Local & Packaging

The fun of eating a diet of mainly locally grown foods is quite and adventure. There are up's and down's. The down's are the ones that challenge you to turn them into an up.

The up's are;

- As food has not had to travel very far, or be stored for very long it required very little packaging. In fact when buying fruit and veg from the farm or farm shop there us pretty much no packaging. This saves a massive amount of space in the bin - be it landfill or recycling. Often the thin paper bags are used and they can go straight in the compost.
-As food is in season it tastes good and is very reasonable priced. This generally means you can stick to the principles of local, organic, and good for the grower and yet still afford to eat.

The down's are;
-The variety is limited at any one time. It is not a case of saying I want to make this particular dish so therefore I will need this that and the other. It is far more a case of seeing what is available and then having to create something from that. To turn this into an up you have to be prepared to play 'Ready Steady Cook' on most days. Sometimes it gets repetitive, and goodness it would have been prior to the internet. But now you can type in the ingredients and find a wealth of possibilities using what you had previously thought was a strange combination of foods.
-You work with what you have and not necessarily what you want.

Don't put off to tomorrow....

.....what can be done today 

On Thursday and Friday we made a note to come a long with a box on our normal evening walk. The reason - the blackberries were looking perfect. 

On Saturday we forgot. 

On Sunday I went out for a walk with the box - no blackberries - they had already been picked by others or birds. 

Rats!

Reusable Toilet Paper

The first reaction just has to be - oh no - coupled with thoughts of poo!

Funny really though. We are using reusable and washable wipes for Elijah and rarely use anything else with him unless we are caught short.

I think it is going to take some getting used to this one...

Not started on this exercise yet as we are still researching. All the more difficult as one of our things we are now living by is not buying new.....

Our Adventure & Challenge beginning 1st May

Ok so we have now managed to whittle down our list of what, or rather how, we are going to live. At the moment it is an exercise but my hope is that much of it will become a way of life.......

Overall Ethos
1) To be environmentally sensible.
2) If a product does not meet our principles then we either go with out or find another product.
3) Not to compromise on our principles because of price.
4) Who benefits from me buying this item. Preference and emphasis should be given to the individual and smaller producer rather than to shareholders and massive companies - ie local farm shop vs supermarket

Food Location Priority
1) The county in which we are staying.
2) The country in which we are staying.
3) Beyond if essential. 
4) Forage and grow where possible.
(For the most part that will mean our emphasis is Kent but when we are away on holiday etc then it will change to where we are at the time.)

Food Quality
1) Growing, rearing, farming and production methods that benefit and respect the local community and environment. If not labelled as 'fair trade' or similar, then based on fair trade and ethical principles.
2) If not labelled as 'organic' then based on organic principles.

Household Cleaning
1) Homemade where possible
2) If not 1 then products that are respectful to the environment both in their production, packaging and waste control.

Hygeine & Personal Care
1) Products which contain little to no petrochemicals where possible. 
2) Products that have been made to the same standard as point 1 of 'food quality' and point 2 of 'household cleaning.'

Safety
1) Purchase new if no used product can be found. Used products would need to be from a trusted source.

Household & Clothing
1) Used, recycled or upcycled where possible
2) If not 1 then products that are to the same standard as point 1 of 'food quality' and point 2 of 'household cleaning.'

Challenges from 1st May

OK so it seems like we are making progress towards a healthier diet but it does feel like turning a tanker round - it takes a while. I guess we are so used to having anything and everything available to us right now that when we have to spend a bit longer discovering, searching, researching etc. it just feels longer.

There are 4 challenges that we may be embarking on shortly and they are as follows;

1. From the 1st May we will only buy, purchase or acquire items that are second hand, recycled or have otherwise been used. We will, however, be making a couple of exceptions which are (i) items of safety for Elijah (our almost 6 month old) will not be second hand unless they are from someone we know extremely well. (ii) Intimate items of clothing like pants & bras. (iii) Necessary items of personal hygiene and medical such as toothbrushes, contacts lenses etc.
2. From the 1st May we will only purchase items to eat and consume that have been grown and produced in Kent (the county we live in,) and, where possible, will favour and prioritise items the closer they have been grown and produced to home.
3. From the 1st May we will try and eat 1 item a day that we have either grown ourselves, or foraged within walking distance from home.
4. From the 1st May we will try and cook 1 meal a week that has been cooked on materials that we have either thrown away or legally foraged locally.

This list has yet to be finalised and refined and we will update this blog once we have the definitive list and the time frame for each challenge.

Moneyless Man

Several years ago I read 'Born To Run.'

Ever since if have worn nothing but 'barefoot' shoes. It challenged me and I accepted the challenge.

I am now reading, or rather listening to 'The Moneyless Man' and I can feel the same thing happening as when I read 'Born To Run.'

I am being challenged to look at the conventions and accepted principles of normal western style living and ask 'is this really right' and 'is this really right for me/us?' I say 'me/us' because any decision or action of this sort will not just affect me but, more importantly, us. 

I have long asked my self questions like - 'is this really what life is about?' That question applies to job, activities, home, possessions, faith etc etc

My dream would be the following;

A mainly self sufficient, predominantly off grid home using local materials and labour while being still connected to a system of communication that allows contact with family and friends far and wide. I would like to take the same principles of barefoot shoes which is to be aware and connected to the ground you walk on and apply that to life. I would like to know and have an instinct as to how to survive without having to rely I someone else providing for me. I would like to live and work with my surroundings rather than plunder and abuse it. I would like a simple way of life that challenges the convention where it needs to be challenged and embraces ingenuity where it should be embraced. 

Not a a lot to ask is it.......!?!

Earning vs Providing

I have a choice.......and therefore a decision has to be made.......

Providing for my family is my responsibility. That is not debatable. That is my duty, and it is a duty that I am very comfortable with. 

So the question is not 'do I provide' but rather 'how do I provide.'

Either way the end result is the same - my family is warm, dry, clean, fed, and clothed. As I see it - those are the basic necessities for life. On top of that one could add educated, inspired, stimulated and maybe even entertained. 

So, as already said, the question is 'how.'

I see that I have 2 options, and neither is exclusive, but rather it's the balance that is important. 

I can earn money, goods, time or services by doing work for others. The most conventional of these is money. You do a job for someone. They pay you. You pay your taxes and the remainder is yours to use how you see fit. 

The other option is to provide. By that I think I mean collect, forage, make, grow, and find - much like how nature goes out it's day to day business. 

The advantage we appear to have over some of nature is that we can communicate and cooperate. This allows us to swap, collaborate, strategise etc etc

So we here along the way though, we have been so conditioned into accepting that there is only one way and that any deviation from that norm is a bit weird. It means you are probably a hippy, freeloader, squatter etc etc

As u said at the beginning if this. I am not interested in shirking responsibilities. Far from it. I want to be responsible and dependable. I just want to do it in a way that I can be proud of. 

How one quite does that is the untrodden path that I appear to be on.........and my concern is that if I am on this path then that means there is a high chance I will be leading my family on that path as well. 

Got to ask yourself the question...

Surely the question we should be asking is not 

'Does it damage the environment?'

but rather

'How much does it damage the environment?'

Starting to grow....

Well I am pleased to say that things are starting to grow and everything still looks healthy.....

Morning coffee

While on this 'no meat, no wheat' challenge for lent I have had to re-learn what a treat is. 

The problem with a treat is that if you have it too often it is no longer a treat and becomes normality. That means you have to go and find a bigger treat. Bigger treats tend to be either more expensive or worse for you than small treats. 

Something that used to be a normality but has now become a treat is my morning coffee. 

It is a joy to have in the peace of a new day. 

One of the things I love when we go on holiday is to have my morning cup of coffee siting outside in the warm morning air listening to the noises of the day getting started. Whether it's the birds in the countryside or the shutters opening, mopeds accelarating and cars beeping in the city. It's a lovely sound. Somehow it's peaceful yet energetic. 

This morning I sat outside having done some gardening and enjoyed my coffee listening to those sounds. But I'm not on holiday - I'm at home. Is the weather finally turning or was this just a one off. Either way it was perfect. 

So now let's see what the day has in store......

In the beginning.....

And so we begin......at the beginning.........

We have pots and compost and bulbs and seeds and hope and energy and good and water.......is that enough?

Only time will tell.

I would never call myself green fingered. In fact if there was such a term I would be brown fingered. I don't know if some are born with the ability to grow stuff but I am not one of them. However this will change, or hopefully change - I can but try.

Let me introduce you to our pots (which are yet to be named);

Black
Rhubarb - pretty well established so should do ok

Purple (Medium)
Leeks and Salad Onions - having now planted them I not sure which are which!

Terracotta
Broad beans

Blue
Onions

Yellow
Rocket Potatoes - should be ready in June/July

Pink
Pink Fir Apple Potatoes - should be ready in September/October

Red (Medium)
Beetroot

White Glazed
Garlic

Belfast Sink
Horseradish

Purple (Small)
Garden Mint, Chocolate Peppermint & Black Peppermint

Red (Small)
Marjoram, Parsley, Curry Plant & Thyme

Blue (Small)
Bay, Garlic Chives, Rosemary

The reason they are all in pots is that we are renting. Although we would love to stay here and fully intend doing so you just never know.

So next on the list is composting.......