Brown's Hill has run it's course....

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OH MY!!!!

It's crazy how time flies lately.  Not a lot of time has been spent in the garden as it's just so wet and cold, time to change my mindset I think.

We have had lots of sad times over the last few months, dealing with issues I never thought we would have to deal with so my beautiful family have taken precedence over everything else.  Things are beginning to look up and my attention is starting to stray back to our garden and living simply once again.

Earlier in the week I visited our local nursery and purchased 2 rhubarb crowns, something I had been meaning to do in years past, they went straight in the ground and I look forward to watching them grow.  I will be returning on the weekend to buy a few berry canes, I'm thinking raspberry and thornless blackberry.  I used to have some other berries but they were in the wrong location and I was always getting hooked up in them, I cracked it one day and ripped them out.

I planted a heap of old seed that I had sitting around and was patiently waiting to see if any would grow, most never got the chance as Chia (one of our hens) got into my patch and dug up all the uncovered beds.

I don't even have any photos to share at this time but will take some soon I promise.

KOMBUCHA GOODNESS

Last week I went to a workshop held by my lovely friend to learn about kombucha.  I have tried and failed in the past with my own so it was really helpful to see someone making it and giving lots of tips.  Well last night I got to pour off my yummy goodness into smaller bottles.  I made an apple/ginger and a plum.  I actually got a tummy bug a couple of days ago and was thinking how good this probiotic drink would be but it wasn't quite ready.  That's what I thought anyway until my kombucha guru said to open a bottle and drink some anyway, so this morning I tried the apple/ginger with soda water and is was delicious!  So excited to add such a healthy drink to my daily routine.

Some other things have been happening here on Brown's Hill, the vege patch has given us an abundance of zucchini, beans, cucumbers and tomatoes,  My spaghettti squash is nearly ready and I picked the bush beans I have been drying for seed today.

Gormet Delight

Cherokee Wax

Last week I also went foraging with a friend for blackberries and though it was a painful experience (one I remember from my teenage years) it was so worth it.  After we spent a few hours with the blackberries, we went and picked mulberries.  It was a huge day but I ended up with 14 jars each of blackberry and mulberry jam.

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.

TOMATOES IN WINTER

Due to being away from home for most of our tomato harvest this year, I had to get creative if I wanted to use them up.   I used my amazing Squeezo to de-seed and skin the crop then I froze them in large containers all ready to make tomato sauce.

It had taken me this long to actually get it done and we couldn't be happier having yummy homemade sauce in the home again.

We are looking at purchasing an extra freezer (chest) to replace the fridge/freezer that was in the shed.  Just trying to weigh up convenience and savings of being able to buy bulk over the running costs.  I nearly bought one on our local buy, swap & sell but pulled out and decided to buy new instead.  I just didn't want to take the risk of it not working once we got it home, you hear that happening all the time with second hand white goods, so more saving for me.

WELL WHAT DO YOU KNOW? I"M BACK

I didn't think I would be with so many work commitments and upheavals this year but I am right back on track and if you are still checking in, I'm here to stay.  I can't say the same for my craft blog, I'm unsure what to do there but I'm sure it will come to me.

I'm not going to go into detail about what I've been going though but with the start of a new financial year we are in a position for me to give up one of my jobs, you see I like my job but it's extremely inflexible when it comes to time off and time is what I will be needing due to Lachie getting into the State under 15's cricket squad.  There's so much time in Adelaide and I can't tell you how stressed I have been trying to navigate this.  Also, there's Sophie's dance, she wants to try competitions away and as it stands we simply can't do it as I can't get time off or change shifts so we are biting the bullet, getting back to living simply and being frugal.

I have spent a couple of weeks taking a hard look at our budget and with some cut-backs and being able to pay registrations for 12 months with tax money, we can get by.  I can't tell you how excited I am for this change and this week while I'm still working I will be bulk buying certain products to make soap, bread etc.

I've spent a lot of time in the garden getting my beds up to scratch for planting, they are all sown out now and I look forward to seeing some plants popping through.  Today we purchased 3 new chooks so we have 5 again which will see us right for eggs for all of that cooking I will now have time for.

Got to love freecycle, I picked up this sink to go on a frame I had that had a rotted wood top, now I have a potting, cleaning bench, just perfect for my needs.

I hope to give notice next week and then there's no going back and I'm excited.

Whole Food Kitchen

On Monday I will further my foodie journey by joining Heather from Beauty That Moves in her Whole Food Kitchen 2015 workshop.  Those that have followed me for a while will know that I have joined in on a few of Heather's workshops over the years and have loved every one of them.

I look forward to participating once again and learning even more from such a knowledgeable woman.  Bring on Monday.

AROUND HERE.....

Gosh time seems to fly by lately, I'm now working out of our home more than I would like to but now that Lachie has been selected into the State Cricket Training Team, we need more income to support all of the travel.

I took a little wander to my neglected vege patch today, well not that neglected as we've been picking lots of tasty cucumbers over the last couple of weeks and made some yummy pickles that I can't wait to try.

A couple of weeks ago I worked out that there was no way I was going to have enough tomatoes for sauce this year, so it was off to the farmer's market to buy a box.  My trusty Squeezo made it's annual appearance and now the tomato pulp is sitting in the freezer ready to make sauce this week.

My eggplants are coming along nicely but I'm afraid they may not get any bigger due to the cold weather we are now having, I might cover them tomorrow to try and keep some heat in.

I'm pulling the last of our carrots and totally stuffed up and haven't planted more as yet.

and the last of your very small amount of tomatoes this season.

So that's my life in the garden around here.  I hope it's nice enough weather for a bit of a tidy up in the patch tomorrow and some seed planting.

doTerra Essential Oils

Three weeks ago I became a doTerra Wellness Advocate.  After spending quite a considerable amount of time sourcing therapeutic grade essential oils, I took the plunge and signed up with doTerra.

When I received my first order of oils the first thing I did was open them up and smell.  Oh the smell, Absolutely devine!  I compared the aromas with other oils from different companies that I already owned and the difference was remarkable, I have since thrown out the other oils as there really is no comparison.

My love for essential oils and aromatherapy began 20 years ago and has been renewed with passion thanks to these beautiful oils.

doTerra (link to my doTerra web page, feel free to take a look).

MID WEEK MAKING

A day off work today and it started with a nagging headache, thank goodness I had my trusty peppermint essential oil, just a dab on both temples and within seconds my headache was gone.

Out came the sewing machine to whip up a pile of cleaning cloths.  My last pile had dwindled to next to nothing and as I had some flannelette sitting around, it took no time at all to cut some squares and sew them together.

The fairies basket is for the laundry/bathroom and the butterflies for the kitchen.

It feels like soup weather and some chicken noodle soup seems just right at the moment.  Using local organic produce, a few chicken legs from the freezer, homemade vegetable stock and rice noodles, this soup is delicious and nourishing.  I know what I'm have for tea tonight.

I am also re-visiting a great book and making bread with this method.  I don't know why I stopped making bread this way as it's so quick and easy.  Tonight we will use some of the dough for pizza bases as everyone agreed it's time to fire up the pizza oven.

IT'S TIME TO START THIS BLOG UP AGAIN - I HOPE YOU ARE STILL WITH ME

Oh my it's been so busy since I was last on this blog, I've missed it but have also lost my way a little with self reliance.  I now work 3 part-time jobs and with all the added sports travel I do for son No.2, I have to admit have fallen into more of a BLEH state of mind.

Our healthy clean eating plan has suffered, making household items and food from scratch has suffered and financially we have suffered due to this.  It makes me sad for what I have just let go over the last 6 months but now I'm back on track and determined to live a simple, healthy, productive lifestyle once again.

Of course as the seasons change, we change and life does get busier for some.  Financially it made sense for me to take on more work outside of the home, son No.1 finished year 12 last year and turned 18 last month, we lost quite a bit of financial support with this happening but he still lives at home so the expenses are certainly still there.  I'm not complaining, I'm grateful that we live in a country that supports families financially and now with all 3 kids getting older, I am able to work a little more to help support our family.

So I'm happy to be back on this blog and sharing how I go about making our lives simpler, cleaner and environmentally friendlier.

HAS IT REALLY BEEN A MONTH?

Gosh I can't quite believe I haven't posted for so long.  I have to say not a lot has happened during this cold winter month but now it's starting to get lighter, two of the chooks have started laying.  I'm so happy to have fresh eggs again, Chia and Cyril jnr have begun laying and keeping us stocked.

These eggs are Chia's, Cyril jnr's eggs are a lovely deep brown.

We had a very chilly day at the start of August, boy that wind was straight from the Artic!

I've cooked lot of yummy, nourishing food.

and I spent time out in the veg patch preparing for Spring planting.  Lots of weeding, mulching and adding manure and Seasol to the mix.  The worms are loving it and I can't wait to begin planting again.

Some other exciting news is that my friend Taryn (chook lady) is taking over a market garden in town at the end of September and has asked for help a day a week in exchange for a box of fresh veg.  There's so much I can't grow here due to space so I will be happily helping out and can't wait.

5 WEEKS AGO.....

4 gorgeous girls came to live with us, today one of them started crowing!  Our girl named Cyril (thanks to Lachie) is definitely not a girl.  I contacted my friend who I bought them from and she told me to bring Cyril back and get another girl.

This is Cyril last week, she flies straight up like a rocket with Chia every morning to the top of our tree and sits up there overlooking everyone.

Welcome Cyril Jnr, she is gorgeous.  Cyril Jnr is a Barnvelder x Gold Laced Wyandotte

Cyril Jnr was one of the girls I wanted the first time round but we couldn't catch her, so glad she decided to come home with us this time.

THIS WEEK IN MY KITCHEN

Capturing my love of whole foods, combined with the activity of a bustling kitchen. A weekly collection of photos from the center of my home. 

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Joining Heather at Beauty That Moves

It's school holidays here so we have been very busy with dance Eisteddfod for Sophie and with the kids social lives.

Sophie made some yummy treats, cinnamon flatbread and a lemon slice.

Lachie made pancakes.

Busy baking snacks for the holidays.

Banana choc chip muffins and pasties.

Yummy!