I'm baking today. It's a pumpernickel (that doesn't look very pumpernickely). I'll be posting a photo log of that when it's done. But, I used the last of my active dry yeast for it. Now the question: Do I buy more yeast? Or do I start going au natural and making everything with homemade sourdough starter? It's a big cliff to jump off...
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Sunday, January 16, 2011
New Soap.
I started making laundry soap a while back. The first batch I made was a powdered soap. It seemed to work fine, but it was more clumpy than powdery and I worried about its dissolving abilities in the washing machine. Though I never saw any spots or clumps stuck to any clothes or left over in the basin once a cycle was done. Either way, it wasn't cost-effective. It required the use of castille soap, while an awesome soap and multi-functional, is a little pricey. This new mix equals >$.05 per load. I'd say that's pretty damned frugal.
It's recipe #7 off the list. I only made a half batch to start. It was surprisingly simple. For some reason before making it I couldn't get my head around cooking soap; it just seemed like it would be so messy. I was, of course, neglecting to remember that it's soap. When I was done I just had to rinse. I grated half a bar of soap and dissolved it in water, but didn't boil. I had another pot of water heating on the back burner that I was adding to my bin while I was dissolving. Then I added some washing soda to the water until it was dissolved and added the soap mixture and stirred it all around. When it cooled we ended up with this awesome gel-soap. I feel like my clothes are cleaner and smell a little nicer too. That fresh smell is from the bar soap addition, I'm sure. Check back in a few more years and I am willing to bet I'll be making the bar soap that goes in here too.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
New Ride.
In the spirit of The Year of Frugality I have lowered my transportation expenses! I sold my car last year and became dependent on public transportation and my bicycle. When I got a job 25 miles away in the suburbs I started relying on the Vanpool. Now I am going to start driving the Vanpool. Instead of exchanging money for a ride to work I'm going to exchange my time. I won't be able to sit in the back and knit for a half hour in the mornings or do a crossword, but I will save $65 a month. Woo-hoo!
Plus I will have a new sweet ride I can use for things like picking up lumber for new raised beds without having to find a friend with a truck.
Plus I will have a new sweet ride I can use for things like picking up lumber for new raised beds without having to find a friend with a truck.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Bold and True: Dreams
I have a dream of working part-time and maybe even being self-employed. If you read this blog, that really isn't too shocking, but it feels a little taboo to say out loud. I dream in a few years down the road I can buy land/house outright or close to it and drastically reduce my overhead costs of living. I dream that 20k a year would be more than enough to comfortably live. I dream that I could actually make a living off baking or gardening on my own or working for someone on a slightly larger scale.
I dream of a hand-built home with some small livestock and a large garden. I dream of the time spent growing, baking and creating as actually for livelihood and not for hobby. I dream of days spent working toward something for my betterment and not sitting in a windowless room. As cool as it is to be able to say 'I'm working on a movie', it's frankly not that fulfilling and I don't know that it's something that can sustain me for the next 35 years. I feel I have two paths in life, 1. to globe trot major cities of the world and be an urbanite working in entertainment (as the majority of my co-workers do), or 2. go to nature and be a crazy-earth-mother-type.
It's a very anti-21st-century thing to say and a very stereotypical Portland thing to say, which is why I try to refrain from saying it. But, it's true. There are a lot of variables that go into that dream and a lot of days left to sit inside at my computer desk, but I am focusing my goals toward that end. As time goes on that dream will bend and morph until it resembles something plausible and doable. But, this is where I'm starting and that's what this blog is all about really. It's my preparations for making a ridiculous dream a reality. Will she do it? You'll have to wait and see.
I dream of a hand-built home with some small livestock and a large garden. I dream of the time spent growing, baking and creating as actually for livelihood and not for hobby. I dream of days spent working toward something for my betterment and not sitting in a windowless room. As cool as it is to be able to say 'I'm working on a movie', it's frankly not that fulfilling and I don't know that it's something that can sustain me for the next 35 years. I feel I have two paths in life, 1. to globe trot major cities of the world and be an urbanite working in entertainment (as the majority of my co-workers do), or 2. go to nature and be a crazy-earth-mother-type.
It's a very anti-21st-century thing to say and a very stereotypical Portland thing to say, which is why I try to refrain from saying it. But, it's true. There are a lot of variables that go into that dream and a lot of days left to sit inside at my computer desk, but I am focusing my goals toward that end. As time goes on that dream will bend and morph until it resembles something plausible and doable. But, this is where I'm starting and that's what this blog is all about really. It's my preparations for making a ridiculous dream a reality. Will she do it? You'll have to wait and see.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Spring Planning.
I'm planning the Spring garden. Last year I kept each crop separated with it's own plot and I didn't get into companion planting all that much. I dabbled when I planted onions in-between rows of spinach and lettuce last year, but that was about it and that was mostly due to space constrictions. I'm feeling a little more confident in my abilities this year and I'm taking a slightly more fluid approach. Instead of creating boxes of 3' x 2' for each vegetable I'm creating zones of happily co-habitable veggies. The precise layout of those plantings will be established as I go.
I made a list of all the veggies I want to plant for the spring:
I have four zones laid out so far.
Lettuce, carrots, radish and cauliflower will take over in the end of the far bed. There are some garlic and shallots overwintering there, so smaller lettuces will get planted in-between those.
At the other end of that bed I'll put in broccoli and onions. Although when it comes down to it I will probably intersperse the cauliflower and broccoli.
In the center bed I've got kale, celery, onion and arugula.
And over on the other side of the apple tree are two proposed new beds. I'm thinking they will be slightly smaller than the existing beds and I'll claim one for Spring with spinach, leek, chard and cabbage.
The couple stragglers from the list are peas and potatoes. The peas will go in the same place as last year, along the side fence, but I am planning on a lot more vines! I'd like to get a couple other varieties and get peas growing along the entire length of the fence.
The potatoes I am going to try growing in a stack. You start at ground level and as the potatoes start to grow you pile on more dirt and increase your stack height. When the potatoes peek through that level you add a little and so on. Until at harvest time you have four feet of vertical potato rewards. You can make the stack out of old tires or, the method I'm thinking, with a few posts some chicken wire and burlap. Does anyone know if that will work too?
That's the plan so far. I think adding two smaller raised beds is doable this year as my priority is really to put a low fence around the front yard. In doing this I will add usable landscaping/gardening space around the perimeter of the yard where I can do some more fruiting shrubs, sunflowers, corn and ornamentals.
I made a list of all the veggies I want to plant for the spring:
- Onions
- Potatoes
- Lettuce
- Radish
- Kale
- Spinach
- Leek
- Broccoli
- Cauliflower
- Celery
- Carrot
- Peas
- Chard
- Cabbage
I have four zones laid out so far.
Lettuce, carrots, radish and cauliflower will take over in the end of the far bed. There are some garlic and shallots overwintering there, so smaller lettuces will get planted in-between those.
At the other end of that bed I'll put in broccoli and onions. Although when it comes down to it I will probably intersperse the cauliflower and broccoli.
In the center bed I've got kale, celery, onion and arugula.
And over on the other side of the apple tree are two proposed new beds. I'm thinking they will be slightly smaller than the existing beds and I'll claim one for Spring with spinach, leek, chard and cabbage.
The couple stragglers from the list are peas and potatoes. The peas will go in the same place as last year, along the side fence, but I am planning on a lot more vines! I'd like to get a couple other varieties and get peas growing along the entire length of the fence.
The potatoes I am going to try growing in a stack. You start at ground level and as the potatoes start to grow you pile on more dirt and increase your stack height. When the potatoes peek through that level you add a little and so on. Until at harvest time you have four feet of vertical potato rewards. You can make the stack out of old tires or, the method I'm thinking, with a few posts some chicken wire and burlap. Does anyone know if that will work too?
That's the plan so far. I think adding two smaller raised beds is doable this year as my priority is really to put a low fence around the front yard. In doing this I will add usable landscaping/gardening space around the perimeter of the yard where I can do some more fruiting shrubs, sunflowers, corn and ornamentals.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Bold and True: Frugality
Over at One Little Window the suggestion to be Bold and True once a week in blog form was suggested. I've taken up the challenge and here's my first bought of honesty. I tend to write about what I'm doing and less about what I'm thinking. I don't like to thrust my opinions on others and prefer to silently just be who I am and let that speak for itself. But here is a little rant on something that I have become passionate about over the last year.
I've seen a lot of bloggers lately naming their year. "The Year of the Bee" for beekeeping goals, "The Year of Mud" for cob building goals, etc. This got me thinking, what is this year to me? Last year, surely, was "The Year of the Garden". This year I think is "The Year of Frugality". I managed last year to live within my means despite buying a house on one salary only to be laid off four months later and having to make due on unemployment. Now I need to live below my means.
Unemployment is a funny purgatory of money. There is the hope and expectation that you will make again what you were making and you are merely in a valley of belt-tightening. It's not until you get to the other side do you realize that valley never ends. Thanks, Recession, for the lack of industry-standard paying jobs. So, I'm now on a permanent wage equivalent to unemployment. No longer can I say, well, when I go back to work I can take that vacation; we'll just have to live with this home repair undone until I go back to work. I am back at work and it hasn't helped the monetary situation one bit. So, what's a girl to do? Require less. If I can't make more, then I need to need less.
I have become hyper-aware of money over the past year and have come to realize how much stuff I simply don't need. Getting rid of the car was a big weight lifted and I felt a sense of freedom. It was a sense of freedom not only from the financial obligation of owning an automobile, but it was a sense of freedom to realize that I don't need an automobile. I am fortunate to live in a place where that is an option. There is a good public transit system and a relatively dense population. The city does it's best to encourage neighborhood growth and ensure there are parks, grocers, pharmacies, retail and restaurants within walking distance of everyone. I could have lived in a suburb and paid the same for a larger house, but I would have required a car there. That was a trade-off I wasn't willing to make.
My house is small. It's under 1000 square feet, in fact, it's only 750. I got the greatest joy last summer at my family reunion telling my relatives how big my house was. There was always a pause and you could see the wheels turning as they tried to comprehend how small that was and why on earth someone would live someplace so tiny. Don't you need a living room and a family room? A dining room and a breakfast nook? A guest room and a study? A two-car garage? The answer is, no, I don't. I need shelter and out of the shelter I make it a home. I've been thinking a lot about how much I really do need out of a house. Could I live in a tiny house? Could I live in a cob house? What about a small cabin? How much do I really need? When I drive through fancy neighborhoods in the hills and I look at those stately homes I don't marvel so much at their beauty anymore, but rather I am shocked beyond words that someone would think that they need that much of a house. I am saddened that this is the cornerstone that our society is built around. Everyone is encouraged to strive for excess and I don't think it's healthy for the people or the society involved. I could ramble on about Wall Street and bankers and greenhouse gasses, but you can turn on cable news for that.
These are all questions of the larger frugality. I have my head around those. I yearn for less. What I don't have my head around is everyday frugality. I got home late from work, sure let's go grab dinner out. Our friend is in the neighborhood, sure let's go grab a beer. I didn't have time to make a lunch, sure I'll go out to lunch. Grocery shopping is hard to be frugal about. I have gotten to the point where my grocery lists are only a handful of items long and that will provide me with enough to make four or five good meals. I always eat well though, even when sometimes I shouldn't. It's not to say I don't have the money; I've just gone over budget on groceries, but I have to eat, right? So, I go to the store and get more food when I should go through the pantry and be creative. This is something I will work on this year. The same thing with going out. I have a budget, but I rarely stick to it.
Frugality is an adventure in creativity and one of the major hurdles to being frugal is laziness. They say time is money, which is true. If you don't want to spend the money you have to put in the time. You can't have both. I bought a cardboard cat scratcher at the pet store for $10 and I am beating myself up for it. It was on impulse. I knew it wasn't worth $10. The $10 was worth the time it would take me to make one at home out of an old box and some tape. I bought it in that split-second decision because I didn't have faith in myself that I would spend the time to make one. I gave in to my laziness. I don't want to do that; it makes me feel bad. I want to be active and pro-active about doing things for myself and spending more time and less money.
This is why this is "The Year of Frugality". It's the year when I will get my head around being practically frugal. I will learn to live with less everyday. I will learn to live below my means. In the process I think I will find more joy within myself. I will learn to do things I never thought I could do and I will do things I never thought of doing. Living without constant gratification only makes those treats sweeter and brings a new view on the smaller beauties in life. It fosters spiritual growth and hopefully a little monetary growth in the process.
I've seen a lot of bloggers lately naming their year. "The Year of the Bee" for beekeeping goals, "The Year of Mud" for cob building goals, etc. This got me thinking, what is this year to me? Last year, surely, was "The Year of the Garden". This year I think is "The Year of Frugality". I managed last year to live within my means despite buying a house on one salary only to be laid off four months later and having to make due on unemployment. Now I need to live below my means.
Unemployment is a funny purgatory of money. There is the hope and expectation that you will make again what you were making and you are merely in a valley of belt-tightening. It's not until you get to the other side do you realize that valley never ends. Thanks, Recession, for the lack of industry-standard paying jobs. So, I'm now on a permanent wage equivalent to unemployment. No longer can I say, well, when I go back to work I can take that vacation; we'll just have to live with this home repair undone until I go back to work. I am back at work and it hasn't helped the monetary situation one bit. So, what's a girl to do? Require less. If I can't make more, then I need to need less.
I have become hyper-aware of money over the past year and have come to realize how much stuff I simply don't need. Getting rid of the car was a big weight lifted and I felt a sense of freedom. It was a sense of freedom not only from the financial obligation of owning an automobile, but it was a sense of freedom to realize that I don't need an automobile. I am fortunate to live in a place where that is an option. There is a good public transit system and a relatively dense population. The city does it's best to encourage neighborhood growth and ensure there are parks, grocers, pharmacies, retail and restaurants within walking distance of everyone. I could have lived in a suburb and paid the same for a larger house, but I would have required a car there. That was a trade-off I wasn't willing to make.
My house is small. It's under 1000 square feet, in fact, it's only 750. I got the greatest joy last summer at my family reunion telling my relatives how big my house was. There was always a pause and you could see the wheels turning as they tried to comprehend how small that was and why on earth someone would live someplace so tiny. Don't you need a living room and a family room? A dining room and a breakfast nook? A guest room and a study? A two-car garage? The answer is, no, I don't. I need shelter and out of the shelter I make it a home. I've been thinking a lot about how much I really do need out of a house. Could I live in a tiny house? Could I live in a cob house? What about a small cabin? How much do I really need? When I drive through fancy neighborhoods in the hills and I look at those stately homes I don't marvel so much at their beauty anymore, but rather I am shocked beyond words that someone would think that they need that much of a house. I am saddened that this is the cornerstone that our society is built around. Everyone is encouraged to strive for excess and I don't think it's healthy for the people or the society involved. I could ramble on about Wall Street and bankers and greenhouse gasses, but you can turn on cable news for that.
These are all questions of the larger frugality. I have my head around those. I yearn for less. What I don't have my head around is everyday frugality. I got home late from work, sure let's go grab dinner out. Our friend is in the neighborhood, sure let's go grab a beer. I didn't have time to make a lunch, sure I'll go out to lunch. Grocery shopping is hard to be frugal about. I have gotten to the point where my grocery lists are only a handful of items long and that will provide me with enough to make four or five good meals. I always eat well though, even when sometimes I shouldn't. It's not to say I don't have the money; I've just gone over budget on groceries, but I have to eat, right? So, I go to the store and get more food when I should go through the pantry and be creative. This is something I will work on this year. The same thing with going out. I have a budget, but I rarely stick to it.
Frugality is an adventure in creativity and one of the major hurdles to being frugal is laziness. They say time is money, which is true. If you don't want to spend the money you have to put in the time. You can't have both. I bought a cardboard cat scratcher at the pet store for $10 and I am beating myself up for it. It was on impulse. I knew it wasn't worth $10. The $10 was worth the time it would take me to make one at home out of an old box and some tape. I bought it in that split-second decision because I didn't have faith in myself that I would spend the time to make one. I gave in to my laziness. I don't want to do that; it makes me feel bad. I want to be active and pro-active about doing things for myself and spending more time and less money.
This is why this is "The Year of Frugality". It's the year when I will get my head around being practically frugal. I will learn to live with less everyday. I will learn to live below my means. In the process I think I will find more joy within myself. I will learn to do things I never thought I could do and I will do things I never thought of doing. Living without constant gratification only makes those treats sweeter and brings a new view on the smaller beauties in life. It fosters spiritual growth and hopefully a little monetary growth in the process.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
What the What?!
We have a block of ice sitting on our patio from the frozen water in the dog dish outside. This block of ice has been sitting for days and has not melted a millimeter. It's cold out there, folks! We've been below freezing for almost a week now.
And I am in shock.
I just looked at my calender and by the end of this month - I'm supposed to start my onion and leek seeds inside!! What happened? Wasn't it just Christmas? Am I in a time-travel film? Why have I not started planning for the spring garden?
I guess I better get started...
And I am in shock.
I just looked at my calender and by the end of this month - I'm supposed to start my onion and leek seeds inside!! What happened? Wasn't it just Christmas? Am I in a time-travel film? Why have I not started planning for the spring garden?
I guess I better get started...
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