Veggie, Every Other Day

Summer Vegetables 2011

One of our goals this year is to eat more vegetarian meals each week.  So far we are doing well.

At about week two, we dropped the plan for eating veggie from Friday to Monday and just adopted a very simple, every other day approach.  It was really Kim's idea so I will give her full credit.  The main reason was that we all enjoy a Sunday roast and at least this way we would be able to have one every fortnight.  It is also a much better method of adapting to change and embedding this as one of our behaviors.

Initially it did take a fair bit of work to figure out simple, easy to cook meals that were nutritious and tasty.  We found things like soups, stews, tagines, salads, veggie burgers, omelettes, stir fries to name a few and all tasty alternatives to meat.  As we have not removed meat completely from our diets, we don't have to worry too much about complex proteins on veg days, even though Kim always manages to throw a can of 5 bean mix in with the soups and stews!

Strangely, we have also noticed that when we do eat meat, it is in much smaller quantities and prefer to bulk the meal up with more veg, rice and pasta.  Our fruit intake has also increased with small harvests from our apricot, peach and nectarine trees, with a bumper harvest from the old plum tree.  I even bottled (preserved) 9 big jars of plums in syrup, as well as 4 apricot and 4 nectarine.  We have enough fruit to last the entire winter or until we get sick of it, and we still have the Jonathan apples to harvest!  I will preserve some rhubarb in the next few weeks as it is now getting big enough to pick.

Anyway, some of my favorite veggie meals are spicy tomato soup, veggie chow mien, vegetable curry, chick pea and potato curry, Spanish omlettes with mushroom and caerphilly, lentil burgers with beetroot and egg on a home made bread roll and spicy sauce.  All are delicious and mouth watering fare that tantalizes my palette.

Now that we are approaching the end of February, I do believe that we have formed this habit and made it one of our behaviours.  If you perform something enough times (7 I think), it becomes normal behaviour and looking back you often wonder why we didn't do this sooner!

Earth Hour Awards - Nomination

Today I was convinced by my fellow blogger and friend, JulieG of Go Greener Australia, to apply for the Future Makers Award for this years inaugural WWF Earth Hour Awards.  Nominations close tonight at midnight.

This is what she had to say;

Hi Gavin

Earth Hour is just around the corner and this year WWF have some really
exciting initiatives in place. The first one is the introduction of the
inaugural WWF Earth Hour Awards - they are looking for inspiring
Australians who take great action for our planet! The call for
entries is on now, closing February 25th.

I think you should apply! But to complete the process you need to
follow this link http://earthhour.org.au/wwf-earth-hour-awards/
and complete the application form. It's really easy and by doing so
you'll be inspiring so many others to care more for the Earth.

WHY? Here's my personal message to you:

Hi Gavin,
I've been doing some writing for Earth Hour and realised that if you haven't put your hand up for the Future Makers award already, you really should! It'd be great if you won, and even if you didn't it'd be a great story to tell for your blog :)

cheers,
Julie G

 Well, apart from being very flattered that anyone took the time to nominate me, I thought that it would be another avenue for spreading the word and benefits of sustainable living and lowering your personal environmental footprint.  This goes beyond Earth Hour, which is exactly what this years campaign is aimed at.



So if you choose to visit the link, and if you happen to click on the Future Makers Award nominate button, and suggest some silly old bloke who writes a blog about greening his lifestyle with the name of Gavin, it would probably be a good thing for the movement as a whole.  What do you think?  I don't want to overstep my place or insult you good readers. 

This post may sound very vain, but it is not meant to and sorry if it does come across that way.  I am just trying to get the message out there to the Australian public in the most modest way I can.

Gav x

Comfortable Home On The Cheap

People who visit our home during hot and cold weather often comment on the comfortable temperature inside it.  Well it is not because we run the air conditioner or heater 24x7, far from it.  It is more like a few small actions that we took and continue to practice each day.

Firstly, we took the time to check our roof insulation levels.  It is paper pulp type insulation and there is lot of it up there.  I made sure that it was level throughout the roof space and that there were no gapes in the coverage.  If it was too high in one area I just moved it with a flat board to another lower area.  Job sorted and at no cost to me.

When we first moved in we changed over the light fittings to more energy efficient ones, and tried to minimize the number of holes that we cut into the ceiling.  Holes mean heat loss on a cold night or heat ingress from the roof cavity during hot days.  We repeated this philosophy when we planned and built our kitchen renovation last year.  We actually eliminated all the holes in the roof in what was 3 separate rooms.  The kitchen is much warmer in winter now, and cooler in summer because of it.  We also fitted ceiling fans at both end for additional air movement and in every other room as well.

Then it was on to weather proofing or draft proofing to ensure that there could be minimal heat loss from our home.  It also prevents heat ingress during summer.  Drafts and gaps around the doors and windows can account for 25-50% of your homes heat loss.  It was quite an easy thing to remedy as the window frames were all in good condition with no gaps and we only needed to consider two of the three outward facing doors as the glass sliding door was already draft proofed.  To close up the gaping spaces between the door jams and the doors, I used foam strips from the hardware store and ran it all around the frame on both doors.  Then I installed a draft stopper at the bottom of each one which eliminates the gap underneath each door as it closes.  Total cost was about $50 for both doors.  I tested each door with the smoke from an incense stick to ensure that there were no drafts.

 With the doors and window gaps taken care of, there was the window glass to consider.    Windows are a bit of a mixed blessing.  You can let a cool breeze flow through at the end of a cool day and it can let out pollutants out.  However, did you know that glass can be the cause of around 10-20% heat loss in winter and around 25-35% heat gain in summer.  Not a very good insulator at all.  Now double or triple glazing is an expensive fix to this problem and prevents most of the heat loss/gain with a pocket of air between two panes of glass, and is well worth the capital expense over the longer term.  However we did not choose to replace every single window with double glazing because there is a cheaper alternative.  As we have sliding windows in an aluminium frame (more heat loss through the frame) I could not place bubble wrap up (acts like a simple double glaze) against the windows as we still wanted to open them.   In summer we pull down heavy canvas awnings to the ground to prevent direct sunlight from entering the house from the north, and the east and westerly windows are underneath verandas.  This stops most of the heat gain.  In winter we roll the awnings all the way up to let in maximum light and heat causing a mini greenhouse effect.

Also with the aid of curtains, we also cover the windows on hot days and cold nights to stop heat transfer either way.  In both seasons we zone the house using internal doors and usually stay in the most comfortable rooms, south in summer and north in winter.  By closing off unoccupied rooms, you avert cooling or heating this extra space.  Why would you heat an empty room?  Kind of like leaving the light on when it is empty, same principle.

We have a ceiling fan in each room to assist with moving the air around in both summer and winter, and in emergencies (days over 35C) we use the air-conditioner for a few hours until the room cools down.  We have a two natural gas wall heaters for winter.

All of these active home management principles help us to maximize our heating/cooling expenditure.  Other things we practice is using only one of the two wall heaters at a time an only for two hours a day in winter and off at bed time.  Extra blankets are a much cheaper alternative than leaving the gas heater on all night.  If anyone is cold during the day, then we tell them to put a jumper (sweater) on to warm up.  With the draft proofing and active home management, our home stays a nice 20-25C in summer and 18-20C in winter with very low energy bills.  All common sense really in a world that seems to be lacking some.

Finally, size really does matter!  Larger, modern homes have a greater internal space which uses more fuel to heat/cool it, with little in the way of internal door to zone areas off from the rest of the home.  They also have to use central heating to keep it warm in winter and big split system air-cons to keep it cool in summer.  Basically they are unbearable without these devices.  The larger the home, the more energy required to control the comfort levels.

So by having a well designed or thoughtfully retrofitted smaller home, and by using passive design or active home management, you can keep your energy bills way, way down.

Behavioral change costs nothing at all!

Costa is Cool

Yes folks that is right, Costa Georgiadis is one cool guy and knows a thing about why we should all record our sustainable journey.  He confirmed what I already knew, and that is that by recording our journeys, it inspires other to act.  Watch the video I took below.





I was so inspired with his words that I asked him to be a friend on facebook. I wrote that I wrote this blog and would like to put a short video of his talk up on YouTube for all to see.

Hi Costa,

The talk was great. In fact I took a video of it and was wondering if I could put the first couple of minutes of it up on YouTube where you talk about firsts and why we should record our sustainable actions?

I write a blog called The Greening of Gavin whereby I document my sustainable journey since watching An Inconvenient Truth way back in September 2006. www.greeningofgavin.com. I am also an avid gardener and have my own organic food forest including chooks.

Please let me know soonest as I would love to write a blog post about the things you talked about.

Regards,

Gavin

 I hope he doesn't mind, but here is his reply;

Re: Hey Gavin

Mate it sends a chill down my spine when I hear that something I said or something the show displayed has inspired someone in some way. Everything has to be open source I have learnt so take these moments of insight and inspiration, those light bulb moments where something clicks inside and share it to the four corners of the globe. I couldn't ask for a more full and final payment for what I do...its all about the soul when you boil it down and if we can talk to each other as a world on this level more often then what a great place we will develop. Go for your life with spreading your blog, your ever changing view... now that is something to celebrate.. Thanks for making my day

More microbes to you indeed Gav

Costa

I think that means that I have permission! What a cool guy.  You can catch his TV show, Costa's Garden Odyssey over on SBS TV.  Nice one Costa!

Stupid Politicians

In The Age newspaper today;

"Polar bears, stay calm. Fairy penguins inhabiting ice floes, chill out. Seals, go back to being all furry and cute in National Geographic. Y'all can relax.

Climate change is not real and the seas are not rising.

This surprising fact was revealed yesterday by a Nationals senator, Ron Boswell, during a Senate estimates hearing with the Department of Climate Change.

 

During a quibble over the amount by which oceans are allegedly expanding, Senator Boswell felt he could hold his truth inside no longer. ''Being someone who has spent his life in boats, since I was a kid, I haven't seen any sea level change,'' he pronounced.

That's settled, then. Just call him the Archimedes of Estimates."

Honestly, I thought that our politicians had more sense, but obviously the right have no bloody idea and have their heads stuck firmly up a climate denialists arse.   To make matters worse I was listening to the Parliamentary debate live from the House of Representatives on ABC News Radio on the way home and not one, but two liberal members stated that climate change was a scam and not actually happening.  WTF, and please explain?

Their reasoning was as follows.  Just because we now have had floods and above average rainfall, it means that all the climate scientists are wrong as they were predicting hotter, drier conditions over the longer term.   That certainly is not true as these clowns cannot read a trend line to save themselves.  So as global ocean temperatures rise, so does evaporation over the oceans as do storm events and warming certainly has not slowed down.  To prove a point, here is a data set that I captured off of our very own Bureau of Meteorology.  It shows the Annual Mean Surface Temperature Anomaly for the entire world.  Not just Australia, but the entire world.

So which piece of factual data about climate change do the honourable members of our conservative parties not actually understand?  It certainly has me buggered!  The data shows that the world is still warming, and rapidly at that.

Common sense will prevail, I hope.

David Suzuki is a Wise Elder

Over the course of the weekend, I had the pleasure of listening to David Suzuki speak on a couple of occations at the Sustainable Living Festival.

Firstly on Saturday when he was interviewed by the 3CR crew, where I listened to him speak about the environment and the issues we face,

 and secondly when he gave an introduction for Clive Hamilton who spoke about why we are not acting quickly enough on climate change mitigation.  In fact David was more engaging than Clive, who used too many big words for this little greenie.  I got the gist of his presentation, but OMG it took all of my concentration to keep up with him.  I think I would rather read Clive's work than listen to him present.  Sorry, but just being honest.

Anyway, both of David's talks/introductions were interesting and engaging.  I managed to record some of the radio interview on video and put it up on YouTube.  His words of wisdom really lit a spark in me, brought a smile to my face that someone was actually speaking truthfully, and it is well worth the 14 minutes that it will take to watch it.




Please enjoy David Suzuki telling it how it is!

Gav

Solar Victory!

Remember back when I wrote the post titled "Climate Irony" a few weeks back?  Well, to refresh your memory I was ranting about the Governments lack of vision by cutting funding to climate change mitigation projects to pay for the climate induced floods and cyclones that we have been having here in Australia.  Sheer madness was my conclusion.

Well guess what?  With a little bit of people power, GetUp!, the independent MP's and the Greens have managed to convince the Government to keep the Solar Flagships Program and to bring some of the defered funding forward.  What a great outcome.

Here is how it panned out.




Now wasn't that a constructive petition, that I signed? I like people power! If you really feel in your heart that you want to thank the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard and Senator Bob Brown for working the deal then thank them both via Twitter if you have an account. We can't bag them all the time, so now for a little positive reinforcement. Go on, press the icon, and share the love.

Tweet your thanks

Sustainable Living Festival

A big weekend ahead here in Melbourne.  Federation Square is hosting the Sustainable Living Festival, which included a green market place, workshops, food, events and lots of talks.  You can even get a carbon neutral beer from Mountain Goat Beer!  Nice.

Here are my reviews for the festival in 2008, 2009, and 2010.  This will be my fourth year, which I am so looking forward to.  The best part I like are the interesting, like-minded people I meet, and the presentations.  This year will be no exception, and in fact I will be attending Saturday and Sunday sporting my brand new "Greening of Gavin" tee-shirt that Kim bought me for Christmas (you know that self promotion and modesty is not one of my weak spots!)

Anyway, I hope those of you who live in Melbourne can make it to the event.  It promises to be fantastic as always, and I hope to meet Clive Hamilton (author of Requiem for a Species and Affluenza), and the Garbage Warrior himself, Michael Reynolds, the architect behind the Earthship on Sunday.  What this space for some interesting video of this years festival.

Here is the official promo video for the event.  I hope to see you there!

Go Beyond The Hour

On March 26th this year, go beyond Earth Hour by thinking of other actions you can take.






I did, and look what happened to me!  Just take the next step.  Honestly, it is not that hard.

No Waste at the Co-op

Today's main post is over at the Simple, Green, Frugal Co-op and is titled "Reducing Food Waste", where I wax lyrical about the ways to prevent food waste and to cut down personal greenhouse emissions.

Please join me over at the co-op!

Gav

And The Winner...

A big thanks to everyone who entered the contest.  I appreciate the feedback, which helps me to focus a little more.  Cheese, soap, gardening and solar all seem to be a hit, so thanks for kinda confirming what I already knew where the cool posts.  However, I do not believe that I will change the format very much, as I think it is quite well balanced.  After all, there is nothing quite like a rant to occasionally release a bit of dynamic tension and frustration! 

Anyway, on with the draw.  According to Random.org the winner is comment number 17.

The winner of the birthday give-away is Aussiemumbecc! You are the luck recipient of the handy little book titled "The Green Garden - How to live well, be green and make a difference", by Tanya Ha worth A$9.95.  Please send me an email with your postage details and I will pop it in the mailbox tomorrow.

Thanks for the first 3 years, here it the the next!  Onwards and upwards I say.

3rd Birthday and a Prize!

Yes, readers.  Today is The Greening of Gavin blog's third birthday.  This blog was 'born' on the 13th of February 2008, which seems like such a long time ago.  I remember being very excited about setting up the blog about a week before, doing the layout and adding in the widgets and site counter.  I posted my article called "Why I choose to lead a sustainable lifestyle  and rushing out to tell all my friends and family about it.  I think in the first week there were 10 visits.  Heck, I was just excited that anyone was reading my musings.

805 posts later, and over 2500 visits a week, this blog and I personally have grown.  Not larger or taller (I have lost 10kg since I started), but a lot wiser about the way the world works I suppose.  All it took was a desire to share what I had learnt since September 2006, when I had my green epiphany, and continue to learn every day from here on in.

Now it wouldn't be a blog without readers and all of your comments have been inspiring for me and spur me on.   So to celebrate our achievement, I am going to have a giveaway!  More like a lottery, and yes, there is a prize.  To make the draw fair, I will use a random number generator and pick a random comment below as the winner.

So, if you would like to win the handy little book titled "The Green Garden - How to live well, be green and make a difference", by Tanya Ha worth A$9.95, then please leave a comment below letting me know which post out of all 805 of them is your favourite and why.  Not only may you get something out of it, but I will receive valuable feedback as well.  I will post to any country on the planet Earth at my cost because I want to give something back.

So what are you waiting for, enter away, and thanks again for following the adventures of a neo-hippy, free thinking realist.

Our Future...

George Taylor: Oh my God. I'm back. I'm home. All the time, it was... We finally really did it.
[screaming]
George Taylor: You Maniacs! You blew it up! Ah, damn you! God damn you all to hell!

I have learned a lot from being a science fiction fan.  A lot in fact about imagining a possible future for humanity, and where we may be heading.  From reaching far into space like in Star Trek, to a Ape dominated planet like in Planet of the Apes and many apocalyptic scenarios in-between.

There is the Star Trek scenario.  The one where we not only solve the resource, population overshoot and climate crises, but we make first contact and venture off into space, but in a really nice way and not fucking every other planet and its inhabitants up along the way.  Nice ending except for the Klingons, Romulans and a host of other species bent on our conquest.  It kind of turns everything we do now on its head.  Obviously, I would love this scenario to play out for real, but I am afraid this may just be pie in the sky thinking.

Then is the Planet of the Apes scenario.  The one were we have wars due to overpopulation, overpopulation, climate chaos, and then blow ourselves to hell, and what ever is left rise up and take our place. 

Now maybe it is just me and you can call me a whacko if you like, but I see the latter scenario playing out right now, maybe because I see so little action to avert such an event happening.  If we continue onwards with our 'business as usual' thinking, then this is one possibility, and scary to boot.  Look around us. The biggest "La Nina" in history directly after one of the biggest droughts in history, followed by food riots, followed by..........well, you get the general idea.

We should just accept that the Earth isn't going to accommodate our extravagant lifestyles anymore, and it's largely our fault, and maybe, just maybe, create a future worthy for our progeny.

What a hostile environment we leave the future generations if we continue down this path.

Grass Roots Vs Professional

It is funny how things evolve.  I started out this journey as a conspicuous consumer just like most westerners, and ended up as a grassroots environmental advocate and sustainable living activist.  I love grassroots work, but what is next for this little black duck?  Things are afoot!

Well, last year I completed a course in Carbon Accounting, which I passed, and the lecturer asked if he could use my submission as an example of a professional report for future classes.  I was chuffed to say the least, and would highly recommend you read my experiences if you are interested in this type of upskilling.  I was planning ahead for the introduction of the governments Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme, however that got axed by the previous Rudd government because a) it was too complex to implement, b) it was a dud with far too many compensating carbon credits for big polluters and c) got rejected in the Senate twice causing a double dissolution trigger.  When they cancelled it, the carbon sector never really got off of the ground, so I dropped my plans for entering it.

So last Sunday, I decided to take it one step further.  I applied to study for a Diploma in Carbon Management at Swinburne University of Technology in Hawthorn, Melbourne.  The two units that I have previously passed count as credits towards this course, so instead of 7 units, I only have to do 5 over the period of a year part time.  It is not cheap (over $5000), and as I work full time I am not entitled to any assistance.   I start on the 24th of February, as I found out yesterday that I was accepted.  This course will give me the skills and knowledge to;

• Assess Risk
• Assess and apply principles of energy, policy and change management
• Create and implement carbon management strategies, and
• Lower an organisation's carbon footprint

Well, I am already an IT Risk Manager, have passed most of the part about the carbon management strategies, and have already lowered my personal carbon footprint.  Sounds like a piece of cake.  I am very interested in the unit on Behavioural change, in fact the entire course floats my boat!

I really enjoy consulting and see this as the next step in my development as a passionate individual who wants to save the future of generations to come.  This blog is attestation of all of the actions and projects I have taken in my personal and professional life.  Even though I have been consulting for free, or sometimes the odd free lunch, I feel that I have so much more to offer.

Time will tell to where this crazy roller-coaster will take me.

Be Prepared Challenge - Spread The Word

Welcome to the last week and task of the 'Be Prepared Challenge', and probably more difficult than all the rest of the tasks put together.  But before I start, I would like to thank Bec of Eat at Dixiebelle fame for thinking up the concept and being the brains behind the entire event.  May I just add that it has been my absolute pleasure to participate along side of her.  Check out her first task for this weeks objective at ":: Be Prepared Challenge :: Spread the Word - Step One ::"

So you have managed to get this far or certainly intend to.  You have your emergency bag or kit, you have stockpiled what you think is essential, and probably have a few emergency items for when zombies attack. ;-)  Well lets hope it never gets to that stage.  Your task, if you accept it, is to SPREAD THE WORD!

Personally, this task of 'Spread the word' was probably not as difficult as I initially thought.  On the way home on the train tonight, I did some thinking about how I have spread the word to others and trying to influence them to think ahead a little bit and plan for events that may or may not happen in their neck of the woods.  It took me a while, but there are a few ways.  Well of course there is this blog, but my most extreme way was to show Australia my stockpile via a national TV current affairs show called the 7PM Project, but not many of us have the opportunity to do that or have TV crews visiting every so often.  Or do you?

But the most subtle and effective way is just to bring the subject up in general conversation with guests, friends and family, explain the benefits including frugality, preparedness, and maybe even being a 'surviromentalist' and then simply show them.  Ask them specifically what they think of the natural and man made disasters occurring throughout the world and ask if they think they are prepared.  This has always worked for me, and then you will probably find that they will then ask questions about things that you store, how long items last, or have in your emergency bag and the like. It just makes people listen and think when the message comes from someone they trust.

Also, I often joke at work with friends that I am preparing for the zombie apocalypse and that they should as well, which is kind of a running gag in the office, however friends let me know each week how they are doing little things to prepare for the big event whether it be making vegetable beds, or making food with their own home grown produce. Zombies beware I say! We are prepared. :=)

Don't be afraid to always talk up the financial benefits of being prepared.  Money is still a personal driver for many members of our society.  From the inventory taking, insurance and photo storage, to the food mountain you have created, all will be guaranteed to save them a few bucks. 

But in the end, it doesn't matter how prepared you are, it all comes down to community spirit.  We have certainly all see this happen in the floods, cyclone and fires in recent months.  Perfect strangers helping each other in times of need.  Call me optimistic, but I reckon that when the shit does hit the fan for a prolonged period of time either through climate events or societal collapse, not that I am expecting the later any time soon (but I maybe closer than I think with current events occurring in Northern Africa), our communities will pull together and begin to learn from one and another.  It is either that or anarchy, which personally, the Sex Pistols can keep on their record album. 

When it comes to community spirit, the best way to foster this is to join or start a group of like-minded people, or an existing service club that is active in your area.  Whatever takes your fancy really, but just get involved.  How are you going to spread the word if you don't get out there and meet people in your local area.  So many people these days (in the west anyway), don't know their neighbours from a bar of soap.  I am very proud to say that I do know mine, and I call them good friends.  We know that we can turn to each other for a favour or the proverbial cup of sugar when we need it the most.  It certainly is a great feeling and sense of security.

I would like to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for participating in the 'Be Prepared Challenge', and it just goes to show that the virtual community is also alive and well.  I have had great feedback via email, facebook and comments that this challenge has been educational, entertaining and timely.

Also, don't forget that Bec mentioned that she still had a few more posts regarding the challenge as well, so don't forget to 'Eat at Dixiebelles'.  She has her head screwed on right does that one!

Well done, one and all.  Signing out of the challenge.

Gavin

Raw Milk Madness

I noticed today that there was an article in some Australian newspapers kicking up a fuss about raw milk, or for the uninitiated, milk that has not been pasteurised.  Have a read of the article titled "'Mooshine' milk udderly bad for you".   It tells a tale of some poor bloke in Bondi fined A$53,000 for selling raw milk to the public for drinking purposes, who actually knew exactly what they were buying.  No cover up, no scandal, just supply and demand for a healthy product.  Madness!

Well let me tell you a thing or two about raw milk.  When I was knee high to a grasshopper, I lived on a dairy farm run by my Dad and Mum.  It was a great dairy farm with lovely cows with Dad having a name for nearly every single one of the 150 head herd.  Dad paid very particular attention to the cleanliness of the milking equipment and even washed the cows udders before putting on the suction cups that sucked all of the milk out.  Me, my siblings, parents, grandparents and most of the town of Loxton North drank raw milk with no ill effects, and I am still alive and kicking.  The cows were fed on grass, not grain or silage, and had a very healthy diet.  All things considered, no one ever got sick from drinking our milk that was sold from the diary door by the billy can full.  So what is wrong with raw milk if the entire process is treated with respect?  Probably nothing in my experience, however I don't have a science degree in biology to be 100% authoritative on the subject so take my opinion with a grain of salt if that kind of attestation is required by you.

Raw milk is used in many countries throughout the world for cheese making including the large cheese producing countries of France, Italy, Greece, and Spain, and is considered safe to use in the USA if the cheese is matured for greater than 60 days.  However this is not so in Australia.  Talk about a nanny state or what! 

I for one would use raw milk in cheese making at the drop of a had, only if I could get my hands on a fresh supply in my immediate area.  Let the people choose for themselves.  If they want to buy it, then let them.  It certainly cannot be any worse than alcohol or tobacco which are legally sold.  Health authorities should get a little perspective.  More people probably die from road accidents in a single hour in this country than get sick from drinking raw milk, yet they still let people drive.  Grow up governments, and let people choose!

After all, it is very difficult to taint fresh raw milk with melamine now isn't it?  Just ask the Chinese.

800th Post

Well a massive milestone that just cannot go uncelebrated!  800 posts and over 140,000 visits, and 229,000 page view later, I cannot believe that it has taken only just under 3 years to achieve it.  I have been blogging since February 2008, and have enjoyed every single minute of it.  Who would have thought that when my family encouraged me to write a book about all the sustainable living actions I had taken, that I would be would have completed what in reality is an chronological encyclopaedic guide to the "Good Life".  So many adventures and happy days.

My highlight for today was cleaning out the chook house and letting the girls run totally free range for about 7 hours.  They cleaned up the wicking bed for me, ate the low hanging plums, dust bathed in any dirt that was dry, and generally weeded the entire east side of the property for me.  Plus they fertilised everything!  It was so good to watch them clucking around in between breaks.  Their living area took me a good hour and a bit to muck out, so I had to do it in two stints with a nice cup of tea in between.  Mission accomplished.

So keep reading, there are many more posts left in this bloke yet!

Plodding Along

The whole week has basically been a write off for me.  I have been laid up with a bout of diverticulitis again, and have spent most of my time since Monday afternoon resting in bed.  I have really only come good this afternoon, and decided to cook one of my favourites Spaghetti Bolognese.  Homegrown onion, garlic, zucchini, tomatoes, and rosemary straight from the garden.  I couldn't muster up the effort to make fresh pasta, so used some from the stockpile instead.

Some interesting vegetables have been harvested when I managed to drag my sorry butt out of bed.

 So many large zucchini's, cucumbers and tomatoes.  If I had have caught the zucchinis earlier on in the week, I would not be wondering what to do with a truck load of marrows?

Two types of cucumber in this shot.  Spacemaster which are the smaller type, and the rather long and odd shaped ones are Chinese cucumbers.  

And finally, three types of tomatoes.  Tigerrella, Tommy Toe, and Purple Russian.

Hopefully, it will be a better weekend than the crappy week I have just had.  Fingers crossed.

Gav

Beyond Earth Hour

 As part of my personal commitment to assist the WWF to promote Earth Hour 2011, I have written a post over at the Simple, Green, Frugal Co-op titled, "Beyond Earth Hour in the Office".

I hope you will pop on over for this very eye opening article on typical office electricity wastage!  After I did the sums, I was gobsmacked.  For all you business owners out there, this is a must read.

Gav