Back To Basics Challenge

Sowing seed or Planting

Nothing that I can think of.

Planning for The Future - meal planning, the next seasons garden plan, working out storage plans or more long term goals and projects like plans for digging root cellars

We marked out our vegetable patch. I already knew where I wanted it, my husband couldn't remember so he put in stakes so he can see if I happen not to be here when he wants to dig it. However on seeing it, I am not so sure about the position now.

I have been watching Lush House on TV. It is a great show to learn about natural cleaners and organising.

The stores here are getting less and less canned beans in. These are the beans I mentioned on my other blog and post. They are Singing Bird Brand from Angkor What Asian Groceries. I'm sorry there are a lot of food miles there. Does anyone know of any local ones? Australia is not big on Black Turtle Beans, though you can buy dried from Kwikshop. My son also bought me borlotti beans, soy(a) beans and canned lentils, by shopping in Coles and Safeway/Woolworths.

I loved seeing borlotti beans growing on the TV series River Cottage Autumn. I thought they were not very versatile, but that was not the case. It was very inspiring. Here is the recipe he used his fresh beans for.

Working for the Future - storing food, managing stores, preserving, building that home made cob or solar oven, adding house insulation, saving for manual grain mills etc

On Saturday we executed our plan that I worked out with swapping around curtains that I mentioned last week. I won the ones on ebay. There were two one slightly wider. My husband cut the wider one and hemmed it. We brought them to the new house and he put up wire and hung them. This all started when I found a curtain that was once in the new house. I measured my son's window as he accidently damaged a curtain during the hot summer months taking his little cooler in and out of the window. It used to sit in the window.

My husband cut the damaged part out of the recycled curtain from the new house and hemmed and hung that curtain. Now we have measured the toilet window at the new house and hopefully he will get a chance to sew it and hang it new week. It will be the damaged curtain from my son's room, cut, and sewn. It already has been washed.

I washed my new doona cover for the new house, I thought my linen looked shabby in the new setting. I put it on the bed on Saturday.

Building Community - volunteering, donations, joining an existing community group, forming your own community group, taking a cake to a friend having a hard time, calling someone you just let drift out of your life, etc

The girls did a job, they took all the picture books etc. from a bookshelf and put what they didn't want into a very large fruit box and another box. My older daughter put some back, my husband put some back, I may have put one or two back lol. However we did take a large amount to the op-shop Saturday morning and the shelves are dusted and looking much better.

Learn a new Skill

My daughter learnt about handling fresh dates. She says she knows now why it is called Sticky Date pudding, because it is sticky! She learnt this during her work experience week.

This meme comes from Belinda's blog.