Doing the Sustainability in the Chaos

With a large contract to work on, blogging has taken a back seat over the past few weeks. It’s also been school holidays, and the entire family came down with the cold and spew bugs in the same week. Messy.

What is interesting is how all the little sustainability projects I’ve been experimenting with have helped me get through the busy times.

The apple cider vinegar drinks helped clear our noses.

The seeds on the mantelpiece and in the cold frame have been germinating well, left to their own devices and squirts of water – giving me a little thrill to look at every time I walked past them on the porch.

Aloe vera masks with a drop of lavender oil helped my stressed skin.

My hand scrub (plus I used it on my feet) was a lovely pamper treat tonight at the end of a very crazy (but successful) work week.

It took no time at all the clean the bath and microwave, and do a quick dusting session with my sustainable solutions. These were chores I had very little time to do.

Homemade greek yoghurt with a teaspoon of homemade lemon curd stirred through has become my fast, easy and deliciously tangy breakfast.

These busy times are when I thought I’d drop the ball on being a Sustainable Wench, but I’m happy to realise that I’ve set some positive habits for myself.  Didn’t stop me from spending the money and treating ourselves to fish and chips tonight however.

Seeds go Postal

A bit of a thrill today when seeds arrived via courier. The reasons I ordered them online were:

• I was getting cross at the lack of herbs my local garden shop supplied (they’re great with veges and flowers though). Three times I went there looking for German Chamomile, with no luck for seeds or seedlings.
• Getting things in the mail that aren’t bills is exciting.
• It’s inexpensive.

It’s good to know there is no excuse for not planting your favourite herbs. It’s also a lovely winter thing to do so you can get some of the spring planting planned.

The Green Grocer

Shopping Day. Not the supermarket chore it used to be. Now it involves buying up bulk at the peaceful bulk food shop, then popping next door to the family-owned green grocer. The great thing about the green grocer, is that I know their eggs come from happy chickens near Mt Somers in Canterbury. They also give away big bags of fruit and vege scraps – ideal for chickens or to boost your compost. You get to chat about the state of the nation and the weather for free too.

Winter Cuttings

I took some cuttings tonight from Teucrium which I snaffled from a friends garden. This is such an easy way to get free plants. It’s the kind of thing I do without planning – you don’t need to know where you’ll put the plants when they’re big, otherwise you’ll never get round to doing it. The more you try, the more likely you are to have success. Plus it only takes 10 minutes. Teucrium is a really easy one to practise on in your kitchen. I also use this technique with great success on hydrangeas, lavenders, rosemary and lonicera.

• Put some propagation mix in a container (I use seed-raising mix because I am lazy), and dampen.
• Cut just below a nodule. This is the bit that goes into the soil. Depending on how long your original stem is, you may be able to get more than one cutting from each stem. My cuttings vary from 5-10cm in length.
• Cut the soft wobbly top of the stem, and gently pull off the lower leaves.
• With the secateurs, make a little wound at the base of the cutting. Dip this bit in rooting hormone or manuka honey and stick into the soil.
• Put in a spot where the temperature is constant and mild. Keep the soil moist, or they die, which happens to me quite a bit.
• Check out Yates for more cuttings info.

Reducing the Cleaning Bottles – Carpet Splotches

I spot cleaned my lounge carpet this morning. Squished raisins and bits of jam had taken their toll. For my own peace and sanity, we are not a family where the children eat at the dining table for every meal. Occasionally* they are not perfect, and spillage occurs.

To clean the mucky bits, I used:

• A little water poured onto the spot.
• A lemon duster to gently rub the spot.
• Extra white vinegar from the spray bottle for the tricky spots.
• A towel to soak up any excess moisture after cleaning.
• Coffee to (carefully) drink afterwards while nodding appreciatively at the clear carpet.

It worked extremely well – although the proof will be in a couple of weeks, whether the mucky patches come back (this happens if you don’t clean the carpet right through the fibres to the base). There will be future stains like red wine and chicken poo that may not come out so easily. Always interesting to have new challenges.

‘Carpet Spot Cleaner’ is now another cleaner I don’t have to fork out for. Gradually I’m reducing my cleaning cupboard supplies. I hope to just end up with lemon dusters, baking soda, vinegar and bleach. It’s remarkable how much money we spend on cleaning products which are unnecessary.

*quite often

Seedy

More seed planting tonight while the oven heated up for lazy bread. The reasons for this were:

• So I don’t have to splash out a small fortune on seedlings in the spring
• To supplement my (so far very lazy) chickens’ feed
• To provide me with something to trade with over the coming months (esp. for lemons)

I chucked seed raising mix into 3 punnets and planted more basil, silverbeet, and bok choy. These three punnets get the sunny spot on the lounge windowsill. The seedlings that were there go in the cold frame outside, and one of the punnets from the cold frame is now hardening up under the eaves. Bit like musical chairs. One is always left out in the cold.

It helps that all this is done within an eight metre radius. Not too much walking required. Then the bread went into the oven. Whammo. Sustainability Wench-ness achieved, thus cancelling out the takeaways we had for dinner (no actual scientific evidence in this theory).

Quick Pamper Hand Soak

Following on from the Brown Sugar Pamper Hand Scrub, I made a hand soak tonight. It’s not just about looking after my hands. It’s also about taking the time to make something purely for myself, and spend 10 minutes sitting down doing nothing much. You can make it in an ad break, or soak while reading a page of the newspaper (would have to be the same page though so that it doesn’t get all soggy when you turn the it).

In a bowl, mix:

• Lots of warm water
• Some drops of lavender oil
• Gel from a leaf of aloe vera
• Half a cup or so of rolled oats (good to whizz lots up finely in a food processor and keep them in a jar for this purpose)
• A few tablespoons of oil. I used canola oil, but I think it would be better (and more therapeutic) with a more cosmetic-used oil such as olive, almond, or rosehip.

Soak hands or feet for 10 minutes. Think about nothing much during this time. Follow up with a favourite hand cream.

Brown Sugar Pamper Hand Scrub

I made a quick and easy sugar scrub for my poor chapped hands tonight. Winter doesn’t do skin any favours. This is something you can do in an ad break, while the coffee is brewing, or as the wine chills. The reasons for making it are:

• cheap
• fast
• you know what’s in it
• no stupid packaging
• makes great pressies for friends

In a bowl, put:

• about 1.5 cups of brown sugar
• 1/3 cup of olive or canola oil (or whatever cooking oil you’ve got available)
• juice and grated zest of one lemon
• a few drops of essential oil. I like peppermint oil for this, but you could use whatever is in your cupboard. If you don’t have any oil, it’s no big deal.

Mix it all up and put it in a jar. You can see that the quantities are pretty informal. When you use it on your hands, take the time to massage your skin with it. It feels amazing. I then rinse and wash it off with my homemade soap.

The Art Studio Made from Recyclia

I visited my sister today, who is in the final stages of furnishing her new art studio. She and her husband have built it using mostly recycled bits and pieces from around town and what they could find in their community (but not stealing). The kind of things they’ve recycled are:

• Rimu flooring
• Windows
• Door
• Corrugated iron cladding
• Furniture
• Plywood

Loads of the gorgeous little bits and pieces inside are also second-hand. Hard to pick a favourite thing, but I think for me it’s the steampunk light switches. No dreary Mall Trawl involved to furnish this beauty. I am thankful my sister is also a Sustainable Wench.

  

Winter Pasta Sauce

The bottom shelf of the pantry is looking a bit empty of preserves. We’ve exhausted our supplies of homegrown tomato sauce and relish. Sadly, the midwinter garden vege supply is not very forthcoming. My solution is to make a massive batch of pasta sauce from tinned tomatoes. I’ve done this before in the summer, but below is my winter recipe.

• Buy the biggest tin of chopped tomatoes you can find, or use a whole bunch of tins (6-7 if you only have regular size tins)
• Saute 6-7 roughly chopped onions until clear, in a dollop of whatever oil you have
• Add fridge remnants like half a dozen anchovies, some preserved peppers, capers, spinach, broccoli etc
• Add a good couple of tablespoons of sugar and salt to taste, and a few bunches of herbs (I used parsley, rosemary and thyme today)
• Simmer the whole lot for half an hour or so
• Whizz up with a stick blender if you have one (bit tidier than transferring it into a food processor), then pour into hot sterilised jars and seal

You can see my ingredients list and measurements are pretty relaxed. The sauce is good with pasta, in casseroles, with rice and veges and all sorts of bits and pieces.