I've been tagged, so here goes.

5 things found in my bag:
1. keys
2. purse
3. pen
4. nappy
5. wipes

5 favourite things in my sewing room:
1. Sewing machine
2. fabrics
3. Wool
4. patterns
5. WIP

5 things I have always wanted to do:
1. Move to France
2. Be completely self sufficient
3. Learn how to do pottery
4. Paint and draw again
5. Grow old surrounded by my loved ones

5 things I am currently into
1. learning to quilt
2 learning to sew
3. learning to knit
4. my garden
5. my gorgeous children.

5 people I am tagging
Does anyone want to be tagged? I don't want to annoy, so drop me a line in my chat box if you would like to be tagged :)

She's said it perfectly

So I will just link you up with Molly...

http://doing-it-naturally.blogspot.com/2008/04/even-as-child-i-was-mule.html

Money, money, money and feeling guilty

I was thinking about Consumption last night, well my consumption habits to be exact.

In the last month I (and my family) have been spending more than we normally do to stock up the garden. A lot of this is due to it needing to be stocked (I really must find the 'before' pictures for you guys to see) and me wanting to build it up 'just in case'.

Of course when we purchase, these items are put onto the credit card. Now we are lucky that we always pay our very small credit card debt in full each month so we don't get hit by any interest. It's more of a habit for us but will there come a time when we have to rely on cash? I think that next month I will try to only pay cash for our purchases. Here are some of the thoughts going through my head at the moment;

Do you really spend less when you hand over cash instead of plastic?
Do you haggle to get a better price?
Do you write it all down in a book to keep track of where it all goes?

We are a very disciplined budgetting family (okay, apart from my nursery binge this month) but I want to see how changing to cash will change my mindset.

I also want to see if we in WA can set up a plant exchange. Would anyone be interested in doing this? Let's get back to basic bartering/swapping now! Leave a message if you would be interested.

The Son is here again, bearing gifts

The Son has returned for a flying visit to Wit's End bearing gifts! Well, he brought his wallet and said the words that warm the cockles of my heart

"Come on Woman, let's go plant shopping!"

So what did he get me for my birthday?

A Medlar
2 more climbing spinach (see below)
bags of manure (he told all of his friends that he was buying shit for his mother's birthday!)
1 lemongrass.

The medlar has a rather unattractive looking fruit which can be eaten, cooked into jams and jellys and made into wines ;)

While I was at the nursery I asked them if they had any arrowroot. Once again I was told that it isn't found anywhere in WA! So I am putting the word out here; If anyone in WA has any arrowroot, would you be willing to spare a root cutting?

Hmmmm, just a question for you all; The Son was talking about nursing homes last night with The Teen. Should I be worried?

I'll be eating Chrysanthemums!

I went shopping with The Husband today in one of his secret Asian haunts. Hiding near the counter I found a packet of Edible Chrysanthemums.

I bought them because they looked unusual although I had no idea what the writing on the packet said. The Husband said

"Just plant them when it's cool, they grow fast"

Okaaaay.

Came home and checked on Eden Seeds and yes, The Husband is right (Male Angelic Chorus can start singing now), plant when cool and harvest in 30 or so days.

Another one for the growing challenge and hopefully a famine type food which the neighbours would ignore!

FRUSTRATION!

So much to do, so many children to distract me!

I want/need to plant more, sew more, fix my damn knitting as I stuffed up the ribbed section, build the chook house, find coffee plants in WA!

Off to read 'Corduroy bear goes to the doctor' for the 50th time!

Buying local

There are so many reasons we should buy local. With food, freshness and the vitality of our food is paramount for nutrition; this means that the least amount of hours from the farm/garden to our plate. The first choice of course is growing your own, the second is to shop locally buying locally grown produce.

Now most of us know this and actually do do this with our food. But what about the other things we consume? I mentioned in an earlier post that I itemised my household products and found very few were made in Australia, let alone locally. Go and track the footprint of your flatpacked/needs some assembly bookcase! I bet the 'wood' came from Indonesia, the product made in China, sent to Europe to be packaged and then to Australia to be freighted to the different State stores! Scary how much that cheap bookcase really costs!

Another group of products that most women use is skin care. If you don't make your own (and there are some great recipes out there if you have the time) what do you do? How do you buy local with skin/body care?

A Cronie from NSW has just started up her own company doing just that. Gifts that pamper make a lovely range of organic soaps as well as other products. C has been working on a facial scrub and has finally perfected it and releasing it for sale. The soaps are just gorgeous (I leave them around the house and they gently scent the rooms) and I can't wait to try her scrub.

One day I may make my own soaps and skincare but for now I have switched to an Australian company. I'm just waiting for the day C starts making perfumes!

Have I mentioned that I'm tired?

I don't know whether it's me getting older, running around after three tots, or dealing with the Graves Disease (did I mention that I have this?) but I am getting really tired lately.

I know that it's not because I am vegetarian because my blood work (blood tests every month) shows that my iron levels are brilliant so I am going to pin the blame on the tots!

The Teen was a total love today. She babysat for me for the entire morning while I played in the garden. I have planted, weeded and spread sheep manure. I also managed to prune some of my 'nurse' trees so that more light and air can circulate now that summer has gone.

So what did I plant?

A blueberry
Climbing Spinach (This is for my growing challenge this week!)
Chard
Artichokes (Thank you Hardworking Hippy for the inspiration, you can never have enough artichokes!)
A nectarine
More Spinach

I also put a heap of sheep manure over the potato bed to prepare for planting on the weekend. Tot 1 helped me scatter some collard green seeds around the beds 'just to see what happens', and a dear friend gave me a bucket full of plants for the pond.

Now I think about it, perhaps it's just hard work that has made me feel ten years older than god.

Adding Crunchy Chicken to my blogging diet!

Well I am finally getting around to adding this amazing site to my blog links. Crunchy Chicken has just inspired me with her latest post ....

Eco Hottie of the week Oooops, did I really post that? I meant to post the Extreme Eco Challenge of the Month! Now how did I get those two confused? :p

I think it may have to do with the Crone seriously ageing. How appropriate that it happens on World Environment day! Off to drown my sorrows in some liquid manure.

Telling you where to go!

I have been out pondering a few things this morning;

Why do the healthiest pumpkins self seed in my compost meaning that I have to go and start another heap?

Why do ants build a nest right under the thatch of cooch grass that I am trying to remove?

Should I do a "how to begin with your garden post"?

Well the answer to the last question is simple: NO! Instead I will point you towards some of the fantastic blogs on the left of this site.

Scarecrow's site: Everything you could possibly need to know about starting up in an Australian Garden. Scarecrow has put together tutorials that even I can follow.
Down the lane: Everything you could possibly need to know about starting up in an English Garden
Aussies Living Simply: You want to know about frugal lifestyles/peak oil/gardening tips/how to boil an egg with a piece of string and a safety pin, go here!
Nature Witch: She has just started blogging but keep going back to her blog as she has an amazing wealth of knowledge. NW built her own home, kept a cow, goats, chooks. Homebrews, cooks from scratch (knows how to make her own cheese) and can knit and sew anything! You need an answer to a tricky question, ask NW!
Doing it Naturally: Molly is another West Australian who is walking the same path as I am trying to walk. She inspires me with many of the questions she asks. I usually go out to the garden and attack cooch after reading Molly's questions. The garden is where I zone out and things come to me.
Hardworking Hippy: OMG she is living the life I want to live! Self sufficiency in a French farmhouse, bliss bliss bliss! The Husband knows that if I was to ever leave him it would be for a Frenchman with a farm!

Several of the other blogs to the left are also ones which inspire me for many different reasons. Most are dear friends and also struggling to learn all they can about gardening as well.

The newest additions to my blogroll are the crafty ones. I have always been a gardener; not the let's grow prettys type, more your "You never know when there will be a WWE that will necessitate growing your own food!" (I grew up at the knee of a Depression/WW2 Great Grandfather)

Craft has become something I have taken up since I have hit my 40's. I have fallen in love with knitting, quilting and crochet. I keep reminding myself that these are skills I may have to utilise in the future. Perhaps I should go and learn how to spin :p

So, have fun reading the blogs I have linked and hopefully they will inspire you too.

Crochet addicts, one for you!

I clicked onto one of my favourite sites today Chicken Betty and she has made the cutest cardigan and needs testers! Go check it out!

A bit less doom and gloom

I think that it's time that I focus on what I am harvesting from Wit's End right now and what I plan to plant in the near future.

Harvesting right now:

Carrots
Zucchini's
tomatoes
kale
spinach
silverbeet/chard
spring onions
strawberries
lemons
beans
cabbages (I still won't pick my brag cabbage, I want to see just how big she gets)
lettuces
capsicums
chives
Eggplants
basil (sweet and Thai purple)
Chilies
lemongrass

Now what do I still want to plant in the garden?

Plums
another apple
lots more cape gooseberries
blackberries/raspberries and other berries
Chilian wine palm
grapes
nuts
edible palms out the front.

I also had the most amazing dream last night. I went into this dingy little shop looking for unusual plants and saw an incredible aquaponics set up. Now this is something that I really want to do IRL so I think my subconcious is telling me to get a wriggle on don't you!

Your World without grain.

How would you cope? No grain means no bread, no cereals, no muffins, no cakes, no cookies, no gravy thickeners. No rice would be catastrophic for The Husband, let alone the huge world wide population who depend upon rice.

Now before you all say "Crone, you're acting like Chicken Little again", read this; http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,23542114-948,00.html

UN chief Ban Ki-moon has warned of political upheaval and security risks if
the world doesn't act quickly on a global food emergency.

Ban Ki-moon today appealed for emergency and long-term action to tackle
the growing global food crisis, warning that it could trigger political
upheavals and security risks. "The rapidly escalating crisis of food
availability around the world has reached emergency proportions," he told a
joint meeting of key UN financial, economic and trade institutions.

Food security has become a major concern in recent weeks as supplies of
basic commodities have dwindled in the face of soaring demand, triggering riots
and outbreaks of violence from Haiti to Indonesia. Mr Ban's appeal echoed World
Bank president Robert Zoellick's warning yesterday that a doubling of food
prices over the past three years could push 100 million people in developing
countries further into poverty and called on governments to tackle the issue.

He said the food crisis "could mean seven lost years in the fight against
worldwide poverty''.
"We need not only short-term emergency measures to meet urgent critical
needs and avert starvation in many regions across the world, but also a
significant increase in long-term productivity in food grain production," Mr Ban
told the meeting.

The gathering brought together the UN Economic and Social Council, the
World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the World Trade Organisation and
the UN Conference on Trade and Development.

"The international community will also need to take urgent and
concerted action in order to avert the larger political and security
implications of this growing crisis," the secretary-general said. The UN must
examine ways "to lead a process for the immediate and longer-term responses to
this global problem".

Mr Ban urged consensus on steps to boost development financing that would
lead to more stable and predictable long-term resource flows to developing
countries. And he called for stepped-up investment and technology transfer from
donors to help the least developed countries broaden their exports through
diversification and economic capacity-building.

Noting that climate change also threatens long-term global economic growth
and sustainable development, he said: "Developing countries need external
assistance - especially better technology and increased financing - to rise to
this challenge."

Sobering reading, hey.

Taro

I just planted (LOL - I dug a hole and bunged it in!) a Taro. Never planted one before, come to think of it, I have never eaten one before! but I'm not letting that stop me.

I just checked at Daleys and they say that they look like Elephants ears so they should be quite pretty as well as edible.

One more plant for the growing challenge!

I also made a batch of 'mead' to see how it goes. It looks interesting.

We have alcoholic apple fizz!

Ohhhh I just tested my cider today and it is so fizzy and definatly alcoholic! I think I will add some honey to the next brew to make a sweeter cider but this one is very very nice.

I was going to sew tonight (A lovely Cronie sent me a huge postpack filled with retro patterns) but I think a nice movie, a cuddle with The Husband and a shared bottle of cider instead!

Ain't life grand!

Making lemon cordial today

I have a heap of lemons to use up and have decided to make my lemon cordial (recipe in the Crone's Cauldron).

It makes a nice refreshing cordial for the family and I am also going to use it with my brewing kit to make a slightly alcoholic lemon fizz.

I think a ginger beer syrup will be on the cards too, just for Fran ;)

Cider is a brewing!

I have ventured into cider brewing! My little purchase will enable me to make my own cider for around $1.00 a litre!

So, those of you who live around Wit's End; Who's up for a cider tasting night in around 3-4 days? Hic!

Ants, potatoes and the garden fairy

No matter where I potter in the garden I am immediatly crawled all over with ants! I hate the bloody things! Now please don't tell me that they are a vital part of the decomposing process and the world would be a mess without them, I don't want to hear it! My skin crawls when I think of ants and I am like woman possessed when they appear in my kitchen!

Anyway, the reason that I am disturbing the ants is that I am clearing one of the beds of cooch and debris so that I can get my potatoes in soon. It appears that in Perth you can start planting spuds about now so tis time for me to enrich the soil and pile it high with manure and straw while the seed potatoes chit.

I also planted more spinach seedlings today. Spinach and kales would have to be one group of vegetables that I need in my life. Don't ask me why I love them so much but I could eat them at every meal in some shape or form. I have even made mermaid's tresses for The Husband (wash your kale, dry well on a tea towel and shred with a sharp knife. Heat oil up nice and hot and bung in your greens. Cook until nice and crunchy, drain well and sprinkle with ground sea salt)

I had the two youngest tots in the garden with me this morning while I was preparing the potato bed and was watching them in their 'garden bed' aka the sandpit. Tot 2 asked me if I had any seeds for them to plant, so I gave them both a handful of broad bean seeds each. They promptly went and planted them in their bed and watered them in.

If they don't grow much I think the garden fairy will go out one night and plant some broad bean seedlings; What do you think? ;)

Venturing hesitantly down the quilting path...

A group of cronies have been learning to quilt. We all challenged each other to start and have been supporting each others efforts with praise and accolades.

I chose a bunch of fabrics in Earthy tones with the intent to make a wall hanging for above my bed as a present to myself. The pattern chosen was a simple basket weave block one.

I cut super carefully (apart from the one block where I got distracted and cut a 10" instead of 11")
I sewed more carefully than I have ever sewn before with my 1/4" foot...
So why the hell didn't the blocks line up properly? Am I just really really pernickety about seams meeting and matching? Are they meant to match up?

I love a glorious haphazard riot in the garden but not with my sewing!
Argghhhhhhh!

Here it is...

On the gardening front:

Today I planted some violets (for my soul), some more cape gooseberries, a ferny thing The Husband wanted, a red passionfruit and some more silverbeet. I have decided that I need to plant things for my soul as well as edibles for my body. The World needs beauty as well as practicality!

Oh and a huge surprise for me the other day which I forgot to post about; Soy bean pods are furry!

Strawbale bed update: Less than a month in and we are picking greens to eat for all of our dinners now. The Husband is impressed.

Your all time favourite edibles please!

I am really trying to rise above my anxiety about Peak Oil right now. So to be positive and affirming and pro active I am asking you to all leave me a message letting me know your five favourite no fail edible plants and seeds please!

They can be trees, herbs or vegetables.

You can also post one 'bring cheer to my soul plant' to inspire me!

Here's my list:

1. Silverbeet
2. Potatoes
3. Snow peas
4. kale
5. Spring onions

For my soul:

Jasmine.

Skinny bamboo scarves

Just a quick pic of the two skinny bamboo scarves I made recently. Gorgeous yarn to work with and soft to wear. I bought the yarn from Spotlight for $2.99 a ball. They take 2 balls so I will see if I can find some bamboo elsewhere as I just love to crochet with it.