Can you tell I’m obsessed?

August 20, 2008 at 12:17 am · Filed under Self sufficiency, gardening, outdoors

My huge pile of gardening books, mostly from my awesome public library. Many of them are about organic gardening, permaculture, ecological gardening and gardening in small spaces. I’m getting really excited about designing my garden! I have very limited space, and not much sun, which one could see as a limitation but I’m choosing to see it as a creative opportunity. I imagine my little, previously barren concrete urban lot bursting with colour and life, like an urban oasis. Not just for me, but for the birds, bees and other creatures.

At first when I started getting down to wanting to design a garden, I thought, “How can I grow as many edible vegetables and plants as possible in this small, shady spot so I can harvest tons of food?” Now that I am learning about permaculture, I am thinking of it less in terms of what can I get from it but what can I give back to the earth and the wildlife? How can I create a diverse little ecosystem, and restore this little patch of earth in the middle of the city? Now I am getting more excited about that aspect, and less concerned about yielding tons of edibles for my personal use. After all, I’m not the only creature who will be living and working in this garden. And I am not the only creature who has taken up residence here… in a huge sense I am an intruder here, and so more than ever, I want to coexist more peacefully with the rightful owners of this land, and restore their habitat a little bit. It’s the least I can do, right?

I’m learning lots about gardening in small spaces and in the shade, too. At first I thought, “this is a bummer! Nothing will grow here, because of this huge stupid maple tree!” But I am astonished at all the things that will grow here! There really isn’t any shortage of things I can grow. And because of permaculture, I am no longer pissed off at all the huge trees surrounding us on all sides, and instead am seeing it as a benefit that I can use to my advantage. Observe and interact, right? One of the twelve design principles of permaculture… designing solutions to fit your situation. And the best part? It also applies to life in general ;)

Comments

Making T’ej

August 19, 2008 at 1:07 am · Filed under Self sufficiency, food, simple living

So I’ve fermented my own yogurt, sourdough breads, sauerkraut and other vegetable ferments, and now I’ve decided to venture into the world of home brewing. I was a little intimidated at first, but then I thought, “Why not? The only thing stopping you is your own fear!” But then I decided to conquer that fear, and take back my DIY power from the hands of the corporations! I’m trying more and more to just go for it and not let doubt or fear make anything seem impossible. I feel that doubt and fear has been instilled in us by our society to make us dependent. And of course, there’s no room for that on the road to self-sufficiency!

I’m starting with a very simple drink called T’ej, which is an Ethiopian alcoholic beverage made from fermented honey. It’s a very small batch, because I’ve never tried it before, and naturally don’t know if I will even like it. But I looove my raw honey, so I don’t see why not! If this goes well, I would like to try brewing my own wine and hard cider. But I’d also like to try brewing some more unusual things I’ve never tried before, like blueberry, strawberry or banana wine. Oooh yum! I’m using recipes from the awesome book “wild fermentation”, by Sandor Katz, who I’m going to meet next month!

I’ll keep you posted on the process.

Comments

Top Searches

August 17, 2008 at 2:44 pm · Filed under Uncategorized

WordPress shows me which internet searches lead people to my blog. They can be quite amusing! Here are the top searches from the last few weeks:

-Divacup skydiving
-Chicken broth made for cats
-Edible lawn weeds
-Whatever happened to the milk man?
-Plastic free laundry
-I don’t want live like my father
-Living on a landfill all my life
-Youtube kohlrabi video
-Bokashi and apartment dweller

:) Sums it up pretty well, no?

Comments

Books!

August 14, 2008 at 3:53 pm · Filed under reading

Some books I have recently read, or am currently reading, that I wanted to share with you all:

A Slice of Organic Life, by Sheherazade Goldsmith: Such an awesome, inspiring book! It features small snippets of sustainable ideas, separated by your living situation. Whether you live in the tiniest apartment, have access to a balcony, patio or tiny yard, or a larger community garden, yard or field, there is something in this book for you. They are simple ideas ranging from growing salad greens in a window box, baking your own bread, foraging wild greens and fungi, preserving fruit, collecting rainwater, planting an apple tree, making compost in a small space or keeping chickens, honeybees or pigs! I love this book for quick bits of inspiration (and daydreaming in the case of keeping chickens)…

Our Babies, Ourselves: How Biology and Culture Shape the Way We Parent, by Meredith Small: Awesome, completely life changing book! Even if you don’t have children, it will challenge your ideas about human nature. This is one of my top choices for giving to expectant and new parents, as long as I feel they are willing to get into some history and anthropology. It tells about how different cultures’ child rearing techniques from hunter gatherers to industrialized nations, then evaluates them from a biological perspective. Fascinating! It really sparked a huge interest in anthropology and ethnopediatrics in me, which led me to the following….

Nisa: The Life and Words of a !Kung Woman, by Marjorie Shostack: One of the books I am currently reading, and am completely engrossed in. It is an anthropologists account of the lives of the hunter gatherer groups of Botswana called the !Kung San, and translated stories from one San woman in particular. This is a fascinating read, and if you are at all interested in anthroplogy, pre-industrial societies, human evolution, psychology or feminist issues, you should get your hands on this book!

Gaia’s Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture, by Toby Hemenway: Wonderful, wonderful book! I’m just starting to learn about permaculture and ecological gardening, and this book is just what I wanted to get me introduced to the concepts and principles in a useable way. It talks about how to make your garden into it’s own ecosystem, both to make gardening less work, produce higher yields and give back to the earth. If you’re into gardening and want to make yours more in tune with nature, please check this book out… it will completely change the way you look at gardening and the earth.

Comments

The Colours of the Harvest

August 14, 2008 at 12:23 am · Filed under food

I am so loving all the colours showing up in our CSA box these past few weeks… the abundance of greens from early summer have given way to reds, yellows, purples, pinks and blues… yes, blues. Tonight’s dinner featured blue potatoes with deviled eggs and a salad of fresh greens, cucumbers, tomatoes, onion and grated raw beets that gave everything a pretty pink hue. Quite a colourful dinner!

We also have a kitchen stocked with SIX melons, pears, peaches, plums, blackberries and blueberries, beans, zucchini, potatoes, spinach, lettuce, beets, peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers … yes, the harvest is plentiful and I plan to take full advantage while it lasts! And I’m putting plenty away for winter, too. Everything mentioned above has been stored away in one shape or form, along with tons of strawberries, cherries, apricots, raspberries, carrots, kale and cabbage. I am really starting to appreciate how much work self sufficiency must be… more than a full time job I’m sure! Even though I’ve done plenty, I feel like I could be doing more. Hopefully year by year I will become more skilled at this type of thing. For now, I’m trying to really appreciate the hard work of others, which brings this colourful food to my table.

Comments (2)

Home made broth… try it!

August 10, 2008 at 4:26 pm · Filed under food, simple living

Home made chicken broth… nothing better than warm soup made from scratch on a cold rainy day. And nothing you can buy from the store comes even close to comparing. When we do eat meat, usually we pick chicken. I used to buy the boneless skinless chicken breasts from the store, but about two months ago I switched over to buying whole chickens, and making use out of every bit of it I could. I realized that most of us omnivores in the west are so disconnected from the fact that the meat on our plates came from an animal- it’s cut up, washed down, de-boned, de-skinned and packaged nicely to remove any resemblance of where it came from. There’s a certain animalistic side of myself that I connect to when gnawing meat off a bone.

Not to mention, the whole aspect of producing no waste. Using up every bit you have. Instead of a chicken breast sustaining us for one night, we get several meals from one bird… roast chicken, sandwiches or tostados from the leftover meat, broth from the bones and some scraps for the cats. The broth is especially healthful and so easy to make. It’s chock full of minerals often lacking in our diets. On the night we eat roast chicken, I strip it of leftover meat which I save, put the carcass in a pot, cover it in water and add a bit of vinegar to draw the minerals out of the bones. I bring it to a broil, then reduce to low and let it simmer overnight. When we wake up in the morning, the house smells like wonderful home cooked soup. I always scoop a little out, straight from the pot, and drink a cup. Such a nice way to start the day. I then strain it in a sieve and put it in the fridge until later, when I use it for soup. And the next day I might use some to broil rice in. There are really so many uses for it.

Try it! It’s really not that hard, it’s super healthy and will save you money and save waste.

Comments

Surviving and thriving.

August 8, 2008 at 3:06 pm · Filed under Life Learning, food, green living, outdoors, simple living

Last night I went to a presentation on “surviving and thriving when oil prices rise” through permaculture. I had such an awesome time and learned so much! I left feeling so inspired and excited about permaculture and sustainable living. We watched videos of permaculture designers all over the world, discussed the principles of permaculture and how to apply them in urban settings. I was intrigued by the 12 principles- not just for application in the garden but in life, such as “produce no waste”, “catch and store energy”, “value diversity” and “use small and slow solutions”.

One of the things I was very inspired by was a video we watched about how Cuba survived peak oil. I am so totally into learning everything about Cuba right now. After watching that, I thought, “we can do this, we can totally do this!” If they can come together and make it work in such a short amount of time, surely we can do the same. Here’s a little clip I found on youtube that I wanted to share with you:

I so totally dig all the creativity I’ve been seeing. Like the apartment dweller setting up elaborate hanging hardens by their windows, the rooftop container gardener who uses dumpster dived pots as planters, or the cuban who grows grape vines on their fire escape from which she makes and sells wine. So awesome, so creative. And that’s what we really need here, that same creative energy. And that’s what I encountered last night- an amazing group of creative people who are passionate about sustainable living.

Sometimes I get pessimistic about our ability to take on this huge challenge, when I see people drenching their lawns in pesticides, driving their hummers to the corner store for milk or running their air cons to the hilt. But whenever I go to a gathering like this I am refreshed and inspired and I regain my sense of hope. There are SO many people out there with amazing, creative solutions and such a strong drive for change. We just need to reach a tipping point.

Apparently, permaculture is practiced in 133 countries worldwide and brings in more food than all the food aid COMBINED. This is powerful stuff here… they are even using it in deserts where they previously thought this sort of thing was impossible. Check this out:

I’m so excited, I signed up for a two day hands on permaculture workshop on a local farm later this month. I also signed up for a local fruit tree project, to pick fruit from urban trees that would otherwise go to waste and distribute them to home owners and food banks. And one last exciting thing: Sandor Katz, the author of wild fermentation, is coming to my city and doing a fermentation workshop next month! Totally signed up for that, too! There is so much going on in my city right now, my head will surely explode soon.

Comments

Broken keyboard

August 5, 2008 at 12:04 pm · Filed under Uncategorized

Sorry for the lack of posts- Maaike pummeled my keyboard and so obviously I havent been able to type. And I haven’t been able to sneak a moment on Erik’s computer until now, only because it’s 7:30 in the morning and he’s still asleep. I had to wake up early this morning to volunteer. This morning is my first shift at the crisis pregnancy center where I will be manning the place entirely by myself, after months of training. Nervous! It always seems to be that a hard case walks through the door when I’m in charge.

I have been getting super stoked planning a garden for next year. I dont know why I never really got into it before, but now I’m really getting into it. I think my interest has sparked from composting- sort of a backwards way to go about it, but it’s really got me interested in the earth in a new way. I’ve been reading lots about organic gardening, as well as square foot gardening and shade gardening. You see, we have limited space and even more limited sunny space (aka, none!) There’s a huge maple tree in our backyard that shades everything, which on one hand is great because it keeps our house nice and cool, but on the other hand limits our gardening choices.

I’ve been really inspired by some bloggers and youtube video makers who are being creative with the space they have, making it work for them. One of my favourites is Patty Moreno, the garden girl (you can find her on youtube under gardengirltv). Oh how I would love to be able to keep sheep and chickens in the city! So cool! And she spins fiber from her own animals to knit with, not to mention is awesome with a power tool… just the sort of woman I want to be! And I’m working towards it… I’m aspiring to construct a raised bed garden this month, to increase our space for gardening next summer. I’m researching all the types of crops that do well in the shade, like broccoli, cauliflower, beans, radishes, lettuce, kale and kohlrabi.

I’ve also been super inspired by many of the people out there who are gardening with limited space, and using their minds and imaginations to really make it work for them. Like apartment dwellers who have their balconies filled to the brim with their own produce, and boxes of growing goodies hanging at their windows. It’s amazing the creativity that is blooming in some people in response to the climate crisis. It’s really inspired me to rise to this challenge of putting the space that we do have to its best use, and squeezing out every bit of potential. A huge part of me loves the challenge of not having it all, and finding creative solutions. Sure, our neighbours yard might be three times as big with lots more sun, but if we lived there it would be just way too easy, wouldn’t it? Hahaha.

Some of my ideas include growing some veggies in the front lawn (can we say, uber crunchy?) and also on a little patch of our roof that is accessible through a window, because it gets full sun. Living roof!

Comments

Wild ginger, wild women.

July 26, 2008 at 2:57 am · Filed under Life Learning, outdoors, parenting

What was supposed to be a clean, dry and leisurely walk along the nature trail this afternoon, quickly turned into a muddy, off the path adventure when Maaike insisted on exploring the origins of a stream. We’re inclined as adults to avoid the mud and mess, but there’s something terribly therapeutic about immersing yourself in the earth, and feeling the mud gush between your toes. And children, in this respect, make excellent teachers.

As she led me off the path, at first I was trying to keep myself (and my shoes!) dry, but in no time at all we were wading barefoot together in the clay and mud. Surrounded by nature, frogs leaping about and fish darting between my feet, I let go and let myself get messy. I embraced the mud, and got dirty with my daughter. I allowed myself to forgot about how nasty our shower would be after cleaning up, and to fully appreciate our surroundings in that moment, and the look on my daughter’s face as a giant toad darted across her path.

We picked wild ginger, (which I could identify from my wild edible plant hike last month), washed it in fresh stream water and tasted it fresh from the ground. Yum! Nothing tastes more “alive” than a fresh root dug from the earth with your bare hands. I took some (but not too much) back home with me to transplant in our garden. I was quite proud of myself for being able to identify and forage on my own without poisoning myself… it’s something I really hope to learn more about and become more skilled at. It makes me feel more connected to nature, being able to identify something edible or medicinal that grows in the wild without tending by man.

I really feel it is essential to our health and happiness as human beings to spend time in nature. I struggle, though, with finding the time and motivation to make it a habit despite knowing it’s benefits. I would like to make it a goal to get out into nature at least once per week, but I also struggle with guilt at getting to that nature- I have to drive to get there, which seems a bit contradictory. For now, I’ll cherish the times when we do find ourselves away from the noise and bustle of the city… whether that be at a farm picking our own food, or in a forest exploring the origins of a stream.

Comments (2)

This used to be garbage!

July 21, 2008 at 7:32 pm · Filed under green living, outdoors

compost

… How cool is THAT?!?

Comments (2)

« Previous entries