Today's Harvest - Friday 28th May 2010

It's definitely no longer summer. We have the ugg boots on (even during the day) and an extra quilt on the bed. It has rained for the last 3 weeks and the day time temperature is around the 20oC mark (or a bit below).


If it wasn't for the rain preventing me from getting into the garden more, I think we would still be really productive. Who would have thought I'd have tomatoes ripening on the vine at the end of May (this is my second crop planted at the end of summer).

Here is my harvest today:



3 x eggs
3 x beetroot
5 x radish (1 x purple and 4 x white)
Lots of tomatoes (I try to pick them as they start to ripen to prevent the bugs getting to them).
As well as some greens and herbs for lunch and dinner.

Earth Hour 2010

Just a very quick post as we prepare to turn off our lights (and power points) for Earth Hour.

I don't think I need to talk about what Earth Hour is about. What I want to do is show my support and add my voice to the many others participating.

So, how many others are joining in for Earth Hour and what are you doing in that time?

We are going to sit by candle light and chat. Things have been super busy this week and it will be nice spending time together.

For more information, check out the Earth Hour web site.

Lemon Iced Tea

I have been experimenting with iced tea lately. I love the Lipton Lemon Iced Tea but I don't want to be drinking so many unnecessary ingredients. (Mainly too much sugar!)

Here is the recipe I am using at the moment:

4 tea bags
1 cup of boiling water
3 and a bit cups of room temperature water
1/2 tbsp honey
3 or 4 tsp lemon juice

1. Steep the teabags in the boiling water for about 4 mins.
2. Remove tea bags and stir in honey til dissolved.
3. Add tea mixture to a 1L jug and add remaining water and lemon juice
4. Chill tea and serve with lots of ice, a slice of lemon and some mint.

Easy! And a lot cheaper than the bottles I have been buying.

What Are My Chances?

Miss Berry is now 26 months and we have been trying to coax her into toilet training and failing miserably. Our last try ended like this:

Mummy: "Honey, why don't you do a wee on the toilet?"

Miss Berry: "I don't want to do a wee in the potty, I want to do a wee in my pants".

Mummy: "Oh, OK."

That was about 2 months age. I did not want to force the issue in case she realised she was able to manipulate the household with toilet antics, so things have continued as normal. Also, I don't think you have any where to go to when your 2 year old gives you a straight up answer like that.

Anyhoo, we were at Montessori earlier in the week and the teacher handed out an article on toilet training using Montessori methods. Brilliant, new ideas to help get the ball rolling again. One point they make is to put the child in training pants so they can get the feeling of being wet or dirty. The idea is the child does not want to be wet and will thus be encouraged to use the toilet/potty.

So, good in theory huh? I thought so and decided to dive in with a lovely colourful purchase.


Even if the plan goes straight down the toilet (pun intended) at least the training pants look adorable drying on the line.

Accepting Nature into the Backyard - All of it.

We tidied an area along the side of the back yard on the weekend. We removed all the pots, swept and then re-arranged them to create a more open area of paving next to the BBQ area (which is on the right of the photo below).

We were hanging some wall pots to the lattice under the pergola and I look up and just above my head are two huge huntsman spiders.

After making a ridiculous noise and making sure I wasn't covered in spiders, Mr Berry and I move to the other side of the pergola and began to hang another pot. Just as Mr Berry lifts the pot up, an even bigger huntsman crawls up over the back of the pot and straight towards him.

To illustrate the magnitude of the situation, arrow 1 is pointing at the first huntsman incident. Arrow 2 is pointing at the pot involved in the second huntsman incident. I am sure you are not surprised that the second pot did not get hung.

Yep, ew.

I did not take photos, nor am I going to search the web for photos of a huntsman (you can do that yourself). I am still feeling all crawly just writing this. Seriously, they were huge. The one that came out of the pot must have been a girl spider. She was at least 50% bigger than the other two, especially in the body.

To lighten the mood and wait for the adrenaline rush to subside, Mr Berry and I discussed whether the two boy spiders were hanging around waiting for the girl spider to, you know..... Which then led to the question of whether girl huntsmans eat the boy huntsmans after doing the deed. Which then led to a series of other questions; are the boy huntsmans going to fight it out for mating privileges and if they do and she will eat the successful suitor, would the winner or the loser of the fight have to go forth and multiply? etc etc. Finally, we calmed down and the questions got a bit more mature. And we headed inside to our old faithful, Google.

We learnt that most web pages gloss over the actual mating ritual (who'd have thought?) but the girls are protective of not only the eggs but also the babies (how cute). Huntsman spiders will not kill you (contrary to our reaction, we did know this already) and won't usually bite, but if they do it will hurt like buggery but you'll be fine in a couple of days. Also, a lot of types of huntsman are pretty social and can hang out together.

The most important thing though, is the benefit huntsmans can have in your garden. They eat a lot of pests including cockroaches, and are eaten by lizards and birds. Which as much as my scalp is tingling at the thought of them, whether they are the eater or the eatee I win both ways.

In building our backyard, we hope to encourage local wildlife to visit. I love watching the little skinks, ladybirds, local birds and the many insects that are beginning to frequent our backyard, but I must admit that spiders were not on the list of things I wanted to encourage. But, without them there would be a gap in the food chain and one more reason for the birds and lizards to stay away. If I want the pretty feathered creatures than I must accept the horrible hairy ones too. Nature is both of those things and each is as important as the other.

So, before you get your fences sprayed and knock down every spider web in your yard. Think of the important role they can play and try to come to terms with accepting all of nature, not just the cute bits.

In the meantime, I am a long way off not panicking at the sight of a large spider and inside the house is still off limits to them. (Any found inside are met with a big, heavy shoe - although a shoe would've just bounced off these three.) And I am staying clear of that area of the yard for a while - perhaps till Christmas - who knows. It's one think to be accepting of nature, it's another to comfortably play alongside it.

This entire area is off limits until I no longer have the heebie-jeebies or unless someone is with me (Miss Berry doesn't count).

Spend-Free Days

Yes, it has been a long long time since I posted last. I have no excuses for being so slack (again) and I am not sure 'losing my blogging mojo' is the reason either. I have been very busy though, working on the house and garden.

Which brings me to the topic of today's post. I have dipped into our savings a bit too much lately and I need to rein in my spending. As you can imagine after buying the house, moving in, making repairs, laying turf, making the back garden and the odd furniture purchase, our savings are at a bare minimum. This makes me nervous. Christmas is just around the corner, the car needs servicing and there is bound to be something else around the house that needs repairing.

Some reasons for my spending lately - vintage school chairs picked up at Cobbitty Markets.

Ideally, I would like six months of essential living expenses in savings and we will slowly work back up to this. At a minimum, I feel comfortable with three months - as this is the waiting period for our income protection.

So, to get me in the spirit of reducing my spending, I am going to have two spend free days per week.

Another equally valid reason - My new toy shelf. Hopefully my lounge room will remain tidy for a bit longer.

Why spend free days?

I first heard of this idea from Frugal Trenches and I find it an excellent way to reinforce healthy finance habits.

• Firstly, you have to plan your spending. You have to anticipate when you will run out of milk and plan to buy some on a spend day.


• It also minimises impulse buys. If you want something and it is a spend free day you have to wait at least til the next day to buy it. Often you realise you don't really want/need the item and don't buy it.


• I seem to spend a lot less over the week with a couple of spend free days. When ever I go to the supermarket I always end up spending $30-$50 on a handful of items. By reducing the amount of times I go to the supermarket, I am buying less products and therefore spending less.


• It also helps you to remember your goals. I find that doing when I do the budget for the month it takes about 3-4 days after that for the motivation to wane and I forget about the budget and begin to increase my spending. By spacing out spend-free days, I am continually reminded to stay on budget and I remain motivated.

So, if you are trying to keep to your budget but are finding it hard, why not have a go at one spend free day a week?

Before Shots - The Front Garden

I have just realised how long it's been since I last posted. I really need to get my butt back into gear. All our time is spent on the house and garden at the moment. There are so many things to get done but I am beginning to feel we are making some progress, even if the list grows longer each day.

Here are some before shots of our front yard.

This is from the footpath. We had started to clean up the front (hence the green bin and rake) when I remembered to grab the camera. The trees at the front are mainly lilly pillys but we think they are going to need replacing in order to make a hedge. They have been neglected for too long and there are huge gaps in the branches right where the hedge should be. They are a beautiful variety (not sure of the name yet). The new growth is pink. The two palms are going though.

I am standing on the driveway here. We are trying to coax the box hedge back and I think it is beginning to work. The little grassed bit will eventually be replaced with garden. There is also some lovely old stone edging under the grass that we will rescue and reuse for the garden edging.

This is from the porch. We have a huge front porch that will be lovely and cool in summer as it misses out on the afternoon sun. Not sure what pot plants I can put there though. You can get a better idea of the grass area here. My plan for the front garden is a mix of native and traditional cut flowers. I think I will keep the backyard as the productive area.

Starting on the Back Yard

I have just gone through my photos and realised I don't really have a complete before shot of the back yard - oops.

Here is the best photo I can find (at least it has the area we began work on).

Our backyard is basically edged with weeds that have become trees or shrubs, ten ill-placed pines down one side, a sterile mulberry tree and a camellia. All of which have been left to go nuts. That's just two sides of the yard. The other side has a shed (yeah!) a pergola and a beautiful old frangipani tree that has paving right up to the trunk. There isn't any grass in the middle, just a few weeds and dirt.

The great thing about this is that we can pretty much design the garden ourselves. I am working on a design and I will post it as soon as I can figure out how to.

Yesterday, Mr Berry started on clearing the backyard. There were seven (yes seven) small pines planted along the north-eastern fence (there are still four absolutely huge ones there blocking a lot of the morning sun - they need a professional). Seriously, they were about 70cm apart - who would do that? They were chopped off and mulched. It took just about all day but by nightfall this is what remained:

I don't know if you can see the stumps at the back. Mr Berry only had time to get three of them out. Around the trees was full of Wandering Jew so we needed to do as much weeding as possible before lifting the stumps.

And, all seven trees were turned into this:

Not even a cubic metre of compost. I was sure I would have enough for a hot compost pile. I haven't checked the pile yet to see if it is heating up at all. If it's still cold by lunch time I will pile it into my smaller bin and start it cold composting.

Now that the sun can get to the ground there, we are going to make an interim veggie patch. In the long run I want a mandala garden for the veggies but that will take some time.

-------------------------------------------------------

And a big Happy Father's Day to all the Dad's out there. I am lucky to have my Dad and Miss Berry feels the same way.

Rhonda from Down to Earth wrote a post earlier in the year that reflects my thoughts on Father's Day.

It's true, the boys are often lurking in the background of the blogs and we get glimpses of them now and then. In reality, Mr Berry is the opposite. He is at the forefront of our family, supporting, guiding and following. He is my team member, and makes up for my weaknesses and helps my strengths to grow. Thank you Mr Berry for being a wonderful husband and father. I love you.

A New Oven

So, it turns out our oven is broken and cannot be repaired. The exact phrase was:

"It's over 10 years old so the parts aren't made anymore".

What?

It is stainless steel - it can't be that old. But no, apparently 10 years is over the hill in oven years (perhaps they age similar to dogs).

The current oven is gas, but I think I want an electric one. I have checked out CHOICE and read their reports on ovens and apparently gas is no longer all it's cracked up to be. Electric ovens have improved over the years and an electric oven can have so many cooking options that they can be much more versatile than a gas oven.

Here is my wish list for my oven:

• Non marking stainless steel (for grubby little finger marks)
• External Grill (or super duper internal grill that won't splash fat through the entire oven)
• At least three shelf positions
• Cooking options like fan or different elements on or off
• Self cleaning - but will heating the oven to high temps damage my timber kitchen?
• A side opening door sounds really nice but not at the expense of other things on my list
• A door with a large window so I can see the food without having to open the door during cooking
• Shelves that won't tip when they are half pulled out and have safety stoppers so they won't come all the way out by accident.
• A smokeless grill tray (especially if we go for an internal grill)
• A non-tilting grill tray with stoppers like the oven shelves as well as a grill tray that comes out far enough to reach food at the back of the tray.
• A shield on the front of the grill element to stop burnt fingers

Other things to check:

• The inside dimensions
• Energy Efficiency
• How easy it is to get to the bulb
• Ease of removing shelves for cleaning plus lack of nooks and crannies on the inside of the oven.
• The warranty length
• Service times etc.

So that's my check list for today. Hopefully by the weekend we will have purchased one. I had no idea how much I rely on using an oven.

We've Moved In

Wow, I can't believe it's been a month since I posted last. Time has just flown.

We have moved into our new house and the boxes are unpacked - although some were simply up-ended in the spare room to sort out later.

Miss Berry has settled in now. She was a bit homesick for our old house for the first few weeks but is OK now. She loves the garden and will spend all day running around outside. Our old house was on a slope and there was a flight of stairs from the back door to the garden. I was terrified of her falling down them and couldn't leave her in the backyard for even a second. Now our backyard is much more user friendly and we have a fantastic patio area that has a full view of the yard so I can sit back and have a cup of tea whilst she runs wild.

The gardens are very neglected - which is good. I have some ideas for a garden design and will work on it over the next few months. We have put in an application to council to remove some very large trees that are damaging fences and paths, and once they are out we can clean up the rest of the garden and start thinking about planting productive fruit and veg.

I don't have any photos as yet, I did find the camera but the battery was dead. I think the charger must be in that aforementioned pile in the spare bedroom. That's a job for today.

Cleaning Windows

It has been so long since I've posted. We have been very busy organising the move and de-cluttering everything and this week we have started packing.


We have also decided to save some money and do the move clean (in both houses) ourselves. Usually I get a cleaner in - I'm not keen on the idea of cleaning a house I'm not going to live in. But by doing it ourselves we will be saving a few hundred dollars and we can spend it on getting the garden or chook pen set up.


So, today I am tackling the windows. I use Enjo cleaning products, but a weak vinegar solution for the glass and soapy water for everything else will work just as well. I also like to add a few drops of essential oil to the water. Just pick one that smells nice.


We have old sash-cord windows which means a lot of timber and deep sills. I begin by dusting and sweeping the sills and timber. I also dust the venetians. I then clean the glass - vinegar and water works really well but I use my Enjo window cleaner. All the timber is then wiped clean with a damp cloth and dried off with an old cloth nappy. Don't forget the tops of the window frame and around any curtain rods.


I then move to the venetian blinds. If you dust your venetians regularly, then they won't need much cleaning. It's when the dust builds up that you need soapy water. Because we are moving out, I will clean them with soapy water. I have an Enjo Flexi but you could use a cloth. Whatever you use, it needs to be damp. If you are using a cloth, add a bit of soap to the water (just a little though, you don't want to spend time rinsing suds off.) Dry the venetians with the nappy and you are done.


The bedrooms have continuous curtains on them too so whilst I am cleaning the windows I will pop the curtains in the wash. Once the machine has finished I will hang them straight back up to dry.


Once they are done, leave the blinds open and enjoy the fresh smell of essential oils. Make yourself a cut of tea and sit down and enjoy your hard work.

Plastic - Evil Or Just Misunderstood?

Did anyone watch Addicted to Plastic on the ABC last night? It was a documentary on the problem of waste plastic and what people are doing to solve the problem.


One person interviewed said that the plastics industry isn't evil and planned to swamp the earth with toxic plastic waste, but rather we all got caught up in post war consumerism. Plastic was marketed as the great time saver. Mum's could have more time to themselves because they wouldn't have to wash up. (More time? Yeah right.) And coming from the frugality of the war time, you can understand the desire to have a life that was very different from the reminders of war.


Since then, our desire to accumulate more stuff has grown exponentially. We want our lives to be 'simpler' and require less work so we look for disposable items, pre-packaged foods and other convenience items which means heaps and heaps of plastic being thrown out each day. Even the idea of a plastic bag that is used once then thrown out (or put in a cupboard to multiply) sounds ridiculous when you consider the alternative of a re-usable fabric or canvas bag that can be washed over and over again if needed.


Throughout the documentary, I kept thinking that the problems we have with plastic is not because of the plastic but rather because of our behaviour and attitude towards plastic. If everything that was plastic was made out of say linen, (imagine for a minute that this linen is rigid and is just like plastic - only linen) our attitude to packaging would be very different. Imagine using a tea towel once then throwing it away.


I think plastic has it's place and can be useful (think of tupperware - mmmm tupperware) but we need to let go of the idea of plastic as a disposable substance. Every time you throw out a piece of plastic remember that plastic will always remain plastic - and it has to go somewhere, forever. Now that doesn't sound very disposable.


So, what can we do about it?


I understand that changing the way you think as well as unconscious habits can be extremely difficult, but with some effort on our part there are things we can do.

• Stop excessive buying. Plastic is in everything so the first step is to reduce spending. If you buy less new stuff and repair what you have or search out second hand items, then less plastic will be thrown out and some of the plastic that is out there will remain out of land fill for longer.


• If you do buy something new, choose products that have minimal plastic packaging. The most obvious items would have to be fruit and vegetables that are in a plastic tray and then wrapped in plastic. What's with that? Other things to consider are individual serves of snacks and biscuits. Try to avoid other purchases such as clothing that is wrapped in plastic sleeves.


• When you buy a plastic product that will be thrown out, choose a product that is made from a recyclable plastic. All councils have different plastics they will take for recycling but you can usually check what they are from your local council website (most plastics have a little number on them - that's how you can tell what's what).

Are you getting a theme from the above points? Yep it's Reduce, Reuse, Recylce. A simple but very effective way to solve a lot of our waste issues, not just for plastic.

So why not start reducing the amount of plastic you use today. Say no to a plastic bag. Better yet, keep a plastic bag from home in your handbag or car. That way you will always have a bag with you and you will be keeping one more plastic bag from being tossed away.

If you missed Addicted to Plastic you can check it out on ABC's iView.

Good News. We Have Bought a House!

The contracts were signed last night and it is now official. In six weeks we will have the keys to our house.

Ok, so this is not our new (or old) house. I found it on flikr by *Susie* and thought it was so cute. I'd buy it.

Searching for the right house has taken us a while and it was disappointing when we missed out on the last house. But, as we all know, the right house will come along and this one ticks a lot more boxes than any of the others.

It is beautifully old and still has a lot of the original features. It has had a renovation at the back so it has an internal laundry (yeah!) and the toilets are inside (even more yeah!). It is very livable so we won't be living in squalor and we will be able to cope with it as it is for a few years without any problems. But it has been a rental for a while so there is a lot of cosmetic work needed - which is great. We can put our own personal eco-stamp on the house and garden. The garden is basically non existent except for a super large old frangipani (how nice is the backyard going to smell?) and last night I dreamt of garden designs and the things we will need to do to improve the soil as well as all the fruit trees I will plant.

I am also a little bit shocked that it has actually happened and I don't think I will really believe it until we get the keys. After all, anything can happen in six weeks for this to fall through (the main one being the bank failing to get it's but into gear - they are still taking a huge amount of time to get anything done).

So, now I have to start thinking about packing. Actually no, I am going to ignore that for a week and just enjoy dreaming of what my new garden is going to look like.

And, if it ever stops raining I am sure we will have many, many walks. This house is just around the corner from where we live now.

I have just noticed that this is post number 95. Perhaps I should work on a giveaway for my 100th post? I will think about what I can put together. Giveaways are so much fun.

Permaculture St George

After months of searching, I finally found the details for a local permaculture group (turns out I had the wrong name, duh).

So tonight I went to my first meeting. I had a great time and went home with lots of food for though as well as an aloe vera cutting and some cos lettuce seeds. They meet each month and membership seems to also include some other bonuses such as LETS membership.

Here is the web site if you are interested and live in the southern Sydney area:

http://permaculturestgeorge.ning.com/


On the weather front - it is freezing. Who would have thought the beginning of winter could be so cold. Was it like this last winter? Each summer I believe it will never again be cold and each winter I believe it will never again be hot.

On the way home tonight the car registered the outside temperature as 9oC and this morning Miss Berry's room was 13oC. I think I might make more of a note of the temperature in this blog so I can look back next year and compare the temps. It has also been pretty windy. We haven't had any rain for a week or so and the wind has really dried everything out - I must water this weekend.

Thankfully we don't get frosts in this area. Although the veggies have slowed down I can still plant throughout the winter without worrying about frost damage.

What Is Simple Living?

"Living simply isn't about self-imposed poverty; it's about consciously deciding what is important in life and reducing our needs to those of greatest importance."

- Linda Cockburn, Living the Good Life

I am reading Linda's book Living the Good Life at the moment and am finding it very motivating. I would recommend it to anyone interested in living sustainably. You can also check out her blog here.

There are a some ideas from Linda's book I wanted to mention today about living simply. I must admit the term 'simple living' is not something I usually say out loud. I find it has a certain cringe factor about it. A lot of people seem to have no idea what it means and end up giving me a sympathetic poor you attitude that assumes we are living simply because we can not do otherwise. I find people fail to realise the environmental impact of living a high consumerism lifestyle, as well as the health impact of fast, convenience foods. Even as I try to explain to them why we have made these decisions, they have already turned off - I can tell they do not understand.

I no longer try to explain our lifestyle choices to people. Friends can read about it here (and some do - hi Diana) and other friends are happy to remain oblivious and label us as hippies. That's ok, our choice to live simply was not made so we can broadcast to the world how great we are. There is no need for us to tell everyone about it, but for those that are interested I have always struggled to describe our way of life in a few sentences.

To me, simple living encompasses so many aspects - the environment, our health, saving money, reducing consumerism (and waste), the family and the list goes on. It is empowering because we are not being caught up in the flow of today's society that demands that happiness must come with excess packaging and a huge credit card debt.

But going against society's norm is challenging. It is hard to stick to your guns when advertising is screaming at you wherever you turn. When socialising with friends generally comes with a price tag. There are days when I really do feel like I am swimming against the tide - perhaps one of those really strong rips you avoid when you go to the beach. That no matter how hard we try, advertising will suck us under and back into the evil underworld of shiny plastic things. So why do we keep struggling?

Linda says "living simply or sustainably, whatever term you use, may mean that from the outside looking in, you may be labelled poor. This is a construct of our society, which builds its successful-person model on income, what products they choose to spend it on, how they 'wear' it, what house they live in and what they drive."

And yet, those of us that embrace simple living know that whilst it is the opposite of what society deems successful, it is far from poor. And that is what I sometimes have a hard time conveying to others. There is absolutely no need to feel sorry for people living simply. In fact I sometimes feel sorry for those who don't. But after reading Linda's book, I think I have found how to describe what we do and why we do it to people.

Linda describes simple living as "not about giving things up, forsaking them, frugality, denial, stinginess, deprivation or lack. It's about taking things up: self-determination, freedom, autonomy and abundant living."

What do you think best describes simple living? I'd love to hear your ideas on how or if you describe living simply to others and what responses you get.