investing in a programmable thermostat to maximize energy efficiency.

The EPA says the thermostat should be set to 8 degrees lower than normal at night and when no one’s home. n Seal and insulate.

If you’re doing all that and your bills are

The Associated Press

Consider investing in a programmable thermostat to maximize energy efficiency.

still high, the Natural Resources Defense Council recommends checking for air leaks in your home and duct systems.

The average household can cut its heating and cooling costs by about $200 per year just by following Energy Star’s sealing and insulation guidance (www.energystar.gov). n Consider an energy audit.

Many energy companies help customers get professional energy audits of their homes or offer lists of energy audit providers, and some utilities offer financial incentives to have audits done.

6 | Saturday, January 23, 2016 | The Topeka Capital-Journal | At Home

Tour features Lake Sherwood home Jan Hutt again leads interior design team

By Angela Deines Special to The Capital-Journal

The eastern shore of Lake Sherwood will provide the setting for this year’s ERC Resource and Referral showhouse, the largest annual fundraiser for Child Care Aware of Eastern Kansas.

The annual “Bare Bones” tour of the home will be Jan. 29-31, and the completed “Stunning Sunsets at Lake Sherwood” showhouse will be open to the public April 23 through May 13.

Jan Hutt, Topeka-area interior designer, once again will lead a team of local designers to transform the home at 6400 S.W. Suffolk Road, which is currently owned by a private trust.

Hutt said her approach to the redesign of the estimated 6,000-square-foot house — built in the early 1980s by Topeka contractor Joe Little — will be much like the other showhouse homes she’s been involved with over the past 36 years.

“I have no taste of my own. My taste is my client’s,” Hutt said, citing her favorite expression about herself as an interior designer. “But each year, it’s different. Every time you work with a client, every client is different. As a designer, as all designers, you adjust yourself to the client. You don’t dictate to them. They dictate to you what they want.

“Last year, I worked with Washburn and their board of regents and their chairperson, which was lovely,”

HOME continues on 7

Left: The home features an eat-in kitchen with an island, designed for food prep.

Right: The secondfloor family entertaining area overlooks Lake Sherwood.

Rex Wolf/Special to THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

The 36th annual ERC Designers’ Showhouse features an early-1980s home constructed by local contractor Joe Little at 6400 S.W. Suffolk Road, on the eastern shore of Lake Sherwood. Little is said to have added the second story to the ranch-style home about 10 years later.

At Home | The Topeka Capital-Journal | Saturday, January 23, 2016 | 7

Home: Public invited to design a room Continued from 6 she continued, referring to the 2015 ERC showhouse that featured Washburn University president Jerry Farley’s home, which is owned and maintained by the university. “This year, you’re working (directly) with homeowners, so you just adjust.”

The 2016 showhouse at Lake Sherwood originally was built as a ranch-style and then Little added the second floor in the early 1990s, Hutt said. The home leans toward a traditional style, and she expects the redesign elements will move in a modern-contemporary direction with a “touch of eclectic,” taking full advantage of the home’s view of sunsets across the lake in southwest Topeka.

Hutt said the home presents some unique design opportunities, much like the “Lakeside Living at Sherwood” home provided in 2011.

“When you do a showhouse, you have to have some qualities that attract people to it,” she said. “People love when the house is open, and they’ll be able to go outdoors and walk down to the water because only a fraction of people actually live on water. It’s nice to have this.”

As with past showhouses, Hutt said, a design-a-room contest will invite the public to submit an idea to transform one room in the house. The contest was created about three or four years ago to encourage people in the community with design interests but who aren’t design professionals to pitch their ideas. Those who have the

winning pitch are then chosen to redesign a room with a $500 budget.

This year’s room will be for a teenage girl, Hutt said.

“Seasoned designers aren’t so apt to want to do a teenage bedroom,” she said. “We have more of a problem finding designers who will do that.”

Those who want to enter the contest can review the space during the “Bare Bones” tour and then submit an idea, which will be reviewed Feb. 1 by a panel of judges. According to ERC officials, six finalists will be chosen and they’ll present their ideas to the judges and homeowners during the first week of February. The winner will be selected and notified by Feb. 10.

Hutt said the contest always reveals unique design ideas by those who aren’t in the industry.

“It’s fun. The community becomes involved,” she said.

“There’s so much talent (in the community).”

While there’s always excitement and anticipation about the Designers’ Showhouse every year, Hutt said, another constant is the displacement of the homeowners during the “bare bones” construction phase in February and March and showhouse tours from late April to mid-May. “They have to move out of their home. They have to get another place to live,” she said.

“It’s a huge inconvenience. It’s not all roses. They have to really love the fact that their home is going to be a designers’ show-

HOME continues on 9

DESIGNERS’ SHOWHOUSE

The 36th Annual Designers’ Showhouse, featuring a home at 6400 S.W. Suffolk Road at Lake Sherwood, is a fundraiser for ERC Resource and Referral/Child Care Aware of Eastern Kansas, a nonprofit that provides high-quality child care options for families. n “Bare Bones” tours will be from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Jan. 29-30 and noon to 5 p.m.

Jan. 31. Cost: $5. Open to the public; no reservations required. n The “Bare Bones” open house and chili supper will be from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Jan. 29.

Cost: $10. Reservations required. n The “Stunning Sunsets at Lake Sherwood” showhouse tours will be from April 23 through May 15. Cost: $10 in advance; $12 at the door.

For more information or to make reservations, visit http://east.ks.childcareaware. org or call (785) 357-5171, option 1.

Rex Wolf/Special to THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

Above: The kitchen includes an area for a table next to a fireplace. Below: The foyer features a ledge above the doorway and a staircase with wooden railing that leads to the second floor.

8 | Saturday, January 23, 2016 | The Topeka Capital-Journal | At Home

At Home | The Topeka Capital-Journal | Saturday, January 23, 2016 | 9

REx Wolf/Special to THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

The master bath is on the main floor of the home and features a spa-like tub along with “his and her” sinks.

Home: Wood floors to be exposed Continued from 7 house.”

In addition to the homeowners having to find another location in which to reside during the construction phase and showhouse tours, they also have to pay for the renovations.

Each designer is given a budget for each room set by the homeowner and must stay within that budget, although they can accept additional donated materials or labor from subcontractors.

Hutt and a team of designers will transform 13

separate areas in the home, including an eat-in kitchen that features a fireplace and a second-floor family room that has a large window overlooking the lake. The master bath is expected to be gutted, and a wrought-iron railing will replace the wooden one between the first and second floors.

Much of the lighting is expected to be replaced as well, and the carpet will be removed from the first floor.

“Wood floors are always popular in the showhouses,” she said. “These will

be redone with a slightly darker stain.”

Hutt said the appliances and cabinets in the kitchen are in good shape and likely won’t be replaced, but the countertops and the tile framing of the fireplace will be.

“This is a family kitchen,” she said, adding the homeowners will use the space for entertaining.

“They all hang out here.

This is a great kitchen for that.”

Angela Deines is a freelance writer from Topeka. She can be reached at angela.deines@gmail.com.

10 | Saturday, January 23, 2016 | The Topeka Capital-Journal | At Home

Giant trees can be replaced

By Lee Reich The Associated Press

Nothing like some strong winter winds to remind one of mortality — tree mortality.

No tree lives forever.

Nothing does. But we humans sometimes don’t appreciate trees’ mortality, especially trees that are already large when we first meet them. They seem like they were here forever and will be here long after we’re gone.

So when one of these oldsters topples, its wood hauled away and its stump chipped to oblivion, too often no thought is given to getting another venerable giant started. Or perhaps the void is filled with a small, fashionable crabapple or weeping cherry.

Instead, consider replacing a fallen giant with an-

other giant-to-be. You may not be around to experience the tree you plant in all its glory, but someone will.

Small is good

For best results, plant a small nursery tree. More money and effort could be spent putting a larger tree into the ground, but larger trees take longer to establish themselves than do smaller trees. The root spread of a tree is more than two times the spread of its branches, so you can imagine the root loss a large tree experiences when it is dug with even a relatively large root ball.

More choices, less care

Another advantage of smaller trees is they are usually available in greater

variety. And they’re easy to ship.

Smaller trees also take up less of your time. They go into the ground quickly because only a small hole is needed, and then maintenance is minimal.

Encourage a seedling

Another source for a majestic tree for posterity are those seedlings (“volunteer” plants) that pop up here and there. Consider letting one of them just grow in place. The tree chose its own home, so it probably likes it there.

Without transplant shock, a seedling tree will grow more quickly than would a transplanted one.

Do make sure, however, that you want a tree in that spot, and that you want that particular tree.

Service Directory

At Home | The Topeka Capital-Journal | Saturday, January 23, 2016 | 11

12 | Saturday, January 23, 2016 | The Topeka Capital-Journal | At Home