Going green | Hear Mum Roar

Category Archives: Going green

Drying mandarin peel

Written on June 20th, 2010 by Hear Mum Roar in Food, Going green, June 2010, Saving money

My three kids are all obsessed with eating mandarins. One day we’ll have our own mandarins growing in our backyard, but for now we just buy lots! Usually the kids want more than one mandarin per sitting, so I’m always left with a lot of sweet-smelling mandarin skins.

It seems such a waste to throw them in the bin, and they can’t be composted. Today, I asked all three kids to put their skins into a bowl for me, so I could cut them into small pieces with scissors. (Missy Nine would’ve loved doing this, but she was too busy eating).

Drying mandarin peel

After this, I laid them flat on a tea towel in my studio. It’s important that they be kept in a dry room…

Drying mandarin skins

Once they’ve dried out thoroughly, I’ll be using some of the batch for my pot-pourri creations and some to store in an airtight jar in the kitchen. Dried mandarin peel is delicious for giving an Asian flavour to soups and chicken. You can also make a tea from it.

It would’ve been such a shame to waste something so beautiful…

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Kids growing mushrooms

Written on June 19th, 2010 by Hear Mum Roar in Cognitive, Fine motor, Food, Going green, June 2010, Preschool aged, Saving money, School aged

A few days ago, we bought a little box of dirt.

Mushroom farm

But it’s not just any box of dirt. It’s a mushroom farm. Missy Nine and Mr Four are fascinated by this. Mr Four keeps telling me that ‘the mushrooms are growed now, Mum!’

We have a dark, dank storeroom coming off from the garage that is perfect for this. Missy Nine and Mr Four have been waiting anxiously the past couple of days for watering time. We dragged them into the garage so we could see, and gave them a misting.

Watering the mushrooms

It’s always great for preschool aged kids to have a try of spraying a bottle, as it encourages them to build their fine motor strength and co-ordination.

Fine motor co-ordination with gardening

In three weeks time, we should have our first lot of mushrooms ready to eat! Missy Nine isn’t a big fan of mushrooms, but has agreed she’ll give them a try. She likes them in beef stroganoff, so that might be a place to start.

How’s your weekend coming along so far?

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It’s a wet one today

Written on June 9th, 2010 by Hear Mum Roar in Fine motor, Going green, Handmade, June 2010, Projects, Saving money, School aged

It’s been one of those days to just stay inside and huddle up from the cold here, today. I figured it’d be a perfect time for an update post.

I did venture just outside the back door to show you how our backyard is coming along since we started tackling the mess:

As you can see, it’s still quite the blank canvas. But the exciting news is that it’s now ready to grow some lawn on the dirt patch you see (formerly waist-deep weeds and thorns), some hedges and fruit trees! I cannot wait until we realise our dream for our kids to interrupt their outdoor play to stop, pick a fruit of their choice from a tree and sit underneath munching happily.

If you remember my freshly crushed pot-pourri from a few days, I have an update on that too. I was wondering out loud if it was ok to use freshly crushed petals for a pot-pourri, but was willing to experiment, given the amount of poo stench our animals and children were belching out! Well, I’m happy to say that after a few days, it’s drying out beautifully. See?

I’m still leaving it sitting on the kitchen bench and crushing it to release more scent. As Marilyn pointed out, you can also use essential oils to freshen up the scent too.

I also mentioned that I wanted to start drying some flowers. Well, Missy 9 and I were very busy yesterday afternoon picking this:

I wish you could smell this. It’s all we can smell in our house at the moment. Missy 9 also helped me to bunch up the lavender and hang it in the studio to dry:

More on this after it’s nice and dried out!

I’m also thrilled to announce that Team Ivy reached it’s goal of $5,000! I’m so amazed and proud of what Tiffany has acheived with one idea. I’m also proud of Nuffnang for donating the last $500 once donations reached $4,500! It makes me love being a blogger all the more.

I’ve also upgraded the survey for Hear Mum Roar, as I know it wasn’t so easy originally for many of you to put a variety of answers in. I couldn’t change it with the platform I was using, so I’ve changed to another, and now, as far as I know, it’s working how it should be. So please, don’t be shy, tell me what you love or hate about this blog! I’m enjoying reading the answers so far, as it’s really helping me to know what you want more of.

Talk to you soon!

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Home made air freshener

Written on June 8th, 2010 by Hear Mum Roar in Challenges, Going green, Handmade, June 2010, Projects, Saving money

Having a new puppy in the house means we’ve been cleaning up a lot of puppy accidents. She’s getting more toilet trained, going outside to do her business. But sometimes, she just doesn’t make it. Ew. Today I was cleaning up the yard of all her poop, then came inside to freshen up Sookie’s kitty litter. My darling asked me to put some more deodoriser in his litter.

I hesitated.

a) Because we’ve run out of the deodoriser.

b) Because it’s full of bad chemicals I don’t want around my fiance.

c) Because I had another idea I’d been meaning to try for a while.

So, today, I was forced to try this idea thanks to the empty deodoriser bottle.

I went out to my front garden and tore petals from the prettiest smelling flowers I could get my hands on. I ripped them to shreds, and threw them into the bottom of Sookie’s empty litter box. Then I filled it with litter. So much nicer and more natural. Not to mention, totally free, and no packaging to dispose of.

I then changed Missy Two’s pooey nappy, and it stank the entire room out. My hands still smelt divine after ripping up all those gorgeous flowers. So, I had another idea. I returned to my garden, and took more petals: lavender, rose, geranium, daisies. I got out my trusty pestle and mortar….

…and crushed those fresh petals to buggery.

I know that with pot pouri, you’re supposed to dry the petals first, but hey, says who? The whole living room, kitchen and dining room smelt amazing. I’ve just left it sitting in the pestle and mortar, and everytime I want to reactivate the scent, I just give it a mix, or smash it a little.

From now on, I’ve decided I will start drying my own petals and do it the ‘proper’ way. Great to know though, that in a moment’s notice, it really doesn’t matter. Fresh, crushed petals rock.

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