Saturday, February 2, 2013

Slow Living January 2013



 Well, I have decided to continue on with my Slow Living reports for 2013, even though I missed December.  Happily, Christine at Slow Living Essentials is going to continue with the linky thing so it is a good reason to keep going.
Having said that, I don't think I have much to tell in a few of these categories, January was a time of holidays, sun, heat, and general laid back living, very slow actually, but maybe not so green and reducing!

Nourish - January was the month of The Barbeque in our place, a lot of our cooking was done outside and it was quite traditionally Australian i.e., lots of meat, charred snags, a bit of seafood and raw salad type veggies.
We were able to eat a lot of things out of our garden which was gratifying.  The lettuce mix patch was great and we had lots of green beans, capsicums and zucchinis and the start of cucumbers.  Also ate more summer fruit which was lovely, my favourite fruit salad of strawberries, watermelon and pineapple was a star for breakfast. (and makes a delicious juice mix too).

Green - Umm........Well, I did all the watering of my main vegie patch from my tanks, so saved water, and tried to use passive methods for keeping the house cool on the hot days, or else we just went to the beach for a cool off. And we ate out of the garden. Does that count?

Reduce - I spent the last week of January going cold turkey to stop my diet coke habit, I also reduced my vegetable bill quite a lot as the garden became more harvestable. 


Grow - January was a good month in the garden, lots of vegies started to be available to eat, and the pumpkins started getting bigger, tomatoes are going strong, but still green, I have about 15 cantaloupes getting bigger in my melon patch, fingers crossed they will ripen and we will have homegrown melons! Not bad for Melbourne! 
What else?  Sweetcorn are putting out their tassels and looking lush, although the cobs are still a while away I think.  Carrots are getting bigger and need thinning. The rattle snake beans have been delicious, although I am leaving the rest to save seed for next year.  I was looking on the Diggers website and the rattlesnake bean seed was nearly $15.00 a pack!!!( and it was sold out!) It is an heirloom that is so yummy!  Hopefully I'll have heaps of seeds to swap with anyone inVictoria who'd like to try them.
On the fail side of the ledger, my potatoes did not do well, I think  the compost I grew them in stayed too moist and they have started dying back too early. :( 
On the plus side, my dahlias started blooming in January. Yay!
We had lots of feathered visitors to the garden too, the rosellas, parrots, cockatoos and galahs have made a mess of my apple trees, I don't think we will be getting many apples this year.  We did get a couple of super delicious peaches though, I beat the birds to those!


Create - I have been playing around with a few new to me patterns and crocheted some hexie balls. I also received a commission in January to make a star stitch blanket, so have been hooking away at that too.


Enhance - Started back at the community garden, made a bit more progress on my crochet along and posted it for the group who are making a stripy blanket with me. Started a facebook page for little woollie, still trying to decide how to use this best.


Discover - We spent the long weekend at Cumberland River on the west coast of Victoria and found some lovely places to visit, stunning scenery and amazing views.  I read a great book about the Vietnam War, very engrossing, and it stayed with me long after I had finished it.


Enjoy-  Well, the whole month was a holiday from school and a great break from the normal hustle and bustle of our lives, we spent time with family and friends, went away and saw other parts of our state, had evening swims, lounged around reading and crocheting, slept in, ate and drank too much, went to the drive in, and celebrated a birthday.  All in all a pretty good month!


So that is a bit of a summary of our January, how did the first month of 2013 go for you?

13 comments:

  1. Ooh glad I've found your blog (via Slow Living Essentials). Crochet is something I've been meaning to try for a while... I'm feeling inspired after seeing some of the lovely things you've made! :)

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  2. Sounds like you've had a lovely January! Ours has been lovely here in England too - but in different ways, mostly involving the snow and roaring log fires!(But still very much including crochet, reading and bird watching, so not SO different it seems!)
    Angie x

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  3. What a lovely January! And I think all the things listed under "Green" DO count! :-D
    Have a lovely weekend - that watermelon picture is making me want some!
    Sarah xx

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  4. Oooh! That watermelon looks yummy! It's so funny to hear you say January is barbeque month for you! Ours is July! Barbeque and ripe watermelon! It's Groundhog Day here in the states and Phil says its going to be an early Spring! I hope he's right, I'm done with Winter! :)

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  5. Wow you grow a lot of veg Jules! January was a great month, I am in Geelong so would have had fairly similar weather to Melbourne, I love the Nourish and Enjoy sections of your post; they are the epitome of what an Australian summer is.
    x

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  6. Referring to this post and your last--about your boys growing. My oldest finished his last year of school in April and just recently moved out on his own. These times spent together are so precious! I love the pictures you have of them here. All these good times.
    And look at that bird! Ah! To live in a place with wild birds like him.

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    1. Yep, the time is flying by, I'm sure my boys will be all grown up before I know it, I'm really trying to enjoy them while they are still out and about with us, I like to look back here and see how they are changing, thanks for the lovely comment Jules xx

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  7. Lovely pics! Your garden action sounds amazing, I have been tempted by the rattlesnake beans but never thought they would grow this far south! I take my hat off to you, and a melon and canteloupe haul as well? Glorious! :)

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  8. oh, how you tease us gals in England with your summer pics, they are always so gorgeous. A bit of creeping coming up, but you are always one of the blogs I click on when I am having my breakfast and cuppa, always a lovely way to start the dayx

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  9. you've got a wonderful weather there! great to see your Summery pictures:)
    that bird has beautiful feathers.
    have a great day!

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  10. Love your photos and your garden sounds fantastic.

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  11. Those hexi balls are soo cute - It almost want to make me have another go at trying to learn to crochet - I don't think I have been blessed with either the brain or the patience but I do admire them! Summer or more specifically, January, in Australia is the lazy month isnt it! We hardly go to work, BBQ almost every evening and enjoy the great outdoors with family and friends. I find i cant get a lot done as so many shops and organisations are closed or not operating - so Que sera, books in a hammock and days at the beach it is!! Graet months! - Kara xx

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  12. Sounds like your garden is going really well. Who'd have thought you could grow cantaloupe in Melbourne, that's fantastic! Can't wait to see the results once you harvest them.

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