Slow Living Journal - January

I am joining in with Christine from Slow Living Essentials with her Slow Living - Month by Month Journal for 2012. Click on that link for an explanation of how this will work. Here is her entry for January. I am participating because this will be a way of recording a general overview of what I am doing and it will be great to follow what the other participants are doing!

NOURISH: I have signed up to the Ooooby Box scheme to get organic and/or local fruit and vegetables delivered every week. I have also scoped out the Parnell Farmers Market where I can get more fruit and vegetables, awesome kumara, cheap strawberries, great bacon, sausages and other meats, etc. I have also found a nearby Butcher which has lovely well hung beef. We have been tight on money recently so we are (even more than normal) eating 99% of our meals at home, all 'real' food and vegetarian every second day. I have also been preparing healthy packed lunches.

I am currently having a second attempt at making ginger beer from scratch - this time it seems to be working - I think the warmer weather has helped.

PREPARE (stockpile & preserve): I made a small (practice) batch of strawberry jam with fruit from the market. This is already fast disappearing so I think that is confirmation to go ahead and make more! I hope to make a few preserves this summer but my main goal is to build up a stock pile of jars (again).

We only have a small freezer but it is stocked full of meat that we have gotten a good deal on: well aged sirloin beef for $22/kg, free range chicken breast for $20/kg, free range bacon on sale, whole free range chicken and wild pork which was reduced to clear, etc. It was expensive to establish but a well stocked freezer means that we can top it up when there are specials.

REDUCE waste, repair& re-purpose: With my sewing machine, I have taken down my partners formal work pants so there are no longer any socks showing. I have also mended the PJs I got for Christmas (not very good quality!). Unfortunately there is no way for us to dispose of our kitchen scraps where we live except for into landfill which is increasing our waste significantly. There must be a better option!

CREATE: I am not the most creative soul. I tend to pull out my craft skills only when required! In preparation for Christmas I began learning how to knit, I am sure the year will bring opportunities to continue learning.

GREEN: Moving creates a good opportunity to assess your belongings. Living in a small apartment and having little spare cash means we definitely have a minimalist set up. I love it. We have furnished our apartment predominantly with second hand furniture, it is mostly good quality and should last a long time with the odd spruce up. We are still using our green cleaners - vinegar and baking soda do most our cleaning, some green branded cleaners sneak in, and there is one bottle of Handy Andy for where the odd extra clean is required. I am currently working on replacing the few toiletries that I have not yet converted to 'greener' options.

GROW: We live in an apartment (no balcony either) so our growing capacity is limited to herbs. I have a pot of basil which took a hammering from some caterpillars recently. I managed to pull them all off and it is slowly recovering. I would like to add a few pots of thyme, mint, and other herbs - I need to locate some pots and soil within carrying distance. I also hope to locate a community garden that I can join.

DISCOVER: With no TV I have had plenty of time to read and browse the internet. I have just signed up to the local library and it is only 3 blocks away! I recently read the 100-mile diet which was very inspiring. I am currently reading "Green Metropolis" which argues that, with the ever-increasing human population, the only way to sustainability is inner-city living - living smaller, living closer and driving less. It is an interesting viewpoint and makes me feel better about living in an apartment! I have also been trawling the streets/yellow pages trying to locate stores such as: sewing supplies, second hand stores, op shops, organic stores, bulk produce, etc. I am trying to locate alternatives to shopping at the local supermarket, there is no central organic store (like Taste Nature) in this city so this is proving a bit challenging.

ENHANCE community: Having just moved to a new city we are in need of forming some new community links. I have a number of plans to achieve this in February.

ENJOY life!: It has been fun exploring this new city and finding the gems (such as the Kumara guy at the Farmers Market) amongst the smog!