Counting the Cost: October

3 weeks ago I promised to curb my spending for this month ... & I have had a pretty good go at that. Unfortunately, it was always destined to be an expensive month as we needed to get a skip in & do some major clearance in both the back garden (half filled with rubble from when we cleared the front), the shed (full with old shop fittings) & the loft (who knows/cares what is really up there).
Although we had spent a vast amount on trees, plants & seeds last month, I don't expect to have to that that much more in the future - if at all. The fruit trees might take a little while to establish but mostly we expect to grow loads next year & to harvest some seeds for future planting.
So, this month's expenditure:
Skip = £175

& where we saved money:
More recycling of jars for next year's preserves;
Collecting toilet rolls for long rooted seedlings (we'll use Di's newspaper pots if we need more);
Collecting veg trays (from pre-packed mushrooms) for seedlings;
FREE Allotment - which will allow us to grow soooo much more;
Harvesting the wood from our old sofa for future cold frames;
Borrowing a petrol strimmer instead of buying/hiring one.
I really wouldn't want to hazard a guess at how much that little lot would have cost us ... more than we have going spare I would expect! LOL

Harvested veggies: saving £19.13 - go me!!!

Independence Day #6

This is actually a scheduled post as I've been away for much of this week (I get home sometime today!) That means I haven't done as much as I might otherwise.
1. Plant Something: nope! I haven't been around to tend to planting this week ... hoping to get some overwintering crops into the allotment soon.
2. Harvest Something: Fairly successful on this front ... we have a bunch of winter veggies in good shape & have been sharing them too.
2 lbs Spring Greens (Value £1.40)
12 oz Turnips (Value 56p)
lbs Potatoes (Value £)
4 oz baby carrots (Value 85p)
Herbs for cooking (Value £1.50)
Total value this week: £4.36
3. Preserve something: I have been a bit slack on this front. I haven't dried any herbs and as we started late in the year, there wasn't an abundance for freezing - next year will be a totally different story.
4. Prep Something (clean, mend, declutter, organise, learn new skills - be ready for what might come): Ongoing decluttering ... &, hardly a green issue but, I have started organising Christmas preparations: gifts that need making, cards etc. I'll be donating a bunch of handmade stuff to DS4's Christmas Fayre too (the deets will be on my craft blog starting early November!)
5. Cook Something (experiment for variation!) Not much experimenting goes on around here but I have cooked the odd meal. I baked apples (yummy!) made a few pasta dishes, made a huge stew.
6. Manage Reserves (don't waste bounty). Not much going on here. We are doubling quantities for much of our cooking ... stuff like white sauces, which we make from scratch & storing the rest in the fridge (it keeps well for a week ... never lasts longer than that! LOL). This week I didn't buy many veggies as the boys don't cook them when I'm away - but the ones I did have to go with a roast; there were too many, so I cooked them all & made a veggie bake (for me) with the leftover veggies & some white sauce from the fridge. Added a bit of grated cheese to the top ~& my next day's dinner was ready to bake in five minutes flat! I had some bruised cooking apples that needed using ... stewed apples anyone?
7. Work on local food systems (buy local, promote green, give away seeds or plants, start local initiatives): My dad came over on a flying visit (he lives in Bulgaria now) & will be sending me some seeds early spring. I gave some excess veggies to my mum (spring greens) & took some up to the in laws with me (more greens, mixed salad leaves).
8. Reduce Waste: I've flat-packed & stored some large cardboard boxes (they usually end up in the recycling) to cover the prepped ground on the allotment ... keeps the soil warmer & the weeds down. The ongoing re-purposing of glass jars, beer bottles, toilet roll tubes, bread bags & veg/meat trays continues ... as does my campaign against carrier bags!

Allotment Update!

As promised, a li'l piccie of the new allotment as it looked this morning. Yup! That's DH getting in on a photo op there! LOL. So as you can see, there's rather a lot of work to be done. It wasn't possible to get a good picture of the whole plot, maybe I'll try from a different angle next time.

I showed my face down there briefly ... for long enough to take a picture & identify any plants to be saved. So DH dug up a patch of strawberry plants & has left the raspberry canes in situ - we'll move them at a later date as they are in totally the wrong location!
DH has now strimmed the entire plot & when we get back next week we need to start the rather longer job of rotavating & prepping the ground. I still have to measure up, so that I can plan it all out - Exciting stuff!

Independence Day #5

It's been a better week for me, having seen the doctor last Thursday & got some meds ... I'm starting to feel more like myself again & have a bit of energy too! Anyway, this week's round up:
1. Plant Something - nope! we are busy clearing the new allotment & then I'll be back to planting again!!
2. Harvest Something - Ohhhhh, this was such a good week. Due to the mild weather we've been having, the carrots I put in to overwinter are actually about ready to pull now - actually, I planted them to generously, so the plan was to thin them out - check out the photos ... 1/2lb baby carrots (I steamed them whole & they were sooooo sweet!) plus 1/4 lb of the tiniest thinnings - I guess they could have gone into the compost but if they are big enough to wash, I reckon we can eat them! The potatoes, which we did think we might have planted to late, are about ready too - we didn't bank them up early enough, so no bumper crops - but these were a couple of supermarket spuds that had sprouted in the cupboard - luuuurve freebies! LOL. More spring greens - I am mildly anaemic, so although I'm not a fan of greens (the boys love 'em - I just grow 'em), I am making sure to have a portion every time I cook them.
New potatoes: 1lb 12 oz = value £1.75
Beetroot: 12 oz = value = £1.18
Spring greens: 12oz = value = 60p
Baby carrots: 8 oz = value = £1.70
Carrot thinnings: 4 oz
Herbs for cooking: I don't weigh them!! = value £1.50
Total Saving: £6.73
3. Preserve something: I froze a couple of portions of veggie soup (see 'manage reserves') but that was all this week.
4. Prep Something (clean, mend, declutter, organise, learn new skills - be ready for what might come). The shaker style knitted blanket is an ongoing project; decluttering continues ... a couple more boxes donated to charity.
We had a skip in this week & finally shifted the rubble from the back garden, unwanted shop fittings from the shed & some rubbish from the loft. We also dumped our old sofa (really wasn't worth donating!) in the skip after stripping everything worth re-using ... wood for the cold frame for starters! Not so green, but no other viable option!
I am still cleaning & removing labels from all the jars & beer bottles that are emptied - so far this week only one marmite jar made it as far as the glass recycling. When the shed is cleaned (plaster, sand etc needs sweeping out this weekend) we will finally get to storing them in the shed! My mum was throwing out some spare bedding - so we sorted thru that & snapped up some fleece underblankets (we have no heating, remember!) & a couple of travel rugs. I am still collecting plastic veg trays & toilet roll tubes for seedlings.
Although I've not actually learnt anything new this week, I came across a very useful link to a tutorial on fusing plastic - I see lots of totes etc in my future & I'm currently collecting bread bags for this - honestly, we do seem to be reducing the amount of stuff that ends up in the recycling by re-using much more now!
5. Cook Something (experiment for variation!): nothing experimental - steamed greens, steamed baby carrots & new potatoes with basil mint ... everything tastes soooo much better fresh from the garden!
6. Manage Reserves (don't waste bounty): I am still in the habit of buying too many veggies (not used to having them growing there yet, I guess) & where I've not been well rather too many needed using up - it might be predictable... but I made a big pot of veggie soup & froze a couple of family sized portions (I write the date & contents on the tub with a black sharpie)
7. Work on local food systems (buy local, promote green, give away seeds or plants, start local initiatives). Nothing to give away right now - but we will be working on the allotment & hopefully making new green-fingered friends there.
8. Reduce Waste: I don't know what happened to this category - managed to miss it out on the last post or two.
We are still working on not using carrier bags at all & I guess I've been a little bit more successful than DH on this one ... old habits die hard! I have a total of 4 totes, one of which zips into it's own pocket & is small enough to carry all the time in my handbag (so I have it with me on days I hadn't planned to buy anything!) - so far that has been enough.
Online shopping at Tesco ... they give you an option for delivery without carrier bags (you unload from crates on arrival)
The re-purposing of beer bottles, plastic trays, toilet roll tubes & glass jars has reduced our recycling by much more than I had expected. Now we have added plastic bags (bread bags in particular) to the stuff we can re-use. Our recycling is normally completely full for each fortnightly collection (& on occasions we have put the overflow in the neighbours recycling). The first collection this month was 3/4 full and this time around half.
Using the 'use it before it goes bad' approach to the fridge has also reduced waste - we are throwing out less & gathering some tasty stuff in the freezer!

Guess who has an allotment??

LOL! I guess that'll be me then! I know we already have all the space in the front garden ... & the space in the back garden that we are going to prepare for next year but we were already wondering how to fit in all the fruit trees, soft fruits & stuff that we have due to arrive anytime now ... along with all the veggies we want to grow next year! The allotment is a perfect solution.
It is just 5 minutes walk down the road & the guy that manages it has already offered to help with any advice we might need. The best bit? it's totally free - no rent!! I haven't actually measured it but it's at least the same width as one side of the front garden (which has produced everything we have harvested this year) & a tad longer I think. There is no running water on the site but 4 large water barrels for us to fill - a five gallon barrel taken down in the wheelbarrow each time we go (most days then) should fill them up over the winter!! Time to start begging extra veggie peelings from the neighbourhood - I guess we'll need waaaaaaay more compost!
It is totally overgrown right now - so we have a lot of work to do there. FIL has a petrol strimmer so DH will be strimming the plot on Saturday - We are visiting his folks for half term, so we won't get anything else done this week - but there will be a few days toward the end of next week to crack on with it.
There is also a fire bin & compost heap - well, not one that is underway - we need to empty the turf & soil out of it to start over! I did spy a few surviving strawberry plants & I'm told there might be some raspberry canes there too - we will have to remove the strawberries before strimming ... & have a good look to see what else might still be growing in there!
Exciting stuff!
Although we are a looooong way from having a smallholding, we kinda figure if we can't cope with this li'l extra space then we need a rethink! LOL. So it's all good practice & we are learning soooo much along the way!
I'll be back with updates as we have them ... & maybe some pics at the weekend!

Independence Day #4

Oh dear! Didn't do very well this week: here's what I did manage:
1. Plant Something
2. Harvest Something:
Spring Greens! These could have come out a bit earlier (they are meant to be overwintering, I think ... but nobody told them that!) & the caterpillars have been feasting ... but they are still good. 6 oz (value approx 30p), so not a high value crop - but easy to grow & abundant!!
3. Preserve something
4. Prep Something (clean, mend, declutter, organise, learn new skills - be ready for what might come).
Collecting toilet roll tubes for long rooted seedlings (think peas, beans etc), ongoing decluttering
5. Cook Something (experiment for variation!)
6. Manage Reserves (don't waste bounty)
7. Work on local food systems (buy local, promote green, give away seeds or plants, start local initiatives)

Counting the Cost: September

I have a bit of a spending habit (ask Di, she'll tell you! LOL), so I thought I better face the music & start keeping an actual record of what we are spending. I expect to have a deficit this year ... & that it will start to pay off next year ... but we will see! LOL
September is a bit of guesswork as I haven't really kept a proper record. So I'm gonna post a summary here & then update at the end of every month (gotta love scheduled posts - I will add to it thru the month & it will magically appear intact & on time!)
Here goes September:
*14 Fruit Canes from the 99p store = £13.86
*Seeds from Wilkinsons on a 3 for 2 offer (sweet peppers, cayenne peppers, chillies, runner beans, french beans, peas, moneymaker tomatoes, carrots, parsnips, mushrooms) = £8.73
* Auryn's Gardening equipment (tools, pots, gloves) £6.99
* Marshalls Seeds (Chinese broccoli; Chinese cabbage; Broccoli Romanesco; Mini Lettuces: little gem, tom thumb, dazzle; red onions; swede; butternut squash; pickling onions; broad beans; turnips: Tiny Pal; borlotti beans; melon; trial cabbage) = 26.26
*Trees/plants from J Parkers (Damson Tree; midget fruit trees: 2 apple, 1 pear; 3 hazelnut trees; 3 goji berry; 3 tayberry; 25 strawberry plants; 9 rhubarb crowns; FREE tulips & perennial flowers) = £101.35
* Compost = £3.96
* Gardening gloves (2 pairs ... pink!!!) = £5.98

TOTAL SPENT (you might want to sit down for this) = £167.13

I guess I could try to make it look a li'l bit better if I quantified the free stuff/recycled bits that have saved us money? There's not so many opportunities in the UK tho' - no freecycle, little in the way of dumpster diving etc. But, I have collected packaging to use as seed trays, jars for preserving next year, egg shells for free slug deterrant, dried my own sweet pepper, chilli & tomato seeds (that's a saving of around £3.00 right there!), my mum gave me some rhubarb & a bunch of seeds (mung beans (yum!!), tomatoes, beetroot, pumpkin, spinach, sunflower, oregano, rocket, endive, chives, American cress, rocket - about £12 worth) ... she'll want a few plants & maybe some produce next year ... obviously, I'm happy to share! LOL - so I guess it's not all bad.
Look out for the next budget update on October 31st ... maybe I'll curb my spending before then huh?

Getting Organised

Not the best photo on the planet - but I thought I'd show the gardening notebook I made. Originally, it was gonna have a spiral binding but I made it too full to fit the binding wires, so I had to use these huge book rings! LOL.
Inside, each divider has a month tab & plenty of space to add a scrappy layout with photos that I take throughout the year. Each month consists of a 'to do' list, 'to plant' list, a C5 envelope for storing seeds & an A5 clear file pocket for any other notes n stuff that I might need to store. Right at the front, I have created a re-useable planner - graph paper covered in a clear piece of acetate ... so you can plan an area using a non-permanent pen & then wipe it off when you're finished (you can keep a copy in the file pocket). Cool huh?
Oh yeah, & there's a pocket in the back cover that stores a li'l handmade notebook.
If you want to read all the details ... they are on my craft blog.

Independence Day #3

I have some (non life threatening) health issues at the moment, which cause lethargy among other things - so not much independence going on here right now! Anyway, this is the round up for this week:
1. Plant Something - nope! not a thing!
2. Harvest Something -
more turnips (2lbs) value £1.50
salad leaves - value 90p
herbs (oregano, chives, basil) - value £1.50
Total saving: £3.90
3. Preserve something - nope! not this week.
4. Prep Something (clean, mend, declutter, organise, learn new skills - be ready for what might come) - Did a little better here ... but not much.
I started knitting again, squares for a shaker-style blanket that I started last year. I only really knit in the winter but I hope to finish it this year!!
I also read about a better way to cast off ... so I tried it, and that is my 'new thing learned' for this week.
I've re-organised all my patterns etc - got rid of the ones I've no desire to make & sorted the rest. Sadly I knit quite slowly, so I don't suppose I'll make many things this winter.
5. Cook Something (experiment for variation!). I have done little more than re-heat this week ... I just lack motivation to do very much at all right now - but we didn't resort to convenience foods - so I guess it's OK.
6. Manage Reserves (don't waste bounty). LOL! lots of leftovers & bulk cooking going on, so that I don't have to think about cooking each day.
7. Work on local food systems (buy local, promote green, give away seeds or plants, start local initiatives) - nope! nothing doing here either!

I guess it's still worth posting progress ... even when there are weeks with little to report!

Independence Day #2

Having the weekly round up really is helping me to focus on staying green & finding more ways to achieve that. It also helps me to have all my information in the one place ... so this blog really helps too!

1. Plant Something: this week I have planted More mixed salad leaves, Basil & Parsley ... well Auryn did but I'm guessing that counts! LOL. Also we planted new fruit canes: Blueberry, Gooseberry, Redcurrant, Blackcurrant - 10 in total but I don't know that they will fruit next year?

2. Harvest Something:
1.5lb turnips - worth £3.84
Fresh herbs for cooking
Not sure it counts (but I don't see why not! LOL) we harvested foliage from a dead deciduous tree to use as a mulch around the blueberries. Sean has started to chop down the fir tree right at the end of our garden - the wood for a log pile (to encourage the friendly critters), foliage for mulching & the whole thing so that we can use the wasted space where nothing will grow.

3. Preserve something: Made chicken stock & froze 2 pints (go me!!!).

4. Prep Something: Donated a whole bunch of handbags & hats to a charity collection, recycled and stored a bunch of jars ready for preserving the glut of fruit I expect to have next year(!).
We also planned out the garden for fruit trees & ordered a whole bunch more veg seeds/fruit trees etc. Cleaned up & roughly crushed eggshells & have them stored to deal with next year's slugs!!
Have started collecting & cleaning beer bottles for Sean's (DS1) home brew - I was already using the labels in my craft projects but the bottles were going into the glass recycling - I'll save them in future.
Found warm, fluffy socks & gloves in the 99p store so bought a pair of each - sure, I could make something similar for the winter but I know I'll run out of time this year if I'm to make it all myself. I will prepare much earlier next year!

5. Cook Something: Tried roasting baby turnips whole 'twas a disaster as I cooked them too long & they were inedible! LOL. Maybe next time?
More stew ... we love a good stew! Also made chicken stock from scratch - not a big deal but something I never do!

6. Manage Reserves: I had some supermarket veg past their best ... popped them in a stew, so I guess that counts. We are getting much better at using leftovers for lunch! & then there was the chicken stock - I will totally use up any bones etc for stock in future ... if the boys are going to have meat, then I'm going to get every penny's worth out of it!!!

7. Work on local food systems: Looked into the possibility of taking on an allotment ... then I could keep a few chickens out back ... & maybe meet some new gardener friends! Have passed on some veg to a neighbour who is full of great advice even tho she no longer grows her veg (she has fruit trees still tho')

8. Reduce Waste: Cleaned up another bunch of plastic trays (from pre-packed meat) to use as seed trays. Re-used the compost from a spent grow bag (FIL bought) when planting the new fruit canes ... I guess there has to be some nutrition left in it - & the organic matter from the courgette plant's roots etc. that had previously been grown in it.
I guess the jars & bottles no longer going into the glass recycling fit in here too.

9. Learn a new skill:

Conquering Mount Washmore!

I've always been a fan of line-drying washing ... there's something satisfying about bringing in laundry that smells of outdoors (except when the nearest 'couldn't-care-less' neighbours have bonfires in the middle of the day!) & today is a nearly-perfect laundry day.
I've been signed up to FlyLady for about a year now & the laundry habit is one of those that I have down to an art - many of the others are still a bit of a struggle! LOL So, the deal is that 'one load a day keeps Mount Washmore at bay' & somewhere along the way, I have found that the 2-3 loads I was doing every day no longer make a full load every day? Does that make sense? I guess where the guys get their stuff back folded & ready to put away at the end of each day they do it straight away & I'm not washing clean clothes that had languished on the floor unworn until they were unclean - you live & learn! LOL
So anyway, back to the laundry...
For a long time now, I have used about one third of the laundry powder/detergent that it recommends on the pack - manufacturers are there to sell product ... not to save us money. Ine third does clean as well as the recommended dose! I also use the 'quick wash' facility for practically everything - modern detergents are designed to work at low temperatures & do the job (in my machine at least) in 40 minutes, including a good rinse & spin.
Fabric Conditioner only needs to go into washloads that will be line-dried. The fragrance (if that's what you have it for) evapourates in the drier anyway ... & I never use those fragrance sheets for the drier either. Tumble dried washing is perfectly soft & smells fine without additives - but I do prefer it for line-dried clothes. Even then, a cheap store's own brand is fine.
Recently, I had a moment of clarity: tea towels, face cloths & dishcloths (we've used the washable ones for over a year & haven't had to replace them as yet - must save a fortune on sponges etc.) do not need to be soft & fluffy - so they don't need to be tumble dried! Obviously, it's a bad idea to put fabric conditioners in with these things ... it effects the absorbency a lot! So I line-dry them too.
Just a day or two back, I had a happy accident. The towels in the dryer came out damp - it was still early in the day, so I set them on the line to finish - and they stayed fluffy. So now I start the towels in the dryer to fluff them up & finish them on the line. Each load is in the dryer for around half the time, saving energy - and money!
On the same note, I line-dry cotton bed linen without fabric conditioners too. They come off the line fresh-smelling & crisp.
If it has been a windy day & I fold all the laundry as it comes off the line (I take some care with folding so as not to fold fresh creases in) I can get away without doing much ironing at all. The ironing is my least favourite household chore, so anything that helps avoid it has to be a good thing! LOL. & of course, that saves time, energy & a bit more cash.
So what about the cost? on figures I read some time ago (so this is not an exact science) the cost of tumble drying a full load was estimated at 14p. So using ball park figures I no longer tumble dry tea towels etc (around 2 loads per week) & only half dry another couple loads of towels each week. So that's around 42p per week (don't laugh ... you'll see how it adds up!)
And as I'm on top of the Mount Washmore now, I can leave the laundry for a day or two if the weather isn't line-dry friendly without having to do an 'emergency' load for whatever we need (underwear was a favourite! LOL) saving around 3 more loads each week & another 42p.
That brings us a total saving of maybe 84p per week - which adds up to around £43.68 per year!!
Like I said, it's not an exact science & during the winter months I do have to use the dryer (we don't use the central heating ... so drying anything in less than 3-4 days is fairly impossible) but you get the idea.
When I do use the dryer (it's a condenser model) the water is recycled to water plants.
I've recently found this recipe for making your own laundry detergent - I'm gonna try that soon I think & see what other savings are there to be had.