I have been teaching my children to cook since they were very small. It is one of the greatest gifts I can imagine giving them, since it is a skill that leads to cheaper food, more control over their preferences, and healthier eating. Even if they cook something high in fat and sugar, it won’t [...]
Filed under: Day-to-Day, Recipes | Tagged: children, food, frugal, PostADay2011, self-sufficiency | 3 Comments »
If you are a dedicated environmentalist, but you still find yourself buying back your own time by using convenience foods and labour-saving devices, this is an article for you. I find myself making these choices almost every day: I currently have a frozen lasagna in the oven so that I can have back the 2 [...]
Filed under: Day-to-Day, Home Skills | Tagged: convenience, economics, environment, PostADay2011, self-sufficiency, SolarPowered | 7 Comments »
“Do we want the local (conventional) milk, or the large-scale organic (shipped 2500 km) milk this week?” In case you were wondering, we’re not actually planning on getting a cow. We only have an acre and a half cleared, and the cow would need most of it for pasture. It’s swampy and we’re near a [...]
Filed under: WorldView | Tagged: PostADay2011, self-sufficiency | 22 Comments »
It is the time of the year when young beekeepers minds turn to thoughts of honey. Not harvesting honey, not honey for people, but… whether there is going to be enough honey left in the hive to keep the bees alive until the flowers are in bloom. It is a great sadness to get the [...]
Filed under: Home Skills | Tagged: bees, PostADay2011, self-sufficiency, spring | 5 Comments »
Once again, it is an urban homesteading day of action. This week, we are making movies! (Phew. I made the movie two weeks ago, but it has taken this long to edit it and get it uploaded.) To be clear: I don’t actually live in the city. If you look at the first segment of [...]
Filed under: Recipes | Tagged: not-food, PostADay2011, self-sufficiency | 4 Comments »
Sitting in the lounge at the mechanic’s this morning (don’t ask), I found myself in the company of a friendly sort, an older man who was definitely from here. I know this because as soon as I arrived, he asked me a question, I countered with a book, we chatted for about a minute, and [...]
Filed under: Day-to-Day, Rural Living | Tagged: cape breton, garden, local, PostADay2011, self-sufficiency | 4 Comments »
Today, my mechanic added a useful skill to my repertoire. Specifically, he taught me how to start a car with a burned out starter motor, and it does not involve hotwiring. What is more, he did this over the phone, thus saving me the $50 tow fee to get my car from my back yard [...]
Filed under: Good With My Hands | Tagged: feminism, frugal, PostADay2011, self-sufficiency | 1 Comment »
The Elitism Question
“Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” Michael Pollan’s advice on what to eat from the New York Times, which has turned out to be surprisingly controversial. Real food? Everybody knows that’s just for the wealthy elite… Berkshire pork and morels at $180 an ounce, right? Something like that… certainly no relevance to the average [...]
Filed under: WorldView | Tagged: ecofeminism, food, PostADay2011, self-sufficiency, social commentary, vandana shiva | 7 Comments »