Update.

It has been such a long time since I've written a post!  Things are getting pretty busy with the upcoming wedding and most of what I have been doing in my free time has been baking, so I haven't had much to post about.  I'm still doing all the same things that I was doing before, but unfortunately I can't write too many posts about how fun it is to make butter.  Or can I...?  It would get old very fast!  Anyhow, I thought it would be nice to give an omnibus update about some of the blog posts that I've done and how things are developing. 

1. Composting: our composter is on our patio and I must admit, it leaks "compost tea".  It also smells a bit sometimes (that's when we have to add more "brown" to the mixture), and has started to attract small bugs.  Tim says they're mosquitoes, but I think they're mostly just fruit flies.  I don't go out onto the patio that much, so it really doesn't bother me at all, even when I do go out to throw compost into the composter, I couldn't care less.  The compost tea leaking on the balcony is a little annoying, but there are very few ways to avoid that.  The actual compost itself is developing nicely, according to Tim.  I tend not to spend much time messing around with it or looking at it.  I'm sure we won't be able to make use of any of it this season, but that's okay, we just wanted to avoid throwing our food waste in the garbage, so it is definitely helping with that.
2. No 'poo:  I am still not using shampoo and it has now been forty days.  It has been about thirty-five days since I have used anything other than water.  I'm thinking that this weekend I might use some baking soda and see what happens, as I have been experimenting with my hair and trying to figure out what I will do for the wedding and my hair is no longer holding any sort of style.  I would like to curl it because that's how Tim likes it, so maybe stripping out just a bit of the natural oils might help.
3. Soapstone cookware: We are LOVING the soapstone cookware.  It really does not allow foods to stick to it, it's very easy to clean (we have to clean it by hand, it can't go in the dishwasher), it has worked well for all foods we've made in the past week (homemade pizza, frittata, Indian food, sauteing veggies, etc.).  I carmelized some onions one day on one of the pans which has resulted in some discolouration, but every time we use that pan, it fades a little more.  We've used them in the oven, from the range then straight into the oven, and in the fridge, and they've been great in all situations.
4. Patio garden: Our little patio garden is going well!  From the seedlings that we started with, we ended up losing most of our lettuce, so it was a good thing that I got the salad pot from Superstore afterwards.  Some of our herbs from last year are coming back (most notably our sage), which was a welcome surprise.  Our shallot are growing nicely, as are the bok choy.  I think we've lots some of the eggplant, tomato plants, and pepper plants, but we really were only hoping for one of each of those, so hopefully they'll work out. I bought a strawberry plant and Tim is getting ready to transplant it into a bigger pot.  We harvested the lettuce in the salad pot about three weeks ago and it is just about ready for another harvest!
5. Baking: I am still baking up a storm.  I've been making my own paneer and butter regularly, as well as granola, tomato sauce, ice cream and lemonade.  There are also lots of baked goods that I make (cookies, egg tarts, muffins, cupcakes, custards, etc.).  Recently, I've decided to start making a whole grain kernel salad every week for Tim and I to eat, so we've been experimenting with that.  We've made quinoa, barley and spelt salads so far. Also, we've decided to start making a healthy soup every week, mostly so that I can bring it to eat for lunch at work.  I made a delicious vegetarian chili lemon soy broth with tofu, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, orange peppers, cilantro and other goodies in it. This weekend I'm going to make a barley vegetable soup.

So that is a bit of an update.  We are really focusing on trying to eliminate plastics and chemicals as much as possible from our home and our lives and it is going well!  My goal is just to live more simply and sustainably and I must say, I love it!

Sprouting.

You may all be interested to know that our seedlings are starting to sprout!  In the tray with the gai lan, bok choi, and red and green lettuces we have sprouts in every single spot.  The other tray (tomatoes, shallots, peppers and eggplants), we have nothing, but those ones will take a bit longer.  I'm shocked by how quick the leafy vegetables are coming up and so excited that we will soon have home-grown lettuce.  The lettuce in the store, even the organic lettuce (specifically the organic lettuce) definitely leaves something to be desired!

Seeding.

It is a very exciting time of year, not only because it is summer, although that is a part of it, but because it is time to start planting gardens.  This means fresh produce is on the menu very soon!

My understanding of the climate here in the Lower Mainland is that outdoor planting can usually begin in early April.  We missed that by a mile.  We only just did our seeding, and it is going to be at least a couple months until we can transplant our seedlings to our outdoor balcony garden.

We went with two seeding trays like the one above, which have individual little containers in them that are capable of being transferred (without removing the soil) directly to their new spot once the seedlings have grown to about two inches and are ready for transplant.  We planted: two eggplant bushes or plants, nine cherry tomato plants (three different types), six sweet pepper plants (three types), many gai lan, bok choi, shallots, red lettuce and green leaf lettuce.

Our main strategy is to plant things that we eat regularly (or would like to eat regularly).  We both have a salad with lettuce, cucumbers and peppers (and tomatoes for Tim when available) every day, so the components of salad are high on our list.  Tim eats a lot of bok choi and would like to start eating more gai lan, both of which are extremely healthy, so I know I can help him with them.  For some reason, shallots are the only type of onion that Tim and I eat, so we thought it would be worthwhile to grow our own.  We will also be planting herbs (basil, sage, parsley, cilantro and others), but those we buy from the garden centre and then transplant once the growing season is underway. The eggplants are going to be a little more work incorporating into our weekly menu, but it is worth a try. It is a very exciting time of year!