Breakfast- Scrambled eggs with onion and cheese
Lunch- Roast lamb, with pickles- noodles with butter/greens
Supper-Yogurt, with strawberries and walnuts
Other-Coffee, Water, Mint Tea, Popcorn, dried apple, dried dates, pickles
http://notdabblinginnormal.wordpress.com/2012/03/06/conspicuous-sustainability/
I always enjoy reading Xan posts, I so often don’t live up to her ideals, and this post was no different for me, I spend way more then 60 a year on plants, seeds etc on my garden, and I even failed on the T-shirt test, two years ago in walmart, out of season, they had long T’s with full arms and high necks in black on for a $1 each and brown sweat pants for $1, I bought all five shirts and all three pants in my sizes. I use them to layer all winter long, the brown pants go under my heavy winter sweats as underwear, and with five of the black warm T’s, I was able to go for a full week between loads with them.
I have cloths overload, I have garden cloths, barn cloths, butcher cloths, town cloths and good dress up cloths, can’t see it changing any time soon, I would feel really odd going to town in my barn cloths..
But lets get back to seeds, I keep back my own seed from the garden and I’m pretty sure that even if I didn’t keep back anything from the garden, I most likely have at least three years worth of seeds in the house for planting my garden, and If I can keep back collected seeds, it would be even more.
So why or why do I spend that money each year in the gardens, I am always buying more fruit bushes, new kinds that come out, adding in more of this or more of that, herbs and organic’s add up fast, and there are so many different things to try new each year, will this one work better for my soil, for my zone, for my heat.. I have had to re-learn planting choices compared to what my folks grew out in alberta.
Then add in the fact that I extend my season’s and do a tone of research into what plants produce what in terms of vit/mineral as I am working hard to keep a healthy balanced diet while trying to grow most of it on the farm. I will end up buying this or that on things I have never even heard of or see before because its said to work well in the spring or hold in the cold frames over the winter, it takes me a season or two or four to figure out some of those plants, the ones that come with no directions are so much fun..
I had one fruit bush that I have moved three times over six years, first time, turns out it does not like wet feet, second time, turns out it does not like heavy feeding.. third time, full sun, poor soil and thick mulch, took off and growing and producing like crazy.. and so the fun goes when it comes to gardening.
So are you frugal in your seeds or do you have a seed collection that fills box’s and baskets and overflows.. do you grow each seed carefully in your sqaure foot method or so you sow whole beds and then thin for salad greens and overseed like our grandparents?
Just another Day on the Farm 
I should probably read the post you’re talking about before making any assumptions here (could we have a link perhaps?) and although having one set of clothes might be alright for someone who only does one thing all day, day in and day out, it wouldn’t work for me either. There’s a natural progression from “good” to “work” to “ragbag” so, unless you live in a broom-closet apartment with zero storage space, why should this be such a big deal? We were taught not to waste things, so all of this purging closets stuff is a huge “no-no”. Simplest solution to this dilemma? If you can, make it yourself, and don’t buy it unless you NEED it.
Okay, so what’s this fruit bush that likes full sun and poor soil but thrives under a thick mulch? Self maintaining? BONUS! If I can plant it and forget it – sounds just like my type.
Wow, sorry about the link request, just consider me “lost in space”…
odd, the link shows in the post for me.. here it is again..
http://notdabblinginnormal.wordpress.com/2012/03/06/conspicuous-sustainability/
Plant is Black Choke Berry, it does ok in part shade according to the books but its rocking in full sun, it will sucker.
No garden at all yet – boo hoo. However, I plan to save seeds and I can’t imagine having an overflowing seed storage. It sounds wasteful to me. Honestly – I’d forget what I had, I think. I know that L carefully saves seeds for a plant that grows monster-sized green beans. I look forward to getting some more of those this year.
I don’t think I practice conspicuous sustainability. Our goal is sustainability and self-sufficiency, so yes, I have “more than we need” with some things like books. But we live in a small apartment and drive a 13 year old car that’s held together by rust and prayer, and the closest my kids will get to an “eco camp” would be helping L on her farm!
All the fuss about being greener-than-thou because you buy the latest eco fashionable item is, I think, silly and like she said, sort of misses the point.
Val, you spend more than $60/year on your garden, but don’t you sell and feed others besides your family? Sometimes I think you compare yourself unfairly when your situation is very, very different than the average city bear.
I kinda chuckled when I read her post too, but I get the point she was trying to make.
Compared to most, I don’t have a lot of clothes, but yes, I have dress clothes, and work clothes, and gardening clothes, and lounging-around-the-house clothes (I tend to change out of “good” clothes as soon as I get home – saves on laundry, imo). And I have outdoor clothes for different seasons, and different activities. Plus, I have a LOT of “cold weather” stuff from when I lived in Saskatoon – which means I have way more than some “frugal” limit.
And considering that I am planting over 100 varieties in the veggie garden alone this year – yeah, it’s safe to say I have spent over $60 🙂 But I’m spending the money now, in order to get to the point where I know which varieties work for me, and can save the seed from most of them. And I’m willing to spend it now, when I can afford to have crop failures, to plan for a time when I can’t.