Tag Archives: pantry

The Climate Crisis – what can each of us do?

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It feels overwhelming, doesn’t it?

But we can each do SOMETHING even if we can’t do EVERYTHING. Each individual effort DOES make a difference no matter how small. And change begins gradually, so maybe there is one small step we can take and work towards bigger ones. But sticking our heads in the sand is no longer an option, WE HAVE TO ACT NOW. Here are a few ideas for living a more sustainable life and helping the planet. Pick one and hopefully more that you can do, or are already doing. See if you can aim for others. None of us are perfect. But we can all TRY.

* Buy an insulated 2 litre stainless steel WATER BOTTLE and take water from home with you wherever you
go (I also have a 5 litre insulated water container in the car as I cannot STAND ‘town water’ as we
call it, & when we go away anywhere we take 20 litre drums!

* Can you fit a RAINWATER TANK (of any size) to your house or unit so you can catch rainwater and filter
it for drinking or use it for washing or the garden? In the UK I ran water out of my mum’s 60 litre
rainwater butt into a domestic water filter jug to keep me drinking rainwater while away!

* What provides SHADE on your western side? We have planted trees for the long term and in the short
term have shade sail and trellis growing passionfruit to try and prevent the beating heat of the
afternoon sun. How can you keep that heat from invading your living or roofspace?

* How’s your INSULATION? Good insulation keeps a house warmer in winter and cooler in summer – what’s
in the roofspace & the walls? Talk to a builder.

* Roof WHIRLIGIGS release hot air to mitigate the heating effects of the hot aussie sun –
that might be a partial solution for you.

* Doors, windows and double glazing: Well sealed and fitting doors and windows help keep the heat
where you want it (in or out). Some windows (casement) really work to catch any little breeze while
others seem to do precisely nothing. New windows and doors are VERY expensive so keep an eye on eBay
and other such sites for bargains.

* SOLAR! There are no words to explain the good feeling in your heart and soul knowing that all your
power is coming from the sun. If you are a homeowner this is an investment in your property which
minimises bill stress, provides a reliable source of power even in blackouts (with battery backup)
& helps to minimise emissions. I can’t recommend it highly enough! Talk to www.thesolarexperts.com.au

* How can you MINIMISE YOUR WASTE output? Please never, ever, EVER throw food away.
Get a couple of chooks or worm farm or compost bin or pile but PLEASE don’t throw food into landfill.

* CONSCIOUS CONSUMPTION: We all have to change the way we shop. Shop less often & buy better quality
as close as possible to the source. Get to know farmers, farm shops, farmers markets, farming co-
operatives and farmgate honesty boxes – seek them out! Meet the farmers, buy meat in bulk, eat
seasonal, fresh from the fields food.

* Buy a FREEZER. Yes, I know they use power but you will cook more and store some in the freezer for
days you can’t be bothered (& will eat better as a result), you can buy good meat and fish in bulk,
make pesto from your basil plants & passata from your tomatoes. You can freeze bananas for smoothies
and good bread from your favourite bakery. A freezer becomes a treasure chest, full of delights –
your very own takeaway store.

* Make a PANTRY space & buy bulk where possible. Using huge supermarket conglomerates as your pantry
and making daily trips for supplies means you are spending more than you need to and supporting big
businesses screwing farmers to the wall rather than purchasing judiciously from growers and provedores

* Bike, walk, train & bus where possible.
We are all so addicted to being coccooned in our own private tin cans, and some of us don’t have a
choice because there are no public transport options in rural areas. But just as those fumes will
kill us if we stand behind a vehicle in an enclosed space, so they are killing the planet.

* BUY AN EV! I wish . . . ! Well, save for one!

* Refuse PLASTIC – plastic bags, plastic wrapping, plastic toys, food containers, cups and utensils

* WRITE to your local MP and state your concerns. Write to the Prime Minister.
Get engaged, get involved, turn up, raise your voice. Our children’s future depends on it!

Kitchen Magic

by . Posted on
06 May

My perverse and rebellious nature is finally finding a healthy outlet as I determine not to line the pockets of the Coles/Woolworths monopoly more than I can help.  As they delight in squeezing the farmer out of every drop of hard earned profit, so I enjoy devising new ways of denying them my money.  Horrified by the pathetic provisions purveyed into my pantry in return for ever inflating inroads into my plastic piggy bank, I delight in devising ways and means to thwart them.

Thus I have made soap, candles, jams, mint sauce, yoghurt, cookies, cakes, mead, schnapps, cream cheese, fetta and now cheddar.  I watch what we are spending the most money on each week or fortnight and then resolve to make my own – not out of parsimony but a plot to foil the oligarchy!

As the veggie patch yields ever more I am forced to try new recipes to turn them into delicious sustenance to feed the ravening hordes. I am so grateful to Hugh’s Veg Cookbook which is now my kitchen staple, and for Pam the Jam who has turned me into a passionate preserver!  I have begun to understand and even enjoy following a recipe although my rebelliousness will not allow me to obey the amounts.  Near enough is good enough for me!

With workers and wwoofers on the farm and a hungry boy to feed I seem to spend all my time in the kitchen so I have decided to share some of my adventures in these pages and hopefully inspire others to play with the pots and pans and stock up the pantry.  Walking into a pantry whose shelves are filled to the rafters with home made goodness can warm the coldest heart.  Although I must admit that sometimes the harvests are very intimidating at the thought of all the hard work ahead!

Don’t expect exact measurements or very detailed instructions as I share my soul food, and please share your recipes with me in return.  Some of the very best farmhouse favourites have been shared by friends or family from their own stable of staples, from newspapers, magazines, recipe books and the wonders of the world wide web.

At least once a day I will ask Google how to do something – I have learned how to bake cookies, make soap, yoghurt, fudge and rum, and Google has also told us how to deliver lambs, treat laminitis etc!

Self sufficiency is hard work but there is immense joy in supplying one’s own needs and thwarting the tendency to dependency on the supermarket chains and the global manufacturers and marketers. We still have a long way to go before we have mastered ‘The Good Life’ but like Tom and Barbara we have a messy house, gnarled hands, strong arms and backs and the muddy delight of getting back to nature and learning to work with her rhythms and seasons and reap her bounty.

Angle Creek and Cupboard Space

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13 Aug
George had always told me that where I could see the vertical rock overhang in the middle of the property that there was a beautiful oasis with wild orchids and I had put it on my ‘to be discovered one day’ list.  But because of the ceaseless search for the best place to site the Glockemann perpetual motion pump, I took it upon myself to walk up Angle Creek which bisects the property and look for the ideal combination of water drop, deep pool etc., etc.,  And I have found paradise.

Crystalline water rubbing the edges off the rock to reveal the iron ore within.  Pristine peace and rainforest and wild orchids everywhere you look.  This is a veritable oasis and shows me that I was so right to call the place Avalon – the red water is a constant, while the white which in times of rain will course to meet it, is currently dry.  For those of you not familiar with the red and white springs of Glastonbury and the ancient, mythical, isle of Avalon, I suggest a visit to http://www.chalicewell.org.uk/

So Ged (who is doing the install), Bill Peck (Mr Glockemann) and a local friend of his (Holger, who runs some sort of spiritual yoga retreat thing locally) and I all schlepped up the creek bed in various stages of awe and wonder.  Holger then emailed me and asked to explore its mysteries in solitude, in order to appreciate the energy of the place, to which I readily agreed.  I had always wondered what sort of landowner I would be – would I share as I expected others to share with me over the years (for my runs etc?) or would I become a miserly protectionist, toting my gun and ‘trespassers will be prosecuted’ signs and rubbing my hands and going ‘mine, all mine’ . . . and I feared the latter!  But the land is its own – not mine, not yours – it was here long before me and will be here long after we are all scattered to the four winds.  We are just custodians and can only nurture and tend, plant and protect for the mere minutes we are here to enjoy it.  And for me who finds God in nature’s daily miracles and peace in its stillness and constant change, it is wonderful to be able to share that with anyone who cares enough to look and listen and feel.

Spring is definitely in the air and whether it is that or the overwhelming feeling of happiness and gratitude for this beautiful place I experience on my daily runs, I have been doing handstands!!  But I am 30 or so years out of practice and landed in some strange way and hurt my big toe which was black and blue for most of the week.  So the lesson there is either that ladies of my advancing years should keep their feet firmly planted on the ground, or practice, practice, practice!!  I am sure you can imagine which method I will be adopting . . . .!!
Saw the first swallow of summer this week and the cherry trees are beginning to blossom so hopefully those deep frosts and bitter winds of winter are behind us and the ‘summer country’ can soon begin to bloom.
Ged and I made progress in the house at the weekend.  It seems I was stuck in the linen cupboard for two days!  We ripped out the shelves and I washed and painted coat after coat of my lovely ‘Clotted Cream’ over their previous ghastly pink, while Ged put up shelves in the pantry.  So one room is 99% finished (two more shelves to go in!).  Admittedly it is the smallest room in the house but it was the one I needed most so I can have some semblance of normality with food and some sacred, dust-free space for crockery, cutlery and utensils!  He has also put up all new shelves in the linen press so as soon as I have painted the doors, there’s another little clean storage area for me before the armies of mice devour all my belongings in the garage!

With the warmer weather the countryside has been ablaze . . . literally.  All the verges and vast acreages are being burnt off and as the rumours of an early start to the permit only season run rife, there is a frenzied rush to get in quick.  The air has been thick with smoke and the orange glows at sunset are not from light years away, but from nearby hillsides ablaze.  It has been beautiful and surreal.  And we haven’t finished burning our place yet!
THE SMALLEST ROOM IN THE HOUSE . . . .!!