I salute you all gardeners and farmers....I don't know how you do it!
The cats ate the flowers, the birds ate my sprouting sunflower seeds, and my tomatos and cantelopes have yet to even sprout.
On the bright side however, the green beans and peas are coming up as well as my broccoli so hopefully I can keep those alive...I may need to get some plants or new seeds for the tomatos and cantelopes though.
I wish more people would garden. I really have an appreciation for gardeners and especially farmers whose livlihood depends on this stuff. Just getting stuff to sprout seems hard enough and then keeping it alive and fruitful...what a task! I think if more people tried it, they would be more willing to shell out the money for organic after appreciating how much work goes into it. We would probably not be so wasteful either....
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Sunday, March 18, 2007
My Victory Garden
There has been a lot of talk in the simple living world about "Victory Gardens". They were encouraged during WWII to conserve resources, and now many are starting them for similar reasons.
Anywho, mine has been started!
Now keep in mind I have a black thumb...all veggie gardens to date have produced a few puny veggies and promptly thrown up and died. But I did alot more research this year and plan to care for it much more diligently so I will hopefully meet with some success. At least its fun trying.
Here is what I have started:
Sunflowers (for seed - one of DH's favorites)
Bell Peppers
Cherry Tomatoes
Oregon Spring Tomatoes (an early variety)
Peas
Pole Beans
Cantelope
Broccoli
What's even better is that the Sunflowers, Bell Peppers, and Beans were FREE courtesy of the folks at Green, Blue, Brown and the rest of the seeds were on sale for 10 cents a pack at the local hardware store ...they were last years seeds but if even 25% of them sprout I will be inundated with plants! Including containers and dirt, my entire garden cost me 15 bucks.
These first seedlings are really an experiment, I want to see what sprouts and does well first before I plant more. What does ok will be transferred to larger containers and more will be planted after I move at the mid-May (sucks moving during growing season!) Luckily here in the south we have a long growing season and I can get away with planting later in the season as we can grow into October easily.
I also welcome anyone's advice about keep these things alive!
Anywho, mine has been started!
Now keep in mind I have a black thumb...all veggie gardens to date have produced a few puny veggies and promptly thrown up and died. But I did alot more research this year and plan to care for it much more diligently so I will hopefully meet with some success. At least its fun trying.
Here is what I have started:
Sunflowers (for seed - one of DH's favorites)
Bell Peppers
Cherry Tomatoes
Oregon Spring Tomatoes (an early variety)
Peas
Pole Beans
Cantelope
Broccoli
What's even better is that the Sunflowers, Bell Peppers, and Beans were FREE courtesy of the folks at Green, Blue, Brown and the rest of the seeds were on sale for 10 cents a pack at the local hardware store ...they were last years seeds but if even 25% of them sprout I will be inundated with plants! Including containers and dirt, my entire garden cost me 15 bucks.
These first seedlings are really an experiment, I want to see what sprouts and does well first before I plant more. What does ok will be transferred to larger containers and more will be planted after I move at the mid-May (sucks moving during growing season!) Luckily here in the south we have a long growing season and I can get away with planting later in the season as we can grow into October easily.
I also welcome anyone's advice about keep these things alive!
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Simple living cures for the "blahs"
I have found more and more that it is NOT the big-ticket items that make me happy.
I went through sort of a "funk", frustrated with frugality, frustrated with being fat and pregnant and just plain bored being stuck at home all day with not a whole lot to do (yet).
However, I honestly could not think of anything I wanted to splurge on that would have made me feel any better.
Plasma screen TV? No way, I don't even care to watch much TV and could care less about that.
Expensive clothes? Ok, I did get a pricey new pair of much needed shoes but I they are very good quality will last a very long time compared to the cheapo ones that wore out within months. They make my feet feel better but did nothing for my boredom/funk.
New car? Nope, I love my little compact with the peeling off bumper-stickers, it serves me so well and no stress about finances because of it!
What else to people even spend money on these days? I honestly couldn't think of anything.
What ended up making me feel better was:
going out to dinner with my best friend,
enjoying the gorgeous weather we have been having by taking walks by the river,
hearing my baby's heartbeat in the Drs office,
listening to and laughing at my husband explain to me how he "needs" a jet-powered beer cooler (some homemade contraption he found plans for on the internet...i hope he's kidding! LOL)
None of these were expensive, needed financing. All were environmentally sustainable (as long as my dear husband doesn't really try to build a jet-powered beer cooler!) and simple.
I honestly have enough....so what on earth are people going into all this debt for?
I went through sort of a "funk", frustrated with frugality, frustrated with being fat and pregnant and just plain bored being stuck at home all day with not a whole lot to do (yet).
However, I honestly could not think of anything I wanted to splurge on that would have made me feel any better.
Plasma screen TV? No way, I don't even care to watch much TV and could care less about that.
Expensive clothes? Ok, I did get a pricey new pair of much needed shoes but I they are very good quality will last a very long time compared to the cheapo ones that wore out within months. They make my feet feel better but did nothing for my boredom/funk.
New car? Nope, I love my little compact with the peeling off bumper-stickers, it serves me so well and no stress about finances because of it!
What else to people even spend money on these days? I honestly couldn't think of anything.
What ended up making me feel better was:
going out to dinner with my best friend,
enjoying the gorgeous weather we have been having by taking walks by the river,
hearing my baby's heartbeat in the Drs office,
listening to and laughing at my husband explain to me how he "needs" a jet-powered beer cooler (some homemade contraption he found plans for on the internet...i hope he's kidding! LOL)
None of these were expensive, needed financing. All were environmentally sustainable (as long as my dear husband doesn't really try to build a jet-powered beer cooler!) and simple.
I honestly have enough....so what on earth are people going into all this debt for?
Saturday, March 10, 2007
sustainablity....how do you do this again?
Firstly, I want to thank everyone for their suggestions on forming a simple hobby. I have some herbs planted, but my darling cats have already eaten the flowers!
I have also picked up knitting....again. I actually picked it up awhile ago, but in the rush to finish off my labwork it fell by the wayside. I am in the middle of some potholders for our kitchen and we will see how those go.
I have had the pleasure of spending most of the week in Norfolk with my husband. It has been so long dealing with being apart and now it is finally happening in a matter of weeks that we will be together in the same household again. However, this does bring something up....
When we are together we tend to do two things that aren't exactly great for simplifying your life:
1.) we tend to eat out a lot. Part of the reason is that being my husband lives essentially like a bachelor, keeping food in his house besides beer is a foreign concept to him.
2.) we tend to shop more. Sometimes its because we have waited to purchase something until the other can be there but still...we need to find some more frugal and simple activities!
This isn't easy at the moment. He lives in an apartment complex at the moment and it gets boring. We read a lot, I knit, but you can easily go stir crazy and sometimes we just want to get out. As far as eating out is concerned, until I am up here full time there is no way my husband will actually grocery shop for himself, that is pretty much up to me.
In a few weeks, a lot of habits will be changing drastically or even eliminated. I am blessed that my husband is very open to all the changes towards simple living and reduced consumption. He is also impressed with all of the progress I have made on my own and it will hopefully inspire him a little.
In addition, we are finally buying our own home, with a yard and garage so we can both "piddle" around, garden, and make further progress towards sustainablity. We plan to buy a very very small previously owned home. There is the garden of course, but we are going to work towards making this small house as energy efficient as possible. Since I will be around all the time we can make simple meals from scratch, eliminate fast and packaged food from our diets, and take the time to live a little more slowly and deliberately. We are really looking forward to it! I welcome any suggestions and changes that others have made towards more sustainable living!
I have also picked up knitting....again. I actually picked it up awhile ago, but in the rush to finish off my labwork it fell by the wayside. I am in the middle of some potholders for our kitchen and we will see how those go.
I have had the pleasure of spending most of the week in Norfolk with my husband. It has been so long dealing with being apart and now it is finally happening in a matter of weeks that we will be together in the same household again. However, this does bring something up....
When we are together we tend to do two things that aren't exactly great for simplifying your life:
1.) we tend to eat out a lot. Part of the reason is that being my husband lives essentially like a bachelor, keeping food in his house besides beer is a foreign concept to him.
2.) we tend to shop more. Sometimes its because we have waited to purchase something until the other can be there but still...we need to find some more frugal and simple activities!
This isn't easy at the moment. He lives in an apartment complex at the moment and it gets boring. We read a lot, I knit, but you can easily go stir crazy and sometimes we just want to get out. As far as eating out is concerned, until I am up here full time there is no way my husband will actually grocery shop for himself, that is pretty much up to me.
In a few weeks, a lot of habits will be changing drastically or even eliminated. I am blessed that my husband is very open to all the changes towards simple living and reduced consumption. He is also impressed with all of the progress I have made on my own and it will hopefully inspire him a little.
In addition, we are finally buying our own home, with a yard and garage so we can both "piddle" around, garden, and make further progress towards sustainablity. We plan to buy a very very small previously owned home. There is the garden of course, but we are going to work towards making this small house as energy efficient as possible. Since I will be around all the time we can make simple meals from scratch, eliminate fast and packaged food from our diets, and take the time to live a little more slowly and deliberately. We are really looking forward to it! I welcome any suggestions and changes that others have made towards more sustainable living!
Saturday, March 3, 2007
simple hobbies
Half-time last week and now full-time, I am officially working at home to finish writing my disserattion. Professional writers, I don't know how you do it! Personally, I am going a bit stir-crazy.
Its not even being at home all day....its that I really have trouble having nothing to do but write all day everyday. I have always been able to break up the day between experiments, papers, and literature research, but now all I have to do is write...write....and write some more.
This has led to some temptations as far as consumerism....I find myself wanting to go out and just wander around the shops just to get out of the house and have a change of pace. Not that window shopping is at all bad, but with me I KNOW it will lead me to buying something I don't need, and probably don't even really want. So...I need a frugal, simple-living-friendly hobby to break up the day. I have decluttered, purged, cleaned, and organized to death. Physical activities are out...I am 31 weeks pregnant and getting downright uncomfortable. A walk a day is enough for me. I certainly read enough all day working on the dissertation, so what else can i do? And how can I avoid having to buy a whole bunch of stuff to do it?
I do have some seeds from last year still laying around...I may start an indoor herb garden...provided the cats don't eat it! This would provide herbs for a lot of my cooking endeavors (I love to cook), and make the house smell and look better and help me to hone my gardening skills for the coming spring/summer. I am open to any and all suggestions though...hopefully without having to buy and accumulate lots of stuff...
Interesting, so often when people are bored and unhappy, all the commercials say if we just buy something (whether it be an "adventrous" SUV, a new cell phone, or even soda!) our lives will suredly be more exciting and interesting. Luckiily, I do not feel any of that! Off to plant some basil.....
Its not even being at home all day....its that I really have trouble having nothing to do but write all day everyday. I have always been able to break up the day between experiments, papers, and literature research, but now all I have to do is write...write....and write some more.
This has led to some temptations as far as consumerism....I find myself wanting to go out and just wander around the shops just to get out of the house and have a change of pace. Not that window shopping is at all bad, but with me I KNOW it will lead me to buying something I don't need, and probably don't even really want. So...I need a frugal, simple-living-friendly hobby to break up the day. I have decluttered, purged, cleaned, and organized to death. Physical activities are out...I am 31 weeks pregnant and getting downright uncomfortable. A walk a day is enough for me. I certainly read enough all day working on the dissertation, so what else can i do? And how can I avoid having to buy a whole bunch of stuff to do it?
I do have some seeds from last year still laying around...I may start an indoor herb garden...provided the cats don't eat it! This would provide herbs for a lot of my cooking endeavors (I love to cook), and make the house smell and look better and help me to hone my gardening skills for the coming spring/summer. I am open to any and all suggestions though...hopefully without having to buy and accumulate lots of stuff...
Interesting, so often when people are bored and unhappy, all the commercials say if we just buy something (whether it be an "adventrous" SUV, a new cell phone, or even soda!) our lives will suredly be more exciting and interesting. Luckiily, I do not feel any of that! Off to plant some basil.....
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