10 Tips For Successful Home Cheese Making

Who loves cheese?  Well I do, that is for sure, and I love making it and sharing it with family and friends.

Having produced cheese as a hobby now almost weekly for more than 3 years, I thought it would be a great time to share with you some tips that I have learnt. 

Tip #1 - Cleanliness

Firstly and most importantly is cleanliness.  The area that you intend on making your cheese, and your tools that you make your cheese with, must be spotlessly clean and sterilised.  I cannot stress this enough.  Some people use bleach to clean their surfaces and utensils, but I prefer vinegar and bicarbonate soda, and to boil all the utensils for 15 minutes.  It doesn't take long, and this is one of the first things I teach everyone in my cheese making classes.

I spray all surfaces with white vinegar including the utensils that I can't boil to sterilise and let them dry naturally.  This kills any wild mould spores that can inoculate your cheese unintentionally.  I even spray my hands with vinegar and give them a good rub together every time I handle the cheese during the process to alleviate this problem.  I have not had a problem with bad mould to date.

Tip #2 - Preparation

Have everything all prepared and laid out before you start.  As I am waiting for the 15-20 minutes for the pot,  stainless steel utensils and cheese cloths to sterilise, I get a clean tea towel and lay it on the kitchen bench next to the stove top, ready to place all the tools on.  I select the recipe well in advance, and get out all the necessary ingredients and put them on the side ready to go.  Cheese making requires un-chlorinated water for diluting some ingredients, so I have to pre-boil some rain water from my tank and let it cool to room temperature.  You could use bottled water, but I do not due to environmental reasons.  I pre mix the diluted calcium chloride with this water, and do the same with the rennet.  Something I learnt in the Boy Scouts that I shall never forget and that is the Scouts motto, "Be Prepared".

Tip #3 - Plan Your Time.

Although the process of cheese making is not particularly difficult, it can be time consuming.  Ensure you take into account all factors involved in culturing the milk, renneting, stirring, milling, and pressing.  If making a simple hard cheese, allow at least 4-5 hours to entirely finish the process.  I make one cheese, Wensleydale, that take over 9 hours from start to the final pressing!  Mind you the final product is well worth the effort.

Tip #4 - Start Simply

Start off with a simple cheese to build your confidence. 

Try a soft cheese like yoghurt cheese (or Labneh) which is basically putting 1 kg (2 lbs) of natural yoghurt into a cheesecloth and draining for a few hours, then gather into a ball and suspend over a large pot overnight in the fridge.  Simple, yet tasty and you can mix in different flavours, either savoury or sweet to liven it up as a dip.

Ricotta is another easy cheese to make.  Take 4 litres of milk, bring to about 93C (200F) and add a quarter of a cup  (67ml) of white vinegar or lemon juice and stir.  You will see the milk separate into curds and whey.  Ladle into cheesecloth lined colander to drain.  When cool to touch, tie the corners of the cloth into a ball and wrap the ends around a large wooden spoon and drain over a large pot.  After a few hours of draining you can add salt to taste and it will keep for about 5 days in the fridge in an airtight container.  Great for lasagne and any other dish that requires a large amount of ricotta.  As I said, simple successes give you the confidence to try something a little harder next time.

Tip #5 - Attend A Cheese Making Course

If you find that you enjoy making simple and basic cheeses, see if you can find a local cheese making course that is held nearby.  The knowledge that you will learn will take you to the next level, and as I found, the interaction with other amateur cheese makers is priceless.  Some of the courses can be expensive, but I found a relatively cheap one that was definitely worth the money.  I have attended two of these courses (basic and mould) at our local community centre.  Have a look around your local area.  You might just get a surprise.

Tip #6 - Try Something Harder

When taking the next step and you have the urge to make an intermediate skill level cheese, like cheddar, feta, parmesan, edam or the like, try and make one like feta or Caerphilly that only take a short time to ripen so that you can taste your handy work quickly.  By making these quick to ripen cheeses once a month, you will always have some type of cheese at hand at home and never be tempted to by that processed store bought rubbish that some supermarkets try and pass off as cheese!

Tip #7 - Don't Be Afraid To Experiment

Once you get the basics right fairly consistently, don't be afraid to experiment a little by adding other flavours to your cheeses during pressing or milling.  I add a layer of home grown sage leaves into the middle of my Wensleydale and it imparts a fantastic flavour.  I add home grown dried Birdseye chilli to my Monterey Jack to produce a variety called Pepper Jack.  I have even added green peppercorns to my Farmhouse cheddar.  It is all about the cheese and the final flavour.

Tip #8 - Have Patience. 

A good cheese, like a good wine, needs to ripen for a specific period of time and get better with age.  Try and resist temptation by eating your cheese earlier than recommended.  All hard cheeses take time to mature to the right taste.  You would be amazed by the difference a week or month between tastings.  Depending on the cheese, if tasted early it will be very mild, but if left for longer the flavour gets stronger over time.  I will give you an example.  I made some Camembert, tried it at 3 weeks and it was fantastic.  Left one for 4 weeks, and it was so strong it was overpowering but out of this world.  Another example, my first Caerphilly cheese I sampled at 15 days, when it was supposed to ripen to 28 days.  It was nice, but when we tried it at 28 days, it was fantastic.   I don't dare try my Parmesan until at least 12 months!

Tip #9 - Invest In Good Equipment

If you find that cheese making is the hobby for you, invest in a few good books, a decent press, and if you don't have a cellar that maintains a constant temperature between 10-15 C, then you will need to invest in a wine fridge that has the same temperature range.  After I decided that cheese making was going to be a long term hobby, then I took this step and invested in such a fridge and it has become my "cheese cave".  The summers can be pretty gruesome where I live, so it was a need more than a want if I was to continue to make cheese during this hot season.  I picked it up relatively cheaply, and it has served me well so far.  I can now make un-waxed cheeses as well as mould type cheeses (blue vein, brie, camembert) because I can keep the temperature constant.

Tip #10 - Share Your Success.  

Don't forget to have fun and share the final product.  I usually make my cheese on a Friday night, with a few glasses of wine to relax after a tough week at the office.  I find it very therapeutic.  I also enjoy breaking out a small cheese platter when friends drop by whereby sharing all the different tastes.  Most say I should sell it at a local farmers market, but I think it would spoil the fun of the hobby.  Some of my friends have never heard of most of the cheese types that I make, because the main cheese consumed in Australia is cheddar or processed cheese slices.  I love the variety that home make cheese making gives you.

Summary

Who would believe that you can make so many different types of cheese with plain old milk!  After all it is milks immortal leap.  


Cheese making is great fun, so give it a go, and remember the most important rule.  Don't cry over spilt milk :-).    

For more cheese making tips, check out my cheese making blog, The Little Green Cheese.  It is full of easy to follow recipes, video tutorials and helpful advice, all for free!

Don't just take my work for it.  Lets hear from the audience!  For all those readers who have tried my cheese, or who have made cheese during one of my classes, sound in with a comment to let everyone know how tasty, or how much fun it is to make and eat home made cheese. 

Our Tree Day

"Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree." ~ Martin Luther

Our tree day started at 10am this morning, when we arrived at the banks of Toolern Creek, that runs through our town.  

I was greeted by enthusiastic members of the Friends of Toolern Creek, who were ready and waiting with masses of tree, shrub and native grass seedlings.

The native flora that we were planting were a grass called Poa Labillardieri or Poa Lab for short.  It is indigenous to our region.  The trees were Yellow Gum.

As we were not veterains of tree planting, we opted to plant the grass.  Lyn, the President of the FOTC, got out the hole digger and got straight to work.

It was pretty easy work, just pop a seedling into each hole and backfill.  Each tray of grass held 100 seedlings.

Ben was simply amazing.  He was a grass planting machine, and I was very proud of him.  We worked really well as a team.  Even when Lyn had to duck away on the occasion, to sort out the other workers, Ben kept digging his own holes with his trowel and planted more grass.  He was really enjoying himself.

In the two and a half hours we worked, we rejuvenated a 20 x 20 metre square area of creek bank. In the end we had planted 600 Poa lab grasses, and the others put in about 20 yellow gum.

These are some of the seedlings that Ben and I were responsible for.  We felt really good.

I found a picture of what this native Tussock grass looks like when it is fully grown.  It is a good looking plant and its flowers attract native birds and butterflies.

Finally we walked down to the creek itself, which was flowing fast after the recent rains.  It is clean and healthy, thanks to the Friends of Toolern Creek and its many willing volunteers.

We had a great day, and will do it again next year.

Did anyone else plant a tree today?

Around The Garden In Winter

It felt so good today, finally getting into the garden.  It must have been about two weeks since we have had a sunny day on a weekend, without rain to interrupt work.

We had a fair bit of work to do, so we got cracking.

Firstly it was a quick check on the broad beans (fava), and they seam to be growing fine.  There were a few weeds, which were a little hard to get to.  The Lemonade tree in the background is full of fruit.  It is a cross between a lemon and a Mandrin, and you can eat it straight from the tree.

Then it was on to the garlic patch.  This had quite a few weeds, so I set about removing them.  I had to really rug up, as it was about 8 degrees C.  The garlic is strong and healthy, and once all the weeds were removed, I scattered some blood and bone throughout the bed to give them a boost.

The next bed has leeks, spring onions and brown onions planted in it.  The leeks are nearly ready for harvest in the next few weeks.  Looking forward to some Leek and Potato soup!  There were only a few weeds, and it didn't take long to sort it out.  The Mandarin and Meyer Lemon tree are also laden with fruit.

I noticed this year that if I planted broccoli and cabbages near onions, there were a lot less cabbage moth caterpillars on those vegetables.  So I planted even more brown onions to keep the grubs off the brassicas.

Look at this Romanesco broccoli!  Sometimes know as Roman cauliflower, it is an edible flower of the species Brassica, and is a variant form of cauliflower.  What a fine specimen.  The head is about the size of my hand, and is nearly ready to pick and eat.  Such a beautiful lime colour.

Here is a sprouting broccoli that we have already started to harvest.  This has been the best year for broccoli, mainly because I choose heirloom varieties, and the cabbage moths have not been too bad.  It just goes to show that companion planting work well, and the onion smell must put the moths off laying.  There will be more heads off these two plants to harvest in the next few weeks.  Kim makes the best cauliflower and broccoli cheese bake.  Yum.

Moving up the path as I weeded, my objective was to tidy up all of the beds and the paths so that it was ready in preparation for Sustainable House Day.  Can you see Kim?  She is hiding.

SHD 2012 is being held on Sunday, 9th September, and for the third year our gardens will be open to the public.  We are both looking forward to it, as it is a really great day.

Holly was helping me along the way.  She is a lovely little dog, and follows me everywhere when I am gardening.

As Kim was moving some ornaments around, we found this Huntsman spider (non-poisonous) hiding in a clay zebra.  Ben was shaking when he took this photo!

After the garden was finished, we trimmed back the fir tree that was shading the solar panels, and cut out some dead wood.  Because the tree looked a bit bare, Kim decided to disguise our handiwork with an metal tree.  A bit of irony there, but it did look nice.  The metal tree was given to Kim as a birthday gift, so I helped her hang it, and moved some Yucca's and Dragon trees in front to give it a bit more depth.

Once we had finally finished in the main veggie patch, it was time to move into the pool area.  I planted another Meyer Lemon tree, that had dwarf root stock.  This should flourish in this area, as are all the other citrus trees we have in pots around the yard.  This takes our citrus tree count to nine.

I then had to tackle this lot, but before I did, I needed to make some planter boxes for the three remaining grape vines that I will plant tomorrow.  I tidied up the area, weeded in preparation to plant the vines, and landscape with large river pebbles.

Here is the first small planter.  It is made from left over decking wood in a simple box shape and is 300 x 300 mm (1ft x 1ft).  It will protect the grape vines whilst they are small.  I made two this size, then another that was 1.8 metres (6ft) to put in front of the rainwater tank.  I will then make a trellis out of chicken wire to put in front of the water tank, so that we can grow passion fruit.

Finally, as we called it a day Holly decided to catch a few rays.  I think she was pretending to be a statue on the far side of the pool.

We had a great day, and called it quits after about six hours of work.  It was good to ground myself in the soil.  Connecting with the Earth really takes all the stress of modern life away!

Who else loves to potter around in their edible garden?  What successes have you had this season?

Consumerism Calamity

Dear readers. 

You would not believe some of the emails that I receive in my inbox.  People ask me to promote all sorts of things, from chemical fertilizers to free trips to car shows in Sydney, to eco television sets, all with the offer of a free sample or perks.

To put your mind at ease, I have never been tempted to take up any of these offers, because I hold true to my values, and besides, I would be a total hypocrite if I did.

Most recently, I received this offer, which will make you either cringe or chuckle.

Hi blogger,

Thanks for taking some time to read this email. I am Antonio, the leader of xxxxx blog team and I am looking for partnership among bloggers. I found that your blog was really active, popular and contended, so here I wonder if there's any possibility that you cooperate with us.

Here's the general plan of the cooperation:

First, xxxxxx will send you a FREE pair of high quality and fashionable glasses or sunglasses (you don't need to pay any fee). After getting the eyewear, you just need to write an objective and real review for it and post the review to your blog. Plus, xxxxxx launched a program offering free eyewear for first-time buyers. Therefore, you can also invite your readers to try our products for free. They just need to pay the shipping. Perhaps your lovely readers will love this program, especially for those who need eyewear.

xxxxxxx is the world's most popular online eyeglasses store. We have always been committed ourselves to offering customers the best quality products at the most affordable prices. For this reason, we have gained a solid reputation and trust from almost 500,000 fans on facebook.

Please reply to xxxxxxxxxx if you are interested in the cooperation. We are looking forward to your response.
Best regards 

Antonio 

Here is my reply. I might have been a little harsh, yet realistic.

Dear Antonio,

If you had taken the time to actually read my blog, you would have found that one of my values is anti-consumerism. I believe that blatant and excessive consumerism as you are promoting in your email is one of the problems of our time.

Have you never thought of where the materials to make those sunglasses that you are so fond of come from? It comes from oil, which is something that will be in short supply in the very near future.

So enjoy your sunglass business while you can, because in a few years you will wonder why you even sent me an email.

So thanks, but no thanks.

Gavin 

P.S. If you want to learn about sustainable living, and growing your own food, it is not to late to start!

I had to laugh as I was relying, because the other day, a fellow blogger friend, The Frugal Queen, aka Froogs to her mates, posted a page telling prospective advertisers of tat not to even consider approaching her for this very type of offer.  You can read her page here, as it is a great message.  So to back her up and many other ad free blogs, I too have decided to go advert free to be true to my convictions.  I do, however leave a sponsor space for my podcast, which I do need to start up again because I know lots of you like them.  Oh, and I left the promotion for my book(s).


Anyway dear reader, do you receive endless spam in your email inbox?  What does it tell you about the state of our civilization?

National Tree Day - Winner

The winner of the competition is Brooke Gray from Seymour, Victoria.  Congratulations.  Please send through your details ASAP, so that we can send through your $100 Bunnings Warehouse voucher express post, kindly donated by Toyota Australia.

SO... 

Catch! calls the Once-ler. 

He lets something fall. 

It's a Truffula Seed. 

It's the last one of all! 

You're in charge of the last of the Truffula Seeds. 

And Truffula Trees are what everyone needs. 

Plant a new Truffula. Treat it with care. 

Give it clean water. And feed it fresh air. 

Grow a forest. Protect it from axes that hack. 

Then the Lorax 

and all of his friends 

may come back.

Happy planting where ever you may be over the weekend on this beautiful planet we call home!

National Tree Day Competition

"I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees.

I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues.

And I'm asking you, sir, at the top of my lungs--"

... to join in and plant some native trees and shrubs on National Tree Day, because National Tree Day (Sunday, 29 July) and Schools Tree Day (Friday, 27 July) is fast approaching.  

Ben and I will be out lending a hand in our local community and helping The Friends of Toolern Creek to plant this Sunday.  We want to help preserve our local environment, and will be planting local native trees and shrubs.  Details about local plantings events can be found at the Planet Ark find-a-site page.





More than 17 million native trees and shrubs have been planted by approximately 2.5 million volunteers over the years participating in this event.

Did you know that National Tree Day was co-founded by Olivia Newton-John and Jon Dee in 1996?  Well it certainly has come a long way since the late 90's, as the media release I received explains;

"This year, National Tree Day is organised by Planet Ark in partnership with Toyota and its extensive Dealer network and encourages all Australians to come together with their local community, sporting group or local school to plant trees and give back to the environment.

In what has become Australia's largest community tree planting and nature care event, sports stars, environmentalists, media personalities and country music greats each year team up with local communities to get their hands dirty in support of Toyota's involvement in National Tree Day.

2012 marks Toyota’s 13th year of support for the nationwide campaign which encourages communities to help preserve the environment for future generations."

I like the way that Planet Ark and Toyota both support the event.  It shows what an NGO and a Corporation can do working hand in hand for the good of our environment.

Fortunately, for Australian residents, Toyota Australia has also sent me a $100 Bunnings Warehouse gift voucher to give-away to one of my readers with which to purchase and plant native trees, shrubs and grasses in their local area.

I apologise to my international readers,and I am sorry there is no voucher available for you. However, I do urge you to go plant a tree anyway, and get the kids involved.

So you Aussie readers, all you have to do is leave me a comment of 50 words or less, describing the place that you would plant your native trees and shrubs and why you would plant there if you won the voucher.  Oh, and a small plug about this post and the National Tree Day event via any form of social media (via the Facebook, Twitter, email etc. icons at the bottom of this post) would be greatly appreciated.

The best entry will be judged by Kim, Ben and I, and will be drawn on Thursday evening at 7.30pm AEST.  The winner can then contact me via email and the voucher will be sent to you post haste, hopefully getting there in time for the event.  The judges decision will be final, and no correspondence will be entered into.  


Thanks to Planet Ark and Toyota Australia for their sponsorship/support of this great event.

So get those creative juices flowing, and don't forget to check if there is a local event in your area and register your interest.

Oh, and good luck with your entry in the contest!

“A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.” ~ Greek proverb

The Seven Stages Of Change

When openly embracing a sustainable lifestyle, you will inevitably have to make some changes to your current way of living.  How you deal with these changes will determine the success or failure of that change.

There has been a lot of research regarding how humans cope with changes, so I will try to explain the different stages of change, and what to expect when embarking on your journey towards a more sustainable lifestyle.  This research is about change in general and can be applied to all facets of life.

Please note that I am not a psychologist, just someone who has gone through an incredible change, and hopefully can articulate from experience what each stage feels like. The information provided is a rehash of many sources found on the web, that I have collated into a sensible and easy to read format.

During my life's journey I have found that change is an unusual and personal thing. I have noticed that some people embrace it and find it exciting, while others resist it with their very last ounce of strength.  Why is that so?  Why would humans rather endure pain and discomfort of the status quo than change for the better.  Usually, the change happens when they realise that the pain of the status quo is a worse place to be than the change itself or the new reality. Change can be made by you or made to you.  I prefer the former!

Lets dig a bit deeper to discover the emotional stages that happen when humans are confronted with a change.  I found this diagram below which is a seven-stage adaptation of the five stages of grief identified by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, the acknowledged expert on grief and bereavement. Following the publication of her book "On Death and Dying (1969)", it became clear to practitioners that the stages in the grief model were transferable to all personal change and had a far wider relevance than just to death and dying.  So, based on the evidence that all change contains some sort of loss, her model is used to this day to map where an individual is at any given stage of a change that is affecting them.  (Click chart to enlarge)

Now, although the stages are fairly consistent for each change you may experience, the speed at which you move through the stages varies from person to person.  You could fly through the first two stages and get stuck in Self Doubt for ages before you finally accept the change, or you could whiz through to Experimentation in just a day.  It all depends on how expectant or open your mind was for the change.

Lets go through each stage whereby I have attempted to articulate the types of emotions that you may (or may not) experience during the stage:

Stage 1 - Shock.  This reaction is usually immediate and from experience, it can be within a few hours.  Even if you have planned this change, the fact that it is actually upon you will give you a strange feeling of disorientation.   This stage will last longer if it is unexpected.

Stage 2 - Disbelief/Denial.  You have usually managed to get back to everyday life at this point.  Intellectually, you know that the change has happened and what may happen, however emotionally, you may block out the new reality from daily life.  You will probably be processing this new reality in your sub-conscious mind. Cognitive Dissonance usually occurs at this stage, and you are more likely to get stuck in this phase if you are change resistant.

Stage 3 - Self doubt.  This is a very uncomfortable stage.  Old habits and beliefs are no longer relevant, as are some of the things that used to be important to you.  Your sense of identity will be shattered.  You feel a sense of nothingness until you develop a new way of 'being'.  Your confidence will be low, and you may be fearful of the future, become angry, depressed, and have an overwhelming sense of guilt.  I have personally felt doubt as to whether I have made the right decision or whether I am up for the job.  You also may want to seek isolation to mull it over further, and at the same time feel unmotivated.

Stage 4 - Acceptance.  You have come to the decision to accept the change and face the future.  By letting go of the past reality, the pain goes away and finding your new way of being becomes exciting and a challenge rather than a loss.  Your energy levels will be going up, as this stage usually begins just after rock bottom on the emotional scale. You still might not know what you are going to do, but at least you know that your reality has changed.

Stage 5 - Experimentation.  You try something new from the new paradigm, but don't be surprised if you can't stick to the plan.  You could be all over the place, trying little changes to fit with your new reality.  You will still be working it out in your mind, however your energy levels continue to rise.  Try little things before attempting any major change at this stage, because you may slip back to self-doubt if a large experiment goes pear shaped.

Stage 6 - Search for meaning.  When you have embarked on your journey towards your new reality, you may start to appraise where you were before the change occurred, what has happened since, and why.  You will begin to fit your experience into your "life story" and re-examine your view of yourself and the world around you.  You will start to make sense of it all.

Stage 7 - Integration.  At the end of the change process, and all being well, you will be comfortable, confident, and a feeling that you belong or are seeking belonging in your new way of life.  

Now just a realisation on my part.  Change may be difficult at times and for a long period, but it can also be exciting, energising and uplifting.  It is a part of life.  Also remember that just because there is a model, it does not mean that everyone will experience all stages or the same change in the same way as others.  Every person is different and the above model is for guidance only and is based on my own experience.  Yours may differ significantly.

I see major changes happening within our society, and I see many people stuck in stage 2 - Denial/Disbelief which is disheartening.  However lately I have noticed many more people who are more advanced and are well towards the end of the cycle and seeking like minded individuals or groups to enforce their new paradigm.  I often write on my personal blog about the big issues like climate change, peak oil, collapse, and demonstrate the things you can do to soften the blow and assist.  Living a simple, green and frugal lifestyle will help to us no end, as will paying down as much debt as you can.  However, if you have a basic understanding what stage of change you and others around you could possibly be in, it could help to adapt to the current situation in a better way.

I wish my family and I had have know about the stages of change when I was going through my very own green epiphany!  Maybe my wife would not have thought I was having a mid life crisis at the time.

You Are Not Alone

We are different.  Yes, different, but not abnormal, and we are not alone in this difference!

Slowly growing within the consumeristic core of western culture and society, there is a special kind of person that is different from the mainstream.  Sometimes they are hard to spot, but with a bit of careful observation you can pick them out from the crowd.

You will see them shopping in op-shops, buying clothes and other essentials.  You will catch them on weekends in their gardens growing their own food.  You will find them in their kitchens cooking meals for their family.  You will see them mending and repairing, reducing, reusing, and recycling items around the home.  You will find them talking about the antics of their chickens instead of talking about weekend football or some other trivial pursuit.  You will notice their friendly demeanour, and note that they give endlessly of their skills and knowledge.  You will finding them buying local produce and goods.  You will find them using less resources in their lifestyle.  You will hear them enjoying life and not have a nagging feeling in their mind that something is missing in their life.

In fact, these people are you.  Yes, you dear reader.  I can see you out there in the audience, changing your lives, being different from the rest of society, every single day of the year, and living life to the full.  Having fun and finding the courage to be someone different who stands up for the future of humanity and all creatures on the Earth in each and every action you take towards your sustainable lifestyle.

Doesn't it feel good to be different in this small way? What would please me much, much more was if everyone lived as if the welfare of Mother Earth, Gaia, Mother Nature, (or whatever label you call home) really mattered.  I yearn to see the day when we are all the same.

Being different is maybe good in the short term, but a big green groundswell that reaches a tipping point is far superior.  Change at the community level is the only thing that will make a difference in the long run to our environment which without we do not stand much of a chance.  It makes me laugh when I hear the term "Save the Environment".  As I know full well that the environment is not something separate from humans, what that term really means, and has a bigger punch in the process is "Save Humanity and all other Species on the planet".  It has a better ring to it, and a worthier goal.

So lets take the "different" and make it "the norm".  Reach out to your local community and share all the different things you do in your sustainable lifestyle, and I'll bet you my best laying chicken, that you will also make a difference to someones life as well!

Who is up for the challenge?

How To Remove Scaly Leg Mites

Credit:  http://www.backyardchickens.com

Our chickens are quite healthy girls, but one ailment that they catch on and off are scaly leg mites.  These little beasties burrow underneath the scales on the legs of the hens, which cause discomfort, irritation and some pain.  If left untreated for a long time, it can cause the chook to go lame.

We find that it is best to treat all the hens at the same time, because the mite can travel from bird to bird.

Yesterday, as part of their normal fortnightly health check, Ben helped me to treat our girls.

Treatment is very easy.  Firstly, distract the girls with some food, then one by one do the following;

With warm soapy water, gently remove all the dirt from their legs with a nail brush.  This softens any crusty scales.  Gentle is the operative word, because you are removing the dirt and crusty bits, not their leg scales.  

You will note in the picture above that the top of the talons are a little pink in colour.  This is because this particular chicken was treated last week as well, and the mite has dropped off, along with the infected leg scales.  New scales will grow back in a few weeks.

Once the legs are clean, holding the chook firmly, we dunk each leg into olive oil that we store in a 2 litre (2qt) icecream container.  Ben holds the container so that the hen doesn't kick it over. Once the legs are coated, we let the excess drip off, then release the chook into the chicken run.  
We use this routine if any one of the girls gets infected, by treating the entire flock;

• Week One - clean and apply treatment 
• Week Two - treatment only 
• Week Three - treatment only 
• Week Four - treatment only 
• Week Eight - treatment only 
• Week Twelve - treatment only

If their legs get really dirty, we repeat the clean and treatment step.  Usually by about week three their legs look much better, and the leg scales grow back much healthier.  Keep going with the treatment through to week twelve to ensure that re-infection does not occur.

I have read many other types of treatment for this mite, like using WD40, Frontline for dogs, Kerosene, Sump oil, but that all of these contain toxins, which would harm the hen and pass through to the eggs.  Being one for natural treatments, I find that soapy water and olive oil (any kind of cooking oil will do) works the best.  

No fuss or trouble, and it only took us twenty minutes to treat our flock of eight hens.

Healthy chooks are happy chooks, and lay wholesome eggs.  

Does anyone else have any natural method to get rid of scaly leg mite in their flock?

For more backyard chicken advice and health problems and solutions, check out my new eBook - The Way of The Chicken - A Guide to Keeping Backyard Chickens.

Dig For Victory

One of my readers, Jessie had this to say about the Peter Cundall post;

"He's my hero too!
I too think the carbon tax is a good thing. And for those that complain about increased prices on things because the tax is applicable need to work out how to do without carbon causing things. Grow/raise your own, reduce reuse recycle and repurpose or do without. During WWII we faced rationing. If this is the environmental war then maybe we should be rationed on un-eco friendly things."

I totally agree. If this is a war for the survival of all the other creatures of the earth, then we need to minimise our ecological footprint. A war for the environment, not against it.

We need to Dig for Victory to help win this war. One of the largest components of this ecological footprint is the production, harvest, transportation, and storage of food. Instead of covering our arable land with swathes of suburbia, we need to grow more of our food in the urban areas. Yes, this is what we need to do. This will only serve us well in the future. Let me explain.

Pipe dreams of a northern food bowl and the prospect of becoming the food bowl for Asia are just that. Pipe dreams. Without a reliable and healthy river systems, there is no food bowl.

As climate weirding continues unabated due to our lack of action, our monoculture industrial agricultural system will suffer even more hardship. Some current examples are the flooding rain in the UK, and the heatwave and crop losses in the US. Experts are predicting that both of these climate events will limit global food stocks this season.

Additionally, as we reach peak phosphate and peak oil, this system of agriculture will not deliver the surpluses as it has done so in the past.

Urban/Suburban agriculture using organic methods will be the only way to avoid shortages or rationing, and thereby enabling families to put meals on the table.

So, wouldn't it be the sensible thing to do to begin to learn how to grow your own food, and plant a few fruit trees in your yard, even if only in pots? Logic would have it that it would be prudent to learn these skills sooner, rather than later.

Lets look to the past for similar resource shortages. A good example to model this type of action can be found during World War II.

The Australian War Memorial Encyclopaedia states;

"During 1942 food shortages began to have an impact on the Australian home front. The agricultural industry was struggling with massive labour shortages, a severe and prolonged drought, and major shortfalls in imports of seed stock and fertiliser. There was a growing realisation that unless agriculture became a focus of the war effort, food shortages would be imminent. 

Many Australians were already keen home vegetable gardeners, being self-sufficient, with fruit and vegetables and a “chook shed” down the back. Others took to the idea afresh and turned over their whole front and back gardens to vegetable production, often selling excess produce to raise funds for the front. Some people formed neighbourhood gardening groups as a means of feeding their families. Others formed gardening collectives, specifically to raise funds for the war effort. 

As the fear of invasion dissipated towards the end of 1943 food production became more of a national priority. Even though improvements were made in the agricultural sector to meet the demands of war, home gardening continued to raise funds and morale, and feed local communities and families, throughout the war."

If it worked for the allied countries in WWII, then why can it work for us now?  Why can't we have a Ministry of Food now to kick start things off?  Just because it looks like we have abundance now, it doesn't necessary mean we will continue to be able to purchase our hearts desires down at the supermarket in the very near future.



Maybe we shouldn't relay on Federal governments to come to our rescue, and should help ourselves.  I don't know what may occur as things begin to progress, but the signs of economic depression, and resource scarcity are blatantly obvious to those who can read these signs.  Local actions are those that will be most effective when TSHTF.
I am not trying to be alarmist, only cautionary, because I know how long this skill takes to master before you can grow enough food to supplement purchased or at the worst, rationed nutrition.
So dear reader, if you haven't already done so, I would urge you to begin to learn the basic skill of growing your own food.  It doesn't have to be in your backyard, it can be in a community garden, or with a local gardening group that focuses on backyard food production.  You will only learn if you get involved now.  Learning this skill takes time, and it no good trying to learn it on the fly as you will be well short of time by then.  
One more request.  If you do grow your own fruit, veg, and/or livestock, then get involved with community groups that help teach others.  We need teachers just as much as we need people to learn.  

So what are you waiting for?  Get digging for victory.  We have on our urban farm, and we don't regret it for a minute!

P.S.  Your own appraisal of the current food situation is welcomed via comment.  

So Long, And Thanks For All The Fish

"So sad that it should come to this", sung the dolphins as they left the Earth
 - Douglas Adams

Yes it is a milestone today.  It is the day of the last post at the Simple Green Frugal Co-op.  My first post at the Co-op was on December 21st 2008, and I posted every single fortnight until today.  That is a lot of thought provoking posts, and writing some of the deeper ones helped me get my own journey in perspective.

My favourite logo for the SGFC

It was great while it lasted, but as Rhonda Hetzel, the founder of the site said;

"I started this blog way back in 2008 when accurate information about sustainable living, written by people who were actually doing it, was not commonly available. I'm happy to say we were one of the leaders in this type of blogging and now there are many fine blogs written by permaculturalists, biodynamic farmers and people living sustainably in their own homes. There is more information now and many more people living this way."

There are so many great resources now, many great blogs and mainstream magazines in print.  Simple living and variations on the theme seems to be in conversation everywhere.

So adieu old friend.  A big thanks to Sharon and Rhonda for organising everything behind the scenes, and to all the wonderful writers who contributed along side of me.  Every single post was inspiring, and special.

Will you miss the SGFC?

Blog Maintenance

No, the site is not going down for maintenance, I just wanted to share a few bloggy things, which are not specifically green per se.

Today the blog had a massive spike in traffic directed from Homestead Survival which linked to one of my clay oven posts at about 1am AEST today.  This site is quite unlike one I have ever seen before.  The posts consist of a link to a subject, then an Amazon advertisement.  That is it, no other content, just this format repeated many times over each day.

As you can see by the graph, it was an amazing jump in readership.  Being a bit of a stats fan, this blog usually has between 40-100 page views and hour, so to get over 1900 in a single hour was amazing.

So, if you are one of my new readers, welcome, and I invite you to stay and have a look around.  There are lots of good homesteading articles to read and digest.

Also, I have had a few reports that the green wibya bar at the bottom of the blog may be causing a few issues with older web browsers.  If you are having an issue with scrolling down the page, or page freezing or browser crashing, either let me know via comment below or via email.  I will disable it if this is indeed the case.

If anyone has questions/observations regarding this blog, specifically format, search-ability, layout, etc. just leave a comment as I always welcome constructive feedback.

Other than those couple of things, back to regular The Greening of Gavin tomorrow.

Gav

Being Green

Just a simple song today.  One that I first heard when I was a small child from a fabric frog who lived on a magical street in TV land far, far, away.

Oh, how those simple lyrics ring so true for me now.




Sometimes it is not easy being on the green team, but as Kermit said;

"When green is all there is to be
It could make you wonder why, but why wonder why
Wonder, I am green and it'll do fine, it's beautiful
And I think it's what I want to be"

I could not agree more.  It's what I am. 

A Poultry Story

For the last two days, day and night, I have been banging at the keyboard, putting the finishing touches on my next eBook.  Thankfully the first draft manuscript is complete.

The title of this eBook is "The Way Of The Chicken - A Poultry Story", and it documents our chicken journey, from the initial decision to get backyard chickens, through to the 2011 egg count.  It is the sum of my chicken husbandry experience and knowledge over the past five years, including building the various hen houses in detail, health and hygiene, feed, free ranging, sickness, sadness, and elation.  You name it, its in there.  I even had a bit of a teary moment during the writing of some of the chapters, and found myself laughing at others.  It was like reminiscing about adventures with a cherished old friend.

It has a forward, twenty one chapters, and an afterward.  It currently weighs in at just over 22,400 words or 75 A4 pages, with pictures and illustrations, which may grow or shrink after further editing.  It has been a massive undertaking, for me anyway, and took me a month to hammer out.  I started it just as I published my first book, details of which can be found on the side bar.

I have neglected the garden, not made a single thing, and my brain is a bit mushy.  I have been vividly dreaming about chickens for the last week.  Thankfully, any time I needed inspiration, I just went outside, sat down, and watched the girls for a while.  Their antics prompted me to either add to an existing chapter or write a new one.  It was so good to have my subject matter close at hand for a good laugh.

For those interested, here is a sneak peak at the cover.  I think it looks smart, basic, yet professional.  Any thoughts?

Kim is going through the manuscript over the next few days, then it will be sent to a few proofreaders to make sure the spelling, grammar and sentence structure is correct.  That should take about a week.

Then I will format it for the eBook, and publish it on Smashwords and Amazon.  I am looking forward to the day that I hit the bit publish button!  


Now, back to my life for a while.  Lucky I have the day off tomorrow for rest and relaxation.  

Busting Myths About Wind Turbines

Yesterday we talked at depth about residential solar PV to help people better understand the different configurations in use today.  Hopefully it also busted a few myths.

Whilst in a myth busting mood, today I have found a video about wind turbines, which are getting a fair bit of press, especially the opponents of local wind farms in our area.  It has been found that many of these so called grass roots opponents belong to groups such as the Waubra Foundation and the Landscape Guardians, that are fronts for the fossil fuel industry, as Environment correspondent Sandi Keane brilliantly exposed.  Wind farms are a threat to their massive profits and are in reality astroturf type organisations funded by vested interests.  By creating confusion and spreading myths, it helps rally support against this form of renewable energy.

With that said, the Friends of Earth put together a great video that debunks common myths about wind turbines. It is a six-minute animation on wind energy and the common myths and confusions that threaten its development; including Wind Turbine Sickness, sound emissions and impact on bird populations.




I have previously written about the 2km planning regulation in this post titled "Planning Favours Coal Over Wind", which explains this planning tomfoolery in layman's terms.

Please share the video with anyone you like, because the more people that understand why these myths are false, it give less ammunition to the scaremongering opponents of these renewable energy developments.

Education wins over ignorance every time!

Wise Words Wednesday - Solar Power

It has been a while since I posted a question from a reader, so here goes.  Today's question(s) come from Natalie, with her permission, hailing from somewhere in Australia.

Hi Gavin

My husband and I have been discussing the installation of solar panels for our home, but have a few concerns about what the electricity companies are up to. I know you are a big supporter of solar generation in homes, so I wanted to ask your opinion.

Due to the prohibitive cost, we cannot store the electricity generated for our own use, and must feed it back into the grid. Then when we use electricity, we are buying it from the electric company. They have already drastically cut the feed in tariffs, what do you think the long term situation will be? What if they stopped paying anything for the feed in?

Shouldn't it be the electric companies responsibility to pay for installation of solar infrastructure? It will only reduce our personal power bills while they continue to pay a high feed in rate.

I don't know a great deal about the mechanics of how it works, if you are home during the day when electricity is being generated are you using that or still feeding it into the grid and buying back?

We love the idea of being self sufficient and generating our electricity and using the sun's natural energy, however we are starting to think this is only truly feasible if you can store what you generate for your own use.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this as I'm sure you are much better informed than I am.  Thanks for continuing to publish such an informative and useful blog. I've been a reader for quite a long time, I'm sorry I don't often comment!

Natalie

Well Natalie, thanks for the questions.  I will try and answer them to the best of my knowledge.

Types of Solar Photovoltaic (PV)
Firstly lets talk about the mechanics or rather the electronics of it.  I am no expert but I have a basic understanding, which I hope my mate Mick may be able to expand upon.  I believe that you are referring to the three basic types of Solar PV, the grid tied, standalone and hybrid. 

Standalone Solar PV
The standalone system does indeed require large banks of batteries for storage, as it has no grid connection.  Many of these types of systems have either a wind turbine or diesel generator as a backup for when it is overcast for a few days and the current in your batteries becomes low.  You can be truly independent or in your words self sufficient with this type of system.  You will become master of your own domain, but the cost is sometimes prohibitive if you are a high energy user.

Grid Tied Solar PV
With the grid tied system there is no battery backup, with the electricity generated by the system fed into the main switchboard of your house.  The house electrical circuits draw upon this electricity first, and then any excess is fed back into your local grid.  You are usually paid what is known as a feed-in tariff for this excess electricity by you electricity retailer, which I believe in Victoria is $0.25 per kWh, which also happens to be about the same price you pay for electricity that you draw from the grid when your solar system is not generating enough to supply your household needs.
Think of the grid as a big battery that you pump extra kWh into during the day, and draw down on from during the night.  If you have generated a large enough buffer during the day, then you are essentially, in a round about way, self sufficient albeit with a dependency upon the reliability and stability of the national grid.  If you have a blackout, your grid inverter must disconnect as well (by law).  This is in case any power company linesmen are working in your area, which will protect them from electrocution from any potential electricity being fed into the grid by a local solar PV system.  

Hybrid Solar PV
Lately, some installers have been offering what is known as a hybrid system, which is both grid tied, with a small battery backup in case of blackout.  You can size your battery bank depending on your perception of grid stability in your area.  It will cost more than grid tied, but probably less than a standalone system (Mick, please confirm).

Installation
As you directly benefit from the installation of a solar PV system on your property, I do not understand you question regarding your proposal of the energy company should pay for the infrastructure.  Remember that your house uses the electricity the system generates first, before it is exported to the grid.  You get the benefit of the system before anyone else does.  If you had a hybrid, the batteries would take the excess into storage, then export to the grid, which is even more beneficial to the owner.

Feed-in Tariffs
I do not believe that governments are that stupid that they would drop feed-in tariffs completely.  You would be providing an important resource, which is subsidised far less than fossil fuel generated electricity, and with far less maintenance costs, especially in states where the electricity company is government owned.  At worst I believe that they will maintain the feed-in tariff at parity with the grid price per kWh.  Realistically this is the same situation I found myself in when I first had a grid tied solar PV system installed in September 2007.  There was no feed-in tariff, and I had an old electro-mechanical meter (the type with the clocks), whereby any excess just spun the wheels backwards.  I clocked up credits during the day, and drew from the grid at night.  By keeping my electricity consumption low during the daylight hours, we were able to significantly benefit from this non-arrangement.  Our electricity bill was even in credit a few times, years before a feed-in tariff became legislated in the state of Victoria.

Summary
Which ever solar PV system you eventually decide upon, just remember that it is one of the rare purchases that you make in your life that actually generates an income goes towards paying itself off, and is a planet friendly for of renewable energy.  Try doing that with a new car or boat which only depreciate in value as soon as they leave the showroom floor!  If interested in taking the next step, you can get an obligation free quote from Enviroshop at this link who I highly recommend.

Anyway, hopefully this post has gone some way to helping you decipher the ins and out of Solar PV.  On a side note, my PV system has generated over 18 Megawatt hours of electricity which is equivalent to abating 23.4 tonnes of CO2, in the five years I have owned it, which was about two years worth of grid supply that I would have used otherwise.  It has been well worth the investment, in my humble opinion.

Also to my readers, if you have made an error, or misstatement, please feel free to correct the assumptions above via comment.  If you have your own solar PV story to tell, also leave a comment.  The more knowledge shared, the better the understanding by all who are thinking of spending some capital on their own local renewable energy source.


Disclaimer: I will receive a AUD$25 referral fee if you proceed to click on the Enviroshop link and complete and submit the information request form.  This is regardless of whether a purchase is made or not.  However I would not recommend this company if they were shoddy or otherwise reflect badly upon my reputation.  I make this disclaimer because I blog with integrity.