U is for Utility- #AtoZChallenge

I'll admit that for some reason, coming up with a topic for today was a bit difficult. I was quite literally reading the U section in the dictionary, looking for any possible ideas, when my spouse made a suggestion. He even said that it could work with the overall theme of Living and Learning. At first I thought it wouldn't quite fit, but after I slept on it, I started seeing how it could work.

So thank you, my love, for giving me this idea: for "U" (see what I did there?), today is about Utility.

Utility has several meanings of course, but in this case, I am going with "the state or quality of being useful; usefulness; something useful; a useful thing." 

I find many things useful: sharp knives, small non-electric appliances, books. I, myself, strive to be useful, by learning new skills when I can. What about things that have a spiritual or emotional context? I find them useful too- they are useful to the soul, to let you feel mentally good, which is part of feeling physically good (good morale and all).

I will never be one of those people who sells all their belongings to live a minimalist lifestyle- in fact, living in sterility and perpetual neatness would probably kill me! I can't imagine living life without the things that say "I have lived a life! I do live here! I am still living here!" We have actually received compliments from friends about how comfortable and lived in our house is!

People can argue for the minimalist look because "junk and clutter makes you frustrated and anxious," or any number of other reasons, some more wish-washy than the rest. "Less is more", and all that. While I agree that proper clutter can be overwhelming if it gets out of hand, the "having material belongings" bit is not the reason most people have anxiety issues. So instead of telling yourself "I have too much stuff- I should get rid of it", try shifting your perspective a bit, and focus on whether your belongings are useful to you.

Since I moved here, I have found myself looking for things that have a properly useful function. I both wanted and needed a utility knife, for butchering chickens and skinning wallabies, so I bought one- this was very satisfying, both for the work I needed to do, and for myself, and my joy in a good sharp knife. I don't have many small electric appliances due to limited kitchen space but, because I enjoy old timey objects and don't mind using a little elbow grease, I went ahead and purchased the hand cranked egg beater, the wall mounted potato chipper, and even a proper box grater, instead of buying an expensive food processor.

What about books? They create a lot of clutter, surely! Well, maybe. I do have a few paperback novels that I could do without, and I've even sent a few to the second hand bookshop recently. However, the majority of my books cover two very useful functions for me- they either teach me something, or they make me happy, thus fulfilling their function as a "utility" in my life.

Objects that are considered useful will vary from person to person- so long as they serve a useful function for your home and your state of well being. If you've read this and still want to get rid of everything, that's your choice. I'm just here to tell you that you don't have to live like a monk to feel fulfilled and happy.


Less isn't always more.


See you tomorrow.

T is for Tallow- #AtoZChallenge

Hello folks! Today's featured letter is T! As in "T is for Tallow".

In a previous older post I described at length the types of animal fat that can be used for cooking and soap making, so I won't bore you over much with repeat details (if you do want a refresher course on animal fats, you can read that blog here:  Living High On the Hog: Rendering And Using Lard).

Today I'll be focusing on the rendering of animal fat, specifically beef tallow. About mid-march, I was able to procure from a friend about 9.5 kilograms of fresh beef suet (fat). Their mobile butcher was happy to mince it up for me with his nifty mincing machine, and that saved me a load of hard, time consuming work.

It was a hot day when I got around to rendering the fat, and muggy to boot- there was no way I was rendering in the house! So I set my work station up outside on the gas grill instead. It only takes a simple modification to convert it from grill to gas stove; with the handy addition of a spare oven rack to provide a study, stable surface, my large 6.8 liter cast iron stew pot fit perfectly into the space I designed for it.

Each batch was roughly 3+ kilos of suet, with about 1 cup of water added to keep it from sticking and burning. Then I simply covered with the lid, and left it to cook until the pot was filled with liquid fat in a full rolling boil. I pulled the lid off, and stirred it now and then so I could make sure it had boiled off any remaining water, and ladled the fat from the big pot, through a strainer, into a smaller pot.

Now, when you render any animal fat, there's a certain amount of leftover tissue which needs dealing with. It's still pretty fatty, and has a sort of mince-like texture until you cook it further. You can use it in its mince-like state and add it to meatballs or meat loaf, add it to dog or cat food, feed it to the chickens, whatever pleases you. Mine is destined for dog treat biscuits. Or, you can cook the bits leftover until they are browned and crunchy, and those, my friend, are cracklings! They can be used as a crunchy topping on casseroles, or wherever you'd like something tasty and crunchy. It's great for those low carbers trying to satisfy their munchies.

 
After I strained the liquid fat, I poured it into molds (in this case, bread loaf baking tins) and let it solidify at room temperature before moving the tins to the fridge to set hard. It was just a matter of un-molding the tallow then, wrapping and weighing the blocks to determine how much I got out of this deal. I got over 5.6 kilos of pure tallow which is excellent, considering I started with 9.5 kilos of suet! 

I look forward to using it in my handmade soaps!

Are you enjoying these blogs? Let me know what you think in the comments! Until next time, I'll be seeing "U" again! (Ugh, yes, I'm sorry. I have to stop making punny jokes.)

S is for Small Spaces- #AtoZChallenge

As I've said before in previous blogs: I specialize in intensive, small space gardening.... mostly because I don't have a choice in the matter. My garden has about 30 square meters of usable space. Most of the space is either concrete path (which can't be blocked) or covered in brick paving stones. The rest was made up of long, narrow flower beds, which had shrubbery growing in them, or was too shaded (because of said shrubbery) to be much use as a garden bed.









I still managed to make space though. I took out shrubs and unwanted plants, moved gravel and wood chip mulch. I built on top of the narrow beds, and I built on top of the pavers themselves. My photos will show you how I arranged things to maximize on space.

Many of the beds were constructed after I moved into this house, using recycled materials, mostly in the form of concrete bricks. Some were built from purchased timbers, others were plastic planters that I bought. Two are recycled wooden crates, and I've even got several Styrofoam produce boxes for containers as well.

I also try to grow things vertically- outside the lounge window, I have a line of containers with a home made trellis providing support to scarlet runner beans.
 
 













As of this morning, a line of containers wait to be seeded with greens for the winter. They are dark colored, to absorb the sunlight and trap the heat in the soil. They are actually sitting out on the edge of the driveway, in front of our fence. Some will live in front of the fence, and others will be moved to the front porch.

Here, two beds at the back of the house lie fallow, filled with layers of soil, manure and sprouting wheat straw. They were built directly on the flower bed that lined that fence. They will offer a very promising space to grow things next year.

I'll see you tomorrow on my next blog. Live and learn!

 

R is for Rug- #AtoZChallenge

Today, R is for Rug! Because everybody associates the letter R with rugs, right? Right? 

Okay, so it may just be me on that point.  

Nevertheless, one of my recently favorite hobbies is working with old fabric, particularly fabrics that are considered too far gone to be used for any other projects. Things like old tee shirts with holes in them, worn out denims, jumpers and track pants, things that wear thin or lose their elasticity after a while, or are just done to death and are basically unwearable- which is like half of my husband's old work clothes...

Instead of letting our old clothes end up in the landfill (especially the ones that you know even the City Mission won't take) I cut them into long continuous strips, and crochet them into rugs. Simple! I use a 9 or 10mm crochet hook- those work best because the material is bulky and hard to crochet with smaller hooks. When I need to attach another strip, I knot the ends of the strips together (I know I should probably sew them together, but I'm lazy and it's much faster to just make a granny knot!)

As a result, I get a nice, multicolored rug out of our old clothes! The plus side is it offers a little cushion to our hard kitchen floor (which is just lino over concrete), and keeps the floor from feeling so cold.


 
I keep two in the kitchen- a round one that lives in front of the stove, and an oblong one that lives in front of the kitchen sink. I have a spare, which I think I may add to until it is pretty big- it's quite thick, so I think it would make a decent "picnic blanket"- that is, I can lay it out in the garden in the summer time, in the shade, and enjoy myself, without being directly on the hard ground.

A friend recently gave me several more balls of t-shirt yarn, and it's quite fine, so I look forward to making smaller items- perhaps hot pads or something similar. You know, because if I'm not knitting hot pads out of yarn, I'm using old t-shirts instead!

Until tomorrow, folks! 

Q is for Quilting- #AtoZChallenge

I've already listed many of my hobbies in previous postings, but I thought I'd show you a little more detail of one I'm especially proud of: Quilting (which is just as well- I'm not sure I could have come up with another "Q" word that would suit!)

I am not a super skilled at sewing- for a long time I was intimidated by the thought of using a sewing machine, so I hand stitched everything... and by everything I mean sewing projects and clothing repairs alike, including the two quilting projects I'm going to show you.

This is the completed top of what it going to be a fairly lightweight quilt for the bed. The edges are uneven in this photo- I actually measured and trimmed the black border down to a more manageable width.

It's about as simple as you can get: a large block pattern, with some of the blocks made up of nine smaller blocks. I tried to match the tones of the greens to the tons of pinks, and to make it all pop, I added white, ivory pattern blocks and put a black border round it all.

I started this project back in... 2012? It has literally taken almost five years to get this far- admittedly, a lot of that time was spent sitting in a box in the second bedroom while I did other things, but still- this is a long term project. Now that I have an actual sewing machine though (which I'm NOT intimidated by!) I look forward to finally finishing this project this year.

This is another little quilting project I did- it's a mini patch work quilt! I made it for a friend's dolls- it's based on the same simple block pattern as the first one is, it's just that these blocks are much smaller. Because it was only meant for "use" by dolls, it has no filling, and is simply backed with black polar fleece.

Most of the fabric I work with is bought brand new from crafting stores, but a lot of it was either given to me, or it's recycled. Both of these projects are completely hand pieced and stitched.

I am working on a new quilt to make a wall hanging, using a new technique called applique. I'm making one with a chicken theme, and I'll most definitely post about it when it's further along. I have further plans for a stained glass dragon quilt, and possibly even a crazy quilt, made from leftover scraps. Waste not want not, and all!

Anyway, I'll see you all for tomorrow's post, which is also a crafty subject: Rag Rugs. Keep on living and learning!

P is for Permaculture- #AtoZChallenge

Today, P is for Permaculture, a subject I've been interested in and learning about for the last two years. Thankfully, I have many friends who are also interested in it, and one is even a certified permaculture designer- she has been a big help in my learning process. As you all know, I don't have huge tracts of land to convert to swales and mounds so that I can maximize water resources, and no where to plant a big, proper food forest. However, I have been working towards adapting as many of the permaculture principles to my tiny urban garden as I can, and those are what I wish to share with you today.

What is permaculture?

Google is always your friend when it comes to simple definitions: 

Permaculture is a system of agricultural and social design principles centered around simulating or directly utilizing the patterns and features observed in natural ecosystems.

When the word permaculture was first coined, it was originally meant to mean permanent agriculture, but grew to also mean permanent culture, as it was recognized that a social community element was required for a properly sustainable system. It includes areas such as ecological design and engineering, environmental design and construction, water resources management, as well as agriculture systems based off natures own design, that are regenerative and self-maintaining. Permaculture requires thought and observation rather than thoughtless labor, and it looks at all the functions of plants and animals (and humans) to create an interconnected system, rather than focusing on single aspects of production.

Permaculture has three core tenets:

• Care for the earth: Provision for all life systems to continue and multiply. This is the first principle, because without a healthy earth, humans cannot flourish.
• Care for the people: Provision for people to access those resources necessary for their existence.
• Return of surplus: Reinvesting surpluses back into the system to provide for the first two ethics. This includes returning waste back into the system to recycle into usefulness. The third ethic is sometimes referred to as Fair Share to reflect that each of us should take no more than what we need before we reinvest the surplus.

It also has 12 design principles:

1. Observe and interact: By taking time to engage with nature we can design solutions that suit our particular situation.
2. Catch and store energy: By developing systems that collect resources at peak abundance, we can use them in times of need.
3. Obtain a yield: Ensure that you are getting truly useful rewards as part of the work that you are doing.
4. Apply self-regulation and accept feedback: We need to discourage inappropriate activity to ensure that systems can continue to function well.
5. Use and value renewable resources and services: Make the best use of nature's abundance to reduce our consumptive behavior and dependence on non-renewable resources.
6. Produce no waste: By valuing and making use of all the resources that are available to us, nothing goes to waste.
7. Design from patterns to details: By stepping back, we can observe patterns in nature and society. These can form the backbone of our designs, with the details filled in as we go.
8. Integrate rather than segregate: By putting the right things in the right place, relationships develop between those things and they work together to support each other.
9. Use small and slow solutions: Small and slow systems are easier to maintain than big ones, making better use of local resources and producing more sustainable outcomes.
10. Use and value diversity: Diversity reduces vulnerability to a variety of threats and takes advantage of the unique nature of the environment in which it resides.
11. Use edges and value the marginal: The interface between things is where the most interesting events take place. These are often the most valuable, diverse and productive elements in the system.
12. Creatively use and respond to change: We can have a positive impact on inevitable change by carefully observing, and then intervening at the right time.

 Application of Permaculture in an Urban Environment

That's where I come in. Obviously, as mentioned in the intro, I don't have a lot of space to work with, so I have had to modify the original concept around permaculture to work for my situation- in this case, a small urban garden. This didn't come together all at once either- I've been here over five years now, and I'm learning as I go, but I'll walk you through what I've done so far.

I spent the first couple of years observing my garden (1. Observe and Interact). It's recommended that, whenever you move into a new house, you should wait at least a year to see what is growing there already. In my case, it was daffodils, wild roses, and several other flowering shrubs. There was little in the way of other growth. I noted also that we have a good placement for our home, facing the sun in its daily course, all year round. This means that we get passive solar heating in the winter (we don't have any heating for the house otherwise)- it also means that summer is very hot with the sun beating down on the big windows. Another plus is that the sun on the front of the house all day turns the brick wall into a radiator for plants overnight. I also noted that the soil was quite poor, and that a lot of the potential growing space was trapped under pavers.

I purchased and installed a rain tank. (2. Catch and store energy.) This is an on going project. Currently, my tank is refilled from my in-law's neighboring tank (it's usually full). I have hopes of hooking our tank up to the carport, buying another tank to increase storage capacity, and collecting the rainwater from that surface. I also want to install one for the house, but that will be trickier to figure out. So for now, I have a 400L tank that I use to water the garden when it's dry.

In 2011, we built our first raised bed to grow some tomatoes and peppers. (3. Obtain a yield.) In the following years, I've added more beds, amended others as needed to improve the soil (an ongoing process), and grown and harvested more food. The excess harvest is either given away or sold to members of the community to "share the wealth" (which harks back to the 2nd tenet, Care for the people.)

Most recently, I've started learning about zero waste, and reducing the amount of trash that gets put back into the environment. (6. Produce no waste.) While I haven't reached the point where I'm completely zero waste, I do try to make use of what I can to see that it isn't wasted. Kitchen scraps and most paper products get put into the compost; building materials leftover from other projects are put to use for the garden; recyclable goods that have a use around the house are utilized.

Baby Steps

Much of my garden planning is spontaneous according to what materials and resources I have to work with at the time, but underlying it all is a very basic sketch of a design. My piecemeal approach to permaculture might be unconventional, however- it also allows for the enormous amount of learning that I have to undergo in order to make it happen in the first place. More importantly, it allows me to share my experiences with others in the hope that I can educate them as I educate myself. 

Like many things in life, permaculture can't be rushed- it requires time and thought. Thankfully, both of those are things I have in plenty.

O is for Organic- #AtoZChallenge

What do you think when you hear the word "organic"? Piles of gleaming fresh fruit and veg, free from pesticide sprays and other toxic junk? Meat with a sticker claiming clean and humane origins? Food that's actually healthy to eat, with plenty of nutrients? Well, I'm afraid I may have to burst your bubble about it- today, O is for Organic... and why it's not all it's cracked up to be.

So what's the deal? Organic food is supposed to be good for us, right? Ideally, yes. Done right, organic food is supposed to eliminate the use of toxic sprays that drench our food and soak into the soil, damaging and killing the soil life and food chain in general. It is supposed to see that our produce isn't coated with waxes or preservatives, and that our meat isn't laden antibiotics and growth hormones. Poultry is free range, cows and sheep are grass fed, etc. Judged by those standards, there are lots of farmers who fall into the category of "organic".

Unfortunately, many of those worthy farmers won't be able to become "certified organic". When the USDA first started granting farmers with organic certification in 2003, the annual fees totaled about $200. By 2013, fees had gone up 350%- that's $900 annually just in forms. Any sustainable farmer knows that diversification is key to a good organic system, but for each organic product separate forms have to be filled out, and as a result the farmers are flooded with paperwork.

Cost isn't just an issue for the farmers- because they have to pay those fees, as well as cope with the smaller crop yield, the time spent with weed and pest control that falls within the organic method, the greater chance of crop spoilage, etc, those costs are passed on to the consumer, which means we are buying organic produce for exorbitant costs. That's not all either- the Department of Agriculture is pretty shady when it comes to what qualifies as organic.

Did you know that the chicken you can buy is considered organic if the birds are fed organic grain and are cage-free... but that they can be confined to a building, and the USDA doesn’t say how long they have to be outside? In fact, not only can organic produce be grown be imported from other countries (adding all those fossil fuel miles) but it can also be treated with a number of synthetic substances, including a type of copper sulfate product used for fungal infections, which is known to be highly toxic to humans, fish and insects. Yum- serve me some of that!

Boiled down to the bones, it looks an awful lot like Department of Agriculture is trying to create loop holes for big agribusiness. This isn't improved when you consider that the USDA and it's associated boards and committees in charge of regulating the organic standards are left wide open to political and corporate manipulation through their members. Follow the money, as they say.

Personally, I feel that organic certification is a waste of time and money for our already beleaguered farmers, and a waste of money for us as consumers. It doesn't seem fair to me that the farmers, the ones spending all that money and time to provide us with better food, are getting hit with these ridiculous fees and stacks of papers. Doesn't it make more sense to leave them alone, and instead charge those using conventional farming methods all the fees for using the stuff that they do?

The more I study the organic food issue, the more I'm pushed towards wanting to grow my own food- at least then I know that it's truly organic and local. I can then control what goes onto my garden, what I'm feeding my chickens, where my eggs come from, etc. Anything I don't grow myself, I try to source from local providers.

If you can't grow your own food, the least you can do is research, research, research. Check out your local farmers and see what they provide for fresh produce, meat and dairy. If you are game to grow your own, maybe try to get your neighbors in on it- lots of people growing different things and trading/bartering means that you are encouraging community support and sustainability through local food production. It cuts down on toxins your food, and cuts down on gas miles too- no gas is burned if you can walk to your neighbors for tomatoes or melons!

I hope this post helped to make you aware of the issues associated with being certified "organic", and i hope I've encouraged you to investigated your local food resources. I'll see you tomorrow with another blog