Sugar Cane

I've been trying to get hold of some sugar canes for growing for a while, but most of the online places won't ship to Queensland (because of quarantine I would assume, since a lot of sugar cane is grown here), so I haven't had much luck. That's why I was quite excited when I saw some at the markets on Sunday. They had normal canes, I assume for people to try, and some canes with leaves still on them for growing. I bought 4, and at 50c each, I thought they were quite a bargain!

Unfortunately, with the dentist appointment this week, we haven't had a chance to plant it, and it only went into the ground this afternoon. I don't know much about planting it, but the advice from my mum coincided with what I could find online, so I cut it into lengths, and put it in the ground on it's side.

Apparently, the new growth comes from these little buds on the side. Hopefully it will grow, and if not, I only lost $2.

One recommendation though, if you're going to try this, make sure you wear gloves. I didn't initially, and ended up with lots of very fine, very small, very painful hairs stuck into my hand. Ouch.

Nothing New November - Conclusions

Well, November was certainly a hectic month. I probably could have chosen a better time for my Nothing New challenge, seeing as I was completing NaNoWriMo at the same time, but then again, perhaps the lack of trips to the shops helped in that regard too!

So, I guess what everyone is wondering is, how did we go? Did we manage to get through the whole month without buying (or swapping or accepting) anything new? The answer, of course, is no, but I still feel that we've done pretty well. So onto the exceptions first, then I'll summarise what I feel we learnt from this challenge.

Well, I don't really count this one as an exception, since we had booked it before November, had the money put aside for it, and it was a non-negotiable essential given how badly our gutters overflow every time it rains, but we had someone come out and install gutter guard in November. It's brilliant. No more climbing up on the roof to clean out the gutters every week, or having water going everywhere because they're overflowing. And the roof looks heaps better because all the leaves/sticks are washing right off rather than gathering in the guttering and looking untidy.

And this one, I make no excuses for what so ever. I was at the markets getting our weekly fruit, and saw a stall with lots of old kitchenware, and thought "they wouldn't have....?" and they did, so I couldn't leave it there, even though it was $12! It's a very old bread knife like the ones we had when I was growing up. They just don't make ones like these, or anything like them anymore, and I know, because I have looked. See the metal out the side? That's the cutting guide, which allows you to cut an even and thin slice of bread. I was nearly ready to give up on home made bread simply because I couldn't cut it thin enough to wrap around a sausage, but not anymore. Now I can cut it perfect, every time. Well worth $12. When I mentioned it to my sister, she wanted to know if they had another one!

And finally, one of DH's workmates was wanting to get rid of this guitar, so DH bought it off him for $10. A bargain we couldn't pass up. DD loves it, and I think it's pretty cool too. I've always wanted to learn to play the guitar.

I'm afraid that I also fell down on my decuttering challenge of getting rid of 100 things in the month. I mean, in terms of actual individual items, which was my original challenge, I probably managed over 100. I've decluttered about half a dozen boxes of toys from DD's playroom, several bags of unwanted clothes, and much more from the rest of the house, but there is still so much to go yet. But I'm still pretty happy with how it went in the scheme of things. I think that trying to do two challenges in one month (three if you count NaNo as well!) was just a little too much!

So that's it. In the month of November we bought only three things other than food or medications. Not bad I don't think. We saved over $500 that we have paid off the credit card, $500 that probably would have otherwise been spent on things that we obviously didn't really need. We didn't feel deprived, didn't even really feel annoyed that we couldn't spend the money. In fact, in some ways it was liberating. No looking carefully through the catalogues that arrive in the mail each week, we just threw them out. No stopping to window shop somewhere, and no deliberating over whether we really wanted something or not. We just avoiding all that hassle.

Sadly, I don't think a month is really long enough to do this sort of challenge properly. There were many things that though we didn't go out and buy, we simply put aside to be bought at the end of the challenge. Like needles for my overlocker. The ones I have aren't ball points (required for sewing stretch, or the material gets damaged), so I couldn't finish sewing the t-shirts I am making for DD. I could, of course, have sewn them on my sewing machine (which has ball point needles, just not the right size for the overlocker), but I was too lazy. So in terms of changing our consumer habits, it wasn't a huge success (although I suspect we will be evaluating things a little more carefully in future), but in terms of saving money, it was definitely good. And for that alone, we'll probably try it again, though not this month!

$29.60

$29.60, that is how much this lot of fruit cost us at the Caboolture markets cost us this morning. We spend about this amount each week, and get roughly the same amount of fruit. There were a few luxuries in there today, the mangoes were $1 each, and the apricots were about $5 a kg I think. The grapes were the most expensive at $7 a kg, but DD loves them, and since she's been sick, whatever she will eat is a good thing.

Today's Harvest

It would be nice to be able to supply all most of our fruit and vegetables from our own garden, but we are still quite a way away from that, and in the meantime, the markets are an excellent alternative to the supermarkets, and I'm sure it's much cheaper.

Ditching the Plastic

Plastic bags that is. We've actually been plastic bag free (mostly) for a while now, but I've only just gotten around to taking some pictures of these. While we used green bags for our groceries for quite a while, it took a little longer to ditch the plastic fruit bags. When we started going to the markets regularly, it seemed somehow even more silly to be still putting our fruit in plastic bags, so I made up these vegie bags from some old curtain material. They're just simple drawstring bags, really easy to make, although it did take me until yesterday to get around to putting the drawstring in. They worked just fine without it though.

The trick to making these is to use as lightweight materials (material and drawstrings) as possible, so that they aren't adding weight to your fruit and veg prices. Also, make sure you use something see-through so that the cashiers can work out what you're buying. Finally, I used french seams to make sure that they weren't going to break at an inopportune moment. Several months of use, and they're still going strong. When we get home from the markets, I empty the fruit into the cupboard/fridge, and chuck them in the wash so that they're ready for next week.

Here they are full of fruit, they're about the size of an A4 page, which seems to be a pretty good size, although we usually buy two bags full of bananas! Since my green bags are nearing the end of their days, and actually aren't that green being made from what is basically plastic, I'm working on making some replacement cloth bags for general grocery shopping. This is my prototype, made form an old sheet (which is poly-cotton, so not great for clothes). It works great, but still needs a bit more fiddling with the shape and placement of the handles. I much prefer it over the green bags, although I think it could benefit from being a bit stiffer in places.

Berry Nice

Yes, I know, lame title. That is what happens when you over plan a blog post. This is my 'berry harvest' from yesterday (with a few peas thrown in). Mulberries and strawberries. This is the mulberry tree's second year (first year it was still in a pot though, poor thing, while we waited to get out here to plant), and we're getting a nice taste of mulberries this year. Many of these were picked up from the ground after the recent rain and accompanying wind. Tasted nice, but could be a little sweeter, probably because some of them could be a little riper.

The strawberries are doing well too, but they taste Soooo yummy, that I am beginning to wonder if we're going to get many to make jam. I'm afraid I'm the worst culprit for strawberry eating, I keep eating them as I pick. They are so totally unlike the strawberries you buy in the shops, or even at the markets. These are the old variety, from my Grandmother's plants (Grandpa used to have a farm, and I have feint memories of going there and picking strawberries from their huge strawberry patch). These haven't been bred and modified to travel well, or be huge, or extra red, they are just the way they are, and you can taste the difference. Not even a hint of bitterness, just as sweet as can be. I'm not even going to bother trying to buy any newer commercial ones (the last ones I tried died anyway, oops), just keep making more and more and more of these.

Anyway, as I was saying, I was just beginning to wonder yesterday if we were going to get enough to make jam, and we were down to our last jar of jam... when I found a bargain at the markets this morning. A whole box full of strawberries, for the bargain price of $5!!!! So I bought them home, diced them up, and here they are in my pressure cooker! None of the saucepans were big enough to hold them! There is still at least a punnet load of the nicer ones left for eating and, more likely, juicing (have to post about my new juicer soon...)

I don't think I've posted about making jam before? We make all our own jam these days, and it's really easy. Basically, just dice up your fruit (and there are lots of options other than strawberries, pineapple, apricot, rosella, raspberry, etc etc). Put it in a saucepan with equal parts of sugar (I often put slightly less sugar, and it hasn't affected the eventual outcome). If it's a low pectin fruit (which strawberries are), add some lemon juice (about one lemon to 2 cups of strawberries), and boil it up. After a while (time seems to be dependent on the temperature of your stove) it will 'gel'. You should be able to see the change in the pot once you get used to it. The jam seems to go darker, it doesn't boil as quickly, and it 'feels' thicker. Then pour it straight into sterilised jars (I just rinse mine in hot water from the tap), and put the lids on quickly before it cools. If you have 'pop-top' jars, the tops will pop down as it cools, and seal the jars. I keep mine in the fridge, but I think it is OK to keep sealed jars in the cupboards, though I'm not sure how long.

This lot of strawberries made 11 jars of jam! So for $5 for the strawberries, and maybe $2 worth of sugar (I buy in bulk, 15kg at a time, works out at a little less than $1 a kg if I recall correctly), about $1 worth of lemons, that's about 70c a jar. Hopefully that will keep my family in jam for a while, although I won't hold my breath, we go through a lot of jam. So long as it's strawberry anyway. The pineapple and apricot have been sitting in the fridge for months. While I was at it, I poured a little into a bottle before it hit the gel stage, to see how it works for strawberry sauce.

I wonder if they'll have more boxes next week?

Stuff

Nope, no pics today. It has been one of those days that just passed somehow, with little of note actually happening. We went to the markets this morning, and trialled the fold up trolley I found for $2 at the second hand shop, but it was rather unsuccessful, so I'll need to come up with something else there. We buy so much fruit and veg each week that I can't carry it in one trip, meaning either numerous trips to and from the car (not good with a 3yo), or finding some sort of trolley. I might yet be able to come up with something using the frame I have, but the box we had on the bottom of it today isn't it.

On top of the normal fruit today, I bought a new garden fork. The neighbours dogs got into my compost bin yesterday (my fault, it had started to come apart, and I didn't fix it), and trying to turn it over into the bin again with a shovel wasn't a good job. We found a great stall at the markets that had lots of old tools, including a couple of scythes, kerosene lamps, a mangle, and lots more. Their tools were all old, solid ones, and I got a great pitchfork for $20. Bet it will hold up much better than a $20 one from the hardware!

Then I spent the morning making a sling out of an old sock toe for Tiger, trying to get him upright. His legs aren't out to the side as much now, but he just isn't getting up on his feet. I think he (and the others) are balancing slightly better in their squat position though. At least they all seem to be able to eat and drink mostly without assistance, which was questionable a few days ago, so we'll give them another week or so and hope they continue to improve. It is very stressful, watching them hobble around, and I wish there was something more I could do to help. We haven't even had much of a chance to enjoy all the other chicks, we've been so focused on these three, so tomorrow I plan to take the other 7 out on the lawn to play with DD.

While I was focused on chicks, DD and DH played in the cubby for hours on end. She loves her new toy, and is even happy to play on her own there for short periods of time, although at this stage, DH and I prefer to keep a close eye on her until she masters the ladder a little more fully. (Well, actually, she's very good at it, but we worry none the less.)

Around midday, we got into some cleaning that sorely needed doing, general tidying (washing up, making beds, washing clothes), then spent 15 minutes on the veranda, which was getting quite unsightly. It still needs a lot of work, but the improvement you see for just 15 minutes is amazing!

This afternoon we got stuck into some mowing. The orchard area is very overgrown, and hasn't been mowed for a few weeks. It was a case of push and shove to even get the mower through the grass on it's highest setting. I tried to do it with the catcher initially, but I was having to empty it every 20 meters or so, far too time consuming. I think I got through about 1/3 of the area. DH also attacked some of the highest weeds with the whipper snipper, which has made a difference too.

Did a bit of planting this morning. Some cauliflower, broccoli, and lettuce seeds, which are now covered with my netting cage in an attempt to keep the caterpillars off them. The tomato seeds (Roma) I planted about a week ago have come up, along with several self seeded rockmelons that were obviously in the worm casings I planted in. It's a little late for them, but I'll let them go and see what happens.

I can't remember if I've mentioned it or not, but my loofah plants have tiny loofah's on them! Very exciting! I'll have to do some more garden pics soon to upload. I also discovered a self seeded passionfruit vine down near the gate a few days ago, so today I transplanted it to the fence behind DD's cubby. I don't know if it will survive the transplant or not, but it couldn't stay where it was, as the mound of dirt it was on was going to be moved around in the next few months.

Finally, for dinner, we had a barbeque again. Rissoles this time, with steamed vegies cooked inside. Delicious! I'm really loving the barbeques now that the weather has cooled enough that the mozzies aren't too bad. I think we'll have to have one more often. Afterwards, DD played in her cubby while DH and I chatted. A perfect end to the day.

Peaches

Yep, I'm really inventive on the titles today!

At the markets on Sunday, peaches were $2 a kg, so I figured this was my last chance to get some preserves before the season was over. DD loves tinned peaches, and while at that price it probably is only a little cheaper to buy them this way, at least I know what she's getting. I bought $10 worth, or about 5kg. That is a LOT of peaches.

Before starting actually cutting up the fruit, I wash all my jars and lids (even if they were already clean, it's best to give them a wash in soapy water, then a rinse in clean). It's always a bit of a guess as to how many bottles of what sizes. This time I just washed ten jars, which was all I had lids for!

Here are the bottles. For once, I remembered to soak the rubber seals, and put them on the jars before I started putting fruit in! Preparation is good, and makes for a much smoother preserving session.

Then I added the sugar syrup to the jars. You don't fill them up, or there won't be any room for the peaches. In fact, I find this much is plenty of syrup, I rarely have to add more after packing the jars.

Then it is time to start cutting the fruit. This is the tedious bit. Thankfully though, these were freestone peaches, so easy to separate from the seed, and because of this made much cleaner slices. They actually look quite artistic, don't they? They were as delicious as the look too. I'm not a huge peach fan, but I couldn't stop eating these. They were the nicest peaches I'd tasted in a long time, sweet and juicy.

Then you do all that boiling and watching, and of course, getting the very hot jars back out of the boiling water (I really do have to buy some bottle tongs!). And then you end up with this...

Eight jars of peaches. The smaller jars in the front are 600ml, the larger ones at the back are 1 litre. That should last DD a little while at least. Maybe a month or two...

Then I made up some labels on the computer, so that I know how long they've been in the cupboard. I just stuck them on with clag glue, hopefully they will come off easily that way.

Then they went into the preserve cupboard with the others. It's lucky I've run out of jar lids, as I'm fast running out of room!

A long day

It has been a long day today. First up, up at 5 to drive DH to the train by 6, then DD and I went on to the markets for our fruit shopping. The specials weren't quite as good as they have been the last few weeks, but we did get some nice grapes, and it looks like the apples are coming in. Bought a whole heap of tiny red delicious for DD, figure they're about her size.

Then we came home to rush around doing our morning routine, before heading off to visit my sister before it got too hot. We had a great swim in her pool, and DD was determined to try to 'swim' on her own, which meant bouncing around and needing someone to grab her periodically. I think she had fun though.

The onto my real purpose of the trip, the hobby store. Here I have to say I grossly overspent. Nearly $200 for doors, windows, and a staircase for the dollhouse. I hadn't planned on spending that much. In all honestly, if I had thought about it, I would have realised that these wouldn't be cheap, and might have planned things a little better. I didn't want this dollhouse to be an expensive project, it was supposed to be cheaper than buying a new one! I guess I'm still stuck in wanting to do everything I wanted to do to it as a child, and couldn't afford to. I want it to be beautiful, which I'm sure it will be. And realistically, I couldn't have made those windows myself.

OK, so I've comforted myself by searching on eBay, and they had a similar house to mine, only NOT as good of course, for $400 new. So maybe I'm not doing too badly. Most of the cheaper kids are either much smaller, or simple barbie style houses. So in other words, I probably shouldn't have spent the money, but it wasn't excessive for what I got for it. Really.

On a good note, we had homemade gluten free pizza for dinner, with my homemade tomato sauce, and homemade bottled pineapple (for DH, I prefer just bacon and cheese on mine). DD had some bottled peaches for desert (but before dinner funnily enough).

I'm very very tired now, so I think I'm going to have an early night, and hopefully be more bright and cheery tomorrow.

A Productive Day

Today's Harvest

We've had a lovely day today. Hubby was on days off, so first thing after we got up (slept in till nearly 8! Bliss! Unheard of with a 3yo.) we headed off the the Caboolture markets. I try to go every weekend, the fruit and veg there is great, and very cheap. We're eating far more and better quality fruit and veg than we ever did, and it's costing us less!

This morning, I scored, getting the last box of apricots for $4! Picked up a couple of pineapples for 99c each, and granny smith apples at $1.50/kg.

These were destined for the bottle, and I spent all morning cutting them up and pushing them into little bottles, LOL. Before I get carried away with explaining that, here is the rest of the fruit from today, all washed and divided into snack sized bits into the fridge. My daughter can help herself whenever she wants.

All up it set me back about $35, and that includes the large bunch of bananas in the cupboard, half of which were eaten before we left the markets, a whole pumpkin, corn, carrots, and probably other stuff I've forgotten. I also spent $50 on fruit trees, and now have a peach, tropical nectarine, and meyer lemon tree. I'll have to plant them out tomorrow. While we were there, DD was searching around everywhere for something to buy with 'her money', and not finding much. Then we found a stall of toys, with a whole bag of wooden railway lines, the same size as the ones we already had at home. $5 later, our railway collection was doubled.

Once we were home, I quickly did my morning routine, and then got into bottling. About a month ago, I found an old stovetop Fowler's Vacola unit for $20 in a second hand shop, complete with over 70 bottles of varying sizes. Cost me another $100 for the thermometer, lids, rings and clips, but now I'm slowly building up my stockpile of summer fruits to tide us through the winter months when it's far more expensive.

Here's the unit sitting on the stove, boiling away. I'm still not an expert on bottling, so I'll leave you with a link to Forrest's post "Getting started with home preserving" on ALS. It's what I use all the time, and is a wealth of information.


It took a couple of hours to cut up all those apricots, but it paid off, I now have 7 bottles of apricots of varying sizes, and 2 bottles of pineapple (for use on homemade pizza, DH's favourite). I also have enough bruised and soft fruit left over to make apricot jam tomorrow, should get lots, which is good, because we used the last of the strawberry jam up a few days ago. I haven't done the apples yet, I'll do those tomorrow, along with the harvest from our tomato plants.

That took until after lunch, and I just had time to get it all cleaned up and sit down for a few minutes before DH's parents arrived in the afternoon for a BBQ. It had been raining on and off, but we still managed to get enough of a fire to cook on, albeit using lots of newspaper! I will have to take a photo of our BBQ some time to post, it's very rustic. I actually had some lovely conversations with MIL about all the things we're doing here with producing our own. As we haven't always gotten on too well, it was very nice to have a day where things were easy and friendly.

We also used my own bottled tomato sauce for the first time, and aside from being a little sweet, it actually tasted like tomato sauce! I was most impressed, and feel like I might be able to do this after all. It's the only sauce we have left now, having finished our last store bought bottle, so I guess we'll have to survive on it! Must buy some more tomatoes next market though!

The day ended wonderfully, with my beautiful daughter coming up to me and saying "Mummy, I have a surprise for you," then pulled out a beautiful bunch of 'buttercups'. Aren't kids imaginations wonderful?

Personally, I think they look like fireworks!