The Natural Life

Home grown & home made.

On our quest for a more natural life, we are becoming more and more interested in the products we still need to purchase.  Are they locally made? organic? what are the ingredients? are there lots of 'E' numbers and additives? We are also very conscious of the cost of convenience - having things at our fingertips at the local supermarket , as opposed to making / growing things ourselves (especially now that we are in the extremely low income bracket !!).

So this blog post aims to share with our readers the things we are making / growing for ourselves that have made a positive difference to our health and wellbeing - and our bank balances.

Fruit, Nuts & Veg
Ok, so this one is a no-brainer.  Growing you own stuff means you know exactly what has happened to it, and gee it tastes and smells good.  The smell of a carrot as it is pulled from the ground is amazing, and crisp beans eaten straight from the stalk while picking others is a treat not to be missed.  Pecans shelled as you intend to eat them are juicy and tender, nothing like the dried out versions found at the supermarket.  We have found that our organically home grown stuff tastes so good we often don't add much sauce or flavouring - the food doesn't need it.  And if you grow from seed it's dirt cheap.  Remember the giant tree tomatoes?  About 10kg of fruit from each plant, and the seeds were free on the cover of a magazine.  We just needed to put in a bit of labour and find a space to grow them.  

Homegrown pumpkin, parsnip, potato and sweet potato ready for the oven.

Toothpaste
Recently there was a study published in The Lancet Neurology medical journal which confirms earlier research that fluoride is actually a toxic substance and may be responsible for child developmental disorders (see thelancet.com for the full report).  This really should come as no surprise when you understand that the fluoride that is added to much of Australia's drinking water is an industrial waste product of processes to make fertilizers, steel and aluminium (see also http://fluoridealert.org/faq/).  State and local governments say fluoridation of water is safe, even essential, but scientists say it is toxic.  There is a huge amount of information on the internet to allow our readers to make up their own minds.  For our part, we have decided to do without it.  Drinking water is no problem as we collect sweet rain water.  We have also eliminated store bought toothpaste and now make our own.  Are we healthier?  Well we certainly aren't un-healthier.

The recipe follows, it takes about 5 mins to make.  We've been using it for over 1 year, our teeth feel very clean after using it, and they also appear whiter (no doubt due to the bicarb - you may have noticed this as a fancy ingredient in some commercial toothpastes).

Toothpaste
6 tablespoons coconut oil
6 tablespoons bicarbonate of soda
25 drops peppermint oil (not essence)
1 tsp stevia powder
1 tablespoon vegetable glycerine (optional)

Mix it all together and place in a jar.  Ready for use immediately.  If you don't like peppermint you could use citrus oils instead.  Try not to swallow the paste if using essential oils.  The peppermint oil is more for scent than taste, you can leave it out if you like.  Michelle doesn't bother with the glycerine, but adds extra stevia powder as Ian likes a sweeter toothpaste.

This recipe comes from a lady who has an interesting blog running:  http://lintrezza.blogspot.com.au/.

Laundry liquid
Michelle was pretty happy to come across the toothpaste recipe, but she was absolutely overjoyed to discover this recipe for laundry liquid, and the blogsite it comes from.  Down to Earth is a marvellous site for anyone wanting to make / grow / bake / preserve their own stuff and lead more natural lives like us.  Michelle strongly recommends you check it out.  Here is the blog address:  http://down---to---earth.blogspot.com.au/

Here is the direct link for the laundry liquid: http://down---to---earth.blogspot.com.au/2007/08/various-recipes-for-green-cleaning.html.  

We haven't included the recipe in the blog itself, as it is worth having a read online.  There are recipes for stain removers and heavy duty washing powder and a few other things. And also lots of explanatory notes.  If anyone has trouble following the link, let me know and I'll email you a Word version.  Michelle uses the standard laundry liquid which takes about 20 minutes to make and is very cheap, costing about $2 for 10 litres of laundry liquid.  We have been using it for about 4 months and Michelle the laundress is very happy with the results.

Loofah
You know those sometimes expensive spongy looking things you find in places like the Body Shop?  Well you can grow your own.  The loofah plant is a curcurbit that grows like a cucumber plant (also a curcurbit) and the fruit looks like a giant cucumber.  It can be trained on a fence or other support, or left to scramble along the ground.  Here's a photo of a loofah harvest that we aspire to.  They will be useful as kitchen sponges and body scrubs, and when they wear out they can go straight into the compost.

Bread
A staple in most houses, we have been making our own yeast bread using a bread maker for well over 1 year now, with great results.  The foccacia has proved popular with Ian and any guests.  But we still have to buy the flour, yeast, salt etc.  We are not inclined to grow our own wheat for flour just yet, but there is a way to capture wild yeasts - sourdough.  The starter doesn't look like much but the bread has a lovely delicate sourness and worth making if you have the time.  

Bubbly sourdough sponge ready for mixing into a dough.

This does take a long time to make as the sourdough rises very slowly.  And a bit of preparation is required, as it takes about 1 week to develop the 'starter'.  Michelle is in the habit of making one loaf per week, stretching out the process over a couple of days.  She makes the 'sponge' in the evening, mixes the dough the next morning (using the dough hook and the KitchenAid) and leaves it to rise all day, knocks it and shapes it that evening and leaves it to rise again all night then bakes it the next morning.  Here is a link to the recipe we have been using:  http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/may/10/hugh-fearnley-whittingstall-recipes-sourdough

Milk
Another staple in most peoples houses, regular readers will know we have been making our own cheese with local whole milk, and also that we have been planning to milk one of our Dexters.  The milking shed has reached practical completion, and China has been fed in there each morning to establish a routine.

China (still pregnant) feeding in milking shed.

The new calf arrived on Friday, a little boy, Ian has named him Baron.  So milking begins very soon.

Baron at 20 mins of age.

Other Stuff
There are other changes we have made to our lives, like using bicarb instead of store bought shampoo and conditioner.  Not only is it cheap it does a great job.  At first our hair seemed rough, like when you use shampoo but not conditioner, but it didn't really matter to the chooks or the cows so we persisted.  But now our scalps and hair have found their natural balance, and our hair is soft to the touch.

We no longer purchase chemical laden cleaning products.  Not even dishwasher powder - we use a few teaspoons of bicarb.  It does a great job.  Until now we have also been using commercial rinse aid in the dishwasher, but when the current bottle runs out Michelle intends to experiment with white vinegar as the rinsing aid.  For other cleaning jobs bicarb, vinegar, clove oil or lavender oil work very well with no choking fumes.  Check out Shannon Lush's website for details / ideas / info http://shannonlush.com/  
and also this site http://www.lifestyle.com.au/diy/shannon-lushs-cleaning-kit.aspx

We hope not to give the impression we are suffering hardship, and have turned completely hippie!!  Well, Michelle hasn't.  On the contrary, we are enjoying finding new ways to simplify our lives and when there is a monetary benefit, so much the better.