No foil or plastic wrap for two years now

When we moved to Orange nearly four years ago I stopped buying aluminium foil and plastic cling wrap.  It took nearly two years to use up the last of my rolls of each in the kitchen draw - but for about the last two years we have been aluminium foil and cling wrap free.  I get asked many questions as to how I do it.  So here are my strategies.

• We have been using reusable sandwich wraps for packed lunches all this year - I have been very happy that the kids have not lost a single wrap over the year - even if I have to search for them in the school trouser's pocket or at the bottom of the school bag.  I find that these reusable wraps are great - I wipe them down with a cloth and tea towel daily and put them all through the washing machine at the end of the week. I have had Mum's from school ask about the warps the kids use - along with work colleagues commenting on Dad's wraps in his work lunchbox.

• The kids lunchboxes are designed to be rubbish free as well.... having many little compartments that we can put unwrapped biscuits, cheese and fruit into.

• When we have left overs from the evening meal I pack them directly into a lunchbox for Dad to take to work the next day or simply put a plate over the top of the bowl of leftovers before putting it into the fridge.
  
• When we cook cakes for the kids school we use an old cereal box - cut to make a lid.

• In the microwave (although we are doing without one at the moment as it is not working) - we use ceramic bowls with a plate on the top instead of using cling wrap.
  
• The other day we cooked a fresh trout on the BBQ - wrapped in silverbeet from the garden instead of foil.  The dogs loved the fish infused silverbeet as an add-on to their evening meal.  

We have certainly adjusted quickly to not have aluminium foil or plastic cling wrap in the house - and that is now another aisle of the supermarket that we can avoid - which I find empowering.  

Using old bath tubs to make wicking beds

At the Orange community garden working bee a weekend or two ago we constructed some bathtub wicking beds.  Over at Child's Play Permaculture there is a good article on wicking beds if you would like more information but here is a few snaps of what we did on the day.

Placing the bathtubs in position... we had to level the sites out a bit and sink the northern tub
in lower than the southern one. The idea being that the northern tub will shade
the side of the southern (back) bathtub and stop it from heating up too much.

Some old downpipe was recycled as the watering for the wicking bed.  Pipe ran flat along
the bottom of the bath and had slits cut to allow water to run out into the bottom of the bath.

After adding and wetting the wicking layer of straw we filled the baths
with some good garden soil.

Testing the wicking pipes.

Now for some seedlings - lettuce in the front bathtub.

Taller plants in the back tub (sweet corn at the moment - we might plant some
beans and cucumbers in here at the next working be).

Can't wait to see how they are coming along.... might have to visit for a quick peek on the weekend.

A trip to Sydney by train

In the last week of the school holidays we had to take our oldest boy down to Sydney to get braces on his teeth - his orthodontist's surgery was right in the heart of Sydney - near the State Library.  We took the opportunity to take the trip from Orange to Sydney and return via the train - the Countrylink XPT is a daily service from Dubbo to Sydney and return daily and although not ideal times for commuting it was a great way to plan for a few days exploring Sydney and the kids travelled for $2 return.

Lots of time for colouring... without getting travel sick.

Time for some puzzles... something we would not have been able to do in the car

The freedom that we and the kids experienced with no car for four days and a small backpack of essentials was great.  All this on top of the fact that the train takes the same time as a car to get to Sydney and you have no parking hassles in town once you get there and we got to have some quality time with the kids while travelling down because we were not driving.  It is certainly a trip that we will be trying again.

Here are some highlights from the trip.

 The Powerhouse Museum...

Slime making workshop

A snap shot of some startling statistics from the EcoLogic dipslay at the Powerhouse Museum (the numbers kept  changing as we watched)

The Darling Harbour area was also a highlight and a refreshing retreat from the hustle and bustle of the cities streets.

The water playground at Darling Harbour's Tumbalong Park kept the kids occupied for hours

The Chinese Garden of Friendship was a magic garden to visit

Bamboo forest - we would love to have a Bamboo Forest in our  yard

The kids enjoyed walking through the Royal Botanic Gardens

Looking at the Pitcher Plants

A Dragon's-blood Tree - just like out the Tashi stories the kids read

In the evening we walked home through Chinatown

Exploring Chinatown by night

All in all we had an intense couple of days in Sydney - but got time to relax on the train-trip back to Orange.