Op Shopping

Since our shift to 'simpler' and 'frugal' living, I have been buying most of our clothes and whatever household items from the OP Shop (thrift store). I'd always been a pretty keen op shopper, but now I try to source our needs second-hand first, before buying anything new.

We have two in our Small Town, both very cheap and full of goodies. We heading to the church op shop last weekend to grab a few warm clothes, now that winter has finally hit with a vengeance in our part of the world.

Dinosaur feet

We managed to walk away with a new scarf for Gigi for $1, a hand-knitted cardigan for $5 (also for Gigi), and a woolen jumper for myself for $20. Even though I dislike plastic toys, and don't like to buy toys for no reason, I also bought these 'Dinosaur Feet' for Gigi. They were only $1 and I absolutely LOVED the pair I had as a kid. I remember spending hours walking around on them. Gigi also seems to love them. They are her most played with toy and she clomps around on them inside and outside.
Her co-ordination on them wasn't good to start with, but seems to be getting better.

Front Yard Native Garden

I've been planting some native trees in my front yard since I bought my cottage last year, with the idea that it would form a continuous garden for wildlife with my neighbours native garden. 

Regarding the location of trees, I've planted a row along the fenceline, and a second row approximately 3m inside property from the first row. I've left a big gap as the sewer main runs parallel to my front fence, between these two rows of trees. As I live in an old subdivision, I feel uneasy planting trees over the top of the sewer main. I think it is best to leave it bare. 

Log garden edging

To save myself the hassle of mowing, I thought I'd mulch out the whole front area. I don't like mulching areas unless I have garden edging, so I collected a pile of logs from the bush up the road from my house. Some I had to cut to size with a handsaw, which was hard work. I'm thinking I'll have to buy myself a small chainsaw at some point, if I'm going to keep doing these kind of projects around the house.

Gigi helping to spread the mulch. Pipi supervising

Unravelled mulch bale

I bought a roll of sugar cane mulch from the produce in town and dropped it off at my house. It was so heavy, I couldnt physically push it. I used the ute to push it into position, cut of the ties holding it together, before using the ute to unravel it. Gigi enjoyed raking the mulch around, before deciding that Pipi needed mulching.

The whole exercise only took one afternoon and I'm pretty happy with the results.  I'll need to collect more logs to continue the garden edging to the front corner, then up the side boundary. I'll also need another bale of mulch for the next section. But its slowly getting there.

Mulched front yard. 

Shopping Local and Roast Capsicum and Pumkin Soup

(L-R: Quinoa, Nutritional Yeast, Couscous, Quinoa, Chocolate, Soap)

When it comes to food, I believe that where we buy our food from is as important as what we buy. Good food choices start with supporting our local growers/ suppliers/ community, as well as growing our own. 

Whilst I do visit the big supermarkets on occasion, I prefer to buy my food from a Fruit/ Veg Shop, which is supplied by the local farmers and our nearest Co-Operative, which is about 20 minutes from home. 

I absolutely love shopping at the Co-Op. Not only do members get a discount (yay), but a lot of the foods are available in bulk, and are mostly organic. The Co-Op also has just about everything else you could need- beauty and health products, dried food, fresh food, grains, pulses, chocolate, diary, bread, frozen foods, ice-cream, etc. It is basically a miniature supermarket. 

I generally purchase all of my grains and cereals in bulk, using the paper bags supplied at the Co-Op, transferring them into various jars once I get home. The paper bags are then added to my cupboard, to be used for seed saving.  My favourite items are Couscous; the handmade chocolate; and the handmade bar soap- which are only $1.95 per bar.  

I also regularly biodegradable bamboo toothbrushes; herbal toothpaste; essential oils; raw honey; raw Apple Cider Vinegar; etc when we need them. As we only visit the co-op about once per month, I keep a list on the fridge of items we have run out of, or are getting low on. I then take this list along with me to ensure I get everything we need, avoiding wasting money by doubling up and having food stuffs go bad. 

The other place I go shopping is in my own garden. Over the last three weeks, we've had approximately 15 capsicums from our capsicum bush.  I grew the capsicum bush accidentally, from seeds I threw in the garden at some point. I'm not a huge fan of capsicums, I only like them roasted. So I've been getting crafty in the kitchen, incorporating roast capsicums into our dinners. My favourite was  Roast Capsicum and Pumpkin Soup. 

Ingredients:
- Half a Jap Pumpkin
- 1 Brown Onion
- 5 Celery Stalks
- 3 cloves garlic
- Butter
- 3 Medium Capsicums
- can of coconut cream
- Spring of Rosemary

Method:
- Heat Oven to 200 degrees Celsius, place capsicums whole on a baking tray and put in oven
- Peel and chop brown onion and garlic, add to chopped celery  and brown in a large saucepan with butter.
- Peel and chop pumpkin, add to saucepan. Add water until pumpkin is just covered. Add the sprig of rosemary.
- Put the lid on the saucepan, bring the water to a boil
- Once water is boiled, lower temperature and simmer until pumpkin is cooked through.
- The Capsicums should be roasted by this stage. The skin should be blistered.
- Remove capsicums from oven, cut open and remove seeds. Roughly chop capsicum and add to soup.
- remove the rosemary sprig
- Using a stick mixer, blend the soup into a smooth consistency. If the soup is a little watery, remove lid and increase heat, to evaporate off some water.
- Once the soup is thick, add the can of coconut cream.
- Allow the soup to heat to preferred temperature and serve.
- season with salt and pepper.

A day at the Show

One of the local shows was on last weekend, so I took Gigi along to see the animals and the ring events. She had an absolute blast and I had a good time too. 

Patting the Farm Babies

I haven't been to a Country Show for a few years and the last time I went, it was pretty sad. There weren't many competitors, nor were there many ring events. All of the Judges, Competitors and Organisers were elderly and I wondered if eventually the whole 'Country Show' would die out. 

However, there seems to be a resurgence of interest and participation in the small Shows. There were lots of families attending the shows; lots of competitors- both young and old; and lots of Organisers of varying ages. 

Hopefully the Shows will be here for some time to come. I'm thinking in future years, I might join the Show Society and volunteer to help out at the Show. I don't want to see the tradition die out, and unless new people take an interest and join up, at some point it'll be no more. 

They're Here! This seasons baby goats

The nannies have started to kid and this seasons baby goats have slowly been arriving one by one. Gigi is so excited by the kids, every time we go out to look at them or feed the mothers, she tells me "I love the baby goats Mumma". At first she was a little confused about where they had come from, she kept asking me if Poppa had bought them. I explained that they grew in their Mumma's tummy and then they were born. She now picks the kids up and tells them "You are so cute, you were in your Mummas tummy".

The nannies and kids were isolated in the 'nursery pen' for a few days to ensure the babies were feeding correctly and that the mothers were looking after their offspring. In past years, the mothers (especially first time mothers) have the kid, then walk away. Other times, they've had the kid, looked after it for a week or so, then just given up. After loosing a few kids over the years, I have learnt the importance of separating out the mothers.  If you don't keep the nannies and kids in a separate and smaller paddock to the main herd, it is harder to keep an eye on them and identify problems as they arise. Also, in a small pen, the kids are easy to catch and pick up for cuddles. By about four days old, they are very fast and hard to catch. 

So far we have had four kids born to four nannies. One female kid and three males. The males will be castrated to be whethers, which I will write about in a future post, at the time. Whethers are much easier to handle, don't smell and are much easier to sell on to others. Also, with a small herd its important limit the number of billy's' to prevent fighting between themselves and also to prevent inbreeding in the herd.

There are another three nannies due to kid sometime in the next two or three weeks. Two of the nannies usually have twins, so I'm expecting twins from them again this year. The other nanny is pregnant, but looks small, so I think she will only have a single kid. 

Chook Update: Settling in Nicely

The lovely ladies took up residence at my parents house three weeks ago and they are settling in nicely. Every morning they are let out to wander the house yard and every evening they put themselves away in their chook house. 

To start with, they limited their exploration to the gardens around their chook house, but everyday they explore a little further afield. My suspicions of their personalities have turned out to be correct- Fly (brown) is quiet and friendly. She is the easiest to catch and seems to enjoy a cuddle. Chicken Dance (white) is big and docile, whilst In The Box (black) is quick and crafty.

As I predicted, Gigi loves the chooks. Fly has emerged as Gigis favourite, possibly because she is very quiet and doesn't struggle when being held. She is also much smaller than Chicken Dance, whose larger size is a little intimidating for Gigi at the moment.

For myself, I just love watching the girls as they wander around the garden, scratching in the mulch and the grass on their hunt for insects. I find it incredibly relaxing and endlessly interesting watching them do their thing. 

Introducing some Lovely Ladies

The Lovely Ladies

As mentioned in previous posts, my parents wanted some chicken for their lovely fresh eggs. My dad built a small coop and I built a water trough, a feeder and a nesting box. I then purchased three cross-bred backyard chickens from the local markets. I chose cross-breeds because they are supposed to be quite hardy and as mentioned, its been a while since my parents or myself have had chickens. I also chose cross-breeds because they are much cheaper than pure breeds- $10/bird as opposed to $30-40/ bird. 

Fly

Gigi is very interested in the chickens and was very excited to give them names. She has chosen 'Chicken Dance' for the white chicken, 'Fly' for the brown chicken and 'In the Box' for the black chicken. 

In the Box

 Already they have their own strong personalities showing through. 'Fly' is very quiet and gentle. I think she will come for cuddles and pats soon enough. Her colours are lovely and she has an interesting hair-do. 'In the Box' is a small bird, very observant and wary. I think in time she'll be friendly enough, if it suits her. I also have a feeling that she'll be the trouble maker and is the most intelligent of the three. She has lovely black feathers, with a colourful shine in the sun.  Chicken Dance is the biggest girl and is at the top of the pecking order. She is big, loud and a bit dopey. She is pure white with a large comb and wattles.

Chicken Dance

The girls will be let out to free-range this weekend and I am looking forward to watching their antics in the garden.