Monthly Archives: June 2012

Join my commune!

June 21, 2012

I recently worked on a story for the wonderful G Magazine on ecovillages and this had me researching and speaking with people who lived in these “intentional communities” around Australia. There was a lot of eye-rolling when I mentioned once or twice (ok, about twenty times) that I wanted to move to The EcoVillage at Currumbin – check it out, it’s amazing – and I may have mentioned to one or two people that I want to live in a commune. So what do you say, do you want to come live communally with me and my just-turned-into-the-devil two-year-old?

Before you roll your eyes at me too, think about it – we can share the child-minding, cooking, cleaning and also the highs and lows. There’s that old favourite proverb about it taking a village to raise a child and, as Mia Freedman recently wrote, the village is missing for most parents, who flounder along doing it all and wondering just how much they’re screwing it all up.

Hence my craving for commune life.

One of my case studies told me about the time he and his wife went overseas, they returned to find their home had been cleaned and aired. And that the community organised a roster of food deliveries when their baby was born so they didn’t have to cook for a month. Now, I’m the first to admit that I live a pretty charmed life and have lots of help from my wonderful family and friends, but I love the idea of living somewhere where there’s so much give – and where you’re expected to be the one giving as well.

There’s one catch, of course, and it’s a pretty curly one: You have to deal with other people. Maybe not in your house, but certainly in your life – and all the time. Those I interviewed for my story all mentioned that this was both the best thing about living in a community, and the most challenging.

There are people out there – sustainability experts, not just the hippy fringe – who say that communal living is the only way our society can survive. Experts speak of the “triple bottom line” of sustainability, which is: environment, economy and community.

What do you think? Could you share your life with others – for better for worse?

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Tried & Tested: Food Connect

June 18, 2012

Ever since I first heard about Food Connect, I wanted to try it. Not just for the enormous convenience of having my fruit and veg delivered, but because this is no ordinary box-scheme… This is community supported agriculture.

Allow me to explain: Food Connect sources products from farmers within a five hour radius of Brisbane (also available in Sydney). It goes to the Food Connect Homestead in Salisbury to be packed into boxes for us in the cities and conurbations (I have wanted to use that word for so long!). The boxes are delivered to a “city cousin” and we pick it up from there. It’s a direct line from the person who planted the seed to the person eating the apple or zucchini or potato.

The first thing you’ll want to know is how it compares cost-wise. We settled on the medium vegetable box, which is $48.50. The picture above is what we received this week. I tried the basic box first, but found it to be a bit lacking for us. We don’t really need fruit at the moment as our orange tree and next-door’s banana tree are more than we can handle. I find the box to be more than what I would normally spend at our local market, but about the same, if not cheaper than what you’d spend at the supermarket.

The extra cost is worthwhile to me because it’s a cheap way to eat clean food. Not all the fruit and veg is organic, but the farms involved don’t use chemical sprays on the products they “share”, and that rocks my world. Ethically, I know the farmers aren’t being screwed to the ground to provide the lowest prices.

Another reason I’m loving my weekly box is because it’s always a bit of a surprise package. I love the challenge of working kale and beetroot into the weekly meal plan (of which there is none) and trying new recipes. Some people might not like that.

Every week we get a little Food Connect newsletter telling us about the farmers and the produce that’s in the box, and I love reading about how the tomatoes need a bit more sun to ripen and that we can expect broccoli in the next few weeks.

There are a couple of challenges or negatives: as well as the slightly increased cost, we simply cannot live without our staples – not with a toddler. I still visit the market or hit the supermarket for carrots, onions and potatoes. We go through a lot of these and the box doesn’t provide what we need.

My other criticism would be that the usability is a bit lacking. The website is a bit confusing, especially if the idea of CSA is new – you’re not actually a purchaser or shopper, but a subscriber – and, while there is always someone on hand to answer your questions, this could be frustrating. I find it charming, but from a commercial point of view it’s something Food Connect could – and, I’m sure, will – improve on.

Food Connect was founded by a dairy farmer who lost his farm in 1998 and then devoted his time to setting up CSA schemes around the country. Food Connect is an attempt to take this community approach and ramp it up to a grand scale. So there are likely to be a few wrinkles to iron out.

My verdict: it’s a worthwhile and important scheme and, for the time being, it’s sustainable for my family so we’re sticking with it. The produce itself ranges from good to great and I love that it’s healthier for us, and supports local farmers. There’s heaps of info on the website, including more on community supported agriculture, check it out.

Service: Food Connect
Description: Weekly delivery of fruit’n'veg
Cost: $48.50/week (paid for)
Available from: www.foodconnect.com.au

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Second that emotion

June 7, 2012

Can you believe Miss Edith is six weeks old already? It’s outrageous. I didn’t think it was possible, but time is whizzing by even faster this time around.

The thing I am enjoying the most about having a baby again is the benefit of experience. As my swimming-lesson-mum-buddy said: if only they could all be second children. What she means, of course, is: if only we could all be second-time mums.

I love that I know why Edith is crying, most of the time, and that I don’t have to resort to lengthy comfort-sucks because I don’t know what else I could possibly do to settle her. I love that I am so much more relaxed with myself and can just get on with it. My motto for the first was “this too shall pass”. With this firmly ingrained in my consciousness, my new motto is “whatever it takes”. This time round, we’ve held Edith for as long as she needs it rather than trying to put her in her bed. Sure we’ve had to take turns eating dinner, and my one-handed attempts at hanging up washing are lacking, but there’s been a whole lot less crying and, guess what, she still sleeps in her cot at night.

There is another major benefit of experience: I know that this too will pass. And bloody fast. Breastfeeding my baby to sleep at four weeks old does not mean I will still be doing it when she’s five. Carrying her in a sling doesn’t mean I’ll never be able to put her down. Bringing her into our bed does not necessarily mean we’ll never get her out.

I think of all the things I thought we’d never get through with Alfie. He was never going to sleep the whole night, never going to stop biting, never going to sleep in his new room. But he did, and now I struggle to remember how it happened, even though the new room thing was only a week ago. It just did, he just stopped; moved on. With Edith, in the evening, I can sense when she’s had enough cuddles and will go to bed – and she just does. I don’t know why. And it doesn’t matter – she sleeps!

This is another major shift in my parenting style – I’ve realised that it’s not all up to me. My baby, no matter how big or small, shares the responsibility for all these milestones. Edith settled and went to sleep in her cot this morning and I understand now that that’s an achievement for her, not me. Sure she’s awake ten minutes later but, you know what, that’s great. Ten minutes! It’s a start. Before I know it she’ll be sleeping for 12 hours and greeting me with “good sleep, Mummy?” like her big brother.

It’s funny to look back and see how neurotic we were with number one. This blog post is a very funny comparison of first, second and third time round. But, as a wise friend told me just before Edith was born, the best thing about having number two is the way your heart swells and becomes capable of twice as much love and wonder. And I have to say, she was spot on.

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