Fancy a laugh? This used to be my cleaning schedule Yes, it is wildly detailed, but kind of sort of worked. Back when I lived in a small one bed apartment with one child who reliably napped for two hours a day, and when I had a lot more time at home because I didn’t drive. It was also back when my anxiety and depression had yet to be diagnosed,…
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The Low-Stakes Summer: Ditching the Guilt and Finding Our Summer Rhythm
The school year is DONE. How?!? It went by in a flash! And even though I am a stay-at-home-parent, I am not prepared for the summer. I thought I would be, but having a toddler (side note, I can’t believe he isn’t my little baby anymore! He is a parkour loving ray of sunshine) does not make prepping anything easy. I’m lucky to do a full laundry cycle most days…
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A Quick Guide to Installing a Rain Barrel
Guide for Installing a Rain Barrel Did you know plants need water? And while I love Illinois and it is well and truly home now, something I do not like is the doolally weather, and the stonking hot summers. Also, the price of everything is dumb right now, including basic utilities. So, in an attempt to be a little greener for my raised beds, I started looking into installing a…
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Vertical Pumpkin Gardening – Practical, Not Pretty (yet)
You’ve seen what I’m growing in my raised beds this year, but I wanted to try my hand at growing some pumpkins too. And aside from the starter plants, I’m proud to say that I didn’t buy anything new for this project! I’m most proud of trying to use up the wood pile in our back yard. A couple of years ago, the ash tree in our backyard was struck…
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Pull up Your Plants: A Starter Guide to Raised Bed Gardens
Raised bed gardens… what a bastard. Technically, bed gardening isn’t bastardly. My lack* of gardening skills are. But here I am, my third year of trying to grow some blooming vegetables. Here are some pictures from my attempts of the last few years. If you are thinking ‘blimey, this looks terrible’, you are right. But stick with me for a second. I may not have mastered the art of raised…
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Results From April’s Food Waste Experiment
Last month, my goal was to reduce food waste in my home, especially my fridge. In case you missed the previous post, my method was the following: And the below was how I was going to decide if the experiment had been a success: In order to learn our food behaviour patterns as a family, I have also been logging the food waste we did have on my food observation…
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How to Revive a Neglected Compost Tumbler: 5 Simple Steps to Garden Gold
When I bought this Compost Tumbler around three years ago (I think), I remember thinking that THIS was the product that would change me into the eco-homemaker I’ve always wanted to be. Between health issues, babies, and life in general, this compost bin has been neglected for at least 2 years. If I am completely honest, when I realized I need to start composting again, I almost got rid of…
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The Alchemy of Scraps – Reusing Food Waste
I wish my concentrated efforts were eliminating food waste in my home, but it’s a work in progress. We are doing baby-led feeding with my little one, so a lot of meal times look like this: But progress is being made. While my fridge contained a lot of food waste, my freezer has been my hero. So much so, I’m seriously considering investing in a larger freezer (not a chest…
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From Chaos to Clarity: My April Fridge Experiment & Food Audit
From Chaos to Clarity: My April Fridge Experiment & Food Audit Last week, I learned that I was a climate villain, and decided to take steps to correct this starting with food waste in my kitchen. And what a week to start. This is embarrassing to admit, but this was my fridge a week after the flu struck my house: I’m try to be mindful as I wipe down these…
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The Alchemist’s Redemption: Turning My Carbon Footprint into Hearth Magic
I learned I’m a Climate Villian 🙁 As April is Earth Month, I thought a fun learning activity to do with my daughter would be to calculate our carbon footprint as a family. Admittedly, I knew it wasn’t going to be great. Since having my second baby 18 months ago, I’ve definitely chosen the easier option for a lot of things (like individual snack packs). But I do general recycling,…
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