Feeling 'trapped'

Maybe it's just the time of year, and the lack of holidays, but I'm feeling a little stuck. Like I'm in a rut. Most of the time I can gaze at pretty photos of idyllic farm life on my favourite blogs, those who have 'escaped' to the country and are living my dream, and feel inspired. At the moment, all I can feel is jealousy and apathy. My overdue PhD is still going, I haven't many job prospects for next year and I feel like I'm treading water. 

The view from my office window

What do you do when you get this way? Take a holiday, do yoga, garden? How do we keep ourselves inspired and hopeful while still living consciously in the present? 

Bliss balls

Photo from a great vegan blog  Of The Kitten Kind 

Bliss balls are not my creation, they've been around for years. Most of you will have seen them selling for crazy prices at the front counter of your local health food store. Thing is, they're really easy to make. There's no recipe really, just a few things blended together to make a tasty snack. You can make them as healthy or as unhealthy as you like. At their simplest, they're a blend of nuts, seeds, dried fruit and a sticky sweetener. Here's the 'recipe' for one of my most popular mixes. I never measure any ingredients, just pour and adjust if needed.

Bliss balls (all measurements are guesses)

1 1/2 cups almonds

1/3 cup sesame seeds

1/3 cup cashews blended into a paste

1/2 cup desiccated coconut

2 TB honey

1 TB cocoa powder

3/4 cup dried cranberries

1/3 cup LSA

Grind your cashews into a paste in food processor. Blend your almonds in a food processor until they form a nut meal (like a breadcrumb consistency). Process dried cranberries in almond meal quickly to chop them a little. Mix in all other ingredients in bowl, add more honey if too crumbly. Taste, adjust sweetness to your liking. Can add a little oil if not binding. Roll into balls then roll in coconut or sesame seeds. Refrigerate til ready to eat. They will last a months in the fridge if you can stop eating them!


Other options for mixes: macadamia nuts, dried apricots, dates, cinnamon (and other spices), sultanas, wheatgerm, tahini, vanilla, chocolate. A quick google will bring up hundreds of great combos. 

Tomato Zen

I recently made a new veggie garden bed in my backyard. I used the no dig lasagne method and planted some seeds in punnets while I waited for the bed to be ready. I used compost and sand to raise my seeds but soon realised my mistake. I got nothing but tomatoes in those little punnets! Clearly my compost bin isn't getting hot enough to kill off seeds in the mix. I also wonder whether tomatoes have an ability to prevent the germination of other seeds. Many plants release toxins into the soil to reduce competition from other plants (it's called allelopathy) but I haven't heard of it in tomato plants before. 

Anyway, I got cranky and pulled out most of the self-seeded tomatoes. As I'd built the garden bed using compost for multiple layers, I started seeing tomatoes coming up in there as well. I gave up and just let them go, not expecting much. Little did I know, this would be the most successful tomato season I'd ever had! These self-seeding plants produced a better crop than any expensive seed I'd ever mollycoddled into existence.

The zen of vegetable gardening. Sometimes you just have to let things go.

SkillCycle II - frugal gardening and more

So, the second SkillCycle day was a success! We covered pasta making with Kate, knot tying with Kerry, bliss balls with Bron (yum!), green cleaning with Jessie and I did frugal gardening. 

My session covered a range of bits and pieces you could collect from around the home/in the bin/on the kerbside throw-out to make gardening cheaper and more sustainable. I went through different options for growing containers like olive oil tins, small tins, yoghurt containers etc., and making your own pots out of newspaper, toilet rolls or egg cartons. Then I discussed making labels for your pots out of recycled food containers (like milk bottles and yoghurt tubs again) as well as old venetian blinds you find on council kerbside recycling days.

I spoke about saving seeds and my general motto of 'give it a go, you never know'. Some seeds are easier to save and grow than others but you'll never know until you stick some in the ground. Remember to try the pantry and your spice rack.  


We also covered protecting your garden from bush turkeys and possums. I absolutely love bird netting for this purpose. I had little success with my veggie beds until I covered the whole garden in netting. Now I only have to fight caterpillars and grasshoppers; much nicer than the total annihilation you get from the possums and turkeys! The stuff is very cheap at your local hardware store or nursery. You do have to keep it quite low and watch no birds get tangled in it though.


All in all it was a lovely, inspiring day. I went home and planted some seeds, made some bliss balls (recipe to come in a later post) and generally felt like I'd accomplished something. 

BOGI Fair - other inspirations

As I mentioned in a previous post, I'm always inspired at BOGI Fair's. The year before I joined a Community Exchange System called LETS (Local Energy Trading Scheme) after speaking to Adrian who has a LETS stall each year. Our local branch is called BrisLETS but there are many groups all over the world. The system works as a multi-way trading scheme. In other words, I can sell something to another member which puts credit into my account, I can then use that credit to purchase something or pay for a service from any other member. While I like small one to one trades within my community, LETS allows for a lot more flexibility. And there is a huge variety of services and products for sale.


My other stall neighbour this year was Marilena. She was selling her homemade cakes and cards. None of us could resist her elderberry flower and mulberry cupcakes. I chatted to her throughout the day about SkillCycle and why we both do what we do. We both feel the same way about not really doing any of this for 'profit' (in the conventional sense). We both just enjoy showing people how easy it is to make delicious food from locally sourced and sustainably grown food. Marilena also helps organise a yearly winter feast in Samford (north west of Brisbane) with fresh local produce being shared by the whole community.


Quite a few Transition Towns members approached the stall throughout the day. These groups do so much more than can be described in a few lines so you can read about them here. I've been meaning to join my local group for awhile now.


I've heard Stan from Sizzling Solar Systems and his wife Jane speak on numerous occasions but he's always impressive so I popped by for another demo. I also love hearing the ooh's and aah's from people who have never seen Stan set fire to a piece of wood in seconds using only a salvaged satellite dish, base of a student desk chair and some shiny chip packet liners. He's like a modern day MacGyver. Who cooks.


All in all, a very inspiring day!

A Plentitude Economy

Watching this video gives me hope for the future. Change is possible and the happenings on Wall Street right now make me believe there's more people who want this than just me.

 

BOGI Fair

Last Sunday Kate, Mel and I headed out to Albion for the annual Brisbane Organic Growers Fair. This is our third fair. I really look forward to these events. They're a great opportunity to talk to people who are all involved in really interesting aspects of food production, education or community development. And it's also the perfect time to pick up some new plants and tasty things to eat.

Mel and I made some preserves (Strawberry Balsamic Jam, Tomato Jam and Old Fashioned Zucchini Pickles) and organic potato and onion soup with home made bread to sell. Kate was a baking demon and put my little loaf to shame with a massive bag of her own bread. 

Because she's so hardcore, Kate also brought her popular Rosemary Crackers (they always sell out fast...maybe she'll post her recipe here one day...and some time saving pointers she learnt the hard way) plus her home grown herbs. 

Kate also brought along some dried culinary lavender. This stuff is very useful. She discusses it here.

Everything sold really well. I love how the community comes along to these days to learn something new and support local growers and makers. I always leave with new ideas and a big grin, definitely an inspiring day. I'll post again soon about some of the people I spoke to and the amazing things they're doing.