down to earth

These are photos of some of my herbs, taken this morning. This is yarrow, borage, parsley, oregano, with daisies, to attract bees, in the background.

No home garden is complete without herbs. You can use them in your cooking and salads, for medicinal purposes and for crafts; you can make fertiliser and attract bees into the garden with herbs. Some herbs attract insects, some repel them. They're a very interesting group of plants.

A botanist's definition of a herb is a plant that doesn't have a permanent woody stem, like a tree or a shrub. To a gardener, a herb is a useful plant that can be used in cooking or for medicinal purposes. Gardener's use bay trees as herbs, and rosemary, which is a shrub. Even bananas are classed as herbs. It's confused to say the least, but no matter what your definition of herbs, they're great in the garden.

Borage

I grow herbs for cooking, to attract bees, to make fertiliser and to make tea. At the moment I'm growing the following: parsley, borage, lemon balm, mint, garlic, aloe vera, oregano, marjoram, nasturtiums, comfrey, curry plant, Italian thyme, yarrow, lavender and bay.

When growing herbs, they should be grown slowly so their flavours can develop fully. So don't keep pushing them along with fertiliser. Plant them in full sun, in good draining soil and apply a weak liquid fertiliser three weeks after planting, and again at 12 weeks. Flowering plants like lavender should be cut back after they flower, which, at the right time of year, will stimulate another flush of flowers.

COMFREY FERTILISER
Cut the green leaves from your comfrey clump and fill a bucket half full of leaves. Place a brick, or something heavy, on the leaves to keep them under the water. Fill the bucket to the top with water. Place a lid on the bucket - this stinks to high heaven when it's ready to use - and leave in a shaded place for three weeks. When you take the lid off, be prepared for a bad smell, but this brew is FULL of nitrogen.

To use, pour one litre (1 quart) of the mix into a nine litre (2½ gallon) bucket and fill with water. Pour this onto your plants that need a nitrogen boost, like lettuce, spinach and the leafy vegetables. Pour any left overs onto your compost, it speeds up decomposition of decaying plant material.

Comfrey

Comfrey is grown from root cuttings and it loves slightly moist conditions. When you plant comfrey, make sure you choose a space where it can grow forever. Comfrey doesn't run, like bamboo, but it forms a nice big clump and the tiniest piece of root will regenerate. So if you try to remove it and leave any piece of plant behind, it will regrow.

GARLIC SPRAY
Chop up 100 grams (3½ oz) of garlic cloves and mix with 2 tablespoons of cooking oil. Leave to infuse for 48 hours. Dissolve 2½ tablespoons of pure soap (homemade is good for this) in 500mls (16 fl oz)) hot water and mix everything together. Strain the mix to remove the garlic and store in a glass or plastic container. To use, dilute the garlic mix with ten times the amount of water and spray on insects. This is a contact spray so it has to be sprayed onto the insects, but it doesn't harm you or the plant.

LEMON BALM TEA
Pick fresh leaves - you'll need about 30 leaves - wash them. Place the leaves in 2 cups of boiling water in a tea pot and allow to infuse for 5 minutes. Strain the leaves before drinking. A small teaspoon of honey is a delicious addition.

HEALING WITH ALOE VERA
When I cut or burn myself, I squeeze the gel from a piece of aloe vera and rub it on. It always works well. Some people with sensitive skins may develop a rash using aloe vera, so test a small patch of skin before using it.

PARSLEY AND MINT CLEANSER
Pick a large bunch of paisley and about 2 tablespoons of mint leaves. Add to 500mls (16 fl oz)boiling water and allow to infuse for one hour, then strain through a fine filter. When cool, use this as a facial cleanser. It will store for three days.

Parsley and oregano.

LAVENDAR OR ROSE WATER

Place 120 grams (4oz) fresh lavender flowers or rose petals in a china or ceramic (not aluminium) bowl and pour over 500 mls (16 fl oz) boiling water. Place a clean cotton cloth on top and allow to steep overnight. Strain off the flowers and store in a glass bottle. This is nice as a facial splash but I usually use it instead of plain water when spraying my ironing.

Lavender

You can use herbs in so many ways and I could write about them all day and still not tell you all their wonderful uses. So next time you're at a friends house and see a herb you like, ask for a cutting and instructions on growing it. It might also help if you borrow a book on herbs from the library, they make fascinating reading. This is the most valuable website about herbs that I've found. It's the wonderful Isabel Shipard's site, full of information and enthusiasm for herbs and how we can use them.

Most of us see the sense of not spraying pesticides and herbicides in the garden, nor using chemical cleaners in our homes. There are many recipes for good garden bug sprays and cleaners so no one needs to resort to buying products that will help keep the bugs away and the house clean. That sensible thinking should also extend to how you manage the various bugs and pests in your home too. Flies, mosquitoes, cockroaches, ants, rats, mice, spiders and a whole range of other pests can be controlled with natural remedies too. And as usual, what is safe and environmentally sound is also frugal.

Good housekeeping plays a big part in keeping your home bug-free, so make sure your benches are clean, food isn't left lying around, your compost bucket has a lid on it, all your food is in containers, vacuum once a week and sweep daily. You should also block the places where bugs can enter. Blocking small holes to prevent creepy crawlies from entering your home is the first line of defense.

We do this in the garden too. Instead of spraying for fruit fly, we put exclusion bags on our fruit so the peaches can ripen naturally inside the bag where the fruit fly can't get at them. You'll see what I mean in the photo below. It also keeps the parrots away from the fruit.

Fly screens are a good way of keeping bugs and other pests out of your home. Fly screens on windows and doors are quite common in Australia and, I expect, in most other countries where flies and insects are a problem. If you have fly screens, make sure you look after them so they do the job they're intended for. Every couple of months, wipe the screens to remove dust and grime and check the rubber seals are firmly in place. If there is a tear in a screen, replace it.

So let's imagine you've blocked up all the holes, your fly screens are in place, but you're just about to serve up dinner and you see a fly. The best way to get rid of flies is with a fly swat. I grew up in the age before aerosol fly sprays and really hate them. You can easily kill flies with a swat and all you need then is to pick it up, either with the swat itself or a piece of scrap paper, put it in the bin or give it to the chooks. I keep my swat on top of the fridge and I make sure it's washed in hot soapy water every month or so to keep it clean. You can also use your fly swat to kill other insects like cockroaches, beetles and spiders.

Cockroaches can be a real pest in warm climates too. I have no idea how these creatures enter houses but I know once in, they're hard to get rid of. There is some very useful information here about natural cockroach baits. Boron or boric acid is available in Australia here or at most pharmacies and diatomaceous earth is available in Australia here or at garden centres. You can also make a cockroach bait by mixing borax and a little honey. Put it in an upturned lid in a dark near where you've seen cockroaches. Make sure borax and boron are well away from children and pets. They have a low toxicity but you always need to be cautious.

I have a selection of bug screens that I use on food too. I have milk jug covers that are used on any jugs I take outside, I also use it when I have a glass of water beside my bed at night. I use a little cotton cover for my sourdough (see below), which needs to be open to the air but protected from bugs. You can make a lovely outdoor food cover simply by cutting some netting or cotton to size and sewing a cotton border on it. So think about where you have problems with insects and make some covers to protect your food. Here is a pattern for a crocheted milk jug cover. Or you can make a very simple cover with some netting or fine cotton held down by buttons or shells. See what I use in this photo.

Organic fly spray (from Grass Roots Magazine)
1 tablespoon eucalyptus oil
1 teaspoon bergamot oil
5 tablespoons vodka
2 tablespoons white vinegar
5 cups water

Dissolve eucalyptus and bergamot oils in the vodka.
Add the vinegar and water and mix well.
Store in a spray bottle and shake before use.

General purpose bug spray

1 teaspoon of eucalyptus oil

1 teaspoon of liquid soap or ½ teaspoon of grated soap dissolved in water.

500ml of water

Mix the ingredients together in a small sprayer. Always shake thoroughly before each use. You have to spray this directly onto the bug.

Organic mosquito spray recipe here.

How are you all going with your electricity and water meter readings? I hope you have mastered the meters and are now doing weekly readings. It really will help you cut your usage back if you know what you're using a lot of electricity and water on. We've completely moved over to compact fluro globes in the entire house now, even the down lights and it's made a different in our bill. We bought four globes every month, or more if they were on special, so it didn't hit our small grocery budget too much while we were buying them. If you do this, replace the globes you use the most first.

One of the readers here, Wildside, has reduced her electricity bill a lot and I asked her to share her secrets. Here they are:

candlelight, kind of romantic, it hides the dust bunnies when you have company and forgives wrinkles -- everything/everyone looks better by candlelight!
strategically placed nightlights to light the way at night.
don't turn on an overhead light or lamp unless you have to -- and if you do, make it a nightlight or energy efficient bulb.
make good use of natural daylight.
think/talk in the dark -- it can be fun!
cook on a grill over coal fire outside year-round and think of it as fun -- and how much better food cooked this way tastes!
energy efficient fridge.
a smaller freezer.
consider manual appliances/power over electric -- or make use without some other way!
stretch your garden as far as possible and appreciate raw, simple food.
wash dishes by hand.
only run full loads of laundry and try to limit that to one per day maximum! (My rule: you can do far less than that, but not more!)
only run the dryer for 20 minutes then hang everything to finish drying (we live in a damp, rainy climate where stuff gets mildewy and there is a laundry law about hanging clothes outside in view anyway) ... 20 minutes is enough to give things a head start on drying and take the wrinkles out.
turn stove burner, oven off just before things are set to come out and let food finish on residual heat.
a better thing for us to do (or at least ½ of us [meaning me!]) would be to only use our computer and TV during hours of darkness as a rule... I think I'll decide to pick this habit up again -- we do use both the computer and TV a lot!

Thanks Wildside.

I moved into my new sewing room yesterday. I haven't got everything exactly as I want it yet, I'm using pieces of furniture I'd rather not use, but I'm in there. The room used to be Hanno's office, it's where he did all his after hours work for the shop, and even now he has a cupboard in there, and drawers, as well as space on the desk. In Australia we have to keep business and tax records for seven years, so all that is being stored in "the sewing room". I'm pretending it's not there. : )

The room overlooks the front garden and there is a radio, so I expect to be quite comfy as I work on my mending and sewing. I'd like to eventually replace the melamine furniture with old wooden pieces and I have a friend, who is like a hawk collecting old bits and pieces, on the lookout for me. I'd like two old tables, a cupboard and a chest of drawers. But in the meantime I'm happy to work with what I've got and I'm thankful that I have this room as a workspace.

In the past few years I've discovered the "stash". I know those who patchwork and sew will smile at my innocence. Who knew there would be such beauty in all those pieces of fabric.

Early on in my search for a simpler life I realised that sewing, mending, knitting and homemade gifts would play a big part in what I did. I'd never been interested in crafts before, although my mother did try to teach me and my sister is a talented quilter. I toddled off on my own path, convinced they were old fashioned and would eventually catch up with me one day. LOL Oh the shame. I think my mother would love to see me know. I'm living like she used to, and what a fine roll model she is for me, even though she's been dead 14 years. I still remember how it used to be in our pre-plastic days and the skills my mother taught me all those years ago are finally being used. I am a slow learner sometimes.

I am trying to improve my sewing and knitting, I think they are skills that develop with repetition. Often when my sister visits, I get her to teach me how to do something I haven't been able to manage on my own and slowly I'm becoming more confident and happier with my finished work. Suzanne, who runs the sewing circle where I work, is going to teach me how to darn. I have a couple of jumpers that have small holes in them and they will have many more years of service when I fix those holes. Darning was the way women used to mend socks, jumpers and precious hand made clothes. Most women knew how to darn and mend but along with a lot of other useful activities, it's no longer common. In the past, women made do with what they had and it was seen as wasteful to throw something away simply because it had a hole in it. We need to get back into that mending mindset because the true cost of "cheap" clothes is damaging our environment.

One of the handicrafts I've discovered is stitchery, or as my grandma would call it, fancywork. I love drawing patterns and stitching them to see what they look like. They make wonderful gifts as they can be tailored to suit the person who will receive it and although they look complicated, they're quite simple and straight forward to make. Pictured above are two works in progress that will be given as Christmas gifts this year.

I have big plans for my little sewing room. I hope it will be a place of homely creativity, where clothes are given a second life, where my sewing talents develop, where fabric and stitch combine to produce beautiful gifts and where all aspects my simple life will continue to emerge and sustain us.

One of the things I struggled with when I first decided I wanted to change the way we lived, was my husband's reaction to the change. He didn't understand why I wanted to change and then he decided such a change would be impossible.

What I proposed was to transition from a reasonably affluent middle class family with all the trappings of that, give up work completely, spend only on needs, reskill ourselves so we could supply ourselves with most of the services and products we relied on, to become more self reliant, independent and better able to look after ourselves.

While Hanno liked the idea of giving up paid work, he thought it was idealistic and unreasonable to think that two aging hipster doofuses could drop out and live without suffering financial consequences. So, his response when I posed the question was a firm NO!

Pffffffffft! Of course I did what any good wife would do. I went ahead with it anyway. LOL Initially what I did didn't include him at all. I had already closed down my writing business so my plan now was to show Hanno, that it could be done. I respected his decision but I didn't agree with it. I didn't know how much we would need to live on but I intended to find out.

The first thing I did was to completely change the way I shopped. I'd already given up frivolous shopping and now the only money I had on a regular basis was the grocery money. It was my only tool, so I used it. You all know how I shop - I stockpile, I make and grow as much as I can and always cook from scratch - so I went from spending $300 a week on groceries to spending much less by using those new (to me) methods. I started an emergency fund and put the leftover grocery money in it. I didn't tell Hanno what I was doing and he didn't notice a change in the quality of our food or that I'd stopped buying any chemical cleaners.

Over the months I built up our vegetable garden, bought more chooks, taught myself to bake good bread, bought a preserver on eBay and taught myself how to preserve food in a water bath. And I read everything I could get my hands on. Books were the last things I gave up buying because I needed a few good books to learn from, and those books lead me to others. I researched online too, joined an American frugal forum and learnt as much as I could there. All the time I never mentioned what I was doing or why.

By the time I again brought up the subject of Hanno giving up work, our two sons had left home (they both returned again a few times) and there was just the two of us to look after. Over the years, Hanno has been the best husband and father anyone could hope for. He's been a really hard worker and has never been out of work in all the time I've known him. So I guess the pressure of providing for a family was off and he was willing to look at the possibility of him leaving work. But the thing that showed him it might be possible was seeing the amount of money I had saved from our normal grocery money.

He could see that we didn't need a large amount of money to live on. We were growing a lot of our own vegetables and eggs, fruit trees had been planted and things were progressing nicely in the vegetable garden. He could now see the potential of providing many of our own needs from our back yard. And, of course, we didn't need a lot of money to feed and clothe ourselves anymore, and, most importantly, we had no debt. I'd done up a budget and it showed that we could live on $400 a week, and that included our rates, groceries, insurances, car and dog registrations, everything. When he saw it, he was almost convinced we could do it.

Not long after that we closed our shop in Montville and started the free fall into our new life. Hanno applied for an old age pension which helped cover some of our ongoing expenses. We'd never been in the welfare system before and it was a bit of an eyeopener for both of us. But we coped. He wasn't completely convinced we could do it until we'd lived the life for six months. Then he realised that, yes, it is possible!

I think that when it comes to change one partner usually tends to see the possibilities before the other. It is frustrating for both parties because one is convinced it can be done and the other is convinced it can't be. I took the soft approach, and it worked. I thought the best way to show it could be done, was to do it. Everyone who is shopping for groceries each week can do what I did. You can show your partner that cutting costs is not only possible, it's sustainable. And when you save all that money with out him knowing, and you suddenly produce it, it opens up all sorts of possibilities.

So if you have a partner who is hesitant about your life change, try to change yourself and what you do before you try to change him/her. Showing by example is a very powerful way of teaching and it just might work for you.

I try to be non-political in my blog. I don't really see the point of talking about what should be done when everyone has such widely differing views on most political topics. I am usually suspicious of bloggers who write about what everyone should be doing but don't appear to be doing anything themselves. I try to be more practical here, I try to show how living a simple sustainable life will help all of us, no matter what the reason for living that way.

However, I listened to a radio broadcast (podcast here, her bit is half way through it) the other day and am still thinking about it now. It was about an Australian woman and her response to Peak Oil. Her philosophy is almost identical to mine and she clearly pointed out why we all need to prepare for ever increasing oil prices. So I thought that just this once, on this important subject, I'll talk about a political subject. If you don't want to read, that's fine, come back tomorrow when I'll be back to the more practical but this topic does effect us all.

Peak Oil is the point at which the global extraction of oil reaches its peak and starts to decline, and the cost of extracting oil goes up. The problem with this is that there are very few new oil discoveries and countries like India and China, which both have huge populations, are now using a lot more oil. China's population is currently on 1.3 billion and India's is now 1.1 billion. It is predicted that in the next 50 years, their combined population will be 3.5 billion. The population of the US is now 301 million and they use most of the world's oil. The US projected population in 50 years is 420 million.

And there is no more cheap oil.

So as oil production is decreasing there is a massive increase in demand. No doubt many of those newly affluent people in India and China will buy cars and use a lot more oil, but cars and fuel aren't the only thing we have to worry about with Peak Oil. Peak Oil is also about food and the irrigation and transport of it, as well as the products that are made with oil, like plastics.

For me, Peak Oil means that I need to provide as much as I can for myself. No one can predict what will happen in the future, but I'm sure that if oil is increasingly expensive, food and groceries prices will rise, so will the price of fuel, electricity and gas as well as many other things that we all use. We all need to be well informed, so find out as much as you can about Peak Oil. If you don't believe there will be a problem, do some research and see what you find. I think there is no doubt, but everyone sees things with different eyes.

Once you're informed, or if you already are, you'll need to work out a plan for your own family. Part of that plan should be to skill yourself in as many areas of food production, cooking, preserving and home management as you can. Everyone needs to reduce their debt as much as possible or get rid of it completely. The future will be much easier if you have no debt.

If you have been reading my blog for a while, you'll know that food production and home management are my main subjects. Peak Oil is one of the reasons for that but I also believe that living a simple life is better for us and the planet than the product driven lifestyle that I left behind. This simple life is more enriching, it satisfies the soul, it makes me a better person and it's an easy way to live. So my blog will continue to discuss how to live well in your own home and I promise not to return again to the political without a compelling reason. So let's get on with it, let's learn how to live well.

Michelle posed an interesting question over at aussieslivingsimply this morning. She asked "Is it possible to live well on the age pension?" For our international readers, the age pension is paid to citizens of Australia after they reach the age of 65 - men and women. Michelle says the pension is $877 per couple per fortnight, or $438.50 a week. We live well on less than that. H is on an age pension (I'm only 59 so I have another five years before I can claim), we also have some share investments and money in the bank, but we made a conscious decision to give up a more lavish lifestyle and live on $400 a week.

It would be very difficult to live on this amount if you had debt or were paying rent, although I think there is a rent allowance if you do pay rent. But overall, I have to say it's possible to live on the pension, to live well, to enjoy yourself and to save.

Like just about everything else, you need to be organised and have a plan. If you go from week to week without one, you'd quickly fall on your face. We have a budget that we stick to - our budget is our spending guide which enables us to buy what we need, pay all our bills and save $150 a month. It's not a lot, but it pays for a holiday every year. In our former lives, $150 would have paid for a new pair of shoes, now it's much more valuable to us. We value our time more now so we'd never spend that amount on something so trivial. We're different people, we've changed our lives and the way we look at spending and possessions.

I've written before about how we break up our budget here, and in a few posts that follow that one, so I won't go into the details of it again, suffice to say that we couldn't do it without a budget or spending plan, and by being frugal. Thrift is the glue that holds our lifestyle together. We don't spend on things that don't give us true value. We gave away pay TV, flying, expensive clothes and shoes, magazines and most newspapers, brand name groceries, new cars every few years, eating out at restaurants, paying for someone to iron and clean, giving expensive gifts and pampering ourselves with what money buys. We are still pampered, but it's with healthier things like relaxing with a good (library) book on the front verandah and having the time to really enjoy our garden; we eat well, in fact we eat better now than we ever have with a lot of fresh, organic food rather than stale supermarket food; we don't miss 99% of pay TV and magazines. I'd still love to watch Martha and I'd still love to have my favourite magazine - British Country Living, but that's all I miss and it's not a big deal to miss something, it makes me stronger and I am better for it. And all the other things we gave up are nothing, we don't miss or think about them now. Our lives are better and we are happier than we've ever been.

We still pay for top cover private health insurance, we still have our dogs, we have a reliable car and whenever we have to buy something, we shop around and make sure we are getting the best value for our dollars. All those things are covered in that $400 a week.

So we are proof that living well on a pension is possible. We couldn't have done it without changing the way we see possessions and success. Success to us now is not a new car, it's whether the tomatoes have a bigger crop than they did last year. Our success now is seeing our sons mature and live their own lives well. We've taken the emphasis off money, we realise now that you don't read about true quality on a label but rather by the smile on someone's face or in the feeling of satisfaction after a hard days work. True happiness isn't about getting everything your heart desires, it's more about reaching your genuine potential and living a life that reflects that. And, ladies and gentlemen, I'm happy to say, you can do that on $400 a week, and probably less.

Monday is washing day
Tuesday is ironing day
Wednesday is mending day
Thursday is market day
Friday is cleaning day
Saturday is baking day
Sunday is a day of rest

Of course, most women didn't just do that chore on that day, they also did their general house work and often had time to visit with neighbours, join sewing circles and play with the children. It was a much more relaxed way of living that was centered around the family and home.

Things have changed. There are now more women working outside the home, often grandmothers look after grandchildren while the mums are at work, many couples work at different times so there is always someone with the children, stay at home mums sometimes have a hobby/job they work on at home during the day, others homeschool. Some SAHMs care for elderly parents, some volunteer their time to schools or other community organisations. Life is lived at a faster pace now and there is no one size fits all when it comes to housework routines.

How you organise your housework will depend on whether you work outside the home or not, how many people you're looking after and at what stage of life you're at. When I had two young babies just 12 months apart, I found not only was I washing on Monday, but also most other days of the week. Now I wash only on Wednesdays. Everyone is different and your routine will change at different stages of your life.

No matter what stage of life you're at it's a really good idea to develop a housework routine. That will take the huge and often overwhelming task of "housework" and break it down into smaller and manageable parts. You can either make up your routine to do your work room by room or you could do a specific chore on a certain day, much like the verse. If you're like me, and have only one other person, or just yourself to look after, maybe you could have a routine which is similar to mine. My routine is similar day by day with changes only for washing, ironing and shopping, which is done once a month.

This is my general routine - it's a loose kind of thing that can easily be changed if friends drop by or I realise I have to work on an unplanned project.

Rise and shower.
Work on the computer until H rises.
Feed dogs and cat.
Make breakfast and wash up.
Check chooks, feed and change water, collect eggs.
Make the bed, tidy the bedroom and bathroom.
Make bread and tidy the kitchen.
Sweep the floor, vacuum once a week.
Once a week I bake biscuits or a cake.
Morning tea.
Gardening, sewing or writing.
Make lunch and wash up.
Tidy one area of the house - like the lounge room, the laundry etc I spend no longer than 30 minutes on this.
Writing, sewing or computer.
Make dinner and wash up.
Relax.

Every Wednesday I do the washing, hang it outside and fold it when it's dry.
Every Sunday morning I do the ironing.
Once a month, on a Wednesday, I go grocery shopping with H.

There are also seasonal jobs to be done. Such as in summer, I do a bit of preserving. That's always done in the morning. In Winter and Spring there is more gardening to be done.

I find that if I break up my housework with ideas about when I'll do certain things, it stops me thinking of "housework" as one big uncontrollable monster; it turns into tasks that will be done at certain times.

If you haven't thought about your housework in an organised way yet, give it some thought and make up your own routine. Write down what needs to be done. You don't have to itemise every task, go for whole areas - like vacuum house, clean the bathrooms, or divide the tasks up so that, like the verse above, you're doing one major task on one day, with a few little tasks with it. Don't be afraid to modified your routine to suit how you work and who is there to help, if anyone. If you find something doesnt work as you planned, change it.

When you've worked on your routine for a week or so and it is working how you want it to, stick to it and hopefully it will help you do the work that is required to keep your home clean and well maintained. Don't forget to take time out to have morning tea and to look after yourself. Sitting down with a magazine for a 15 minute break will give you something to look forward to, renew your energy and will break up the tasks for you.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY H!

He turns 67 today. I picked up his gift on the way home from work yesterday and here he is just after I gave it to him. He was really pleased with the bicycle and rode around with Alice running behind. I love making him happy.