a month of living slowly

onions (and a few weeds) popping up in the garden

Today I found a blog called Slow Living Essentials that hosts a link up opportunity for people to share the ways in which they are making their lives slower and easier. I thought it was a great idea (thanks to a post by Slow Down Slowly), so I am going to join in. Here are the categories that she wants people to talk about:

{NOURISH}: Make and bake as much as possible from scratch. Ditch over-packaged, over-processed convenience foods and opt for ‘real’ food instead. Share favourite links/recipes/tips from the month here.

We cook our meals from scratch – the cooking is half of the fun. We make most of our cookies and desserts. This month I posted recipes for Chocolate Chip Banana Beer Bread, Grand Marnier Fudge (not for the kid’s lunch pails) and some drinks you can make with rhubarb (again, probably not for the kid’s lunch boxes). I also posted about how we’ve changed the groceries that we buy.

{PREPARE}: Stockpile and preserve. Freeze extra meals or excess garden/market produce. Bottle/can, dehydrate or pickle foods to enjoy when they are not in season. Aim to reduce dependency on store-bought items especially those known to contain BPA and other suspect additives. Stocking up on dry goods when prices are low counts too.

As far as preserving goes, I didn’t do much of anything this month. I plan to cut up and freeze some rhubarb once it’s filled in again. I made a large batch of pizza sauce and froze it for our weekly pizza nights. We buy dry goods in bulk. We’ve been discussing getting some chickens, but it hasn’t happened yet.

{REDUCE}: Cut down on household waste by re-using, re-purposing and repairing. A ladder into a strawberry planter? A sheet into a dress? Share ideas and project links here, allowing others to be inspired.

I know we do this – but it’s hard to think of what it is that we do. It’s just normal. I guess we reduce by not buying much. We don’t use paper towels or napkins, we reuse glass jars for food storage, we don’t waste food by freezing vegetables before they are past their prime. We packed up some outgrown kid’s clothes and passed them down to a friend. I noticed my niece wearing a shirt this weekend that both of my girls, their cousin (who is now 20) and my friend’s daughter had worn – and it was still in excellent condition (which is a great argument for buying quality).

{GREEN}: up our lives. Start (or continue!) using homemade cleaners, body products and basic herbal remedies. The options are endless, the savings huge and the health benefits enormous.

Yep, we got that covered. We recycle, we make our own stuff, we fix things that are broken, we use it up, wear it out, make it do. I have a small fascination with essential oils lately – see the Homemade Vapo-Rub, Lip Balm and Rosemary – Mint Body Wash and Shampoo. I also made Lemon Olive Oil Gardener’s Hand Scrub.

{GROW}: Plant/harvest. What’s growing this month? What’s being eaten from the garden? Herbs in a pot, sprouts on a windowsill or an entire fruit/vegetable garden – opt for what fits space and time constraints. Don’t have a backyard? Ask a friendly neighbour or relative for a small patch of theirs in return for some home-grown produce, they may surprise you!

We planted our vegetable garden this month, weeded and mulched our flower beds, planted some annuals in pots to make our deck and front porch look nice and have been eating chives and rhubarb – the first things to pop up out of the ground for us.

{CREATE}: to fill a need or feed the soul. Create for ourselves or for others. Create something as simple as a handmade gift tag or something as extravagant as a fine knit shawl. Share project details and any new skills learnt here.

I made a few beauty/personal care products (listed above) and made some boozy fudge to give away for Mother’s Day gifts.

{DISCOVER}: Feed the mind by reading texts relevant to current interests. Trawl libraries, second-hand shops or local book shops to find titles that fill the need. Share titles/authors of what is being read this month.

We make trips to the library every week. I love mysteries and read one or two a week, plus monthly I read a (usually painfully boring) book for the book club I can’t figure out a way to get out of joined. I also just finished Michael Pollan’s Food Rules and really enjoyed it. It’s a quick read and full of common sense advice for eating healthy and well (I’m still not giving up chocolate).

{ENHANCE}: Community. Possibilities include supporting local growers & producers, help out at a local school/kindergarten, barter or foodswap, joining a playgroup or forming a walking or craft group. Car pooling where possible and biking/walking instead of driving. Even start up a blog if you haven’t already – online communities count too! Or maybe just help out someone trying to cross the street! The rewards for your time are often returned tenfold.

I wrote about buying local food and eating seasonally. We shared rhubarb from our patch, gave away manure and split some bedding plants and gave them to my mother for her garden at her new house (and what I really mean to say is she dug them up and told me about it afterwards – but I was happy about that).

{ENJOY}: Life! Embrace moments with friends and family. Marking the seasons, celebrations and new arrivals are all cause for enjoyment. Share a moment to be remembered from the month here.

We celebrated Mother’s Day at our house, entertained friends, we had some cousins come and visit and enjoyed a night out at the theatre. We even managed to find a few four leaf clovers.
Busy month!

Linked to Frugally Sustainable, Slow Living Essentials, A Delightful Home