Vegan Living & Ethical Buying

[Deleted User]

Hurrah!! 🙌 gardener is starting my garden next week 😁 Hopefully the work will be done by the end of May and I will be able to start planting out - I've had a look at the seeds I have and need a couple more packets but I'll get them, along with some compost, when I go to the farm shop tomorrow 😁 
I'm very excited!! 🙌🙌🙌

[Deleted User]

Compost and seeds acquired! 🙌 tomorrow I will sow the seeds and clean the greenhouse - then it's a big inside house cleaning and getting my wardrobe cleaned out....I have stacks of paperwork stashed in there that I don't need anymore and have avoided the task for far too long! 
Made some seitan burgers and meatballs today, that should do me for a while seitan wise - I'm looking forward to deciding on food based on what produce is ready in the garden 😉

[Deleted User]

Gardener has started and the area has been completed!! 🙌🙌 Just the compost to go in the beds now which will happen on Friday 😁 All the seeds I planted have started to grow which I'm immensely pleased about and I'm going to sow a number of things directly at the weekend 😁 I know that it will take time to get into the swing of things with the veg growing to enable a year round supply of veg but I'm really looking forward to it 😁 
It's been an extremely expensive way to do things so not really money saving but the way I see it, it gives me a new hobby, fresh flowers for a lot of the year, all my veg will be organic and I will be able to supply my whole family with really fresh food for years to come 😉

[Deleted User]

Beds are not quite finished- the gardener underestimated the quantity so I am waiting for another lot to arrive this week - although slightly irritating, it's nicer in some ways as dh wants to be involved in the planting so we can do it at the weekend 😉 I've also decided on the final design for the rest of the garden so there's a lot of work to do and a lot of expense to be met 🙈 worth it though- it's the last redesign that we'll ever do and I want to get the most out of it for the longest period possible so it makes sense to make the investment 😉 
I'm looking ahead now to next year and how I can improve my adherence to ethical living and buying. Obviously the garden changes are really going to have an impact - fresh veg will be entirely seasonal and veganic - but the other areas of my lifestyle can be improved upon. 
Not using supermarkets has had to be abandoned due to the lockdown- due to shortages in my suma delivery and a general lack of storage, I've had to buy things like loo rolls, kitchen rolls etc. My ds & dil will have hopefully bought a house and moved by the end of the year so I've decided that I will use their built in wardrobes to stash additional stock - I'll keep one bit for the occasional guest to use and clothing and bedding for the grandbabies but the rest can hold paper goods/ cleaning products and tins. 
Our electric, oil and water use will be much smaller once they have left too - I'm hopefully going to replace our heating & hot water system next year and as my electricity is from renewable sources I may well look at having an electric system 🤔 I need to do some research....

greenbee

@squirrelgirl - most people who have replaced their oil heating and hot water systems round here have gone for air source heat, some combined with solar thermal. I had my boiler replaced when I moved in 7 years ago, so have some time to go before I need to replace it (I hope!) but would certainly look at doing the same. It may mean new radiators as the water temperature may be lower, but it's worth heading over to both the heating board and the green & ethical one to ask questions. 

[Deleted User]

Thanks for that greenbee! I'll definitely have an investigate 😉 
I have ordered a paper brick maker today - I used to have one but it went awol 🙈 I have also ordered a shredder so that I can use all of our paper waste for our hotbin composter and the bricks 😉 I want to reduce our waste as much as possible - unfortunately the kids are not on the same wavelength as me so we have considerably more than I would like 😔 dh and I don't produce too much waste - our fruit & veg is generally bought from a market stall so no packaging there, our household products are bought in bulk or homemade so very little waste products from those and mostly re-purposed where possible and all my grains/pulses are also bought in bulk. Glass jars are always reused for jams, chutneys etc, but I have yet to find a use for tins - if anyone has any suggestions, I'd be very grateful!
When the kids were younger, I had my general waste bin emptied monthly, now it's full within the two weeks 🙈 they do put stuff into recycling but as our paper waste gets shipped to China (seriously annoyed when I discovered that! ) it's important to me to stop contributing to that...
I've spent the day thinking about ways that I can improve what I currently do - I have become more reliant on shop bought vegan cheeses so I need to start making my own again - I need to find a decent sunflower seed one I think as I'm not certain of how environmentally friendly the nut ones really are when you consider the transport mileage 🤔 more investigation required!! 

[Deleted User]

I've had a quick look at air source heat but it doesn't appear to be viable for us - a lot of the information stresses the need for good home insulation and with three open fires in the house it's unlikely to be effective! 🙈 I'll keep looking though 😉 
The shredder has arrived so that's a positive and I've got the work starting on the outside of the house in a couple of weeks! The compost has finally been delivered so we can start planting at the weekend and the greenhouse glass is being picked up tomorrow- I have started to make a list of everything I want to make and how many jars I'm going to need - think I need a bigger house!! 😂
I joined the Vegan Organic Network too - it provides a lot of information that will be useful for my growing exploits and supports the cause so I'm happy with paying the membership...
The squirrels and pheasants have already been mooching at the veg beds so we have dug out some old mosquito nets that we've had for around 15 years now to use for the brassicas - we'll start using them immediately after planting to prevent the plants being annihilated instantly!  

KxMx

I've really missed getting refill products since lockdown. Hated buying new plastic bottles of stuff! 

I am saving more empty containers for when refill products are possible again, two shops (one Fair Trade one charity) I use will be allowed to re-open after June 15.

I am hoping those shops won't decide the refill products are too high risk. 

fred_jackson

squirrelgirl said:

Wow! Where has the last month gone!!!? pale_ I can't believe it's almost solstice!

I've had a rethink on the garden, we've made the decision that we're going to get it done next winter - financially it makes more sense and I can minimise the expenditure if we do more groundwork ourselves. It means that I will need to grow things in pots and have a limited variety of things - I'm also fairly sure that if I clear a few shrubs and trees into pots too, I'll clear enough ground for some squash, sweetcorn and beans. I'll clear the greenhouse and sort the new glass (panes blew out with the wind earlier this week) so that I can get tomatoes and aubergine started off in January

I'm looking forward to a another year of ethical living - I will definitely be focusing more on making as much from scratch as possible, eating as seasonally and locally as possible and growing as much as I can.

I'm happy with where I am at the moment but it's been a really hectic year which has made things tricky at times - next year I will have so much more time to myself I can pursue the things I love to do

It's going to be fun though!! :j

Hey it has been a while since I was logged on. How are you getting on this year with everything that is going on? Are you looking forward to the garden this winter? Keep me posted! 

[Deleted User]

KxMx said:

I've really missed getting refill products since lockdown. Hated buying new plastic bottles of stuff! 

I am saving more empty containers for when refill products are possible again, two shops (one Fair Trade one charity) I use will be allowed to re-open after June 15.

I am hoping those shops won't decide the refill products are too high risk. 

In all honesty KxMx, I can see the risk being lower 🤔 one person takes in a bottle, 2nd fills it and hands it back to 1st. In a supermarket you could have numerous people touch the bottle and then change their minds before its eventually sold....hopefully they'll be open asap! 😊 
All is going well, seeds have started to germinate, I'm starting making my fire bricks today, garden work is doing nicely and I am not wasting any food - it's almost as if things are going to plan! 😉😂