IT'S MONDAY AGAIN...

Early morning picking today as the weather heats up, lots of zucchini and cucumber, the last of the beans and some yummy tomatoes.

At this point in our lives I have had to make compromises, my aim for 2017 was to cut back significantly on waste particularly single use plastic.  Of course I am constantly thinking about this when I purchase anything but circumstances have changed in our little home and our usually strict budget has now become a lot stricter.

As I am the main accounts manager and shopping queen I now have to look at things a little differently.  For instance, today I needed some fresh produce for lunch and some cooking, there was some organic loose leaf lettuce mix going out for half price, bargain! except that it was wrapped in plastic.  I had to make a decision and I chose to buy it.  There are other things that I would normally not buy due to plastics but I now may have to if they are a lot cheaper than the plastic free variety.

My lunch today was a salad using organic lettuce mix (half price), spring onions (in season and on sale), home grown cucumber and tomatoes, a small amount of feta (on sale and I will use it 3 different meals), a drizzle of olive oil and salt and pepper.

We all have to make decisions, some more important than others, I'm not going back on my ideals but may just have to compromise here and there.  I intend on growing a lot more produce all year round to cut back on waste and of course keep up my cooking from scratch so that of course cuts down on a lot of waste.  If we all do a little bit, then we are making a difference.

For dinner tonight I thought I would use up some eggs from my girls and a couple of our zucchini. For the meat eaters in our home, curried sausages with rice and for me, zucchini slice.

ON THIS DAY...

It was lovely to have a coolish day today to open up the house and get some scrapbooking done in my planner.  I went for a wander up into the patch, it's so good that I am picking something every day now, that makes me so happy.

I've started following a few new blogs and on The Life Of Clare (sorry having trouble linking) she had a post on on gardening journaling.  This is right up my alley and over the years I have keep gardening journals so it's time to start another.

HARVESTING

* Zucchini
* Tomatoes
* Pickling gherkin
* Bush Beans
* Herbs - Chives, Parsley, Bay Leaves
* Eggs

PLANTING

* Beetroot
* Carrot
* Broccoli - in trays

TO DO

* Preserve Excess
* Keep Up Watering
* Weeding
* Tie Up Tomatoes
* Clean Around Beds
* Find Space For New Beds
* Clean Out Chicken Beds
* Take Off Netting
* Clean Up Herb Beds
* Make Use Of Pots

I LOVE MY GARDEN

I have been picking heaps of beans from my Gormet Delight and Cherokee Wax bush beans. Freezing them has been the best way to deal with the glut but fresh, they are oh so yummy!  I am now letting a few beans mature on the plant to collect the seed.

My very first tomatoes for the season, YAY.  They are small but will be delicious I'm sure.  I'm pretty sure they are Tommy Toe that self seeded from last year.

My first pickling gherkins were picked also, time to find another yummy recipe for them and the girls are as always giving us lovely fresh eggs every day, not to mention eating all the scraps from the kitchen and weeds and snails from the garden.

My efforts are well and truly paying off this year, it also helps that everything is behind so I'm actually home to care for my patch instead of running around the countryside with my son's cricket.

A GOOD DAY

With hubby on holidays, it was the perfect time to get out in the garden this morning and do quite a bit of cutting back of trees.  A big job but it had to be done.

This afternoon saw me in the kitchen.  This year has not started well for our family and we are finding ourselves only just getting by financially at the moment.  What a perfect time to get back to basics and make a true effort of cooking from scratch as well as cutting back in other areas.

Today I made;
Sponge Cupcakes
Chicken and beef sausage rolls
Cheesymite rolls
Bacon and cheese rolls
Quiche
Meatloaf

With an abundance of eggs from our girls, it was good to use quite a few up today.

LIFE'S LIKE THAT

It's funny how blogging seems to take a back seat when it comes to social media.  I have been working so hard on trying to get my little home business up and running that I totally neglected this blog in preference to other outlets.

I don't know if anyone even visits anymore, but I would like to keep this blog the same as what it always has been, simple living and sustainability.

So much has happened since I last posted, yet so much has stayed the same.  I let my garden grow over, losing all interest in growing my own fruit and vegetables.  I let the soil become poor and neglected and it's only now that I am beginning to reap the benefits of my hard work and time in getting it all back to where it was 1 1/2 years ago.

On the work front, I now work limited hours outside the home but do work a lot on my home business Eco Aarde.  I have the knowledge to make a real go of simple living and over the last couple of months have gotten back to cooking from scratch, preserving and maintaining my vegetable patch. I look forward to sharing it all with you once again in this space newly named Brown's Hill.