Aimee Hall

I am very glad they could find what they were looking for Michael, that is very exciting. I am thrilled she loved it.

The 4 hectares is our absolute minimum, we are after quite a bit more. We put in an offer on a place with 12 hectares but we were out bid today. We will keep trying, I just felt letting the Permies community know what we were looking for couldn't hurt. =)

Ooops, my apologies for remembering wrong. I have heard the soil there is very difficult. I hope the soil building is going well, and it is good that you have water.

I hope it keeps getting better! =)

So many great perennial veggies to try. I have been having great success here in Aus with Okinawa spinach, surinam spinach, potato onions, chokos, and sunchokes. Though due to all the moving around and primarily being limited to pots that is all of them I really have so far. Though I also have tons of herbs and various fruit like pepinos. However, my yard is close to explosion due to have so many pots tucked in.

Fortunately, we are looking for a farm and I am back on the hunt for perennial vegetables here in Australia. I certainly hope to find many listed, including homesteader's kaleidoscopic perennial kale grex so if anyone knows of good sources in Australia please let me know!

Also as a note on the Okinawa and surinam spinach, being frost tender I have found they both grow really well in pots indoors through the winter in a sunny windowsill. I still bring some in every year just to get better growth out of them. You may have to watch for aphids though, as they have found my plants once or twice. I have also had both bounce back after a light freeze but not something I would purposefully leave to chance.

Happy growing everyone!

Thank you very much for the link.

The reason we are talking about the multiple buildings is precisely because we intend to build what we need and not what we want. I also strongly support small houses and communal living areas.

The being able to afford it, that part is hard, we have a lot of dependents and only my partner and I to work. No choice though, MIL is disabled and my partners two little sisters are in Uni for several more years, so we will keep doing the best we can! =D

But a lot of councils do not care so much if it is a small home or a big one, they do not like to allow homes on small farm zone properties. Depending on the shire, they straight up will tell you to go buy a house somewhere else and won't allow it. It is unfortunate, but it is what we have found in our years of watching and searching.

I will keep checking in, in case there are permies in the area looking to sell until we have found a property.

How is your property going down near Geelong? It is good to know there are permies not too far away. =)

My absolute maximum budget is $800k for property with a home at this time. For just land, it is $500k. And of course either way the bank has to agree it is worth that much.

-We are not too picky about which direction out of town and have been considering all options. I just check how far of a drive it is from the address to the CBD to arrive by 10am on a weekday. (Fortunately, we both work with flexible employers which would let us start at that time when there is a bit less traffic, anything over a 90 minute drive has been dropped because it would just be too much to do more than 3 hours driving per day. Especially with 2 full time jobs, I already am lucky to get a solid 4 hours of sleep with only a 45 minute commute each way.)
-My two sisters are both in Uni and have to go to the CBD they would have to take a train, my partner and I could either take the train or drive. We typically do take the train if only one of us have to go in.
-Soil type, I will work with almost anything. I built my last farm on nearly pure clay. In many areas it had absolutely no soil and was just bare red clay with the odd rock here and there. Not even grass would grow there. Now, the only bare spot on the farm is the driveway that has been purposefully rocked.
-Good rainfall certainly helps, but is not strictly required.
-I get to work from home a few days a week but my partner definitely cannot and my little sisters have many mandatory classes they must attend in the CBD.
-Open countryside or bush-land is fine, however we prefer it be a "rural living zone" as we know we want to build individual houses. I love my little sisters but we definitely drive one another crazy.

There is a huge wish list of course but outside of the travel time and being able to build multiple houses most of it is pretty flexible. We do have to be able to get decent internet as both our works and uni for the girls would depend upon it.

Thank you for your interest, please let me know of any further questions.

Hello Permies friends,

Long time no chat, I have missed the discussions dearly.

I've been busy working two full-time jobs while trying to keep up with home-grown and cooked meals as much as possible. It has been a whirlwind, but it's all leading up to something marvelous.

The hard work is finally paying off though, we are looking to buy some land. We're hunting for at least 4 hectares, ideally as close to Melbourne as possible. We're aiming for a commute of 90 minutes or less to the CBD because we'll still be working in the city for the foreseeable future.

I've been keeping an eye on the usual spots and found a few places that have some potential. Then it clicked - why not ask here? If anyone in Melbourne area is considering selling some land, or knows of available properties that might fit the bill, we'd love to hear about it. We're passionate about regenerative agriculture and keen to bring that approach to our new home.

While we're quite flexible and ready to make things work, we do have one specific need: the ability to build houses on the property. This can be a tricky one, especially on farm-zoned properties under 40 hectares. And of course, it's been a challenge to find land that's within a reasonable driving distance from Melbourne CBD.

Don't hesitate to drop me a line if you have any questions, know of any leads, or just want to chat about our plans. Any and all help is hugely appreciated. Maybe with a little help from our Permies community, we'll find just the place we're looking for.

Looking forward to the discussion

-Aimee

I love seeing the updates in this thread! Thank you so much.

With time I have found that there is no "normal" to my fasts. Typically, I am always hungry, just always. Whether I am intermittent fasting, long juice fasting, water fasting, or eating what and when I want.

However, since for me it is always a constant struggle to deal with losing weight and managing my PCOS I have found that after a while of eating normally or intermittent fasting, I am just.... tired of food. Even food I know is terrific and normally love. So I go on an extended fast at that point.

My last extended fast was a low sugar vegetable juice fast (such as kale, cucumber, celery. Though I did add in up to a half of a beet root per 2L pitcher of juice because of how many nutrients they have) in which I drank coffee with almond milk one 16oz mug per day, various tea, lots and lots of water, and if I felt bad I would have a cup of bone broth. I also took select vitamins like iron because I am anaemic.

I started this fast on April 5th and started working my way off of the fast on April 17th. I lost 19.6lbs in that time and after completely ending the fast I put almost 9lbs back on within a few days and weight has been stable since then. I did come off of the fast earlier than intended because my kidneys were being sore and I have been unable to find a doctor in Australia to assist in monitoring my extended fasts and family members were very stressed because of genetic predisposition to kidney issues in my family.

Though a few things seem to be mostly consistent with my fasts, I am always able to work normally but I am more tired than normal. I tend to have very vivid dreams of my favourite foods and like someone else mentioned they will be huge mega versions (like an entire swimming pool sized lasagna), and I am ravenously hungry after about 8-12 hours without eating until I do eat. Even if the fasts go for months. Overall I find the just water fasts to be easier, very simple rules to follow, no question on if it is -allowed- or not but I tend to feel worse and get more dizzy and tired. And no matter how slowly I reintroduce foods, if it has been more than 5-6 days it upsets my digestive tract greatly.

I have spoken with a doctor though, who has suggested I try a very low energy diet of 500-600 calories a day comprised primarily of protein and non-starchy vegetables. The diet is intended to keep one in ketosis long term without losing as much muscle mass. The science behind it I have read does seem sound, though because I cannot help it, I have gotten the doctor to agree to allow me to put my own spin on it. Their diet has meal replacement shakes with ingredients I do not approve of such a artificial sweeteners, and they allow an unlimited amount of sugar-free jell-o (jelly to the Aussies out there) which I have also ruled out. Instead I will take an extra real food derived organic multi-vitamin. And I will be combining this with the intermittent fasting I am accustomed to, instead of having the 4-6 suggested mini meals per day. I plan to start Monday and will try to let you guys know how this works for me.

All of my blood tests were run, and my family has a very strong history of being morbidly obese, having high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, kidney failure, and many other health issues. While I do have PCOS and tend to always feel crappy because of injuries sustained when being hit by a car when I was 18, other than being slightly anaemic (despite being on a very high dose iron supplement), all my numbers other than weight all numbers are completely perfect.

A second job I picked up 8 months ago has been stressing me out significantly though, and I am up almost 70lbs from what had become my new normal because I have been stress eating like mad. Every time one of the patients I works with passes away, I cave and stress eat and this happens several times a week. If I do good, I eat nuts, if it is really bad and I had gotten way too attached, I go for something worse like a no refined sugar mug cake, or even something with processed sugar which is not like me. So, my biggest hope is that trying this new way of eating will get me out of this stress eating rut if nothing else.

Have any of you tried the very low energy diet (VLED)? What were your experiences?

I also want to thank the whole Permies community. It is one of the few places I feel free to actually be me without any reservation because everyone is just so accepting and open. You guys make my life better, even when I do not have time to post. You keep me inspired and thinking. Thank you all for that SO much!

Thank you very much for your continued interest.

As of the moment, the property is rented out until March I believe. I do not know if the current tenant intends to continue staying there or not. This is information that the rental company does not seem to share with me.

I will update here in a few months when I know if I will be looking for a new tenant or not. I do hope things are going well for everyone, and all are staying safe.

I also have gained weight during covid, I have been working around the clock just to try to pay the bills unfortunately. If I am lucky, I get 5-6 hours of sleep a night, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!

I am going to have to modify what I do, I want to do really well with the intermittent fasting but I have been feeling bad, and when I feel bad and get hungry enough I make absolutely terrible food choices. It is one of the reasons the longer fasts often work so well for me, because after you are on it enough you have to stick to it.

However, when I get on track, I find the cold brew coffee with milk (almond milk for me now as I am helping support a friend & housemate who is dairy intolerant, but loves dairy and is horribly tempted by even seeing it in the fridge.) doesn't seem to kick me out of a fasting state. And neither does tea without any sweetener added.

Though where I had cut out refined sugar entirely, it has creeped back into my diet. One of the places I work, regularly has ubereats deliver us "treats" to boost moral and they seem to very often be heavy on the sugar. I manage to pass most of them on to my housemates but sometimes we are expected to enjoy them in group video calls too.... Trying to politely decline has seemed to result in even more sweets being thrown my way. It is a bit understandable though, it is a high stress job and I think the "treats" and morning tea together is how everyone copes.

You are doing good to keep working at it Julia! It is absolutely terrible what you are having to deal with, you would think they would be thankful for your help. =(

Your post has also reminded me to start working on it a bit harder, thank you.

Everyone is dealing with stress, and I need to try to remember to not let it also keep taking my health. I am glad your progress is going in the right direction again and I am thankful for the updates on the benefits of fasting.

Staying on top of new scientific understandings of health and healthy eating can be hard to do. You guys are awesome! Good luck, and please all try to stay safe!

That is awesome R Summer!

I do a lot of curry during the winter with whatever storage veg I have. Mine tends to be more of a red thai curry and since I grow my own lemon grass, galangal, kaffir lime, turnips, greens, etc.

Except for the coconut cream (which I get in bulk for $.99/ 400ml can) I rarely have to put anything in that I paid for.

I also like to save up all the little odd bits when I cut up chickens to freeze. I usually get about 100-150g of chicken slivers that didn't come off neatly while deboning it.

The deboned legs/thighs/breasts, and wings put 6 together get wrapped and frozen portioned out for meals.

After collecting all the slivers together in a bad in the freezer for a while (I usually buy 3-5 chickens when they go on sale for a really good price to process all at once) I thaw them and dice them really fine and use them for either chicken pot stickers or larb gai (Thai chicken salad) which is super easy to make.:

Simmer the finely minced chicken pieces (no bone, gristle, or skin.) in about 1 cup or so of fresh lemon juice (we never pay for lemons, trees are everywhere here.) per kilo of chicken, after about 15 minutes, dump in about an equal amount of onions to your chicken (I often do 2 times as much onion to chicken but that is really to stretch our budget.) and cook to almost desired tenderness/crunchiness then add minced ginger, fish sauce, red chili flakes to taste. Serve over rice or with crisp lettuce leaves. Topped with fresh basil. Because there is such a small amount of chicken in each very filling serving we find this a great way to make meals for less than a dollar a plate.

And one I do have priced is: (If I had to buy things at standard grocery store prices, which I rarely pay....)
Instant Pot Spicy Black Bean Soup (This makes 10 generous servings)

Olive oil 30ml: $.17
Medium onion, diced X2       320 g: $.32
Crushed garlic 25g: $.13
Chili powder 15g: $1.50
Ground cumin 7g: $.34
Dried oregano 7g: $.32
Salt 5g: $.02
Pepper 2g: $.05
Cayanne pepper ground 2g: $.23
veg stock cubes 3each: $.90
Dry black beans 500g: $3.05
4oz can hatch chile peppers, undrained 50g: $.68
Rice or bread to serve 800g: $1.28
=$8.99 ($.90/serve)

Sorry if I repeated previous ideas, been a while since I have read through this thread. The permies community is the best. Thanks guys!