Things that make change

Who said you had to spend heaps to make a veggie garden? 

OK ~ you probably didn't but I know others who have. In the past six weeks, we have not only set up a raised veggie bed for nothing, we've got the seeds, fertiliser and more in for next to nix. Building the garden bed used a lot 

We have saved hundreds of dollars over the years. Instead of paying up to $5.00 for packets of seeds which may or may not sprout, we have started grabbing packets of seeds from the herb and soup sections of the supermarkets. 

The seeds you get for coriander, mustard, fennel, cardamom or celery in spice packets from the supermarket for cooking can be planted in your garden. These normally cost around $1.00-$1.50 per packet and you will get a lot more seeds than the packets bought from a plant store. 

We also get the full dried peas (not freeze dried) from the soup section (with the lentils and McKenzies packet mixes) and these successfully grow ~ we've had the sweetest sugar snap peas ever from soup peas! A packet normally costs $1.50-$2.00 and you get well over 100 seeds. In comparison to buying 'packet' seeds it would cost you five times as much for about 20 or so seeds. Just remember not to buy the split peas ~ they won't grow at all.

Another way to save buying seeds is cut the ends off shallots and replant them, it takes about three weeks before they get over their 'shock', but you will have an endless harvest of shallot stems to use in salads. We do the same with old onions, including salad onions, that have hidden themselves away in our cupboards and sprouted. Plant them in your garden, let them flower and go to seed to get great seed stock for the next few years. No need to buy more!

Garlic can be done in the exact same way. Grab a clove and plant it flat end into the ground. After about four months you will get a great bulb of garlic from your original clove. A few cloves turns into a bumper crop and look great drying in the pantry or kitchen. Be aware that garlic from China or Mexico has usually been treated with Bromide (a carcinogenic) so only use Australian grown garlic.

Pumpkin, cucumber, capsicum, tomato, chili and other vegetable seeds can be cleaned, dried and then planted out to give you more seed stock to play with. If you plant two different types of pumpkins near each other, they cross pollinate and you can end up with a hybrid which tastes great. We usually let one or two of each vegetable go to seed so that next years planting will cost us even less. This works well with  lettuce, silverbeet, rocket, Asian greens, mint, corn, loofah, tomatoes and sugar snap peas.

Old potatoes and sweet potatoes that start sprouting can be replanted and will give a good crop. Just cut a sprouting part of the potato and plant it, from one potato you get up to five new plants, with around 30-40 potatoes from each. Some people don't recommend the growing of potatoes in old car tyres ~ we've never really had an issue with it as it has always been easier to add an extra tyre and layer of dirt as the potato plant leaves come through the soil ~ but you can always use an old hay bale or hessian bag of soil if you'd prefer.

Sowing broad beans, carrots, onions, radishes and spinach can be difficult and fiddly and the best way to solve the problem is to make home-made seed tape. It is an easy family activity and something we've done for years. I actually submitted this as a hint to Simple Savings about four years ago and its still there in the Vault and was mentioned in one of the newsletters.

1. Unroll a strip of toilet paper on a table (any ply, unbleached and non-scented), to the length you wish. While it might seem quicker to do one long, straight row it is easier with a few shorter strips when planting out.

2. Make a thick paste of flour and water. Dab the paste onto the toilet paper using a cotton bud, spaced apart as per the seed packet recommendation, for example 20cm.

3. Place a seed on each paste blob.

4. When the paste is dry, the seed tape is ready to fold. Starting along the strip's long edge, fold a third of the paper over the seeds, then fold the other third over to cover the seeds completely. Lightly dampen the paper, misting it with a spray bottle of water to secure the seeds. Make as many of these strips as you need then carefully carry them to the garden.

5. Make shallow furrows in the prepared soil, lay the strips down, mist heavily with the spray bottle of water and cover with soil. Now, your seeds will grow in straight, spaced rows. Tip: Alternate carrot seeds with radish seeds because when the radishes sprout, they help to mark the row and break the ground.

The key to a successful veggie garden is good watering practices ~ having lived through drought in Victoria, investing in a water tank was the only reason we kept ourselves in vegetables until I became physically unable to tend the garden and Hubby's lengthy absences due to work made it an event in weed cultivation. 

Already we have Asian greens at the usable stage (although leaving them another week or two will mean they are bigger and require less in our stir fries) and we are about to sow the second cropping of corn, peas and carrots to ensure they are growing in a staggered manner. We have lettuce going to seed to add to those already growing and hope to have the beetroot ready for salads in the next month. 

This Fortnight's Menu

It's posted a little later than I hoped, but we have been eating to the menu as planned. The list was written up on Sunday and stuck on the fridge as usual, so I've extended to carry through to next week. In the middle of welcoming back my long lost kitchen Tupperware friends, released from the cold Ballarat shed and reunited with us here in Bundaberg. Oh FridgeSmarts, dear ModularMates ~ how I have missed thee... 

Yes, well - so here's what we've been having and what we will have going forward.

Sunday: Pork chops and steamed vegetables

Monday: Spaghetti Bolognes 

Tuesday: Tortellini with tomato, chilli and basil sauce

Wednesday: Pea & Ham soup (homemade, SmallBoy had face plant - will elaborate over the weekend)

Thursday: Pea & Ham soup for SmallBoy; Peri-Peri chicken salad for us - both homemade

Friday: *Splurge* Takeaway burgers, fish, seafood, chips

Saturday: Vegetable pasties

Sunday: Roast Chicken with all the trimmings - Happy Fathers' Day - :D

Monday: Thai Beef Salad (of sorts)

Tuesday: Chicken and vegetable pic

Wednesday: Tuna patties and salad

Thursday: Veal schnitzel and salad

Friday:  Nachos

Saturday: Gozlemes

Sunday:  Roast Pork

Having just eaten down our Ballarat pantry ~ moved to Bundaberg with 'nothing' and now building back the basics including herbs, spices and oils before we focus on too much stock piling purchases. I do want to make sure we have extra flour, sugar, rice and some other staples (considering this is the first time in years I've actually got no rice!!)  We are fine for cleaning, washing products - I have an abundance of shampoo & conditioner thanks to a trial on Soap. Couldn't give away as much as they gave me!

All the cat food has been sent up (thanks Mum) so that will last through until the end of the month of September - 15 cans and two packets of dry food (plus extra litter) is a huge saving! 

As September is school holidays, and we are going away to the Gold Coast with friends for four days in week 3, then we have 4 extra mouths for week 4, I've got a little spending cash aside for some restaurant meals. I've already planned some of the menu for visitors and have most of the items in the freezer already. I also expect that friends will contribute to some of the groceries - especially while we are on the GC. 

Week 1 - w/e 01 September ~ Budget $100

Week 2 - w/e 08 September ~ Budget $ 50

Week 3 - w/e 15 September ~ Budget $ 50

Week 4 - w/e 22 September ~ Budget $100

Week 5 - w/e 29 September ~ Budget $ 50

Part of this week (Week 1) shopping are some of those staples - just to start building some in reserve. It was suggested that, in anticipation of our first 'wet season', we do use some of the budget to ensure we have extra and start rotating stores as we get the chance to increase the volume. I'd like to have 5kg of brown rice on hand, so if I buy 1kg now and look for specials on 1-2kg to build it up. 

Time to relax ~ bit of a garden and sorting kinda weekend. Hubby has brought some personal 'home' items for us to intermingle in the house, more of our belongings are out of the camper and finding places to be kept. We are finding our place and making our mark ~ I do like the feeling we are creating. Almost a full school term has passed, we've been here in our own for six weeks and so much has been achieved. Time for reflecting over the weekend too I think *nods*

The Rising Costs of Fresh Fruit & Veg

Oh what a beautiful morning... 

I don't think anyone hasn't been gob-smacked by the cost of bananas.

But $4 for a small capsicum? My youngest sister came to the conclusion its time to "drink more wine. It's cheaper, tastes better, and I look fantastic after a few!" after pondering if hers was a Magic capsicum. She decided it must be for such an insulting, exorbitant price. 

Most likely, this is the fall out from the crop poisonings last August which destroyed millions of tomato, capsicum, eggplant and other such produce when water was contaminated by unknown saboteurs. Another poisoning attempt was recently made on strawberry produces but thankfully that was stopped due to increased security against possible attacks.

Why are people at war with the farmers? It's not like farmers are the ones dictating prices at the supermarket and, from what I understand, they barely make enough profit to make ends meet themselves. Bananas for $15 per kilo ~ and I am positive the sellers would barely get a quarter that price. Especially know we have bought bananas for $4-$5 per kilo at the markets here in Bundy. 

It's been a tough year for our fruit and veg ~ hasn't it. There's been floods and cyclones, locusts and mice, and some parts of the country have had droughts for the past 10 years only to get washed away in the first year offering some opportunity to grow. Potato farmers striking, crops being poisoned, petrol/oil costs increasing and supermarkets bringing prices "down down, prices are down" ~ just not so much on the fresh, Australian grown goods.

What would life be like if we all had to buy locally. If the cost of transporting produce became so unreasonable that primary producers could not get their goods to buyers? Do you know how grow fruit and vegetables for your family if necessary? Can you milk a cow (if you had one), slaughter a chook, make yogurt or cheese, or savoury shapes? Imagine the cost of food doubled in September . . . and stayed at those prices for the next 12 months. Would you be able to afford your shopping habits as a consequence of economics ~ if you could afford to continue shopping the same way?

We've made our own bed... 

Making the Bed 

In light of that above, we have started to build our 'temporary' vegetable beds here. Mind you, the climate in Bundaberg is a mighty site different to that of freezing Ballarat. In fact, the veggie growing season appears to be coming to an end for the main bulk of crops. Things we plant now will be harvestable (if that is a word) around November and December with not a lot of the summer gardening we are used to - but I think we should be able to produce enough to freeze, pickle or preserve for the hot, wet, humid months to come.

We do already have basil, chives, oregano and parsley growing in a herb pot, plus some lettuce, strawberries and mulberry in other pots. We are about to fill a third pot (the old laundry sink actually) with some snow peas, wombok, coriander, mint and mustard greens. And, having met some wonderful local home growers, we've got ginger and yakon rhizomes to plant in next month.

The Laundry Tub ~ ready for herbs... 

Looking at Gardenate ~ there are quite a few of our favourite vegetables which can be planted over the next 4-6 weeks.  Vegetables like beetroot, celery, carrots, potatoes, onions, beans, lettuce, cucumber, pumpkin and radish. We can also start seed trays of leeks, capsicum, chilli, melons, cabbage, tomatoes and lots of different herbs.

Aside from building a raised garden bed and the laundry sink, we also have two concrete tubs and the inside barrel of a washing machine to use for growing produce in. Along with a few big pots and tubs, we hope to be able to share and exchange with others for things we don't have ~ like eggs. Oh we do miss our fresh laid googie eggs.

Miss my gerls...

Most of the manual work at the moment is being done by Husband, with a lot of advice, guidance and directions from moi! Our financial outlay so far has been zip and we hope to continue that way. Thanks to friendly local Freecyclers, we've also got some fresh, organic seaweed fertiliser - a wonderful surprise and a huge money saver.

We will be sharing the progress and hope to be able to get lots of personal tips from successful vegetable growers around the country. Saving money at the shopping end will mean more available to get rid of this debt and buy ourselves our own home here - ideally close to the high school SmallBoy will be attending for the next five years. Loving our new environment and already feeling part of a lovely community. *cheers*

Until tomorrow ~ keep that wallet closed (unless of course you want to contribute to our Spare Change Jar or Treasure Chest). All the little pennies add up and help us in more ways than you can imagine :D

Seasonal Shopping Saves

This week I was made to feel 'odd' or a bit of a freak...

First with SmallBoy's fall from the roof ~ the amount of people mortified we let him climb on the roof was amazing. Oddly, this has been more from younger people (20s/30s) and more so from mothers of children in a similar age group or those who are now grandmothers.

Let me say - we are in the country, not the city. Several times a year Husband and SmallBoy are up on the roof clearing the gutters, nailing down loose roofing, realigning the aerial. It's what you do. So we have started to say to some he fell from a tree or bounced off a trampoline and the outpouring of sympathy is reversed four-fold. SmallBoy is keen to get back out and climbing ~ I see this as a good thing ~ he sees it as an accident, that he probably should have waited for the wind before straddling the beams, and will have caution on his mind 'next time'. Believe me - there will be a next time *laughs* 

Am I wrong to think children are supposed to explore, be inquisitive, climb? Are they not supposed to fall, land and injure? Is this not a normal event - even if the particular break is not the norm, the activity of mucking about is - isn't it? Or have the 'rules' changed so much that kids shouldn't be out playing, climbing, skating, riding in case they get hurt? If this is the case, how do they learn to judge a situation or implement their own personal boundaries? Or aren't they supposed to?? I won't advocate for a party to be held on our roof or allow three 10-12yo boys to play games on the roof - that's asking for an event to occur. But one mighty explorer should be able to do as he wants (within reason - I don't include climbing the power pole as exploration) so long as he is not endangering himself and/or others.

The next 'odd' was about menu planning and shopping. My girlfriends have been telling me what they are planning to serve their family for dinner - yummy stuff but to me its being done back to front. Menu planning seems to mean planning the things you'd like to cook and then get all the ingredients required, and so many meals involve out of season fruits and vegetables. There's two problems here - the price and the taste. Strawberries being eaten at the moment are tasty but coming to the end of the season so the price is increasing - in a few months they will be tasteless and more expensive - but when I asked why one girlfriend "has to buy them every week for her breakfast". 

And the one that got me more: - 

"I always buy cauliflower each week"... 

But cauliflower isn't in season at the moment

"Then how come I can get it at the supermarket?"

Even when it's $7 a head, or $4 a half!!

"Oh I don't look at the price, I just buy it".

Well pick me up off the floor and call me weird. Not looking at the prices? I was absolutely gob-smacked. Fruit and vegetables are the number one food type where prices fluctuate the most in stores - store to store. Week to week, even sometimes day to day, those prices can sky rocket and plummet with the speed of the stock exchange. 

Imagine trying to do that with bananas at the moment ~ one day bananas are $2.95pkg, then $12.95pkg, then $9.95pkg - or 'on special' for $5.99. Sure, we know that there have been some amazing weather catastrophes causing banana prices to escalate - so bananas should be a 'sometimes' food and an opportunity to use or introduce other, in season, fruits to diets. Apples are in season so seek out those on special (or on your neighbours tree) and stew them up for use in the 'off' season. It's one way we save at the cash register.

Talking to others, I think menu planning is being done the 'wrong' way in most homes. Menu planning is said to be the "way to ensure you don't overspend on groceries" suggesting one must write a shopping list based on the menu and stick to it. This is a disastrous way to menu plan unless you can determine the prices being charged at every place you shop.

I don't plan my shopping list based on my menu - I base my menu on what I have available in the fridge, freezer and pantry, making a list of some of the particular items I might not have at hand. Perhaps I've only got a few carrots and will need to top up for later in the week/fortnight. Carrots go on the list and, price dependent, I'll buy a kilo or two. If I've planned to make a batch of bolognese because I've got mince, onions, tomatoes and garlic - but this will use up the last of the onions and we've planned a BBQ or casserole, I'll put onions on the list and check out the usual haunts for cheap onions - including my bartering network.

Menu planning is not simply organising what you want to eat for the week/fortnight ~ and I think this is why many say the weekly shop comes to $200 a week (or more) and can't be lowered in any way. When I go into get my required items - I will check what is marked down in the meat department, the bakery, the dairy as all of these can freezer and be included in the next menu planning session. And I'll swap a meal to take advantage of a good 'score' like salmon fillets for a few dollars if it needs to be eaten within a day or two.

Next time you shop, if it isn't your current practice, take a look at the prices of fruits and vegetables. Is there something on special or marked down you selected on a whim? Did you expect the prices to be as they are??

So what is your practice? What do you do first - stock take your food stores, menu plan, create a shopping list or work it out on a daily basis? Honestly, I am curious to see what most people's practices are and how decision are made ~ or am I actually a bit odd in my practices?

Do you base your menu and shopping on what is available seasonally, on special or just what is available at the store? If something is unavailable or expensive, can you substitute with something else or does it throw you into panic or do you just buy it regardless of price?

Where do you write your shopping list and your menu plan - at home or at the shop; or is it based on the specials you find in the supermarket as you wander through? 

Off to the hospital in the morning ~ fingers crossed we avoid surgery on SmallBoy's ankle otherwise there will be a very scared little boy (and mummy!) here tomorrow or the next day.

Chat then :D