Saturday, July 4, 2009

Food........

Today the discussion at Rhonda's is about Food....
Now here's a subject every-one knows about and have there
own views on....and i for one love food, eating, growing, cooking you name I love it..
Here at The Old Dairy I try to grow a lot of our
fruit and vegs.....Last year we had to remove all of our old
fruit trees as they were in continual shade..I replaced them in
a different spot that will always have sun.....
I am growing mandarins, oranges, mango,grapefruit, lemon, lime these trees
have only been in the ground 12months and will take time to produce fruit.. I also
have macadamia nut trees, passion fruit,pineapples....
I try to grow my own veges, but have found this year not a great success with
my brassicas, they have been eaten by grubs..not to mention the odd cow!!!!

Tomatoes, capsicum, beans, peas and eggplant have all done well this year,
as well as the lettuce......I always have herbs growing and they continue to
self seed each year....I also have a good group of lemon grass.....I just remembered
I dug it all out when I was pruning and forgot to plant some!!!!!!!
No more lemon grass tea for me then! (O.k just ran outside an found
a piece with roots on it and have stuck it in water.....)
When I do buy fruit and veges I mostly get them from the local markets.
I also have family that works farms so I get a lot of free produce from
them...It is not organic though.....
The one thing we have done that I had planned to do
was to butcher our own beef.....I know what this cow has eaten and where
it has been so I know what I am feeding my family.....
Yes we had to get a large deep freezer to store but with the price of meat
we will soon make that up....I have noticed that I am saving $50-$70 each
week now that I don't buy meat....I still buy fish and chicken though.
I do stockpile food so as far as having an emergency I no
that I could go for weeks without having to shop....
I am blessed that I have a larger than average sized pantry but I also have a large family.
We also have our chickens for eggs, which we eat daily and feed all our food scraps
to, again I know what is going into my chickens.
Goals......
I want to grow a lot more food in my garden.
I would love for my garden to be more of an edible garden.
I know that I need to go back to companion planting, especially for the brassicas
as I know that this works.
I also need to start collecting my own seeds and growing more from
seeds and not buy so many seedlings...
Bake more.....these last few weeks I have been buying more
and more biscuits and cakes from the shops.....
To buy organic chicken and better quality fish.....
These are the more important areas for me....I am sure you have different needs.
As far as the no spending is going, I forgot about pocket money!
The children have been busy doing lots of jobs
to earn pocket money and today Robbie has been invited
to the circus with a friend who has a spare ticket. He wants his
hard earned cash to take with him...So today I am handing over the$20
that I owe him.....How are you doing with the challenge? It's not as
cut and dried as I thought it would be. I love learning experiences though and I
know that this will certainly be that.....
Enjoy your week-end....
I am of to plant that Lemon grass in a pot.
Here's hoping it will grow...
Blessings to all...
Mandy



4 comments:

  1. My hat's off to you, Mandy! You are doing a stunning job of eating healthier and saving money at the same time!

    The other day I was feeling pretty smug about my cherry, plum and apple trees, and my blueberry bushes on this small city lot that I own. (When my ex-husband and I moved here thirty years ago, we decided to put in edible landscaping.) But, there is so much more I could be doing in the way of herbs and vegetables. So with you as my inspiration, maybe I'll finally do it!

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  2. You do a Fabulous Job Mandy with growing your own fruit & Vegies...we've had vegie gardens over the years and it is so satisfying to pick your own..now we are down to growing in pots...I read about your challenge..it is a good thing to test ourselves from time to time...I am going through the same thing at the moment with buying of magazines...I am being really really good..so far.
    Glad to hear Greg is better..hope he comes home next week for you...
    cheers

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  3. I still strugle with buying magazines this is a real weak area of mine...I have my gardening ones ordered through the libary, but I always seem to still buy them.....

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  4. Hi Mandy,

    You do really well to provide for your family. Nothing better than the satisfaction of growing your own and doesn't it taste so much better than the shop stuff? And much better for you I bet.

    Glad to hear Greg is feeling a little better and hopes to be home soon.

    I have stopped buying magazines except for Grass Roots and Earth Garden.

    I have an award for you over at my blog if you would like to collect. (I am not sure if you have done this one or not.)

    xTania

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