Just curious who else is living super frugal

[marlo1968]

Has anyone tried the hugelkultur method for their garden?

Have never heard of this term. So I suppose I haven't tried it. I'll be doing a little research today.

 

[Spifflove]

Let's try to clear up some confusion here.

HEIRLOOM = OLD FASHIONED VARIETY, been around for many years, like, "my Granny grew this one!"

ORGANIC = GROWN WITHOUT CHEMICAL FERTILIZERS, CHEMICAL PESTICIDES, OR CHEMICAL WEED KILLERS. Manure, kelp meal, BT, ladybugs, mulch, are O.K. It is NOT a type of seed. It is a way of growing. You can buy seeds that have been grown organically, even a genetically modified one.

Organic can't conain GMO or it can't be labled organic. However, cross contamination does occur. If Monsanto catches a farmer with GMO contaminated crops from an adjacent GMO field they will sue that farmer for "theft of intellectual property". A side issue but the point is look for the certified organic label if you don't want GMO.

 

[Spifflove]

yep! and the one I love the most is that heirloom doesn't mean organic even. One of the heirloom companies that is very vocal against GMO's and promotes only growing heirlooms, isn't organic ... so what's the point in growing an heirloom fruit if you're just going to spray the crop with poison anyway?

AND ... whoever it was that started all of this GMO business needs to go back and actually read the original post and answer the question I asked instead of just reading into it whatever they wanted. Thanks for showing some consideration of others!

My thought process is this: The original poster said non-heirloom seeds were easier to grow. You save time, effort and money, but is it really a money savings if you have to pay the doctor 10k a pop cancer treatments? The choice is up to the individual. Yes I wonder why I go through the effort of raising my own chickens every day. Maybe I will stop one day and just buy organic grown chickens and eggs because that is cheaper and easier. I will never buy hormone factory chickens even though they are cheaper and easier to find. Why? I would rather not pay the doctor. Thats my idea of being frugal. [Other people are free to disagree that's freedom; other's may want to but can't afford it. They can still grow organic gardens, use ladybugs etc requiring extensive reading and reflection.]

Now we all are more educated and everyone learned something about hybrids, heirlooms, and gmo. Thats good for everyone.

 

[MoonShadows]

Wow. All of you are doing great! My household is down just my husband and me. Other than Milk and fresh fruits ; I only go to the grocery once a month. I dont think a FAMILY could do it that easily. We dont go "out" to dinner.. IF we have a certificate to a restaraunt, we order and pick up, then take it home. Even still, we only do that MAYBE once a month. That way there is No tipping, and if we want a cocktail or glass of wine before eating, it doesnt cost $6 [or more] each! Raising chickens for eggs helps, but i dont have meat chickens. Id rather buy large frozen bags for the freezer. I outfit myself completely at the $7 bag sale that my favorite consignment store has twice a year, if i need a specific item of clothing , definetly its off to goodwill and the local charity driven thrift stores. My Hubs and I have very little debt.. other than the mortgage, id say we owe less than 1k on a CCard. CASH only and if we cant afford to pay cash, then we dont buy it. Get furniture from friends who are getting new furniture, if its in good shape! Always comb the better neighborhoods the eve before the trash pickup... people throw away great stuff! We keep ALL our aluminum cans and cash in once a year..$150 approx. Also.. sell EVERYTHING you dont want or need and things you may find. Ultimately, Recycle, Re use, Re purpose! I also make wind chimes out of silverware and stuff, and many other creative projects.. They get sold at the annual garage sale. Happy Frugal living Everybody!! keep it up!

Is that your coop and run in your avatar pic? Nice looking...very unconventional.

 

[nok13]

clarifications:

kitchens: i mean in restaraunts; i live in teh middle east= here tourists from western countries still get stomach problems especially if they come frrom 'overly sterile' countries ... e.coli is rampant here, its just a question of how much. i work in the tourist/service industry as does husband. i dont think anyone ever has asked him to bring in a doctor certified stool sample for salamonella A negative or anything else for that matter. im more health councious then most employers here. if someoen is sneezing and coughing,in most places they still work.

here, local farms cannot sell produce; everyhting is bought up by agro companies/wholesalers, before the harvest. people here do not tend to sue; and many lucky folks can grow their own on their own pieces of land, or they know someone who does. however, most people here still prefer open air or unwrapped by plastic veggies and fruits. also meat. i can still give eggs and such to my friends w/o worrying that they will sue me (havent been americanized that much yet, but wait, that too will happen. )

as for door knobs etc, that was just to point out that there are more disgusting things to touch (how many times do u touch your face w/o knowing it, after handling all these ickky things? i worked with vets, animals etc, so i learned to NEVER touch my face until washing hands. OTH i would kiss my buck goat on his mouth, and the dogs lick us all the time, and im aware of the zoonoses )... im just saying, as someone else has also pointed out, there is alot of waste in 'sterile' stuff: from plastic wrapping (anyhow u have to wsh or peel or cook the stuff), and all those hand sanitizers have more of a psychological then real medical benefit (have to leave the stuff on for about 10 minutes to get any real sanitizing , liquid soap and running water are the best).

as for salomanella in things: no matter how much u wash spinach, the salamonella is in the cells of the plant. just like in some other plants. OTH, here in israel, because of the need to eat things that are kosher, including veggies, some growers develped a method that is supposedly preventing beetles and such to be in with the veggies. it turns out that their 'special method' involved huge amoutns of insecticides. so the rabbis came out with a new law prohibiting the use of these vegetables, and recommending that poeple start wshing their veggies properly again (meaning really soaking the cauliflauer in salted water to get all the worms and such out of them, washing all the fresh herbs really really well and then drying them in a salad dryer. which all takes time, but its the old fashioned way.)

its wierd, we are always about ten ;years later in fads, trends, lifestyles from the states to here; maybe now , five years lag. here people are only now getting in to the idea of super markets that are all shiny and plasticky, with coupons and sales for every holiday, and all sorts of products. even when im used to going to supermarkets here, when iwas in the states in july i was overwhelmed with the amoutn of varieties of stuff to be found. a completely consumer oreinted society. i think that here people are still somewhat more frugal just because everyone here mostly still has relatives that came from other countries with nothing and had to MAKE DO" with what they had; we still tend to improvise more, dont throw away broken stuff as much but try to 'glue or tape' it back again (much to many tourists' dismay when in non chain hotels, or tzimmers. i know its a generalization but its seems to me that people (that are affluent i guess, but maybe even those that arent) seem to have a special gadget for every specific thing when actually one tool or piece of equipment can make do.

one of my frugality tips to my kids is to make lists: a 'MUST HAVE' (then write down why its a must have); and 'WANT TO HAVE'; ' NEED TO HAVE' and to list why for each thing. often a person realizes that it is silly once they write it down, when u actually have to think about why you want to have something (cause all your friends have it? so? what happens when they dont want it anymore? u wont? ) the need to have is usually something that doesnt need to be aquired right away but if u still need it after waiting a certain amount of time, then maybe u should get it. i do that often and then find that in actuallity, i made do and got used to being w/o and basically, dont really need whatever it was that i thought i needed/ must haves are actual requirements: decent pair of sports shoes, a decent pair of work shoes, a certain amount of underwear (if u ask my husband three are fine, u wash thme out in the shower as needed.) sometimes the benefits arent financial though. my chickens dont really save me money; although hubby manages to get feed for free from time to time from friends, and we give them stuff i n exchange, i still buy for mine (layers), and supplement wit kitchen leftovers. hubby was actually cooking rice for his chickens and our dogs! thats 180 shekels for a 25 kilo bag, exhorbitant price to waste on giving to animals , not just leftovers. but the fun and mental health benefits of taking care of livestock, relaxation for hubby

 

[ScottnLydia]

Organic can't conain GMO or it can't be labled organic. However, cross contamination does occur. If Monsanto catches a farmer with GMO contaminated crops from an adjacent GMO field they will sue that farmer for "theft of intellectual property". A side issue but the point is look for the certified organic label if you don't want GMO.

Splitting hairs here. What I was referring to wasn't labeling laws, but rather how any seed can be grown organically, even GMO seeds. I don't know why anyone would, it's just that, technically, it's possible.

Oh, and thanks for the "theft of intellectual property", all I could think of was copyright infringement.

 

[ScottnLydia]

Has anyone tried the hugelkultur method for their garden?

I had to look that one up! It sounds....um....interesting. I had a hard time understanding what the real advantage would be, though. I already use raised beds, so fill them with logs and branches that take forever to break down? Perhaps you understand it better than I, the websites I looked at weren't so clear.

I just moved 2 raised beds. I found they were filled with toxic compost (Mother Earth News, Killer Compost). Did a sprout test on them with bean seeds using potting soil as a control. Sure enough, one bed there were no sprouts at all, the other bed with different compost, 2 of 4 beans sprouted, one developed leaves but they were curled at the edges and distorted. True to the predictions of herbicide contamination.

So now I've got to come up with something to fill these beds with!

 

[DennisK]

clarifications:



as for salomanella in things: no matter how much u wash spinach, the salamonella is in the cells of the plant. just like in some other plants. OTH, here in israel, because of the need to eat things that are kosher, including veggies, some growers develped a method that is supposedly preventing beetles and such to be in with the veggies. it turns out that their 'special method' involved huge amoutns of insecticides. so the rabbis came out with a new law prohibiting the use of these vegetables, and recommending that poeple start wshing their veggies properly again (meaning really soaking the cauliflauer in salted water to get all the worms and such out of them, washing all the fresh herbs really really well and then drying them in a salad dryer. which all takes time, but its the old fashioned way.)

I didn’t know that salmonella was something that you couldn’t wash off. Thanks for the info, nok13!

 

[DennisK]

I had to look that one up! It sounds....um....interesting. I had a hard time understanding what the real advantage would be, though. I already use raised beds, so fill them with logs and branches that take forever to break down? Perhaps you understand it better than I, the websites I looked at weren't so clear.

I just moved 2 raised beds. I found they were filled with toxic compost (Mother Earth News, Killer Compost). Did a sprout test on them with bean seeds using potting soil as a control. Sure enough, one bed there were no sprouts at all, the other bed with different compost, 2 of 4 beans sprouted, one developed leaves but they were curled at the edges and distorted. True to the predictions of herbicide contamination.

So now I've got to come up with something to fill these beds with!

I’m sorry to read that you and Lydia did get a hold of toxic compost. I was thinking about that the other day when I drove by a yard that is grinding up wood from old buildings, and selling the chips. The kind of wood they are using is old OSB, plywood, treated lumber, and the like … I know that there are lots of bad chemicals associated with today’s building materials and I hate to think that people would use products like that to enhance their gardens.

 

[ScottnLydia]

I’m sorry to read that you and Lydia did get a hold of toxic compost. I was thinking about that the other day when I drove by a yard that is grinding up wood from old buildings, and selling the chips. The kind of wood they are using is old OSB, plywood, treated lumber, and the like … I know that there are lots of bad chemicals associated with today’s building materials and I hate to think that people would use products like that to enhance their gardens.

Yeah, we didn't get ahold of it, we made it ourselves!

After the tests, our #1 suspect is not the hay we've been feeding the sheep, and thus their manure. Testing showed sheep manure had no effect on the sprouts, other than positive. Our new suspect is actually the straw we've been using for bedding, both for sheep and chickens!

Raised bed #2 showed damage and limited sprouting on the test. This was a brand new bed filled with tree leaves composted with litter from the chicken house. We use the 'deep litter' method in there. 6 inches of straw, in our climate, with a little diatomaceous earth, stays dry and odor free for a long time. We shovel it out, mix it with leaves, wet it down good, and let it compost. Same with the sheep bedding. Once wet, it begins to heat up, due to bacterial action (you can see steam on cold mornings) and in a few months it has changed considerably!

The only thing that was the same in the 2 beds was straw! Chickens never ate the hay, nor did the sheep eat the chicken feed. Ergo; straw must be the culprit. Since straw is the by-product of either wheat or oat production, whoever grew it must have been using those herbicides on his crops. I can't test the straw directly, only the compost made from it, so that's a long time to wait to check a product. To be safe, we will be using alternative products from now on, or not composting it.

We do have a sawmill about a mile from us. They cut lumber from Douglas Fir trees only. They have a small mountain of sawdust that they sell for a few bucks a pickup load, and they load it for you. I'm thinking of composting some of that. It's not the recycled, toxic stuff you mentioned, so it should be O.K.

Boy, what I'd give to have grazing land like you have, but then, I'm lucky to have what I have!