Little Steps

I have been spending a little bit of time lately reflecting on my journey so far.  I am really proud of the little things that have achieved - I have radically reduced my chemical load, I'm making small changes to help the planet and I am learning many new skills.  While it is important to take time to reflect; it is equally important to keep taking the little steps towards achieving the bigger goals.  My husband was starting to question my commitment to my sheep milking venture.  He had a valid point - apart from lots of Katherine cuddling and plenty of dreaming - I wasn't really taking the necessary steps to bring my dream to fruition.  I read some very wise words recently which really helped me to get moving.  They were along the lines of the need to become used to discomfort and to not insist that you have to feel comfortable before you can start moving again.  This is very true.  When treading new roads it is very common to feel shy and nervous about asking for help.  However, while acknowledging the discomfort, it is no barrier to doing those things which are a little scary.  For some reason I was feeling really shy about asking the local farmer for some milk.  Realising that I could feel that way and still make the phone call was an important lesson.  

Now I've achieved some good steps towards my major goal of setting up a sheep milking venture.  I am in the process of arranging two farm visits to existing facilities and I made my first block of cheese.  The farmer down the road supplied 10 litres of milk straight out of the cow.  This milk is a lovely golden creamy colour and tastes like ice cream!  The entire process took most of the morning and there were lots of steps to follow.  I was blown away when the curds formed as I had only put in 1/4 of 1/4 of a teaspoon of rennet.  It must be very powerful stuff!  The milk that I used is from jersey cows who are only milked once a day so it has a high fat and milk solid content.  I got an incredible yield; in fact I ended up only using 5 litres and even then I couldn't get all the curds into the mould.  The process was hampered by the fact that I haven't invested heavily in the proper equipment.  Having a real cheese press instead of balancing buckets of water on top of cans which make a huge difference.  Today I went down to the local vets and got a 1 ml syringe   This means I can now measure out as little as .1 of a millilitre.  This is going to very handy.  My little cheese is now drying out and then I will coat it in about 4 layers of bees wax.  Hopefully the cheese will be ready by Christmas for our first tasting.  

Another obstacle that can get in the way of achieving our dreams are excuses.  I had some very good excuses for not having a vegetable garden.  I am renting my house, I don't have access to any land and I am in an extreme wind zone.  However, I knew in my heart that these obstacles could be easily overcome.  I have a big porch and I put four containers / pots in a spot where they will get morning sun.  I have planted short vegetables so the wind doesn't knock them around too much.  In one pot I have parsley.  In another pot I have sage, rosemary and basil.  In a long container I have a variety of lettuces.  In the final container I have leafy greens - silverbeet, bok choy and celery.  I have chosen to plant greens because although carrots and potatoes store well I find my greens are always going floppy in the fridge before I get to eat them.  The herbs just add that something special to a meal and are incredibly useful.  It only took me an hour to get everything planted and watered in.  The vegetables are so large and healthy I could just about start eating them straight away!  

 

So now that the cheese and the vegetable garden are on the right track it is time for a new project.  My Mum told me about an interesting documentary on modern wheat and how bad it is for us.  I had a quick look at it on TV On Demand (I do not have a TV connection as you all know from last week's rave).  I was impressed and have started reading a book called Wheat Belly.  I know my husband often complains of feeling sluggish and uncomfortable after eating bread so I thought I would try a sour dough spelt flour.  Spelt is an ancient grain and contains no gluten.  I have been interested in learning how to make sour dough for a long time as I love the fact that you don't need yeast.  So the flour is in the post and by next week I should be able to report on my bread making adventures.  

This week remember to take time to praise yourself for how far you've come and don't let discomfort or excuses keep you from achieving your dreams.

Mentors

My experience with soap making drove home to me the importance of having mentors.  People who have trod the same path and who are happy to share their own experiences and the wisdom they have acquired along the way.  I found two such mentors last week.

Firstly I visited Daniel who lives just down the road in a 10 x 10 foot house with his wife Sarah and their two children.  They milk goats and produce cheese which they sell in Wellington and parts of the South Island.  I spent a wonderful two hours picking Daniel's brains about all things cheese as well as living sustainably.  Daniel built their lovely home himself.  It is definitely small but it is lovingly and thoughtfully put together.  He leant me a great book called Places of the Soul which is all about building houses that nurture our spirit.  I can tell I am going to learn a lot from Daniel.

My second mentor is Zoe.  I was busy picking through one of the fleeces that my neighbour had kindly given me.  I realised that I had no idea what I was doing so I phoned Zoe who is the president of the Kaikoura Spinning and Craft group.  She responded to my plea for help immediately and invited me to bring my fleeces over the next day.  I ended up staying for three hours during which she gave me morning tea and lunch.  She taught me a simple method for preparing the fleece and also the basics of spinning.  On top of that she leant me her spinning wheel and other equipment which I know hold deep sentimental value to her.  I have agreed to join the spinning group which meets twice a month and I look forward to spending time absorbing the wisdom of the wise of ladies who belong to the group.

I am reading so many interesting books at the moment - most of which are aligned towards my environmental and spiritual awakening.  I know it sounds dramatic to describe it that way but I really feel that its true.  In the last five months I have changed almost beyond recognition.  It is almost like ideas are being beamed to me from outerspace.  Now, I know I am sounding a little crazy but I don't know how else to describe the journey I've undertaken since returning to New Zealand.  While it is great to saturate your consciousness with ideas it is important to also take concrete steps towards achieving your goals.  It is very easy to read and imagine a future utopia but it will never happen until you start doing.  In that vein I have purchased everything I need to start making cheese - a culture, digital thermometer, cheese cloth etc.  I will make my own cheese press from old cans and a bucket of water.  My final step is to approach a local farmer in order to purchase some raw milk - 10 litres of it.  I'm reading and rereading my cheese making book and I just can't wait to actually get started.


Tonight and over the next eight weeks I will be attending a night class called Maori Arts and Culture.  I am really excited to learn more about the local culture and I am hoping it will assist me to feel more grounded here.  I am very aware that as I walk up Mount Fyffe I am unable to name most of the trees and I certainly have no idea what their medicinal qualities are.  I am babysitting for my friend Alison so she can attend another night class - Medicinal Native Plants.  I am looking forward to her sharing her learning with me and vice versus.

Finally, I can not say this loudly enough - please seriously consider severing your television connection.  Television lulls you into unconsciousness, it eats up your free time and it exposes you to hours of materialistic consumer messages.  I have no problem with watching the odd DVD for entertainment because at least there are no ads and your viewing is far more conscious.  What horrifies me is the mind numbing, compulsiveness of watching back to back shows beginning with the news and ending at bedtime.  There is a whole wonderful world out there waiting to be explored if you just gave it some time and attention.  Instead of spending time in make believe worlds with make believe friends - go outside, explore nature, meet your neighbours.  Instead of watching real life documentaries and considering them experiences - go out and have some real ones.  The television programme will be forgotten in 24 hours but the real life experiences you expose yourself to just might change your life for the better.

Soap

I realise it has been a couple of weeks since I last posted.  I have been busy in my kitchen / workshop and reading lots of fantastic books to keep my enthusiasm high.  I know I promised last time that my next post would be about Katherine but I feel that I need to revisit the subject of soap.  I know I go on about it a lot but soap is such an integral part of lots of house hold products.  If you can master soap then you can eliminate lots of nasties.  

Previously I had stated that my soap nuts experiments was a failure.  I'd like to retract that statement.  The reason being is that I have been busy trying to make my own soap.  My fantasy and the reality of soap making were very, very different.  I was keen to make a milk based soap because that fits into my whole sheep milking future.  For those of you who have never made soap it comes about as a chemical reaction between caustic soda (lye) and a liquid.  This chemical reaction produces a lot of heat especially with milk.  Caustic soda is nasty stuff and you need to wear safety glasses and gloves while handling it.  The subsequent fumes and ammonia smell are very off putting.  Here I am trying to make a natural product that I am going to rub on my skin and I am making it with drain cleaner!  Now apparently all the lye is used up in the chemical process but I still find nothing natural about it.  My soap making wasn't particularly successful - my first batch was too hot and scorched the milk and my second curdled and separated.  After a lot of angst I realised I was trying to reinvent the wheel.  Why make soap - when it literally grows on trees.  And that brings me back to soap nuts.

My lovely friend Paula gave me some left over soap nuts and I made up some more liquid.  Once again it did a beautiful job of my washing - the clothes are unbelievably soft.  It is also fine for dishwashing unless you have a really greasy mess.  So my compromise is to have an environmentally laundry powder and dishwashing liquid on hand in case of heavy duty washing but predominately use the soap nuts.  I am also going to add some guar gum to the liquid, plus essential oils, to make a lovely gentle liquid soap for hand and body wash.  I know I wasn't so happy with the soap nuts previously but when you've seen the alternative up close it becomes a whole lot more appealing.  

In other news, I've been taking a very simple fee online herbalism course from www.learningherbs.com.  It is a very basic 7 days course but it is enough to dip your toes into the subject.  I have a stomach bug at the moment and have been chopping up ginger in a mug of hot water to combat the nausea.  Peppermint tea is a lovely refreshing drink and gives me a great pick me up without the caffeine.  For a nice relaxing afternoon drink (if its been a stressful day) one bag of camomile and one of peppermint is lovely.  I am also very interested in foraging for food.  My first foray into this has been harvesting the masses of dandelion flowers on our front lawn.  I have made dandelion flower fritters and jam.  The flowers are packed with vitamins and minerals, they are so beautiful to work with they make you smile, and they're free!  A friend of mine has also pointed out some elderberry trees which are on public land.  They make a great tonic - very healthful - as well as a lovely port.  I'm looking forward to harvesting the flowers when they are ready.

Katherine is doing great.  I've given up on assimilating her into the flock next door.  Sheep are incredibly picky and will apparently take weeks to accept her.  I found it really hard ignoring her when she is only metres away in the paddock and calling out for me incessantly   So onto plan B which is to get two more lambs and make a mini flock.  We need to talk to our landlord about fencing off some grass for them.  So it looks like I might be making up a few more bottles of milk before the season is out.

Leo - feeling exhausted after a sleepness night worrying about climate change.

Finally I'd just like to mention Transition Towns.  They stem from something called the Transition Initiative   They are a grass roots organisation which aims to improve resilience at a local level in order to combat the effects of Peak Oil and climate change.  A very good book is The End of Growth by Richard Heinberg.  The book explains very well how we have got into our current global economic mess and what the future might look like given our diminishing access to fossil fuels.  It is not exactly an uplifting read so I recommend going straight into a copy of The Transition Handbook by Bob Hopkins.  One book tells you the mess we're in and the other will tell you how to get out of it.  I love that rather than waiting around for governments to sort things out we can do a lot to help ourselves as long as we work together.   

My lovely neighbour recently delivered two fleeces from her Arapawa cross sheep.  As soon as I get a fine day I will be preparing the fleece for carding.  Then I need to track down a clever lady to teach me how to spin.  How exciting!