The milkman cometh

Woke up this morning to a crate of fresh milk - in glass bottles - sat on the doorstep. Well, it was actually in the middle of the kitchen as Paul had brought it in when he came home from his night shift.

It felt very odd to hold a bottle after years of plastic handles, but there was something very satisfying about the little splut the foil top made as I opened it. Flattening out the lid to a silver sicle took me back years!

Made a virtuous shopping trip this morning. Bought organic and locally produced veg. Didn't actually cost that much more really. Have organised the box delivery for next week, but still had the rest of this one to sort out. Bought the first marrow i'd eaten in years today. Stuffed it with rice and veg and served with grilled chicken. Was rather yummy, though the kids both turned their noses up at it. Can't wait to get my box next week.

My rennet arrived this morning, ready for the cheese making. Had to order some wax to coat it in or it would go moldy quickly. Will still be giving it a go tomorrow, along with some yogurt. We did have one success in the kitchen this afternoon - I made some butter. My first try (using Channel Island milk) didn't quite work. The little we did get was tasy though. This time I bought some cream - and we have a nice tub of butter in the freezer waiting to be used. The very first jar full disintegrated when I rinsed the buttermilk out, but managed to rescue some of it. Next jar I did for longer and it was easy to see when it was ready. Have amended the milk order to swap the Channel Island milk for double cream.

Having milk delivered makes you think how much we use. So far I've gone through 2 pints! AND that's with using the butter milk for the kids supper. Almost a pint went in one go just for their breakfast.

So, what are the advantages of using a milkman? There isn't any packaging for a start. The glass bottles are returned to the dairy to be filled up again. Even though plastic bottles can be recycled, it still uses energy in the process, so once we've cut down how much waster we send to landfill, it's time to cut down on the waste sent for recycling. Having a milkman provides employment and someone to visit regularly, important for those living on their own and don't get out much. A big reason is that is takes away one hold the supermarket has on us. I'm reading a very interesting book called 'Not on the Label' at the moment, all about where our food comes from, how it's made, how it gets to the supermarket shelves and all the connected processes in between. I have now set a pledge to use Tesco as little as possible from now on. It is one of the worst culprits for the way it treats it's suppliers and how it squeezes out high street businesses. And to think, Paul would go there for nothing better to do! You MUST read the book, it will change the way you shop from then on.

The first steps

I used to be filled with frustration and guilt where we used to live as I just didn't have the space to recycle. We were in a 2nd floor flat, with the kitchen in a corner of the living room and my daughter was still a baby. I had to carry the rubbish bags down the stairs to the communal bins - and NOBODY recycled! Moving from there after our son was born I tried making half hearted attempts at recycling, but the kitchen was the size of a postage stamp, and there was nowhere in the living room I could put a bag without the kids getting into it. Again, it was communal bins.

When we were moved to a house finally, I was able to recycle - yay! It's easy, I have 2 bins next to each other, though it is annoying that the council don't collect so much stuff that CAN be recycled, they just DON'T. Still, I've got our rubbish down to 1-1 1/2 recycling bags and 1 landfill bag. Not bad for a family of 4, though I hope to bring that down even further by concentrating on buying less packaging.

I was going down our street on bin day this week and looking at the piles of bags in the road. SO many people had no recycling bags, and when you look at how much was going to end up in landfill it was a real eye opener. Bit ironic really, as a few weeks ago we had a Conservative newsletter round saying there were plans to create a gravel extraction site just across the road from our estate, and then use it for landfill in a few years. Everybody kicked up a right fuss over that one, but they don't seem to be doing much to reduce the need for mre landfilf sites.

After setting up th recycling I was able to get something i've wanted for ages (but was a bit difficult with not having a garden) - a compost bin! It's great fun sticking all the food, bits of paper, grass mowing etc in there and watching what happens. I'm hoping it will be doing nicely by the time I get allocated an allotment. The kids are fascinated bythe cloud of fruit flies that escape whenn you take the lid off, and all the slugs in there. My daughter tells whe what's going on in it now. We did have a colony of ants last week, but I think the pile of damp grass cuttings sorted that out. Apparently ants means the bin is a bit on the dry side and could do with being watered. Need to get out and turn it over a bit in there soon - once it stops raining for long enough!

Talking of the garden, Paul (hubby) and I have been bitten by the growing bug. I can't wait to get an allotment, so have indulged myself by planting strawberries (that are still minute), lettuces, peppers (I think) and spinach. My sweetcorn haas ben munched, as has Pauls peas. His potatoes are doing ok, and his tomatoes are really taking off! My cucumbers also got munched, though it could have been the courgette as I can't remember which is which and they both look the same. Oops.

Note to self: make plant labels!

Green beginnings

The serious journey to green-ness started a few weeks back. I've always been a tinge green (even more so when on a boat), but it hasn't been until now that the dormant seeds have begun germinating and are now starting to produce little seedlings.

And what has set off this journey? It's Not Easy Being Green. That TV programme has a lot to answer for! It motivated me to really look at what we were doing as a family to the environment, and inspired me to see how much we could do to change things. Apart from being a bloody good watch too.

So, this is the story of my quest to live a simpler, more sustainable, less environmentally impacting lifestyle.