Downshifting again

Posted by louisa on Thursday 21 October 2010 in frugal, meta | 2 comments

Last week, I called it a day on a contracting gig – my main external work – which made up over half of my not-exactly-massive monthly income.

In many ways, it was a great job (and I’m not just saying that because I know three people from the company are probably reading this… ;) ) – I could do it from home, I like the team, it wasn’t exactly mentally taxing – but my heart wasn’t in it, it felt like a just-a-job-job, it was taking up more mental space than I would like from a part time job and I felt it was holding me back from making the best of my own projects.

I feel like I did when I first downshifted, when I left full time employment in 2006 – a little anxious about money and the future, but largely hopeful. Back then, my job was leaving me in tears of frustration and anger every night: I left to preserve my sanity and have a couple of months off to think about what I wanted to do next. We had lower-than-now living costs and the plan was to give myself a tight stipend from my savings each month to live on. As it happened, coincidentally, a couple of hobby projects took off the next month and they paid my way – and continued paying (and evolving to include other projects) for another 3+ years. It was when the main earning project started to tail off last summer (damn recession) that I took on the position with the company I’m now leaving.

I’ll still have a little money coming in but not much. I’ll have to rely on John a little more than I would like. I will though have some more time on my hands – to hopefully drum up some new exciting projects but also to downshift again – more time for baking, for growing, for making, for doing in general. Having the time to, hopefully, save us money and improve our Really Good Life.

(Photo by GiniMiniGi – does it remind anyone else of the Judd Nelson freeze at the end of The Breakfast Club? The Bearfast Club. The Breakfast Cub. … I’m sorry, I’ll get my coat.)

Picking fruit trees – what to choose?

Posted by louisa on Tuesday 19 October 2010 in growing | 4 comments

Having missed the window last year, we are keen to get some fruit trees plants this autumn – but it’s not as easy as we thought it would be.

The difficulty is partly, mostly our own fault of course. We could buy misc off-the-shelf trees from a garden centre but since we’ve only really got one shot at trees here, we want to make sure we get it right so are hoping to order custom ones from a niche supplier – ones that will suit our wants (in terms of height & flavour), our soil type and our climate. This is where we need an advanced degree in mathematics to figure it all out.

We’re hoping to plant three apple trees, a cherry tree and a plum tree, and I’m thinking about some raspberry canes or blackcurrant bushes, and maybe something very dwarfed in a pot (possibly the cherry).

The nursery we’re going to order from has 65 varieties of apple, combined with 6 different possible rootstocks – a total of 390 options! Some varieties are good for eating, some for cooking and some for cider making – John wants to eat them & make cider, I want to cook with some (although that’s less of a priority).

The rootstocks will determine whether they’re tall or short, very vigorous or considerable less fruitful. Some only prosper in good soils, some are more forgiving. Some take longer to start fruiting than others. We’ve got to decide where we want to compromise.

Unsurprisingly, the most vigorous ones are the tallest ones – but I think we’ll struggle to harvest anything over 10-12ft from the ground so there seems little point getting one that grows more than 15ft tall. They also don’t usually start fruiting until they’re five or six years old. Conversely, the most dwarf type grow to just 4-6ft and fruit at 2 years – but only produce about 10-15lb of fruit a year, which hardly seems worth bothering with.

Even picking the variety for flavour is a challenge: I don’t eat apples and John doesn’t really know what he likes and what he doesn’t. From the supermarket (not a good place to use as a guide for fruit flavours!), he likes Braeburns but they need warmer climes than we can offer.

So many options! The only thing I know for sure is that we have to order them ASAP!

Anyone got any advice or suggestions? What did you pick and why?

(Photo by iscott)

Why our growing season was disappointing

Posted by louisa on Monday 18 October 2010 in growing | 0 comments

You know how the other week, I said it had been a disappointing growing year? Well, this is a case in point.

This potato was the funniest shaped vegetable we grew this year.

How disappointing is that, huh?

Sure, he’s got a face but that’s not comedy testicles, is it?

Frugal, growing and cooking link love

Posted by louisa on Friday 15 October 2010 in frugal, growing, meta | 1 comment

I thought I’d share a little link love this afternoon – stuff I’ve seen on other frugal living, growing & cooking sites that I think you might enjoy too.

• First up, Kate from Living the Frugal Live has revisited two seasonal posts from last year: her quick & easy leaf compost trick and collecting & storing acorns for chickens, to make her birds more sustainable.
• Speaking of foraging for food, Robin Eat Weeds has posted a Rosehip syrup recipe – I’m going to give this a go soon!
• Notes from the Frugal Trenches has some advice on stocking up on toiletries & household goods when they’re on sale – and where she finds the money to do that on a tight budget.
• Fiona on The Cottage Smallholder posted about a very odd but interesting veg, achocha – it tastes like cucumber when eaten raw, like green peppers when fried, and grows outside in the UK. I’ll definitely be trying that next year!
• And finally, speaking of other fun things to try, The Frugal Queen has been making soap – and has written a how-to for beginners, using common, easy to find ingredients.

Upcoming

Posted by louisa on Friday 15 October 2010 in frugal, meta | 5 comments

In a couple of weeks, I’m planning to take a week’s holiday from work to mark of some projects that are coming to an end. It’ll be the first week I’ve had off work in over four and a half years. Needless to say, I’m looking forward to it.

I sometimes forget how much value there is in looking forward to something. As Notes from the Frugal Trenches says in one of her 100 Ways to Save Money blog posts, having something specific to look forward to (she specifies a holiday-away) “help[s] me concentrate on my financial goals for the rest of the year” – a fun focus for frugality and making me less likely to splurge on a mini pick-me-up in the meantime.

We won’t be going away aside from, hopefully, a day at the seaside but I have some things I’d like to do at home — and I’m going to make the most of looking forward to them. This is on the noticeboard in our office to remind me of the fun stuff I’ve got planned:

Can’t wait ;)

(Anyone got suggestions for anything else I should do?)