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Toilet roll experiment

While I was at work this week my seeds in their toilet rolls also got to work growing in the laundry. Half my peas and beans have germinated in 7 days and the rest should be popping out tomorrow. However the bean seeds I planted outside have not yet germinated so it will be interesting to see the difference in germination rates between inside and outside. I am a minimal effort new gardener – all the books and articles I read about growing seed talked about plastic covers etc to raise the heat etc – I just put a piece of newspaper over the top of the toilet rolls, seems to have done the trick? Our household ‘created’ three toilet rolls this week so I will plant seeds in these tomorrow. Our home is slowly starting to represent a greenhouse as my various growing projects take off. Male puss approves – he has taken a liking to lying on the table next to the parsley pots. The next part of the experiment will involve growing the seedlings a bit bigger in the toilet rolls and then planting the whole toilet roll outside.

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October accounts analysis

Well another month has gone by and we have once again managed to spend less than we have earned. We have got quite a way ahead this month thanks to the building industry recovering a bit more in terms of hubby finding work. Over the last few months we have created 14 categories that our spending tracking is divided into – even the cats now have their own category so we can see how much they are really costing! Although it takes a little time to record spending every couple of days on the spreadsheet it’s a great reward at the end of the week or month to see the areas you have saved in or not saved in as the case may be. Not meeting goals can be a very good motivator to keep trying harder the next week. Although in the last 10 months we have changed our lifestyle considerably I know there are still lots of ways to further reduce our spending. We haven’t yet experienced a Christmas with our new spending goals – traditionally Christmas has always been a blow out time for us so it will require a lot of control over the next two months to stay on track

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Spring planting

Inspired by last weekend’s planting I continued my gardening today. I purchased dwarf bush baby bean plant seeds during the week and planted some up today in a few old 99c buckets. I also dropped some seeds off to my mother- in- law as I know she loves stir fries and these beans are perfect for that. They have a 55 day maturity period so they will be ready before Xmas. I then popped over to my mums for an hour to plant some of the lovely new carpet rose ‘Amber’ for her and some perennial fillers around the garden. Her veges and herbs that I planted last week are doing well. Mum mentioned that her church group have started up a community garden so that they can put fresh veges into food boxes for those who are struggling and also to inspire church members to start growing their own little plots. So this afternoon I potted up some bean and pea seeds into toilet paper rolls so I can donate some seedlings to the community garden in a few weeks. The theory is that you can just plant the toilet rolls straight into the soil once the seedlings have germinated so I thought I’d give it a go – will be strictly trial and error! I’ve decided that every time we ‘produce’ a toilet roll I’m going to plant a seed of some sort– it will be a good way to remind me to keep a constant seeding programme. 

Nov 2009

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Mama Mia

It was with interest that I read the article in Saturday’s Dominion Post regarding people who had booked seats and weren’t able to see the performers. According to the article a Commerce Commission spokesman said if you can’t get satisfaction from the ticket agent you can complain to the commission if you asked at the time of the purchase whether you would be able to see the show! If you buy a toaster you don’t have to ask “Will it toast my bread?” in order to be able to take it back if it doesn’t work, surely the ability to actually see the show would seem to be the basic minimum that buying a ticket should include in terms of the Consumer Guarantees Act? So I guess the advice is always ask when you buy a ticket to performances no matter how stupid you feel asking it – oh and don’t forget to record the name of the person who gives you the assurance. And if they refuse to give you the assurance??? Stay at home and hire the DVD.

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Put kiwifruit on the shopping list

Last weekend’s newspapers were heralding the wonders of the humble kiwifruit http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/2996350/Kiwi-fruit-really-works-for-health.

The good news is that although most of us can’t really grow our own in the backyard it doesn’t really matter as it’s a relatively cheap fruit. I had one each day this week for lunch (along with other food!) and it worked out at 25c a kiwifruit. Can’t really beat that for value if you’re trying to stay within a budget while eating healthy http://www.zespri.com/zespri-health.html.

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Not trying to keep up with the Joneses

With not a lot of spare money at the moment our house renovation has been sort of left three quarters finished. One of the areas not yet completed is the laundry. I’m embarrassed to say that I stupidly let the fact it wasn’t finished be this huge burden in my mind rather than just face up to reality and get on with doing something to make the room more useable. A few weeks ago the light bulb finally went off in my brain and I spent the afternoon tidying up the laundry which had become a dumping ground for everything. I found some colourful plastic cubes in the garage that we had used in the old house and these now neatly hold the dirty rags, clean rags etc. I resurrected a tall formica bookcase that my hubby had tried to get me to throw out before the renovation – it is perfect for holding all the various laundry things. Another small formica bookcase (also from the garage!) has made a great place for growing plants and seedlings as my laundry is a sun trap. Three week later I still love walking into my ‘new’ laundry and I’m even happy to leave the door open for visitors to be able to look in. It didn’t cost me a cent to improve my laundry – all I had to do was take off my “If only….” blinkers and use what I already owned.

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Labour weekend planting

True to NZ tradition I have just finished planting vegetables for ourselves and my mum for Labour weekend. At three punnets of six seedlings each (18 seedlings) for $9.70 and a bag of potting mix we both have our salads lettuces started off for summer. Mum told me last week that she buys bunches of parsley from the supermarket (!!!!!!) so I have planted up parsley for her in various parts of the garden. The left over parsley I have potted up for myself – it will make nice gifts in a few weeks time when it has taken off. My peas are growing nicely – this weekend will be time to plant some more, I will soak some seeds tonight for my mum too. Share your seeds around with other people – that way some will come back to you as well and you’ll get different varieties to try out. My tomatoes are going well – at least I think they are. We still had frost up to last week which hopefully is the last lot ! Talking of gardening the “My Garden” site now has a trading area http://www.mygarden.co.nz/Trade/Default.aspx?Search=1. The “Kitchen Garden” has their organic tomato seedlings for sale at the moment also Need more space? : the kitchen garden.

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Always read the fine print

I was worried last week about the bills due at the end of Oct –  its a tight month with the IRD GST bill due. The life insurance bill was also due. Tidying up the account papers I came across my life insurance document and found a little section in it outlining a 30 days grace period. Thanks to reading the small print I can now delay my bill for a few weeks until mid -November when it will be a little more ‘comfortable’ to pay it.

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I luv buying second hand

We finally made a decision to buy some furniture for our little sitting area. It took us a year to buy something and the two chairs cost us $55 second hand off Trade Me.  We picked them up yesterday and already they are a clear favourite for our female puss.

Second Hand Cat

The people we bought them from are able to start clearing out their spare room a bit more which will make their lives feel a bit more organized – a win/win situation. My ideal would be a way to purchase things like this through bartering rather than cash – for instance handy hubby could easily do some handy building work for a couple of hours which would be well in excess of $55. Any bartering sites out there?

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GDP

Saturday’s Dominion Post included an article looking at what GDP measures and doesn’t measure. It reminded me of David Suzuki’s lovely tale that illustrates very well the need for a better measure of progress than the GDP.

“Mary and Bob live on the family farm in a small community. Bob’s parents live with them and help to care for the children. Mary home schools the children and the family lives frugally – sharing farm machinery, labour and farm produce with their neighbours. Mary volunteers her time with the community centre and hospital while Bob is a scout leader and coaches his son’s hockey team.  Bob & Mary are classed as unproductive members of society because they contribute little to the GDP.

Bob & Mary’s son is hurt in a car accident. His need for an ambulance, intensive-care unit, hospital personnel and medicine all contribute to a rise in the GDP. The son dies. Bob & Mary must pay for the funeral home, flowers, and gravediggers. It is good for the economy – the GDP goes up.

The tragedy puts a strain on the marriage. Bob places his parents in a home. The GDP grows. Bob moves to the city, rents an apartment, buys a car, gets a job. The GDP increases. Mary stays on the farm, takes out a mortgage, puts the children in day care, hires a farm hand and takes a job in the grocery store. She is also helping to build the GDP. Bob & Mary have become contributing, productive members in a society that measures progress in terms of the economy.”  p. 87 Earth Time, D. Suzuki, 1998.   

One alternative measure is the GPI – the Genuine Progress Indicator developed by the organisation, Redefining Progress. The Auckland regional council is presently working to develop a regional GPI and presented a 38 page report in July 2009 if you are interested in reading it http://www.arc.govt.nz/albany/fms/main/Documents/Auckland/Population%20and%20stats/GPI%20summary%20report.pdf