our square-foot (or so) no-dig garden
In contrast to the many other frugal and simple living blogs in the blogosphere, I want to focus here on small space gardening because we live in a townhouse with a small yard and because urban living without a large backyard is the reality of many of us (actually, almost a majority!). It can be a little disheartening reading about others eating and preserving their abundant harvest from their large veggie gardens when that is not attainable in a courtyard or on a balcony, however, it is quite possible to supplement the produce you purchase even when you only have a small space and less than favourable growing conditions that further complicate matters.
As far as our yard goes, we dug out the five tree stumps and huge root system and levelled our yard, which has given us a lot more space in which to ‘do stuff’. (The cost of excavation, by the way, was $300 plus tip fees, not too bad I thought). That, coupled with the fact that the removal of some cocas palms next door (these are noxious weeds in Australia) has given our yard a lot more sunlight, particularly at this time of the year, resulted in us building a new vegetable garden.
tip tuesday–what have you been reading lately?
This isn’t so much a tip as a sharing of some of the really good books I’ve come across lately.
I’ve been making the most of being recumbent (and therefore being less sick) all day long to catch up on some reading. I’ve caught up on quite a bit of fiction reading, getting through some of the books on my shelf that I’ve bought in the past and haven’t yet read, as well as revisiting some old favourites: I read my way through the Harry Potter series again; enjoyed Margaret Gaskell’s North and South for the fourth time; finally got round to reading Vikram Seth’s A Suitable Boy, which has been sitting on my shelf for almost six years and which has to be one of the best books I’ve read in very a long time; revisited Peter Carey’s Oscar and Lucinda and read Thomas Hardy’s The Woodlanders. It has been such a luxury to be able to read with leisure, despite the uncomfortable circumstances, and the little fella has been quite patient with me, enjoying his playdough and matchbox cars while I’ve had some serious couch time. We have also read The Three Little Pigs about 400 times, I’m sure he will be able to recite it back to me off-by-heart pretty soon.
As for non-fiction, I want to share some excellent books that I’ve read lately. A reader emailed and recommended Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma. I’ve read several of Mr Pollan’s other books, but not this one and I have to say it was a fascinating examination of modern food production as well as more ‘alternative’ agricultural practices. I highly recommend this book (you will probably find it in the library, as I did). My only reservation is that I would like to read a book written by an Australian about Australian food production, because I think our ways aren’t quite as extreme as they are in America.
If you’re looking for some young kid’s gift ideas, I came across this wonderful book from the library (just released) called Hop Skip Jump by Fiona Dalton. This book contains the patterns and instructions for a whole heap of gorgeous stuffed animals all made from recycled or ‘eco’ fabrics. Apart from the super-cute toys, the thing I love about the book is that it explains where to find the different fabric suggestions. For instance, where the book recommends woven wool for toy making, it suggests sourcing it from second hand suits, skirts and trousers. This is great for novices like me, who are unsure about fabric terminology. The other great thing about the book? The author is Australian and has a blog, Hop Skip Jump, where you can find a couple of free patterns and get an idea of how cute these creations are.
Finally, I came across a cookbook (also from the library) called The Improvisational Cook by Sally Schneider. This cookbook gives an overview of how to improvise in the kitchen, some ideas on good flavour combos, and then includes a variety of recipes “deconstructed”, with ideas on how to improvise, change or adjust them or use them as a springboard for creating your own recipes. It’s not often I come across a cookbook that has recipe after recipe that I want to try (and then improvise with). Recipes like flavoured salt and homemade infused oils and vinegars, which it has never occurred to me to make, or semi-dried tomatoes and roast capsicum (to be used as a base for many dished). One idea I love is using a very thick vegetable soup like cauliflower soup or potato soup as a binding agent in chicken pie instead of the usual white sauce. This means a sauce binding without the flour and dairy – great if you’re allergic to both and you’re getting extra ‘hidden’ veg in your meal. I also love that Sally gives a ‘formula’ for making jelly with any kind of liquid like juice or milk, from which you can make an infinite variety of jelly type dishes.
So, while I’ve been inactive in many aspects of day to day life, I’ve been making it up by getting some reading done. What books have you been reading lately?
whatever goes pasta
Well two weeks stretched into four, a lot longer writing hiatus than I had intended, but it was a much needed break. I have a little confession to make: I haven’t been so much sick as morning all day and night sick 
. We have another member of the family on the way, due at the end of June.
As I’ve spent much of the last few weeks either in bed or indisposed, cooking has been well and truly off the agenda and there is a dearth of new recipes from our household at the moment and a very empty fridge and pantry from lack of shopping.
I fell back on this old staple to use up what we had on hand; this is a very flexible recipe that you can adjust with whatever ingredients you have in the fridge. Adding cooked chicken gives it a nice protein boost, but as our freezer was empty (for the first time in years), our pasta was vegetarian. The mustard and paprika along with the cheese make a tasty sauce.
tip tuesday – frugal pantry organisation
An organised pantry not only saves you time, it can save you money by ensuring you don’t buy multiple packets of the same thing when you can’t find what you’re looking for, or by helping you keep an eye on ‘best before’ dates.
Over the last couple of months I have been working on reorganising my pantry, little by little, one day at a time and I thought I would share the results so far.
My pantry wasn’t too bad. Most of what I have lives in a labelled jar or container. It has just gotten disorganised and hard to find things when I need them. This week, I focused on the main, eye-level shelf where all our tinned foods, herbs and spices and sauces live. Here are the results:
site news–the absence edition
I’ve been a bit ill lately and so haven’t been able to keep up with writing for the blog (or do much of anything, really). I’ve decided to give myself the next two weeks off to rest. The writing hiatus wasn’t planned, but much needed. In my absence, there may be a couple of guest posts.
A few weeks ago, I started writing for the Yahoo7’s new comparison website, Moneyhound. I’ve written a couple of articles for them about paying off the mortgage earlier and saving for an emergency fund, if you would like to check them out.
Thanks to everyone who has sent an email or written a comment on the blog. I haven’t been able to respond, but I have read them all and love receiving them.
causes of overspending and how to avoid it
This is a guest post by Justin Toladro from Life Insurance Finder.
Overspending is a major problem in our society today, especially in Australia, where consumer debt levels are among the highest in the world. In the global economic recession, two different kinds of consumers emerged: the stingy shoppers and the over-spenders. The stingy shoppers are so frugal that oftentimes they would rather go without even basic quality goods, all in the name of saving a dollar or two. This is one extreme, and the others are the overspending individuals who can’t help but buy more, more, more! Even if they don’t need it, they get sucked into buying something anyway. Which type of consumer are you?
If you fall into the overspending category, you are not alone. Millions of Australians are currently struggling to pay off credit card debts because of their poor spending habits. But what exactly causes this?
tip tuesday–organising your tools for regular maintenance
The other day I mentioned the need to perform regular maintenance around the home. While there are a lot of reasons that regular maintenance tasks don’t get done, lack of time being one of them, the reason I’m focusing on in this post is the lack of organisation when it comes to our tools.
For instance, the handle on our saucepan was getting wobbly. Tightening the screw before putting the pot in the cupboard is really only a 10 second job. What makes this task an effort is trying to find the screwdriver.
The same story can be said for gluing a hook back on the wall. The problem is: ‘where did I put that glue?’
So when it comes to making regular maintenance easier, these are my tips:
- Have some basic hardware supplies on hand (screwdrivers, pliers, glues etc.). If you can think of a must have tool to have around the home for general maintenance, I would love to hear about it in the comments below .
- Have a place for your hardware and return things to that place when finished.
- Organise your tools so that they are easily accessible, like on a peg board or in a dedicated drawer. Then fixing that wobbly pot handle really does only take 10 seconds.
Do you have a tool kit for home maintenance tasks?
mini muffin-tin pumpkin quiches
It’s Halloween today, so I thought I would share another pumpkin recipe: mini muffin- tin pumpkin quiches.
These mini quiches are similar to this recipe, previously shared, except that they are baked in a muffin tin, and therefore take much less time to cook. Of course, you can make any quiche recipe ‘mini’ by following the directions below.
These make great finger food, picnic lunches, school or work lunches or an out-and- about lunch. Makes approx. 8.
gifts for men–12 weeks of christmas crafting roundup
While teenagers may be hard to craft for, the men in our lives can be even more difficult (to craft for, that is). To the male readers of Frugal and Thriving, it would be great to hear what gifts you like receiving and whether you like handmade gifts of not.
Below are some ideas for gifts for men from around the net.
bathing in sunlight – can solar hot water save you money?
As a follow on to the article on solar power a couple of weeks ago, I thought I would write about another solar alternative: solar hot water.
We had a solar hot water system installed about a year ago. Our old system, although it performed valiantly to the end, finally gave up the ghost so we were in the market for a new system. After doing the research and the maths, solar hot water made the most sense for our situation.
Below is a description of how solar hot water works, the costs, rebates and savings applicable as well as details about our own system and savings.
