Comments on Towards Sustainability: Independence Days Challenge Update & Tricia's Comp...

Well done on your harvest goal. It is just such a ...

2009-07-09T21:13:23.066+10:00

Well done on your harvest goal. It is just such a buzz to go into the garden and get your own fresh vegies and stuff.

Well done on finding your butter bell ... obviousl...

2009-07-08T17:56:39.405+10:00

Well done on finding your butter bell ... obviously the highlight of this post! :)
I'd been looking for one for about a year and just about given up, then I read about you finding one in Aust! Hooray for you!!

I really like your harvesting advice. The Independence Challenge looks like a lot of fun. (Obviously it's a while since I've read your blog as I'm behind the times.) Congratulations on doing so well!

BTW - I like the look of your garden from your clothesline view. It's a tricky area to cater for, as well as have some productivitiy, isn't it?

Hi Toria, Sadly, I never thought to look for one o...

2009-07-08T11:38:39.381+10:00

Hi Toria,
Sadly, I never thought to look for one of those butter compartments when we bought our new fridge a couple of years ago! Hindsight is always 20/20 isn't it, LOL.

Hi Nicola,
I did try olive oil about 3 years ago and didn't like the flavour, but in hindsight I would have used extra virgin olive oil which would have been way too strong I think? Must try it again with a lighter-flavoured oil I think, thanks :-)

Hi Anon,
Ooh, great tip, thanks!

Cheers, Julie

Good luck with the butter ball. I whip 1/2 cup bu...

2009-07-08T02:32:31.708+10:00

Good luck with the butter ball. I whip 1/2 cup butter with 1/2 cup warm water in my food processor until really creamy. We store this in the fridge and it is soft enough for bread. Same idea as the olive oil just less fat. You could do 1/2 and 1/2.

Hi Julie- love the idea of the butter bell. My lit...

2009-07-07T07:37:27.663+10:00

Hi Julie- love the idea of the butter bell. My little system is to blend the (softened) butter with olive oil. It whips up into a creamier consistency and goes further and is easier to spread, still tastes like butter. Daughter uses the buttery leftover wrappers to grease baking trays and then the paper gets torn up into the compost. It still has to go in the fridge though-but we buy a lot less butter now. thanks for the ginger growing tips, definitely going to have a go this next season.

Your butter ball looks interesting, hope it works ...

2009-07-06T20:22:50.540+10:00

Your butter ball looks interesting, hope it works for you. We're lucky in that the fridge we chose has a separate butter compartment that keeps butter at a slightly higher temp than the normal fridge temp, so we always have butter at the right consistency.

Hi Tricia, Oh cool - I got as far as making note o...

2009-07-06T15:06:33.655+10:00

Hi Tricia,
Oh cool - I got as far as making note of the TT Ideas Cafe meetings and haven't taken it any further yet (it clashes with soccer) so would love to take it further.

Hi Anon,
Thanks for the tips - I had heard that the butter falling out could be a problem for some people and it looks like it might be an issue for me too since it can get so hot... fingers crossed it works OK for all but the hottest days.

Cheers, Julie

I received a butter bell form my mother in the Sta...

2009-07-06T13:59:34.958+10:00

I received a butter bell form my mother in the States several years ago. (Apparently you can order them here http://www.butterbell.com/)

Most of the year, the butter bell works well. Unfortunately in the hottest months of the summer here in Western Australia, we have to go back to storing the butter in the fridge. Even storing the bell in the darkest (and theoretically coolest) part of the kitchen in the heat of summer, the water temp. would rise too much and the butter would "slide" out of the bell into the water in gooey mess! You also need to be sure you keep the water cool and topped up as a blue mould will begin to form if any air gets into the container.

You can tell you have a household of girls...all t...

2009-07-06T13:18:02.825+10:00

You can tell you have a household of girls...all that pink! Your clothes line area looks lovely. Have fun getting rid of that golden cane palm....

A butter bell was a great find! I've been thinking about looking for one after seeing one in a US blog - I'm not hopefull of finding one now :-(

Re buiding community - I have some news that may help you improve on that one. Will from the Newcastle Transition Towns group contacted me. We spoke about ideas for having case studies of local families already 'transitioning'..Initially involve linking to our blogs from the transition towns webpage - but also eventually Open Days. Interested? Chat soon......