There is one thing you can do that will improve your harvests and the quality of your produce more than any other - enrich your soil before you start planting.  There is an old gardeners saying that is as true today as it was when it was first said: Feed the soil, not the plant.  Garden soil is not just rock particles, organic matter, water and air; good soil also contains microbes, fungus, worms, nematodes and a range of other "life" that hasn't yet been identified.  Good soil is alive.

If you're starting off with mediocre soil that has been struggling to produce food in previous years, or has never been productive, the one thing I urge you to do it to work on your soil before you even think about planting.  That one thing will make more difference than anything else you do.  When we started vegetable and fruit gardening in our backyard 13 years ago, the soil here was undisturbed heavy clay.  We started by enriching the soil and making compost.  Then we planted various plants directly into bucket size pockets in the soil that we filled with compost.  We had small yields during those first years, but eventually, with continued additions of compost and whatever other organic matter we could find, such as lawn clippings and manure, we eventually turned our almost sterile soil into a fertile oasis.

We are not no-dig people.  We dig our garden.  We believe you get the best crops and the full measure of your soils - with all the nutrients and minerals they can provide, if you plant directly into the top soil.  If you can keep your topsoil alive by adding worm castings, worm juice, manures and well made compost, you'll be giving whatever you plant the best chance of producing maximum crops.

So if you're thinking of starting a garden this year, you need to work on two things - making compost and enriching your soil.  I will write about compost tomorrow.  Even if you've been working on your soil for a while, you need to do it every year.  Each year you plant, that crop of plants will use the nutrients you add to the soil.  This is a continuing task to be carried out every year - add more organic matter and enrich the soil.

If you've never planted anything in your garden before, you'll need to know the pH level of your soil.  This is the level of acidity/alkalinity in the soil.  Some plants like a more acid soil, some like it more alkaline but the vast majority of plants will grow well in the range pH 5 - 7.  If your soil is too acid, add agricultural lime to help balance it out.  If it is too alkaline, add compost and organic matter.  Clay soil can be corrected over time with the addition of gypsum  at about 500 grams (1 pound) per square metre.  If you are blessed with good fertile soil you won't have to bother with all this palaver but the majority of us will have poor soils that we have to work on.

So if you're starting from scratch, your first step is to dig your soil over and test it for pH.  Make the necessary adjustments, if needed, and water the soil.  You are trying to encourage microbes and worms to live there and it must be moist and nutritious for that to happen.  As soon as you start adding compost and other organic matter like manure, and if you keep the soil moist, the worms will come from no where.  They will further help you break up the soil because they'll burrow through it making tunnels for water and nutrients to flow.  They will eat and excrete and over time, will help develop the life in your soil.

Some plants, like comfrey, send down deep tap roots that mine the soil for minerals.  Those minerals are stored in the leaves of the plant and when you use something like comfrey for fertilising or activating your compost, you'll get the benefit of the high nitrogen leaves and the minerals they contain.  So it is a good idea to plant comfrey at the edges of your garden so you have a regular supply of high nitrogen and mineralised fertiliser.  Comfrey will grow in poor soil but it likes moisture so pick a spot where the water collects - make sure it's not a prime vegetable growing space, and plant your first bits of comfrey.  It grows well from roots.  Make sure of your place because once planted, it's difficult to get rid of it. 

If you have chooks, let them into the garden while you're building up the soil.  They'll scratch around, leave their droppings, eat bugs and insect eggs that you can't see and generally improve the fertility of the soil simply by being there.  We let our chooks into our garden over the past two months.  They've eaten the comfrey down to the roots, picked all the leaves from the capsicums (peppers), turned over the compost heap several times and eaten every caterpillar and grasshopper in the place.  We don't worry about this damage, the leaves will grow back and the chooks do much more good than harm.  Because of their hard work, we are starting off our gardening year with a clean slate.  When you plant seedlings and have your garden in full production, you'll have to keep the chickens out of your garden.  We do this by fencing off the vegetable garden from the rest of the garden the chickens usually free range in.

Just to recap:

Tomorrow we'll discuss compost and how to make it from what you have at home.

"My sister says I need to send you the pictures of my kitchen. It is very chicken and fun. This is a Man's Kitchen. My Kitchen is very small but taken care of.

My sister is a big quilter and enjoys all the blogs and web sights. She, after seeing the others, knew I needed to send pics of mine. Truthfully we didn't even clean it up or anything that is just the way I keep it."

"I have attached two photos of my kitchen.  My husband and I rent in Melbourne's west.  Because we rent we can't change much about our little house but I do like it here.  

My sink is rarely this clean and tidy because I don't like washing up much!  My husband does it most of the time as I cook.  You can see my orange crocheted cotton dishcloth hanging on the drainer, and also my stainless steel soap for removing onion and garlic odours from your hands (best invention ever!).  

I water down our detergent because it goes further and the sink really doesn't need to be overflowing with bubbles.  We don't have a dishwasher which was horrible at first but we are used to it now.  It is nice to look out the kitchen window to our tiny backyard and check on the tomatoes.   It is very sunny spot in the morning which we enjoy. You can see into the laundry at the back, and see our chest freezer we bought last year.  It is amazing how much fits it in it.  The orchid on the table was a recent birthday gift from a close friend."

Please don't forget to comment.  A comment is like payment for the time taken to post, and in this case in sending in the photos.  Many of us were enthusiastic about this series, so make sure all the photos get a good number of comments.  I don't want any of the people sending in photos to regret joining in.  Thank you friends.     

It's like studying for a degree all over again.  All the subjects are there, we search each other's blogs for pieces of unusual and valuable information, we collect recipes to add to our armoury of healthy meals, we teach and learn from each other, we rip out old magazine articles, have catalogues sent to us, draw maps of borders and gardens, and save conversion charts for temperatures and measurement.  So how do we organise it.  Just how do you make this mingle-mangle of torn edges, handwritten papers and professional printed material into an easy to use and tidy resource.  Enter the homemaker's almanac  I used to call this my homemaker's journal, but I realised it's more than that.  I review it each year and update with the coming year's calendar and information, so it's more an almanac than a journal.  Whatever it's called though, it's a must have.

I realised very early on my journey to a simpler life that what I wanted to know was not in any one book and that part of what I had to do was to actively search for material that would teach me what I needed to know and motivate me towards life-long learning. It didn't take long to see that cutting out bits and pieces, downloading from the internet and handwriting notes and recipes created the kind of mess I'd already left behind.

So I got myself an old binder with plastic sleeves and started loading it up with my mad collection of information.  It's not necessary for it to be fancy or new, use what you already have.  I'm still using that folder to this day and it's been a resource that's saved me time and time again.  Gone are the days when I'd write a unique and treasured recipe on a slip of paper, only to lose it.  Now they're all tucked away in their own section of my almanac. A book such as this, with recipes for all your homemade cleaners and soaps is important for everyone but especially so for parents of your children.  If you happen to have the terrible circumstance of one of your little ones swallowing something you've made, you'll have all your recipes in the one spot.  Grab your folder as you go and show the recipe to the doctor.  It's a much better option than having to waste valuable time looking for your recipe, or worse still, saying you don't remember what you put in the concoction.

In addition to your cleaning recipes and food recipes, you could also store your menu plans that are not currently being used and stuck on the fridge.  It can hold the instructions for craft projects and patterns for dresses, skirts. nightdresses and cardigans.  It can hold your lists of birthdays, important dates and school functions, your weekly or monthly planner, price lists, coupons and vouchers, your water and electricity meter readings.

If you're serious about your life change, mark it by storing all your information in one place.  Add to your almanac frequently, update it every year, compost old papers and add new ones.  That way you'll stay up to date, have your information in one place and the mere act of making an almanac and working with it, will indicate to you and others that you live a unique life.

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Thank you for your visits this week, it's been another busy one for me, and probably for most of you too.  Next week in our simple living series, we'll move outside to the garden.  Spring is moving closer for many of my northern hemisphere friends, and Hanno and I are almost ready to start building our new season garden.  The chooks have done a wonderful job for us weeding, eating insect eggs and grasshoppers and turning compost.  Soon it will be our turn to work the garden.  I'm looking froward to it, and to the cooler weather.

I'll be featuring two readers' kitchens on the weekend.  I'm not accepting new photos until I have used all those already sent in.  I'll let you know when I need a new batch, I think it will be the end of the month.  Whatever you do this weekend, I hope you enjoy it.    ♥

Today's kitchen sink is in America's south.  It is Anke's kitchen and these photos were sent around Christmas time.

One picture shows the kitchen sink after I did the lunch dishes. The sink faces the living room and right now I get to look at the Christmas tree while I do the dishes.

The other two pictures are of the kitchen. One from the dining table facing the work area. The other one from the door facing the dining table.

Please don't forget to comment.  A comment is like payment for the time taken to post, and in this case in sending in the photos.  Many of us were enthusiastic about this series, so make sure all the photos get a good number of comments.  I don't want any of the people sending in photos to regret joining in.  Thank you friends.     

Thank you all for your comments yesterday and for the links you left.  Some of them are known to me, some are not, but I'll check them out as soon as I can.  One recommendation that really should have been in my previous post was  Notes from the Frugal Trenches, a UK blog written by a young woman, that is full of excellent information. And she writes for the co-op!  Thanks Luisa.

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Sometimes there is no rhyme or reason, you just need certain things in your life.  Take pets, for instance.  If I were  living a strictly frugal life, cutting back at every opportunity, I wouldn't even consider having a pet dog or cat.  I would acknowledge the need to spend money on veterinary bills, I would know my animal would need good quality food and I would decide against getting a dog or cat.  However, I am not motivated by the need to be careful with money alone, there are other considerations.  I can't imagine my life without a dog in it.  I could live without a cat, and when Hettie dies she will not have a successor, but a dog is a different story.  When Alice dies, we will have another dog. I am certain of that. 

Buttermilk apple cake + black tea = morning tea happiness.

I believe strongly that we must all find our own happiness and part of my happiness is having a dog.  I know there is no reason to have a dog.  Our dogs are not working dogs, unless you call barking at strangers at the door working, nevertheless, they've been part of our home for many long years.  So why have a pet dog?  It's pure pleasure, they make us feel good, they give unconditional love and run around like mad bouncing clowns when we come home.  Who can resist that kind of wild joy?  Not me!

Everyday I mine my life for the pleasure it contains.  I want to live a life full of happiness, fulfilment and pure joy.  I look for it at every possibility, sometimes I find what I'm looking for, sometimes I find something deeper.  But I always look.  There is always the hope of finding treasure.

You have to do a lot of thinking when you live as we do.  You can't just coast through on automatic pilot because our lives are different to most.  We do more work so that has to be incorporated into each day in the most efficient way and you also want to feel good about it (most of the time).  Forget perfection, that only exists in the advertisements for products sitting on supermarket shelves.  Real life is flawed, but it is also beautiful and amazing.

Take knitting, for instance.  If you had never seen anyone knit, how could you imagine that a ball of wool and a couple of sticks could produce such wonderful and beautiful garments?  It's amazing.  I find joy and contentment in my knitting.  It's like a meditation - the repetition; stitch after stitch for row upon row.  Knitting makes me happy.

At the moment, when I look out my window, I see dawn's light slowly creeping into the sky.  It's not red, like it has been the past few weeks, it's grey and in front of the grey sky is a stand of pine trees that in the half light, looks like black filigree work.  I'm glad I looked up at the moment and found it lurking in my day because I know in ten minutes new light will replace it and it will look like what it is.

In the normal course of most days there will be many things that have the potential to make you happy if you look at them in a different way or with kinder eyes.  I know a lady in my own life who has no joy within her.  She sees most things in a negative way, thinks she is badly done by, always looks for, and expects, the worst in people and is generally a bit of a sadsack.  She never expects anything good to happen and consequently, it doesn't.  Her mean spirit turns people away from her and this just reinforces for her how bad life really is.  I believe that expecting goodness in each day and actively looking for and anticipating happiness makes you more aware of it and when those fleeting moments happen, you're ready and open for them to come into your life.

Don't expect blinding fireworks. I'm talking about all the small fragments of simple happiness that can be found in most days. Those big moments of happiness like the birth of a baby, a wedding, birthday parties, hearing "I love you" for the first time, or the ten thousandth, they are big things.  They're the easy ones.  But if you can look out for all those little bits that are scattered throughout the day, and collect them by acknowledging them, they will fill your basket to over flowing.  Acknowledgement is the key here - you have to notice and know what you've found.  Had I looked up this morning and seen a grey sky, big deal.  But I saw more than that, recognised I liked what I saw and thought about it for a while.  Look for the good, find the treasures - sometimes grey can turn into a rainbow.

These days are all we have.  We only live each day once.  Appreciate every day for what it is - your chance to live well.  Be mindful of your surroundings and the people you share your days with and you will, hopefully, find the sweetest kind of felicity.  Everyday happiness will be small and humble and you will need to notice it.  Taking pride in getting your work done - be that paid work or house work, knowing you did your best,  watching your children play, teaching what you know to someone who needs it, learning a new skill, baking your best  ever loaf of bread, hearing your family say: this is delicious Mum!, all these small things should be gathered up and thought about. These are not insignificant things, they are crucial. They will fill you up, they can fill your life up!  If you live mindfully, expecting to be happy, if you truly appreciate what each day holds - the good and the not so good, then you will get the full measure of every day.  And that, my friends, is quite an achievement.

I was very busy day at work yesterday with meetings every hour and came home feeling I hadn't done much.  Yet when I came home and checked the comments on yesterday's post, I was so happy to read them I forgot about work and started thinking about compiling a list of resources that a few of you asked for.  It does my heart good to read so many of you are eager to learn, just as I am.

This daily work we do in our homes has the ability to make or break you.  I have no doubt that some people would wonder why I make soap when it's on every supermarket shelf, or why I'd spend time making bread when it's already sliced and wrapped waiting to be bought.  I also know there are some, and I believe it is a growing number, who not only understand me making those things, but do the same themselves or are on the road to learning the skills.  You understand the work and the urge and need to do it!

I have never been afraid of work.  I grew up in a working class family, slid into middle class when I worked for a living, and slide right back out again when I retired.  I happily think of myself as a worker,  Hanno is one too and we raised two boys to manhood with a strong work ethic and the knowledge that it is through work, both paid and unpaid, that we define ourselves and gain what is worthwhile in this life.  This work we do in our homes is, for the most part, gentle work, but it is relentless and it is there every day.  I have written before about housework never ending and you have to get your head around that, but when you do, when you realise that the work doesn't have to be perfect or even completed every day, you learn to relax and just do what  you planned to do each day and leave the rest for another time.  One of your jobs is to organise yourself so there is minimal work stress and you feel okay with saying: "I've done enough today, I'll spend time with the children/knitting/garden/relaxing/dogs now."  

Work is as much about how you think about it as it is about doing it.  A good attitude to it will help enormously.  It's also a great help to have a routine set up that will give a certain rhythm to your day.  Such a routine always starts with core tasks - those things we need to do every day - and is peppered with other things that are relaxing and enjoyable or harder jobs that are only done once in a while.  If you haven't set up a routine yet, now is a good time to do that. I have written about that here.

So here is the list of books and blogs that I have found helpful:

The Encyclopedia of Country Living.  When I first started to live more simply, this book inspired me like no other.  It would be most helpful to homesteaders and those who are using their backyards to produce food and keep chickens or goats, but overall I found her enthusiasm for living and her knowledge quite inspiring.

The Guide to Self Sufficiency.  I was lucky enough to win this book on Steelkittens blog giveaway and am now waiting patiently for it to arrive.  I have read this book before and know it well enough to recommend it - particularly for my UK and northern European readers.

Back to Basics.  I love this book.  I still enjoy reading through it whenever I see it at the library.

Easy organic gardening and moon planting is my favourite gardening book.  You'd be wise to find a book that is specifically for your climate. Lyn also has a very good blog here.

Nourishing Traditions - this book got me back to eating meat again after many years without it.  It's full of wise information about the way we eat and many recipes.

Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.  I recently bought this book with the points I gain on my Amazon advertising.  I haven't read it through yet but the bits of it I have read convinced me of its worth.  I love good sourdough bread but I've never made a loaf that I thought would fit well into my bread recipes.  I'm hoping this book will help me find a good easy homemade sourdough that I like.

Your Money or Your Life.  A good book to get you on track with your money.

The Complete Tightwad Guide.  This is full of hints and tips about living frugally.

The Simple Living Guide.  The first book I ever read on Simple Living.

http://eyesofwonder.typepad.com/my_weblog/   Jewels doesn't blog much now but it's worth keeping her on your bloglist for when she does.  Hers is a generous and loving family, a fine example of what we are all striving for.

http://plainandjoyfulliving.blogspot.com/    I've only just started reading this blog but it's very charming.

http://blog.kingarthurflour.com/  

http://www.purlbee.com/ 
http://notesfromthefrugaltrenches.com/

The Simple Living book photographed yesterday on my shelf is this one.

I would love to find more well written blogs like soulemama, eyes of wonder and throwback at trapper creek where the family is working on the kind of work I do here.  If you know of any that you think suit that criteria , please add the link to the comments and I'll check it out.

I grew up in a completely different time.  I was born into a time when even though we were fairly modern, we still did most things in a similar way to how they'd been done for hundreds of years.  We grew a few vegetables, we made most of what we ate, we made our own clothes and knitted warm woollies to keep us warm in Winter.  We soaked our grains before eating them, drank non-homogensied milk,  spread our bread with butter and ate what today is seen as an unhealthy diet.  We made a lot of what we used at home, we even cobbled our own shoes and I have memories of my father mending our shoes on a last.  Not only do you not see lasts in homes now, I guess most people don't know what one is.  See one here.

To answer the most asked question on my blog, the upturned pots are to stop us poking our eyes out on the stick - and I love the way they look.

In those days there was no such thing as "low fat" foods.  We all ate every part of the animal and it was common for women to make brawn/headcheese using up all those trotters and bits that could not be used in another way, but could definitely not be wasted either.

I don't want to go back to those days, I found the 1950s particularly repressive, and I think those women who romanticise the 50s housewife were probably not there to experience what it was like.  However, I do use many of the skills I grew up with and find they now come in handy when running my home in a simple way.  We live now in a way that shields us from a lot of the work we commonly did back then.  We have been deskilled and dumbed down because now we buy much of what was made at home; now we hope to save time by buying convenience rather than do it ourselves.  Modern living has made us dependent.

I have no doubt that there are many readers who cannot get by without convenience foods and though they'd love to eat good home made food they have to buy convenience because they have no time for anything else.  But I also know that many buy convenience foods because it's easier or because they don't know how to make what they would like to have.

One of the things that has been at the forefront of my life since I changed the way I live is to learn everything that would help me live more simply.  I had to reskill, remember, practise, read and learn what I needed to know.  It took time and effort but it has paid off in all sorts of splendid ways.  I have rediscovered the independence and self reliance I grew up with. I feel confident that I can look after myself and others and that I am caring for all of us in the best way possible. 

I doubt learning ever stops.  I hope  it doesn't because I find it very liberating and it has given me a kind of life that is uncommon these days.  If you're new to this way of living, if you're trying to simplify, I want to encourage you to learn all you can.  Identify what it is you need to know - if you're anything like me, the list will be long, and slowly embark of your journey of discovery.  Be careful where you get your information from, the internet is full of misinformation.  I have found a few blogs that I've been inspired by over the years, and many books, just make sure your information is from a creditable source.  Once you feel sure of your source, or sources, learn something new every day.

You can learn how to make pasta sauce instead of buying it by the jar, and you can make your own pasta - you don't need a pasta machine.  There are many delicious summer drinks to make instead of relying on soda and soft drink.  Homemade bread, cakes and biscuits/cookies are all better that their store bought cousins and if you can teach yourself how to make sauces, jams, relish, gravy and dressings, not only will you be better off financially, you'll be eating far fewer preservatives, flavour enhancers and colourings.  Soap and laundry powder made with your own hands is  better on your skin than anything you can buy.  You will be wearing unique clothing if you learn dressmaking, crocheting and knitting. Learning how to grow some of your own food, harvesting water and knowing how to preserve your harvests will give you a confidence unlike any other. There are so many more things to suggest but I'm sure you understand what I'm aiming at.

We all want to live a long life and feel healthy enough to enjoy every single day of it.  I think we short change ourselves by buying low fat foods, margarine, flavour enhanced food that can sit on a shelf for days, weeks, or sometimes months before you buy it.  I hope to encourage you towards the more traditional ways of cooking and homemaking where we were taught by our mothers and grandmothers and passed that knowledge on to our daughters and sons.  You may be too old now to learn at your mother's side but there are plenty of books and a few good blogs to guide you.  I think if you make that choice, not only will you be healthier, you'll also discover contentment through self reliance.  And there is a lot to be said for a contented life.