The previews

These are posts on my mental list or in the works:

• A proper picture tour of Filbert Farm, aka our garden
• Homebrewing, or how we make cheap and delicious beer, including gluten free beer that I can actually drink
• The benefits of stretching and breathing every morning
• How I made my own deodorant and I don’t stink
• We watched some documentaries on plastic and they made us sad… and motivated to up our game!

But for now, sweet sleep beckons. 

A rant about pigeons.

I interrupt this stream of DIY joy for a little rant.

It really bugs me when parents let their kids chase pigeons all over the place.

First, there is the aspect of annoying the people around you. When a kid chases a pigeon, the bird will fly wherever it thinks it can get away. When pigeon chasing is done in a crowded area, that means other people have to duck suddenly when a frightened bird flaps toward them.

More importantly, I feel like it sends a bad message to kids – that it’s okay to frighten an animal just for enjoyment. That it’s not important to approach all animals with a healthy sense of respect (and, in the cases of many animals, necessary caution.) My mother taught me very early on how to approach a strange animal, even a domesticated one – the proper stance, allowing time and space for the creature to back off or approach. I never pounced on an animal, chased one, or suddenly approached with my hand out. If I had disobeyed these strictures and gotten scratched or bitten, it would be my own damn fault. 

People have a particular disdain for pigeons. I’ve heard it all – “rats with wings,” “disease carriers,” “filthy birds,” etc. I’m not denying that pigeons present sanitation problems when they share space with us in urban areas. But how did they get that way?

Our modern “rats with wings” are a recent ancestor of the rock dove, a wild breed of bird that typically lived on cliffs. These birds were domesticated and kept as pets, and became the common pigeon. Due to their navigational accuracy, they were trained to carry letters and small parcels (such as tubes of lifesaving medicine), and were heavily used during both World Wars.

These useful, lifesaving birds were sometimes released into the wild, and over time, feral populations took root. We created the pigeon, and these birds were a critical part of many human infrastructures. Now they are considered a pest.

Pigeon droppings are not healthy, but every living thing on this planet emits waste. The problem is that the pigeon lives in a world of concrete. When birds poop in the wild, it falls into the dirt or into plants, and then it’s probably eaten by specially evolved bugs who thrive on the stuff. Otherwise, it becomes compost in the fields or forests. When a pigeon leaves droppings on concrete, it stays until some poor worker has to hose it off. Pigeons also like to mass where there is a lot of food – and densely packed urban areas, filled with people casting off their trash into the street, provides an amazing buffet for the birds. Without our trash, pigeons wouldn’t be able to survive in cities, and might well return to a more natural diet. Our towering buildings, which drive away other wildlife, are the perfect habitat for the former cliff dwellers.

I don’t try to get close to pigeons. I’m not a fan of walking under dropping-encrusted overpasses. They’re not particularly beautiful creatures. But they’re fascinating in their own way. Last week, I was sitting at a park by my job on my lunch break – a little urban oasis. This park has a flowing water feature in the middle of the steps, and a group of pigeons was taking an afternoon bath. I sat only a few feet away, quietly, and watched them duck their entire bodies into the water and come up with mottled feathers, over and over. They repeatedly shook themselves dry like dogs do. I was relaxing and feeling grateful for the simple joy of witnessing this ritual when a kid came out of nowhere and chased them all away. I looked around for his parent, who was, of course, preoccupied on her phone. She let the kid run all over and chase the pigeons until she was done with her conversation. She didn’t attempt to engage the kid or say anything about what he was doing.

If it had been my kid (and I do hope to be a Dad one day), I would have encouraged him to stand back and watch the pigeons bathe. I would have told him about the history of these birds, as I just told you. If he were in the mood to run, I would have taken him to the meadow across the street and played a different game. Yes, kids want to run, and enjoy the sense of power they get when forcing something else to move. However, it is the job of adults in their lives to teach them respect for the world around them. 

Playing in the dirt is healthy

I was feeling slumpy this afternoon. After a productive morning and hauling home a great find on craigslist (a giant cooler for free), I found myself stuck in a rut on the internet, getting sleepier and sleepier. 

I made some iced coffee, dragged myself out into the yard, and started working on the border to our garden. Little by little, I’ve been taking the pile of scrap bricks from the back of the house and creating a little fence. The goal is to keep weeds from filling in along the edge while also keeping precious soil from being lost to the concrete driveway. This involves hacking a few inches into the soil and digging out the annoying, spiny, and hearty weeds that like to creep in around the edges of our veggies and spill out onto the driveway.

Twenty minutes in, I was working with gusto. I’m now about 1/3 done with the border, and it’s looking great! My partner was also outside, bottling another batch of homebrew, so we got to hang out while both working away. 

Our hope is that by keeping the garden boundaries neat, we can continue to slowly expand our empire of veggies against the tyranny of the lawn. We’ve already won over our upstairs neighbor, who appreciates the fresh beets we give her. (We also heeded her request to plant some lavender bushes along the fence, which look lovely.) I think the landlord would be happy to mow less lawn; he just wants the place to look presentable. To this end (and for our own enjoyment, as well), we’ve planted a bunch of gardinias along the edge by the fence, mixed in with our strawberries. We also put in a few sunflowers, and the upstairs neighbor gave us some wildflower seeds to plant, which we just put near the front of the house. We also maintain a little succulent garden in a planter box next to the front porch.

I now feel sun-kissed and smell pleasantly like dirt, despite the fact that I’ve washed my hands. It gets under my nails and into my skin, and I don’t mind. That’s what showers are for, right? And I now feel motivated to cook another garden dinner!j

This is not a soundbite.

It’s the end of a little vacation at home for me, and I’m feeling a flickering combination of contentment and depression.

I am content with the food in my kitchen (bolstered by a trip to Costco today), and the dinner to come. One of my housemates made homemade guacamole and chips as an appetizer, and I’m about to eat chicken and dirty rice and drink sangria, all made by him. I’m excited about the variety of meals I ate these four days, and all of the lunches I can bring to work for the remainder of this week. I’m hopeful that the bulk-sized container of unsalted mix nuts is enough to sustain me during my snack cravings there for quite a while. I’m looking forward to making a white bean fennel soup for tomorrow’s dinner.

I am feeling a sense of accomplishment about further research and tweaks to my finances – I set up a new ING savings account set up just for the Surly bike (which I got to see and touch in person on Sunday), and also asked Alex to explain compound interest formulas to me so that I could calculate the benefits of paying off my low interest student loans versus investing in retirement.

Part of being sustainable for me is getting my expenses really low through natural means (gardening, cooking, buying used and making my own stuff whenever possible) and ultimately marginalizing my involvement with the full time work treadmill. I need to continue pulling in a full time salary now, but the more of that I save, the better my options get. This may sound like sacrifice, but it’s really more about being satisfied with the little things.

When I go back into work tomorrow, everyone is going to ask me what I did with my vacation, and they’re going to expect stories of events and faraway places visited. My answer won’t fit into a few soundbites. But here it is:

I fed chickens out of my hand, rode my bike, planned a meal budget, put (half) of a border up around the garden, read books, sat in the sunshine, reveled in finding a beautiful old glass butter dish for $2 in a thrift shop, ate delicious food, made granola, researched options for our upcoming conference in Seattle, and basically allowed myself to pretend, for just a few moments, that I had achieved early retirement. I wasn’t bored. I still worked, but I did what I loved. And those fleeting moments were the kick in the pants needed to see life in a whole new way, and to do even more to structure my life so that I achieve that status much, much sooner than I ever believed possible. 

More garden eats!

Lately I’ve been playing a fun game. It’s called, “how many ingredients in this dish can I get from the garden?”

Tonight, I made an amazing Coconut Curry with tofu and garden peas. The scallions, onions, garlic and hot pepper also came from the garden, as did the thyme. The tofu came from the Hodo Soy Beanery, which is fifteen blocks away, so that’s a pretty good local score, as well. The madras curry powder (Penzy’s) and the coconut milk have quite a bit more distance on them, but overall, the dish was predominantly sourced from West Oakland.

I would have included a picture of the finished dish, but we ate it all within twenty minutes. Instead, I’ll pass along the recipe and some shots of the ingredients.

Five fresh scallions about to be sauteed – beautiful!

Just pulled from the ground

Coconut Tofu and Pea Curry

• 5 scallions (greens and bulbs) or an equivalent amount of onions
• 6 cloves of garlic
• 1 – 2 pounds of tofu, depending on how much you want in the dish. I used one this time, but would probably throw in two next time.
• 1 1/2 cups of peas
• Three medium sized tomatoes, or size equivalent
• 1 can of coconut milk
• 5 – 8 teaspoons of madras curry powder, depending on hotness level desired.
• 1 hot pepper, whole
• Olive oil
• Hot sauce (your favorite kind)

Remove your tofu from its water bath and brown it lightly in a frying pan with no oil or cooking spray. You want to dry fry it – removing as much liquid as possible – so it retains a firm texture and sucks in all of the delicious marinade you’re going to put it in.

Next, marinate your tofu in hot sauce and olive oil. You will leave it in this concoction as you chop and prepare the rest of the ingredients.

Dice your onions/scallions into small pieces. If you have a food processor, this is a great time to utilize it. Set aside. Then chop up your garlic and your tomatoes. Set aside. Strip the thyme leaves off of their sprigs and set aside. Get out a good sized skillet and throw however much olive (or canola) oil you need in there to saute those onions/scallions. Saute them until translucent.

Add the garlic and madras curry to this mix and saute for another two minutes. Then take your tofu out of its fiery marinade and sear it in the pan with the onions, garlic and curry. Once both sides of the tofu pieces are lightly seared, add in the tomatoes and the peas. Stir it all in and saute a bit more. Then, add your coconut milk and thyme. Stir, and then turn the heat down to a simmer, cover loosely, and let the magic happen, for about 45 minutes. About 25 minutes in, remember to make some basmati rice. Mix and enjoy!

Why Simply Living Sideburns?

I’m going to start with a big, uncomfortable truth. I’ve made some shitty financial decisions in my life.

Most of them happened in my early twenties, when I was somehow convinced that I could move out my parents’ house and live on Starbucks barista pay and finish my last year (which turned into three years) of college all at the same time. This was in New York, a city well known for ridiculous rent. 

By my mid twenties, I was making just enough money to be paying all of it back toward my earlier mistakes.

Now I’m 30, and free of all debt except student loans (which are manageable, but I’d like to get paid off), and looking bright eyed and optimistically toward the future. I’m determined not to live within such a tight margin again. And on May 7th, 2012, the East Bay Bicycle Coalition linked to www.mrmoneymustache.com as part of their Bike to Work Day celebrations. The article was about how much money biking can save you, but I hungrily consumed the rest of the site, going back and reading every article since the beginning. I finished this last night, on 5/27. It’s been quite a journey.

I’ve been congratulating myself for the things I already do, kicking myself for the things I’ve known I should be doing but haven’t, and learning a hell of a lot. What I love about MMM compared to any other finance blog I’ve read is that his version of the good life is sustainable and good for the environment. It makes sense in a very old fashioned way – live within your means, don’t waste, don’t buy anything unless you really need it, and then, if you must buy something, try to get it used. Don’t fill up landfills with packaging, and don’t eat fast food!

I think that the trap that I fall into is that I work hard and don’t make a lot of money, and then my bitterness about that reinforces that little voice in the back of my head that tells me to indulge myself by buying pricey meals whenever I have extra in my account. But no – if I want to have a good life, I need to save, and get rid of those student loans. I can do that even at my current income, and if I get to the point where I’m pulling in more, I’ve already developed the frugality muscles to put that extra money in helpful places.

Even before learning about Mustachianism, I had gotten rid of my car, gotten into biking, and bought (or found for free) most of my furniture on Craigslist or from yard sales. I had begun to put a healthy chunk of my check toward my 401k. I’m a natural homebody, preferring my homestead to paying for social events. My big expense has been food, because I *love* good food. But if I want to eat well, I need to cook it, or convince someone in my house to. 🙂 And even at Walgreens’ prices (which I will quit paying after I make use of our free Costo membership next week), buying bags of unsalted mixed nuts as snack food is *much* cheaper than buying crappy junk food, and it makes me feel much more even-keeled throughout the day. Bananas are relatively cheap, too, even organic ones, and don’t involve such a sugar crash. 

I’ve got some expenses coming up – a trip to Seattle in August that I’m already committed to (and damn excited about), and at some point, I need to get a multi-geared bike and trailer so that I can do smarter bulk shopping trips. That means it’s even more important that I save my cash and do my homework on how to make these purchases as frugally as possible. 

I chose the name “Simply Living Sideburns” for this blog because at one point, Mr. Money Mustache references such a character. He prefers the mustache. In real life, as in finances, my mustache is patchy and a work in progress. But I maintain Tenth Doctor-esque sideburns year round, and would rather go bald than shave them off. My frugality sideburns are hopefully just as luscious. 

 

A homemade and homegrown food week

We’re now at two weeks, and only one lunch out at work, mainly because I forgot to throw my lunch into my bag. I am saving so much cash and eating much more balanced food than before!

I haven’t gone out for lunch at work this entire week, but I’ve eaten very well! We’ve been making big batches of food for the house, all with a few ingredients from our garden thrown in, and I’ve been taking the leftovers to work. 

I’ve had funky dal (red lentils, garlic, olive oil, tomatoes and a lemon finish) with rice and steamed chard. Then there was Alex’s potato, pea and spinach curry, with the latter two ingredients coming fresh from the garden. Alex made a superb mushroom risotto on Tuesday, with our own chard. Tonight, I’m making a Caribbean influenced coconut chicken curry – the scallions, chives, thyme and hot pepper all came from the garden on that, as well! I got a late start, but it should be ready soon, and the house smells heavenly. 

I’ve been mostly snacking on bananas and unsalted mixed nuts at work. I’m feeling good, and feeling frugal, too. More on the frugality in a future post.

And of course, every morning has been starting with a mix of homemade yogurt and homemade granola. 

Last night, I also had a My Drunk Kitchen, Oakland edition, and made a batch of brownies from Bob’s Red Mill GF brownie mix that’s been sitting in the kitchen for a few months. It was awesome to pull out my little brownie square as an afternoon indulgence at work today. I made them for the house, so they’re going pretty fast, but I should be able to take another square for dessert tomorrow. 

As long as the tupperware in the fridge is filled with a variety of delicious, sustainable food, I don’t feel sad about cutting back on my meal spending. I feel damn lucky to be able to know so much about the origins of my food, and know that it was lovingly crafted. 

Store bought gluten free granola looked silly next to our homemade yogurt, so…

Another tasty batch!

Update: Honey makes much better granola, so if you’re not vegan, go that route! We actually got ours on tap from the homebrewing store that Alex gets his beer brewing supplies from. I also found that cashews made a tasty addition to the almonds. My next experiment will be adding ginger and apples to the concoction. Really, the options are limitless. Yum!

I currently have granola baking in the oven. It smells amazing.

There isn’t anything extremely sustainable about this granola – none of the ingredients come from my yard. But it’s certainly cheaper than the gluten free granola I’ve been buying at the store, and I can get most of the ingredients for it from the bulk bin, saving some packaging. And I can tweak it based on what ingredients I have at the house.

I’m using Bob Red Mill’s Oats, agave nectar (the recipe called for honey but we were short, so I substituted), vegetable oil, vanilla extract, brown sugar, almonds, peanuts and dried cranberries. I tossed the oats with cinnamon and salt, then whisked together the wet ingredients. I coated the dry mix with the wet mix, baked it for ten minutes and flipped, added the almonds, baked it for five minutes and flipped, and added the peanuts and baked it for ten more minutes. When it comes out, I will throw it in a container, add the dried cranberries, mix and put away for the morning. After having a bite, of course. 🙂

The hardest part of making this is not eating all of the brown sugar. I think I’ll make it in double or even triple proportions next time, so I don’t have to worry about running out. Getting more honey will be essential, too!

Then I’m on to making dal…

Biking has changed my life for the better.

In the midst of another adventure

Next month is my one year anniversary of learning how to ride a bike.

A week after I got the basics down, I started to use my bike to commute. I had purchased a $70 retro mountain bike on craigslist, mainly because I still thought that big knobbly tires would somehow help me balance. As I got a little better, I traded those knobblies for smooth fat tires, and then got myself a light little singlespeed bike for my birthday in September. Once I discovered the joys of Bikelink lockers at BART, I started commuting on the singlespeed.

I was never a big fan of driving; while I admit that it can be fun to drive down a quiet country road, freeways and urban traffic always made my rage levels in a car go out of control. I always drove with at least one window open, even in cold weather, so I could use more of my senses – sound, the whoosh of the wind – to guide my driving endeavors. Driving anywhere there are lots of cars is a giant game of moving about in queues, with tons of people who would never cut you in line in person happy to barrel their way in front of you in a car.

When I bike, I avoid the main roads. Whether I ride down a small side street with multiple “speed humps” or a main arterial, I’m going to be going the same speed – but on the side road, I’m enjoying the scenery, not fighting for space, and passing by happier people who are out walking their dogs, playing with their kids, or working on their gardens. It feels more humane.

I used to do all of this with walking, but my range was more limited, and my feet haven’t been cooperating as much. Natural flat-footedness, years of working retail jobs, and possibly my excessive walking in my teens and early 20s have left the spot where the top of my foot and my ankle meet a little tender. I ended up in a orthopedic boot with a bruised nerve last year, and now I have to wear thick socks to keep my shoes from digging into me in that spot. I feel no pain whatsoever on the bike.

The bike also encourages me to exercise. I am the kind of person who slacks off on exercise for the sake of doing it; there has to be another built in motivation. My arms have gotten bigger because I lift heavy things at work, and my legs have gotten stronger because I want to explore farther with each ride. (I’m sure my cardio strength has gone up, too.)

I have some biking related life goals – one is to get a bike trailer and be able to haul anything I need home without a car. The other, loftier goal is to train up to touring standards and do some long rides – maybe even attempt a cross-country ride!

Finally, not attempting to nurse an old beater of a car back to health and randomly dropping hundreds of dollars for unexpected part failures has done wonders for my finances.

This is my sports car. It has since acquired lights, a small back rack, and a rack trunk bag with an awesome snow owl pin on the side:

Sage – you can do more than just eat it.

My sage plant grew flowers and they needed to be snipped to keep the leaf production going strong – but I didn’t want to waste them! So I snipped off the flowers and hung them in five bundles above my back door, where they would get lots of breeze but not a ton of sun. I also put some of the leaves and flowers that were too small to hang up into a jar with olive oil and left it in the sun. I know that this isn’t the most technical way of doing this, but the author of Grow Your Own Drugs (http://www.amazon.com/Grow-Your-Drugs-James-Wong/dp/0007345305) says that this simple method is effective enough to make essential oils for home use. (Ideally, you’d want a distillation set up to remove any water content from the oil.)

About a month later, I have a jar full of dried sage flowers, as well as a jar of oil that I’m about to strain into a smaller, dark bottle. Both smell amazing. I will probably experiment with making deodorant out of the sage oil. As for the dried sage flowers, I can use them in cooking (they taste a lot like the leaves, but are more potent), or I could make sachets out of them.