Taking a break
Wednesday, May 27, 2009

too much going on in life right now, taking a break from this blog. Probably be gone throughout June as I am having an extended creative break :) Back in July... maybe

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Menu Monday
Monday, May 18, 2009

As usual I started off well, documenting what I ate, then slacked off towards the end of the week. I need to get back into a daily routine of updating, keeping notes and taking pics.

WEEKLY MENU
Saturday

  • Breakfast: Cereal; Homegrown Orange;
  • Lunch: Pasta, vegetables, veggieballs, cheese
  • Dinner: Omlette, chips, peas

Sunday
  • Breakfast: Cereal; Homegrown Orange;
  • Lunch: Gobi Aloo, naan
  • Dinner: Out



Monday
  • Breakfast: Cereal; Homegrown Orange;
  • Lunch:
  • Dinner: Potatoes, homegrown salad, tofu scramble

Tuesday
  • Breakfast: Cereal; Homegrown Orange;
  • Lunch: Shahi Paneer, samosa, naan
  • Dinner: Potatoes, homegrown salad, cheese

Wednesday
  • Breakfast: Cereal; Homegrown Orange;
  • Lunch: Pasta
  • Dinner:

Thursday
  • Breakfast: Cereal; Homegrown Orange;
  • Lunch:
  • Dinner:

Friday
  • Breakfast: Cereal; Homegrown Orange;
  • Lunch:
  • Dinner:

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Food Waste
Sunday, May 17, 2009

Big news on the food waste front this week, we're now worm ranchers :) This week I got my worms and started vermicomposting, so ALL food scraps now will be recycling via the worms into lovely compost, yay! Here is a pic of our 33 gallon worm bin.

And of course, the occupants arrived in perfect health, wiggling away and with lots of little wormy babies :)


Food waste w/c 9th May

No food waste! yippee!

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vegetarian week
Saturday, May 16, 2009


Thought I'd mention today that the coming week is National Vegetarian week! So why not go veggie for the week? Being vegetarian already I'm doing my bit by spreading the word, getting the news out there, and generally encouraging people to eat less meat. Pop by the NVW website for more details!

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Cutting the grocery budget
Friday, May 15, 2009


The total budget for May was $371.55 and last week I spent $73.51 leaving $298.04 for the remainder of May for grocery shopping.
  • Trader Joes = $50.09
  • Produce Market = $12.50
  • eggs x 3 @ 33c = 99c
  • Total = $63.58
  • CR = $235.45
Total grocery budget for May = $371.55 ; spent = $137.09 ; CR = $234.46

This week was a tough week as I bought beer and laundry detergent, big ticket items on any trip! I got some produce from the market and some of that may last longer if I get busy and get cooking :) All in all doing well so far this month! I am still almost getting worried about being over budget each week but then realize that this is the new program and that I am doing ok with it! Plus I am underbudget still for the month!

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Garden update
Thursday, May 14, 2009

Planted lots of seeds this week, so hopefully lots of action happening in the garden soon. Weather is acting up and we've had some weird non seasonal chills, almost 100 degree days, and some normal weather. The asparagus I planted is coming up, can't wait for a couple of years when that is ready for harvesting :)


Squirrels are causing trouble in the garden this month. Damn things have eaten plants, run off with carrots and basically causing a ruckus. I think dalmatian patrol needs to be happening!


Full garden updates on www.worldofyardcraft.com/blog

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Independence Challenge
Tuesday, May 12, 2009

1. Plant something - spring onion, radish, chard

2. Harvest something - chard, spring onions & carrots

3. Preserve something - nothing, damn squirrels are eating all the carrots!

4. Reduce waste - Still doing well on this but had a lot of cardboard boxes recently that are taking some time to dispose of in the recycle bin.

5. Preparation and Storage - Planned on going shopping last week to thrift stores but never got round to it, maybe this week :)

6. Build Community Food Systems -

7. Eat the Food - Doing well on this! I think the squirrels eating my homegrown veggies is urging me to get out more, get harvesting and get eating! I've eaten chard, onions and carrots and peas but I need to get the beets and turnips out and eaten :)

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Menu Monday
Monday, May 11, 2009


WEEKLY MENU
Saturday

  • Breakfast: Cereal; Homegrown Orange;
  • Lunch: Makhini Paneer
  • Dinner: OUT - souplantation

Sunday
  • Breakfast: Cereal; Homegrown Orange;
  • Lunch: Tofu Masala, Rice
  • Dinner: Samosa, Pakora, Raita



Monday
  • Breakfast: Cereal; Homegrown Orange;
  • Lunch: Tofu Masala, Rice
  • Dinner: Nuggets, baked potato, homegrown salad, raita

Tuesday
  • Breakfast: Cereal; Homegrown Orange;
  • Lunch: Shahi Paneer, samosa, naan
  • Dinner: burger, bun, mushrooms, cheese

Wednesday
  • Breakfast: Cereal; Homegrown Orange;
  • Lunch: Gobi Aloo, naan, samosa
  • Dinner:Tofu scramble, salad

Thursday
  • Breakfast: Cereal; Homegrown Orange;
  • Lunch:
  • Dinner: Tofu scramble, cous cous, salad

Friday
  • Breakfast: Cereal; Homegrown Orange;
  • Lunch: Shahi paneer, naan, samosa
  • Dinner: Out

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Food Waste
Sunday, May 10, 2009

w/c 2nd May

  • small wedge of cheddar cheese - furry!
Pretty good week really! Yay!

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Cutting the grocery budget - May Edition
Friday, May 8, 2009


I mentioned in last months final grocery budget post that I would be doing things differently for May and here is a recap.The daily budget from the USDA figures is: $11.98 x 31 days = $371.55 monthly budget for May. So ALL grocery shopping for May has to come from that budget. Obviously we're still not working on a correct pattern as Bob is still working late and eating meals at work so it's all still a little sketchy as to how accurate things are, but we're trying.
  • Trader Joes = $73.51
  • Total = $73.51
  • CR = $298.04
Total grocery budget for May = $371.55 ; spent = $73.51 ; CR = $298.04

I was actually quite surprised at how expensive this weeks grocery bill was but then I bought some prepackaged products and toiletry supplies so I guess they all add up! Definitely still using stuff we have in the house too though! Shouldn't beat myself up too much we are still under budget for the week :)

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Book Review: Edible Estates
Thursday, May 7, 2009

Attack on the front lawn by Fritz Haeg

I devoured this book in one sitting totally engrossed in the prospect of converting my own front garden into an edible oasis. For a while now I'd been interested in putting edibles in the front garden so I did some research on a few books and this one came highly recommended.


Some good titbits from the book:
  • Lawns cover 30 million acres of the US (Virginia Scott Jenkins)
  • Homeowners use up to 10 times more chemical pesticides per acre on their lawns than farmers use on crops (Fish & Wildlife service news release 2006)
  • The lawns in the united states consume around 270 billion gallons of water per week enough to water 81 million acres of organic vegetables all summer long. An average size lawn of 1/3 of an acre could, while maintaining a small area for recreation, produce enough vegetables to feed a family of 6 (Heather C. Flores - food not lawns)
I will say that I wouldn't buy the book, I loaned it from the library. Why wouldn't I buy it? Well lots of the information about the gardens is available online on Fritz Haeg's website. It did however give me lots of inspiration to convert my garden and I am glad I read it. I'd have liked some more indepth information into the HOW's of converting the garden, maybe with garden plans rather than just a planting list for each. In all though a super book that will get you motivated to get out and garden!

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Garden Harvest April
Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Harvest figures for April are as follows:



  • 4oz Chard @ $3.99 lb = 99c

  • 5oz Orange (Valencia) @ 59c lb = $2.95

  • 4lb 6oz Peas @ $4 lb = $17.50

  • 1oz Spring Onion @ 99c lb = 6c

  • 1oz Tomato @ $2.99 lb = 18c

  • 2lb 2oz Turnip @ 79c lb = $1.68


Total Harvest for April = 11lb 14oz

And some harvest pics:

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Photobucket

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Independence Challenge Yr 2 update
Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Sharon the creator of the Independence Challenge has revamped for the second year, I only joined in the last few months but I am going with the flow and changing things to start on year 2 with the other participants. I hope to post WEEKLY in future!

1. Plant something - I got tomato plants in the raised beds, but other than that not much

2. Harvest something - goes hand in hand with point 1. I harvested some chard, oranges, and spring onions. Having harvested chard and onions for salads, I see that I want MORE for summer... lots more! Better get on point 1!

3. Preserve something - This was on area I wasn't very good at last time. I never had a lot of produce to preserve, but it's an area I want to expand on in future.

4. Reduce waste - Food waste is getting a LOT better after a little lapse for a couple of weeks. Back on track with meal planning etc. This section also refers to money and energy so my utility challenges should count in this too!

5. Preparation and Storage - This is the category where you report the stuff you’ve done to get ready that isn’t growing/storing/preserving food. That means the food you buy for storage, the things you build, scavenge, rescue and repair that get you further down the path. I bought a few extra tins of peas last week from the market. I'd like to get the trellis made for the 2 remaining raised beds, so that's a goal for this week!

6. Build Community Food Systems - This one is about the community, encouraging others to grow their own food and rallying around. Now my garden is a project but I am happy to report that I have given away seeds to Chris and Matt who were looking to start their own veggie gardens! I think also I'll start growing more things! No waste, but any extra plants can be given away to friends or on freecycle!

7. Eat the Food - I was happy to see this on on the list. In my opinion it's about harvesting the food you grew and eating it. Sounds easy right? In practice it's not so easy! This is the section for new recipes. We haven't made anything new lately but an area I want to pursue!

Posted byDi Hickman at 12:05 PM 0 comments Links to this post  

Menu Monday
Monday, May 4, 2009






WEEKLY MENU
Saturday

  • Breakfast: Cereal; Homegrown Orange;
  • Lunch: Curry leftovers from Friday
  • Dinner: Out - Souplantation

Sunday
  • Breakfast: Cereal; Homegrown Orange;
  • Lunch: Spaghetti, 'meat'balls, homegrown peas
  • Dinner: Out Indian Hawelli



Monday
  • Breakfast: Cereal; Homegrown Orange;
  • Lunch: Pasta, 'meat'balls, homegrown peas, cheese
  • Dinner: Chips, nuggets, beans.

Tuesday
  • Breakfast: Cereal; Homegrown Orange;
  • Lunch: Shahi paneer, rice, samosa, garlic naan
  • Dinner: Burger, bun, cheese, mushrooms

Wednesday
  • Breakfast: Cereal; Homegrown Orange;
  • Lunch: homegrown salad, potatoes, feta
  • Dinner: Tofu Masala, rice, samosa

Thursday
  • Breakfast: Cereal; Homegrown Orange;
  • Lunch: Potato, salad, feta
  • Dinner: Tofu Masala, rice, samosa

Friday
  • Breakfast: Cereal; Homegrown Orange;
  • Lunch:Pasta, tofurkey sausage, salad
  • Dinner: Gobi Aloo, rice

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Food Waste
Sunday, May 3, 2009

No food waste this week! Yippeee!!!!!

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Garden update
Saturday, May 2, 2009

Bi-monthly garden update! April saw the native bright orange poppy appearing all over the back garden! These have been sooooo colorful in the garden. I have a ton of seed saved from last year but they DEFINITELY self seeded A LOT all over the garden!!!


Peas lost the trellis vs wind wars. Lots of things learned from this seasons gardening, namely good trellis is worth it's weight in gold! The ladder was initially holding up the trellis the peas were on, but the wind moved it into the next bed!!!



And some harvest pics to finish: Turnips and Peas!



Remember you can get daily updates and info on our garden at: www. worldofyardcraft.com

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Challenge - Electric Usage
Friday, May 1, 2009


As I mentioned in a previous post we're trying to cut back on our utility usage and having spent a month looking at the natural gas we use it's time to look at our biggest utility expense - electricity! Now let me preface this months challenge by saying outright that we are pretty big electricity users. I work from home part time and have a home office, Bob has a home office, we have a home gym, a couple of computers, lots of electronic equipment and pretty much technology is our friend. So this should be an interesting month!

As with the Natural Gas last month I thought I'd start by looking at our previous usage of Electricity and see how we are doing already. The Electricity is rated on a tiered system, the more you use the higher the tier, and the higher the price. I guess it is fair, but the baseline is pretty low, we are almost always in tier 3. One Summer a few years back we were MUCH higher, with A/C running constantly our MONTHLY bill came in at around $350 once! That was a shocker, and eye opener and when we began to cut back on the a/c and use the timed thermostat settings. Looking at the last few months of statements I collated all the usage data and thought I'd show our last bill.


Even just looking at a few months of statements I can see that our overall usage is down year on year. I love how the statement is laid out, I can see at a glance that we're using less kWh per day than 2008, and 2009. It's also interesting to see their bar chart and the fluctuation over the seasons.

In future posts I'll be looking at changes we've made recently, and changes I hope to make in the upcoming weeks to reduce our energy usage!

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