Summer Dreaming

So we have this beautiful kitchen stove for heating and cooking and love it! It's like having a campfire in the kitchen, it's the feeling of vacation every time we use it. It is VERY warm and heats the whole house without any problem and not a lot of fuel.

This works wonderfully for 3 seasons of the year - but now it is summer. I would like to eventually replace the gas stove in the basement with this stove.   Something smaller that we can easily use to have a quick fire to cook a meal, bake bread or pizza,  brew a pot of coffee (this comes to mind as another plug in coffee maker is about to die and need replacing)  Most importantly - it will not heat the whole house.

We do a little at a time and I find this blog useful for me to keep track of ideas and dreams, so I can go back and review how we did things, remember what worked and what didn't and the direction we are always moving in.  There is still a dream of a vacation place in Vermont where the small cabin I have in mind would easily be heated by this smaller stove or something similar.  It's a good reminder of why I work as hard as I do and why everything of value is worth saving for and waiting for. The 8-5 isn't forever and when it's done there will be a perfect retreat to enjoy and a mature garden to rest in.

Every day I stand in the garden and look around to see what is growing and what is new in the garden. I stop to observe the different insects, birds and animals that are around me. But what really matters is that I see the garden - at least the foundation of it - at maturity. With all of the fruit trees at 10-15 feet - the Paw Paw at 20 ft. The bushes grown in at 4-12 feet depending on the fruit or nut. I see the perimeter of the garden surrounded by a wall of grapes.

This is what keeps me going every day. This is the dream and vision - to have this place work into a state of abundance to share with people. 

The Ceremony of Coffee and Tea

I am on a quest to simplify life and slow down the pace of things with the goal of requiring less and appreciating more. Because I usually drink coffee, it takes only a couple of minutes in the morning to put coffee in the automatic coffee maker and rush around doing other things while it brews. This is not my preference, but is often what happens. It tastes fine, but I can't help but think now that something is missing.

Mainly, I am missing from the process. 

When I am in less of a hurry and in a state of mind to remember, I brew the coffee on the wood stove in a percolating coffeepot. There is more to this - the water level, the stove temperature, the sounds of the water heating up until the first sign of coffee appearing in the glass top and then the most important part - move to a lower temp side of the stove and brew for 7-10 mins depending on how strong you like your coffee. The coffee smells delicious, and I drink it black because the flavor is so amazing when it is brewed this way. This is a process that includes me. I need to pay attention, watch, hear, smell, taste and I interact with the coffee. It raises the experience to a level that connects to something inside of me. It slows me down and keeps me involved.

On days like today, when the stove is cool and I heat water up for a cup of tea, there is a different type of ceremony. Looking at each part of the process, the temperature of the water (just to boiling) the 3-4 mins you brew the tea leaves, the milk & sugar, or local raspberry honey (yum!) and the pouring, stirring, sipping, etc. This process also includes me and raises the experience to something other than just consuming.

So as I am writing this, I am listening to classical music, sipping tea and being a little reflective. It is always in the back of my mind to observe the things I do in life and see how I am rushing. The challenge is to take a step back and evaluate even the smallest things, like a cup of tea and if there is a slower and more involved experience I could be having. 

Or, in some cases, if the experience is an experience I want to have at all.

Snow Day

Benny Goodman record for the Victrola - love this music!

As 2013 begins, I am starting the second week of much needed vacation. The morning is cold, like January in New England should be. I just put a log in the wood stove and poured a hot cup of coffee, took the Swedish Coffee Bread out of the freezer and opened all the curtains to let the sun in and life is pretty good from where I am sitting.

Sometimes I feel like I am still a child and this house is my fort, surrounded by snow and I am hiding out here with family or friends and my favorite things. Covered in blankets, with the whole of the day stretching ahead, time is different when you are home and you let go of the “normal” stressors. Like a snow day when you were in grade school! 

This is the time that I am most grateful for technology. I have a Benny Goodman radio show streaming while I use an iPad to check email and take on the task of unsubscribing from everything that tagged me during the holidays. I have access to the ebooks I am reading and can get caught up with reading the blogs I am interested in. I can write anywhere with my laptop, and love the freedom. My husband left for work, everyone else is still sleeping – even the dog is snoring, so it is a perfect time to write.  I enjoy when technology works for me, and fits into the activities I am already planning. I dislike when technology steals time from me, like the ridiculous amount of emails I have to go through. Unsubscribing is the first step to being free of that mess.

I am not making any resolutions this year, just continuing on in the direction of simplifying possessions and life. I have become more aware of what makes me happy and inspires me, and what speaks to my heart. Every day is an open page to write on, and to simply do a day’s work and find the good in each day sounds like a good place to start for 2013. 

The bread should be thawed, so I am off to see where the day leads…

Enjoy!

Living Sustainably in the City: Our Story

I was super encouraged when I opened the Jan/Feb 2013 issue of Countryside Magazine and found that the story I wrote about our first year striving to live sustainably in the city had been published. If you are interested in any of these topics, this is a great magazine that I have been reading for years. You can read the current issue online, but not the submitted stories, so here is what I wrote. I am so looking forward to the Spring and the new year and new adventures!

_______________

Dear Countryside,

I have been reading Countryside for many years. Long before I married, or owned a house, or even understood what sustainability is. I learned many, many tings about off-grid living, canning, homesteading, housekeeping, etc. before I ever did any project of my own. The information has been invaluable and I return to those back issues now, more than ever as our life gets more involved in gardening and sustainability. It has been in my heart and mind the whole time, and as November approaches, I will take out the November/December magazines from the past and read all of the ideas for this time of year. Starting with the newest, which I read cover to cover, I then scan through past issues to mark stories that I would like to read again.  

When I first started reading Countryside, what I remember is the feeling in my gut, that instinctive knowing that I was supposed to be working in a garden somehow and that the sustainable lifestyle was something I wanted to live. Growing food, digging in the ground, chopping kindling, whatever it meant, I knew I would one day have a way to garden. I had the desire to move toward a simpler life, but I still had the impression that I would have to move to Vermont or somewhere similar to have the space to do many of the things that homesteading and off-grid living requires.

We decided to live sustainably in the city instead of moving. We started by asking ourselves what was attractive about living in a place like Vermont? It is a slower paced life - we can do that here by making better choices with our time. I want to be able to heat and cook with a wood stove - so we installed the Elmira wood stove. I want to grow our fruits and vegetables - we can do that in the city also, with a little creativity and patience. We want our commute and work day to be as simple as possible, so we bought a house near our jobs and can walk if needed, but currently take public buses and carpool to commute. My ideal would be to stay home and put my full day of effort into working in the garden, cooking, writing, and crafting and I am working toward that by paying off personal debt and saving.

I once thought that we would need a lot of space, but that simply is not true. We live in Worcester, Massachusetts - one of the biggest cities in New England and the lot we live on is only 100x50. Many people, when seeing our home, had the first response of "what a great starter home". However, the first time we walked through, I knew it was a perfect, workable size for a family of four and there was a big enough space to spend time in the yard, and have a garden one day. When we moved in, there was extra space, and as we lived, we accumulated more and more stuff, to the point of needing a dumpster every year to cear out enough to use the house again. It isn't dirty or verge on hoarding, but a small space filled up quickly with two growing teens at the time, and with a creative family. We simply had too much, but didn't understand that we were participating in a consumer-based lifestyle at that time.

We started our journey of learning to be sustainable by taking care of structural and foundational work: first we replaced the roof, then we fenced in the yard. We added garden beds, fruit and nut trees last year, along with rain barrels. We also installed an Elmira Cooktop Stove, so we could heat and cook with wood. I learned about the stove in Countryside and we found a local stove place to do the ordering and installation. We stopped using the air conditioners and had the extra appliances taken away. We bought a new, energy efficient and smaller refrigerator and a new washer that is energy efficient and easier on our clothes.

It sounds like so much in a list like this, but really, we did one project at a time and then paid it off. This year we took a big leap and got energy efficient windows. Last night was only 40 degrees outside and it was still 65 inside. I am looking forward to the Winter with the new windows and the wood heat. If the house holds heat like it seems to right now. we will not use all of the wood we have stacked in the yard.

Our garden this year was an experiment in planting as many different things as we could to see what would grow best here. We were able to can potatoes, corn and carrots. We had a small amount of sweet potatoes. We also grew amaranth, peas, cucumbers, pumpkins, butternut squash, sunchokes, sunflower seeds, peppers, beans for drying and several herbs. Oh, and lots of cherry tomatoes, a few each day that we enjoyed with dinner. We learned a lot from our experiments! We will plant fewer things next year and only what we will definitely eat, with a goal of having extra to share with family and friends.

We also planted 5 different apple trees, 3 pear trees, an almond, 2 hazelnut, grapevines, kiwi vines, and several different berry bushes. They all grew quite a bit this year, but we have to be patient to see what they will do next year or the year after.

I am sharing this because I believe that we can all do something to be a little more sustainable and contribute. Rather than taking and using resources, how great it would be if we each could do just a little bit for ourselves! With each of the changes we have made, our energy usage has dropped and although it has created more work for us physically to copy wood, gather kindling, and care for the garden, the work is so rewarding.

Our city is currently working toward allowing chickens in the backyard here again REC Worcester is working for getting the approval in place. At the same time the Mass local food movement is growing. There are so many amazing pieces of conservation land that offer hiking, etc. One small place is near our home, so we became volunteer Rangers and help out that way by preserving the habitats near us. This gives us that experience of the open spaces of Vermont, while we tay right in our own neighborhood and city.

I don't believe that my backyard garden will change very much on any big scale of food growing or consumption, but I know what it has done for my mental well-being and the encouragement of our family. It is so exciting to see wild life in our yard (toads, chipmunks, squirrels, skunks, possums, many different birds, butterflies, bats, etc.) It has changed our world to be able to walk into the back yard and pick a tomato that we planted. If everyone could do just one little thing like that, I do believe that individual lives would be greatly changed. And if enough individuals are changed, then who knows what the outcome and effect could be in the world?

I am very interested in the Tiny House movement (imagine the smile on my face when I realized that I already live in a small home). I am also reading a lot about Minimalism and Simplifying my life, and at the ocre of it, for me, is the necessity to need less and have fewer requirements. I still have and use the technology that I enjoy and am currently donating extra clothing, household items, etc. to three different organizations that will get it to families that are really in need.

For me, I see that less things to care for gives me more time to spend with family and friends, more time to meet neighbors and be involved in the community and more time to garden.

I would love to talk with anyone who is interested in urban farming, sustainability, living simply and returning to the simpler way of life. Our story is here adventureonplanetearth.blogspot.com

and I am here: 

Michele Couture

34 Pilgrim Ave.

Worcester, MA  01604

Thank you!

Warm Hearth in Winter

With the end of Summer we found ourselves ready to purchase two cords of wood for the Elmira Cooktop and there wasn't room in the driveway to have it delivered or stack it, so we worked for a couple of weekends - Rob cleared the larger logs and moved them down to where they would be split, and I worked on the pile of branches and leaves and prepared the kindling. We filled two Rubbermaid buckets with kindling to dry out, and have several more buckets worth of sticks stacked and waiting.

Piles of sticks/leaves and wood gathered during the past few months

When we were all finished with the work, there was much more room for the cords to be delivered. The buckets are filled with kindling and the rest of the wood is sorted by when it was gathered - the shed also has some wood that has been seasoning since last October's crazy storm.

sticks sorted and barrels of kindling ready / leaves in compost pile

miscellaneous piles of wood sorted

2 cords delivered and ready to be stacked

When I see this pile of wood, I find myself dreaming of sitting in the kitchen near the fire and baking for the holidays. I also feel safe and secure that we will have a warm place to be this Winter. I know that everyone does not have this security and I feel very grateful.

Grateful for our small home that is easy to heat, for the ability to purchase the wood we need, and grateful for the comfort of knowing that with a little work, we will be ready for whatever Winter has in store. I feel a little like the chipmunks and squirrels in our yard - busily gathering and preparing for the cold...

The heart of our home

Zone 0 - Small Home - Big Changes

It’s a lovely rainy day today – rain barrels are filling and the garden is growing. I am home to tackle a few projects that seem to have taken over the house.

I have been thinking and reading about three topics that today come together for me:  reducing our carbon footprint, living in a tiny/small home, and the Permaculture idea of Zones. Zones are areas of your property that are designated for certain purposes, and because this post is getting really long, I will post separately about what our zones include and represent for us.

When we bought our home 10 years ago – the appeal was price, it is in the area my husband grew up in, the fact that it was in “move in” condition.  We were sharing a home with our in-laws at that time to save for our own place, so we had money saved when the opportunity presented itself. When we walked into the house for the first time, I knew I wanted to live here. The process of buying was so smooth and problem free and we love our home. At that time, however, we were not aware of the level of consumption we were at, the level of energy we needed to keep the house functioning and the cost of a few repairs that would eventually be needed.

You could say that our life focus was just to do what everyone does – work hard, pay our mortgage and other bills and enjoy the evenings and weekends with our family and friends.  It doesn’t sound like a bad plan, but, it did not take the future into account at all, and now the future is here. At that time, I never thought about Peak Oil, grocery prices going up 30%, that one of us at any time could lose our job, that our children would probably live with us until they were into their late 20’s – because of the slow collapse of our economy and raising of prices for everything we need to live. We are happy to still have a home to share with our children and friends, and fortunate to weather the last few years when so many have lost so much.

When we moved in, people said things like “this is a good starter home” or “this is a good first home” and I would just smile because I know we will probably never leave Worcester, or this house. I am sure that the size is one of the main reasons people thought we would eventually move. It is only 900 sq. ft.  Sure, I dream of vacations in a cabin in the woods of Vermont, (in a yet smaller building) but I really and truly love this city and being around neighbors, and having access to community that I think is very important when times are tough, and let’s face it – times are rough now for many people!!

Now, one of my favorite topics to research is the Tiny House/ Small Home movement. For instance:  Tiny House Blog. People all over the world are living in much smaller spaces and require much less of a footprint, and when I think of all we do in our home, I know now that their lives can be full and complete without a huge house. Over time, especially in the past couple of years, we have made an effort to cut back our expenses and consumption of resources. We recycled extra appliances, bought a couple of new energy efficient (and smaller) appliances – like our refrigerator. We have replaced all the light bulbs with energy efficient, replaced the roof (new insulation, etc.), purchased an Elmira cook top wood stove for cooking and heat, and energy efficient replacement windows. We tackled each of these things one at a time and paid it off and started the next.

So, with these things all in place, our heating is reduced, our cooling isn’t necessary (no more air conditioning needed with the new windows) and we have learned to unplug, turn off, and require less energy in general.  For our “night light” I have solar charged lights in the house, for the yard – solar lights lighting the walk and back yard.  We are not opposed to using energy when needed…we put our outside lights on motion detectors and use lights if the solar don’t charge – because we live in the city and we also have to consider security and safety. But I am always looking for ways to do these things with less power. One of the best ways I have found to cut unnecessary use of electricity is to put everything into surge protectors that can be switched off when not in use and turned back on when we need to use something.

With the functional and energy issues being addressed, there is a major consumption issue inside our home – of space. In the day to day of living, we accumulate so much. Gifts, junk mail, regular mail, catalogues, holiday décor, recreational equipment, gaming and games, clothing, school paperwork, pieces and parts of crafts and projects and general living projects that we have taken on, such as canning, food storage, wood working, gardening, music, etc. etc.

After reading many blogs, websites and books, I see that living in a small home, it is necessary to consider each item individually – pick it up, think about it’s value and either find a practical use or storage, or pass it on to someone else.

Today I am starting that process (again) at a deeper level than I have in the past. If we do this periodically, I find (for myself) that I need less and less. When there is less stuff crowding me – I feel like room opens up inside creatively and I can write, sing, etc. But, when I am cluttered around me, it clutters up my mind and consumes too much time – finding things, and recently injuring myself and ended up in the emergency room because this clutter creates a frenzy of searching and distraction that results in injury.

Why we do this to ourselves, I will never understand.

So, today is about this process of picking up each item and figuring out what has a genuine meaning to me, or a practical function and how it can be stored in a way that we have as much space as possible available to us when these things are not in use. And the rest will be passed on.

I have decided to tackle this a room at a time. Front Hall and Closet, Bedroom, Living Room, Kitchens, Baths, Back Hall, Basement Storage. I am using the space in our basement to sort the things I need to donate, store or throw away.

The plan is to give myself an hour for each room – to gather the quick decision things like trash/recycling/laundry, etc. and deal with them, and then to take the not so quick decision things and bring them downstairs. Every hour I will take one rooms “clutter” downstairs and sort by use, project, donate, storage, seasonal, etc. I also will designate an area for each person in the family so they have the opportunity to sort through their own things.

Okay – I am 2 hours into this and just finishing one hall  - there is a huge misconception that 900 sq. ft. is small.  It just sounds small until you have to clean it. I would say the same about our property…100x50 doesn’t sound big at all until you look at the list of 50+ plants we have growing so far. (not including weeds and volunteers). And I would say that we are only using about ½ of the available space in the yard, as well as the house.  The house I want to pare down and create beauty and space, and the yard I want to fill with beauty and food.

Adaptation is probably the most important thing about this process. Clearly the halls are the storage for the other rooms – so I really am cleaning two halls of clutter and just straightening the rest of the house.  Scrap the hour in each room – today is about cleaning the clutter out of two halls and then sorting through storage in the basement. Most likely, and realistically, it will just mean cleaning out halls and sorting another day. This is better than any gym!

So the front hall is transformed from a dumping zone to a dressing room/closet and hallway for coats when people visit. This is just the first step, I can think of many different uses for the hall and am leaning toward a bench window seat for reading and storage. Ideally, I would like to find or make a coat rack, window seat/bench and find a good storage system for office supplies and crafts, but keep the crafts downstairs. It would be most beneficial to find them at a yard sale or consignment. But, first, we’re going to live with the space and see if we even need to put anything else there. 

A small note of importance is the flow of air that was blocked by clutter in front of the windows. Without air conditioning - the flow of air in the house becomes very important and right away I could feel the change. When I could get to the windows easily and open them, it creates a flow of air from the back of the house that is refreshing and can quickly air out the house and cool it. 

Piles accumulated

A place for shoes and clothing

First Fruits

Last night, the laughter of our "children" and their friends hanging out and talking filled up something in me that is emptied by the time we all spend apart and busy. It pleases me so much to have them enjoy our home as much as we do. A couple of drinks in the garden and laughter through the window. It's all a parent really can ask for - that their children get along and like each other, enjoy and respect the home they live in and are grateful. Everything else is just working out details...

Even though today is June 2nd, it is raining and only 60 degrees out - and tonight is supposed to be only 50! It reminds me so much of vacations when there would be a rainy day and we would light a fire and make the most of the rain. So, when the rain let up Rob & I went out to look around the garden and picked a radish for our salad! Then we got some wood from the shed and built a fire to take the damp and chill out of the house. It felt like a real day off today of sleeping in and hot coffee perked on the wood stove.  Time slowed down and rest so desperately needed with the rush of life lately. 

Our little cabin in the city is such a refuge from every storm.

This radish was sweet and delicious - nothing like the dried out radishes
from the store. 

If you have never grown anything - I would suggest planting radishes. Easy to grow and so delicious and good for you! 

Sunday, Sunday

I woke up this morning to the sound of Rob building a fire in the wood stove and soon after, the smell of Maple and Oak burning. There is nostalgia in the smell of burning wood. It reminds me of the years of Girl Scout camp and 4-H adventures, camping with family, camping our way across the US with the youth group/singing group I belonged to in high school. And now, it is how we primarily heat and cook. There is also a basic instinctive security in knowing that we can be warm and cook and provide those things with our own hands.

I felt the pull toward the computer, on-line news, social networks, email, etc. and decided that today I was going to spend the day the way I would have before all of those things became so entrenched in my life. 

Beginning with breakfast: I cooked Swedish Pancakes  and ate them with a little grape jelly and some fruit. I am planning that next year I will be making my own jelly with the Concord Grapes that will be growing in the garden. After breakfast, I cleaned up and sat down to read Countryside Magazine. I have been reading it for years and for each year that passes, the articles and suggestions have become more relevant to changes we have been making in our home and garden.

This is the pace of the day – do a project and then rest. The balance of this approach makes it possible to get so much done without physical strain and stress. It also allows for the flexibility to change the “plan” mid course if something more interesting or useful presents itself. There are some “have to” things that need to get done today, such as eating, showering, laundry, gathering kindling, etc., but all of the rest is flexible and allows for creativity and inspiration, should it appear in the course of our work.  It also allows time to rest and enjoy the things we have completed. 

So I start the laundry, and take a shower and get ready to go on a hike. We did our Ranger walk through of some of Crow Hill – the area that was burned is evident, but already starting to green with new plants. We worked on clearing out some Oak, gathering kindling and some wood for fires for the next few days. Crow Hill is part of a conservation land – with the Greater Worcester Land Trust – and we asked and have permission to clear the trails and remove firewood (only Oak because of the Asian Longhorn Beetle). Our work to clear the trails and remove the wood, especially in such a dry Spring, helps to prevent more fires. I used two old belts to bundle up kindling and carried it back to the house. Rob carried two larger branches to cut up into firewood. It feels good to work in this way! There are blueberries growing everywhere as a result of the burning. I am looking forward to foraging in a few weeks. It makes me so happy to be in the woods .

We returned home with our gatherings and had some lunch and relaxed. 

The next task was to build the 4x8 bed that will hold Sunflowers, Corn and Squash.  We didn’t dig this one – but instead built it up with soil, cow manure and vermiculite. Once it was finished, we covered it with straw and it waits for us to plant.  We also did the daily watering from the rain barrel and looked over the plants that are growing, did a little grass mowing and trimmed the grass around the flower beds.

Measuring out the Area

Supplies - Hay, soil, cow manure, bed frames

Added Cardboard to kill grass/weeds below.

Added Hay

Soil over the hay, and vermiculite

Added cow manure and the rest of the soil

Completed Bed - Waiting for planting of Corn and Sunflowers

The day was super productive and fun! 

When it is paced in such a way, so much can be finished, 

as well as enjoyed.  

The day ended after dinner with a glass of wine and looking over what was completed. 

It is so important to work and then enjoy what you have labored for.

There are signs all over the garden of growth - the fruit trees are budding and getting leaves,

almost all of the herb seeds are sprouting in the herb spiral and soon more of the perennial plants will arrive and we will be finding homes for them.

I find myself often standing in the window - looking out over the backyard and

imagining what it will be like when the trees grown in and the vegetables grow.

What an incredible life to live...

Our little house on the hill

This Buddha was a gift from Rob for Christmas and now is sitting in the river bed we made!

As I sit here, Christmas gift giving is finished and a two week vacation has begun. It seems that our small piece of the world is peaceful and grateful and relaxing in the gifts that we have been given. I am happy in this place, our little house on the hill is warm and dry as the wind and rain is beating against the windows. A fire is crackling in the wood stove and the coffee is hot, and the only thing waiting to be done is some time playing Skyrim.

Christmas is over and now begins one of my favorite times of year. Taking inventory of the previous year and looking forward to the new year, this time is always a time of reflection for me.

Looking back at the year, I can see so many small ways that life changed and together they have grown into a visible collection of changes before my eyes.

Our decisions to live simply and require less, and to find ways to grow our own food have led to installing a wood cook stove and preparing the garden beds for Spring, and canning our food. With 40-50 different types of seeds to grow, this year will be an experiment to see what grows best here, and fruit trees and vines to be installed in the Spring should provide what we need for jelly and jams.

I learned so much – like how you cannot depend on books for everything. In November there was still lettuce growing and it was delicious. An October snowstorm supplied at least ½ cord of wood for next Winter. Opportunities to observe nature around us and to see the world differently are abundant.

I also learned a few things about myself: that my need to be out in nature is crucial, I need to be creative, I must make music and be surrounded with positive people and ideas. There is so much to be grateful for and so much is changing, mostly I am changing. I see opportunity for growth and learning in everything that is happening.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

2012 promises to be a year of change…welcome, welcome change.

"Things do not change, we change." - Henry David Thoreau

______________________________________________________

Some different things I tried for the holidays:

Cookie Swap at Work - so fun!

Making Necklaces & Ornaments as gifts =)

And cooking Swedish pancakes for the first time on the wood stove...awesome.

The holidays have been full of visiting friends & family.

I am so grateful for all we have been given.