Jessie Twinn

Reheat:
leftover pasta
leftover pasta casserole - seems a shame to turn on a huge oven to heat up such a small portion.
leftover rice
cloth rice bag for applying heat to sour muscles

Ok, pasta - add to hot water for a minute or 2.

Pasta casserole. Add to saucepan, add a little water, heat.

Leftover rice - as for pasta.

Heat packs - let me know. Jury is out... BUT hot water bottles don't work too badly as a substitute.

We ditched the nuker a couple of years ago and aside from heat packs I don't miss it either.

I'm also on Geoff's course and have 20ac of land in what I now know is warm temperate Victoria, Australia (always thought we were cool temperate but I guess globally it's different). Ch 4 was bloody hard slog and I felt so overwhelmed but chapters 5 & 6 were fantastic and solidified much of what we've learned for me. Lovign CH 7 right now.

Much of the course has a tropical or at least sub tropical feel as that is where Geoff's farm Zaytuna is based but discussion on the fb page is helping people to find the cooler climate versions. Tropical banana circles are replaced by hugels in cooler climates. LOVE that!

I also think most of the course is seeming fairly climate generic but examples are sub tropical. I'm not having too many difficulties relating to my climate.

All in all, loving it.

David Holmgren, co-originator of permaculture, uses the same system in his house. It's rather brilliant on both space and housework saving IMO and we will be implementing it into our new house when we build.

I was wandering around on Facebook today, killing a little time and I came across this and instantly remembered this discussion on vegan clothing. I just had to share.

http://tvcast.naver.com/v/1171350

What a lot of labour (as a spinner, knitter and crocheter I would say "labour of love") and what a beautiful product at the end.

I've got 3 children aged 8, 6.5 and 5 and we've just purchased 20 acres which we are in the process of turning into a hopefully fully sustaining (financial as well as environmental) permaculture farm. The kids are along for more than  the ride with plans being made and put into action for milking animals and chicken (aka dinosaur) husbandry.

As I was helping the kids with their homework (book reading) I had a thought that I would love to read at least 1 book a week with them that is about the lifestyle in which we are embarking/living. It seemed relevant.

Can anyone suggest books that will be appropriate for younger children that centre around farming, permaculture, homesteading, gardening etc. Not just how-to books but novels and picture books.

I'll start off with:
Enid Blyton - The children of Cherry Tree Farm, The children of Willow Tree Farm and More adventures on Willow Tree Farm.

These were the stories that made me first want to grow up to be a farmer!

Johanna Spyri - Heidi

My daughter is a little young for the book but LOVES the Shirley Temple film. That's where she got the idea of helping me with the milking (when we get our dairy animals) and she has milked a goat with great success.

Any other suggestions?

Here in Victoria Australia where I am it's been weird weather too. We usually have frost free days from November to March/April, apart from the random new years day frost (it's mid summer here of course). This summer just gone we were frost free from September through to late late May. Now yesterday we got an inch of snow. Since we don't really EVER get snow that settles, it's a LOT of snow for us. It's been really hard to get winter crops in because the summer ones hung on so very long and now they've been hit with really cold (for us) weather. I read somewhere that climate change will mean more unstable weather with extremes. I don't mind the snow here (pelting teachers with snowballs and being pelted right back is just awesome ) but the unstable and the ultra hot I can live without.

When you're sitting inside the school, waiting to pick up your kids and as it starts raining and the water washes right down the driveway you think "what a waste" and start formulating a plan with a ridgeline driveway, water harvesting swales and a whole lot less concrete runoff areas!

James Smartt wrote:Diapers: Cloth get changed more often than disposable, I would think closer to 5 or 6 per day, with a minimum of 1 weeks worth, so that puts you at 42 (round up to 50).  Diapers can be sewn on a regular sewing machine - http://www.diapersewing.com/

Um, a newborn can "go" up to 8 times a day! Not to mention bub will need diapers until probably 2 years of age minimum (kids can need them until  4 or even 5 overnight) and a 2yo is a very different size to a newborn. Look for adjustable sizing for modern cloth diapers.

A bucket for soiled and wet nappies is a must have, lots of burp cloths (an old folding nappy will work just fine), and for pregnant mumma an oil for rubbing into the belly is always nice (keeps down stretch marks too). There are heaps of commercial ones out there but many are petroleum based. Coconut oil is natural and very effective. And probably cheaper too!


The list of things Mumma and Bub might need can vary tremendously. For real basics check this out. http://www.finnishbabybox.com/ I'm not suggesting to buy one but it might give you some ideas. And in order to protect Gaia and the old hip pocket, check out 2nd hand. Babies grow so fast that newborn clothes are barely worn.

I love to do all sorts of hobbies. Recently I realised that I am a maker. It's sort of who I am. If I'm not making something then there's something wrong. I make soap, sew, both machine and by hand, knit, crochet, am learning to nalbind/nadelbind and to spin with both drop spindle and wheel, love Vikings and am joining a re-enactment group, gardening, leather shoe making (side seam and soon to be turn shoes), archery (made my own bow and I make my own arrows), and I want to learn to weave and dye and pretty much anything else I can learn. Ooh, and I love to read too if perchance there's a spare second in the day. I jump between hobbies depending on the season but these ones I keep coming back to.

Glenn Darman wrote:I digress Travis as we only have 250sqm of veggie's.Where we live now they aren't a problem and we hardly see any(Lucky I guess) I sheet mulched our original no-digs but have done away with them as they didn't perform well here.One thing we do have in abundance is "Slaters" tiny silver grey things that look like they belong in Jurassic park but they don't seem to harm any veggies that I've noticed.

Urgh, slaters! We have them here too, along with the slugs, millipedes and everything else that LURVES my veggie patch. I lost nearly everything to slugs and snails this year. Last year though my potatoes writhed with slaters. Watch them in the spud patch.