usedteabag - or, how I learned to stop worrying and love the Journal

[hwillm1977]

We're practically next door neighbours, I'm outside Moncton, NB... which hippy town do you live in? (You don't have to answer that if I sound too creepy asking ) I love Nova Scotia, we go a few times a year... we have family and friends in Halifax, Yarmouth and Amherst.

Hope you enjoy the forums, I don't post all that often but I love reading all the great info on here.

 

[usedteabag]

Hi again, everyone! I see there have been a lot more welcomes since I last came online, and I appreciate them! Thanks again.

As for you N.B. neighbour, hwillm1977, it's okay! I'm in Wolfville, and as far as I can see, it's one of the hippy-est towns in this area! Though I was originally born in Shelburne, and I'm quite familiar with both Halifax and Yarmouth. Such a small world, forums like this one are great for this.

I just wanted to give a little update.

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As suggested by someone (sorry! I forget who) in this forum, I started keeping track of everything, I mean everything, that my partner and I buy. Right now, the winery that I work at is in the off-season and it's very quiet; I only get work every now and then. So, essentially, we are living off one income since mine is just enough to pay my student loan, my Visa, and then some pocket cash. I can't wait until May for many reasons!

Anyway, the thing that I am finding the hardest in this self-sufficient living is our commitment to local. We live in such a vibrant farming community, there's little excuse not to take advantage of it. Not only am I able to get all the produce that one could purchase in a temperate climate as our own, but I have local beer, wine, cheese, some milk, bread (though I make most of that myself), meats, eggs, fish. What more could I need? Sometimes even tropical fruits: at the farmer's market, there is a Mennonite lady who seems to do most of the growing at her farm. I told her how Dave and myself only buy locally, so no citrus for us, for example. In her greenhouse, she manages to grow avocados and oranges in season. When we show up to the market and she sees us, she pulls these from under her table and sells them to us--and only us, as far as I can tell! It's wonderful.

So the availability is not the issue. but it's the cost. I managed to cut down on some of that cost by working on an organic farm last summer which paid $10/hour in produce. So, if I worked $30 worth that week, I could pick anything I wanted that was worth up to $30, and I ran up a tab, so I can continue to use the money that I earned throughout the winter; I still have some left even now! We try to make our own beer now and again, though we have yet to start a running amount (e.g., have one on the go in the fermenting stages, another in the bottling, another in the drinking, etc.). We should get on the wine-making, but the wine here is actually so good it's difficult to justify! Anyway...

I just don't know where to go from here because generally my priorities aren't "buy on sale," unless of course it's a non-local item, in which case, if I'm buying something that's not local I may as well buy it on sale. But most farmers around here seem not able to make a deal; times are tight. What is a locally-minded, community-driven, food-loving lady to do?

I know that the first thing to do is grown my own--and I do. But I must admit, I'm not the best gardener in the world. I have learned a lot from working on the organic farm last summer, which I can only assume will help this season. I have taken advantage of my time off and have been reading up, gathering information, charting it and writing it, making sure that I get the most out of my crop. I have friends who will be taking whatever excess I have; for example, I have had good success with pole beans and peas in the past, so I'm growing a lot more of those this summer. Friends that want it and are also gardeners will exchange their excess bounty for mine. We also have couple friends who have more land than they can deal with, and have offered to let us grown some crops on it in the future.

All this said, I am 100% proud of my lifestyle and I am certain of its benefits. Financially, I am giving back to my community and when you compare its vibrancy to other communities surrounding us, it's evident that it's working. I find I can sometimes get deals anyway. Back in December at the farmer's market, Dave and I were running late and it was at the end of the market. We came to our favourite Mennonite as mentioned earlier and she still had some tomatoes and peppers. They weren't perfect looking, but they would be excellent for soups and stews. We said we would take what she had left, all of it. She was so excited that she gave us each basket for $2 each. So, what would have been around $16-20 worth of peppers and tomatoes became $8. It was lovely.

Health-wise--while I don't really have studies to back it up--I am convinced that I am healthier for eating seasonally. Eating locally is more expensive, mind, but then it forces us to have smaller portions which is better overall. And I am happy. And this is the most important thing.

So the only problem is learning how to make this sustainable: to continue my lifestyle while still being able to save money, pay bills, and retain sanity. I left the standard style of living a while ago; I have seen the light, and have no desire to turn around.

 

[Denim Deb]

I hear ya on eating local. I'll be doing more of it this year. I have my own eggs and am hoping to have some chickens this year. (Had no luck getting any chicks last year.) I'd love to be able to buy 1/2 a steer-don't know if we'd eat a whole one as well as a pig locally. There are plenty of lakes in this area and I like to fish, so I'm hoping to get some trout as well as pan fish. Plus, since I don't live that far from the Jersey shore or the Delaware Bay, I'm hoping I can do some crabbing and saltwater fishing.

 

[Beekissed]

I don't buy local either. Found it impossible in my area and the stress of trying for an ideal of that kind is just too much. My motto is sort of "Do the best you can each day to do the right and sensible thing....after that, leave it alone and just live."

I grow a lot of my foods but not all.

I'm frugal about a lot of things but not everything.

I recycle and repurpose as much as possible but I still buy new.

Self-sustainability is a goal that cannot be achieved but only worked towards and each step one takes in that direction can only be a good thing, ya know?

I like to think I'm living lighter on the world and easier on the pocketbook and that seems to be enough for me.

 

[usedteabag]

Denim Deb - Fishing is something that's so obvious that I hadn't even thought of it, so that's a good suggestion (even if you weren't intending for it to be one). My partner's stepdad is big into fishing, maybe I'll ask if I could join him.

Beekissed - I'm sorry your area isn't great for the local food, as I'm so grateful for mine. That being said, it's wonderful that you do all your own self-sufficiency. I'll have to follow you more often as it gets closer to the growing season here. I'm quite excited to get my garden going. We have clay soil here, which I'm told is nutrient-rich, but not so good for breaking through. I'm going to borrow friend's tills and things when the ground isn't frozen anymore. And I like the "lighter on the world, easier on the pocketbook" idea.

 

[hqueen13]

Health-wise--while I don't really have studies to back it up--I am convinced that I am healthier for eating seasonally. Eating locally is more expensive, mind, but then it forces us to have smaller portions which is better overall. And I am happy. And this is the most important thing

You ARE healthier by eating real food. It may not be apparent right now, but spending a little more money on real food will save you a LOT in medical costs. So if you mentally combine both the categories of "food" and "health" it will give you more mental money to work from, if that makes any sense at all. So the extra that you spend on food is saved in health care costs for yourself.

In addition to that you can cut a LOT of expenses by making your own cleaning products and eliminating chemicals from your life (shampoo and conditioner are big ones that hide chemicals).

You'll find lots of smart people here and smart ideas! There are so many I have trouble figuring out what to do first!

Welcome from Maryland!

 

[usedteabag]

Thanks, hqueen! I can tell that there is an overwhelming amount of great advice on here, you're right.

I definitely equate food with health, I try to do the same with what I put on my body too (oils, soaps, lotions, shampoo, etc.). Here in Canada, moreso than the U.S. (and I've lived in both countries to know) so-called beauty products and toiletries are a lot more expensive to begin with, let alone if you start doing locally made natural products. And while I do shell out now and again for locally made stuff in this category, I really can't afford to do it all at this point. So getting into making my own is definitely in my best interest.

What I'm really interested in is creating soap and/or shampoo from herbs and plants that can and do grow natively in Nova Scotia, or at least in this area of the world. The benefits of exotic oils and butters like shea, coconut, jojoba, tea tree, etc., are endless, but they don't grow here at all. Perhaps one day I'll grow some of my own but for now, I'd like to do with what N.S. and surrounding provinces/states (e.g., Maine) have to offer. If anyone has suggestions in the way of that, I'd be more than happy to hear!

 

[hqueen13]

All I use on my hair is baking soda and apple cider vinegar! Not exactly exotic, but I won't use anything else in my hair! I LOVE it! Oh, I do use a bit of coconut oil right now due to the dryness. I am fairly sure you could use almost any natural oil within reason as a conditioner in small amounts.

I like using the natural stuff for cleaning products, SO simple and so effective!

 

[snapshot]

My hair is short and I have just been using the baking soda, don't even need the ACV! DH still uses that too.

 

[dragonlaurel]

Another vote for baking soda and vinegar for washing hair. Rose water is great for the skin too and you can probably grow it there.