(Closer to) Zero Waste - Five things you can do right now

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(Closer to) Zero Waste - Five things you can do right now to cut your expenses, increase your self-sufficiency, and make the world a better place for all of us.

What is  "Zero Waste"?

From the wiki page:

Zero Waste is a philosophy that encourages the redesign of resource life cycles so that all products are reused. No trash is sent to landfills or incinerators. The process recommended is one similar to the way that resources are reused in nature.

Instead of just throwing stuff in the trash, what do we do?

Bea Johnson, author of bestselling Zero Waste Home, whose family generates just one small jar of trash per year, talks about the five Rs:

Reduce

Reuse

Recycle

Refuse

and Rot (compost) 

Bathroom Makeover Pt1 - Bathroom Sink and Before Pictures

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One of the big projects I took on while Joe was away for a month was a bathroom makeover. 

Holding the Balance - Hooray he's home!

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The girls' Daddy, my beloved husband is home.

One of the things I couldn't tell you is that Daddy was away for a month. 

One of the primary tenets of OpSec (Operations Security) is to not broadcast/publish/post/announce/etc travel dates, plans, absences etc. As a somewhat somewhat small female with two little ones in tow, we don't announce to the world that we're on our own for a month.

A month is a long time. I even read my own article on solo parenting in a few times of desperation.  Waitaminit. I know how to do this. I wrote about it. Didn't think I was writing it to help future-me, but hey. Oh right! That's what we do.

While it wasn't a deployment and his stateside training made regular contact possible, he was gone long enough that we had to form new patterns, routines, and lots of extra snuggling wherever they could get it. 

With extra treats, lots of toddler meals, and so much love and support from friends and family, we are back together. And little worse for the wear.

Now if we could just get through this heat we will get back to making this space home! 

I'm looking forward to showing you all the marvelous things we created, built, planted, spread, stenciled, painted, and spruced while Daddy was gone.

24.) "Know your number one job is to hold the balance when your child cannot hold it for themselves - be able to be a calm rock with a ho-hum attitude toward their emotional excess to help the child learn." -Carrie of Parenting Passageway

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The best $5 I've ever spent - buying not so perfect produce.

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Recently I've been seeing lots of articles about "ugly" vegetables - ones that don't meet the perfection standards held by many grocery stores.

They aren't any less nutritious, they aren't even necessarily damaged in any way. 

For anyone looking to eat well for less, try looking in the "day old" bin or reduced price cart at your local grocery store.

There's a local market that's a little farther from our house (but closer to Joe's work) that has a wonderful discount shelf. Often it's just "ripe bananas" 3lbs for 99c but occasionally there are lots of other goodies. 

They may have a soft spot. They may be the last of the batch, or they may just need to be peeled. 

2lbs of asparagus blanched and individually quick frozen (IQF)

Tomatoes eaten raw and in fresh pasta sauce

Broccoli to a friend and yellow flowered ones to the chooks

Cucumber salad

Bananas for snacks and the freezer.

For $5.

Our favorite local bakery almost always has goodies in a day old bin. The only difference in taste and texture is the same as you get from buying food and not eating it all the day you buy it. If I buy a couple of scones I'm not going to finish them completely within a couple hours. I'd much rather get a couple goodies at half the price and enjoy them just as much.

See what you can find! 

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Silence and Surprises

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We've been very busy, but I can't tell you about it.

A certain someone hasn't seen our work yet. But I can't tell you about that either. Not yet at least.

What I can tell you is that there have been lots of plants, dirt, painting (rolled, sprayed, brushed, and stenciled), designing and building, wiring, lugging about, adventures, pretty skirts dresses and fantastic hats,

Preserving Our Farmshare

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Before learning that my husband would be gone for more than a month over the course of this summer, we signed up for a CSA farmshare. 

Most CSAs have "small" or half shares which would be plenty for our family of two adults and two quite littles.

We decided to go with a full sized share to challenge ourselves to eat more vegetables and to put more food by for the winter.

While I haven't found a way to preserve lettuce other than use it as social capital and spread the wealth, I've been busy chopping, freezing, canning, and prepping.

So far we have: 

2gal bags of frozen kale

1gal bag of frozen mixed greens - beet tops, kohlrabi greens, chard, etc.

1qt bag of frozen scallions

1qt bag of frozen green onions

qt jar of frozen small white onions

1gal of frozen hulled strawberries

4 x .25qt jars of strawberry jam

2 x .25qt jars of black raspberry jam (berries picked from a friend's patch)

2 x .5 pint jars of pickled radishes (we ate the third to see how they were. Yum!)

We have beets collecting for pickled beets and have been pretty well keeping up with everything else. 

 

Photo Courtesy of New Dawn Farm in Westmoreland, NH

"We eat local all year 'round because we can."

What are you preserving, canning, freezing, drying, fermenting, putting up or putting by?
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Busy washing EVERYTHING.

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Thank you to a very dear cousin, we have a working washing machine. 

Almost two months ago our washer broke. We called the repair guy (knowing there was a diagnostic fee) and were told it was a faulty drain pump. We decided not to pay the more than $350 to have him replace it. 

Three orders from three different companies later, we had the part in hand. 

A little more than a week later, one of my very favorite cousins arrived with another of my very favorite cousins (who played with the girls ALL day) and put in the part. 

Turns out it wasn't the only thing not functioning, but at least now we can wash on hot. 

Doing laundry by hand (foot?) or borrowing the washers of relatives during our visits there meant we only did the absolutely necessary laundry. 

We didn't wash the bathroom rug. Turns out it actually still is a creamy white color. :) Who knew? 

19.) Sometimes you just have to put on your big girl panties and deal with it.

So happy to be back in the clean laundry business.

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WIP Wednesday, June 22nd 2016

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Creating is my passion, my sanity, my sense of being "up to something", my way of contributing a little bit. I always have a few projects going, many left to the side for months or even years before I pick up the best and carry on. Here's some of what I'm working on this week:

We are in the thick of summery adventures, inside, outside, and away.

Appreciating the abundance of wildlife, anticipating berry picking, splashing, transplanting, shooing chooks out of the garden, pickling radishes, and so much more.

9) "But do life's plain, common work as it comes, certain that daily duties and daily bread are the sweetest things in life." -R.L. Stevenson

Wishing you and yours a delightful start to the summer!

What are you working on? What are you excited about attempting? What are you proud to be working on? Take a picture or two and share it with the rest of us by leaving your link in the comments.

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