It's a New Year! What will you throw away?

So we've had time to adjust to a new year. We now remember to write 2009 on our checks and are looking toward spring. What changes will you make? What will you let go of to make room in your life for new things, thoughts, ideas, people?

An easy way to start is to unburden yourself of things you no longer need. That can be as big an idea as cleaning out a storage space or garage or simply cleaning out your purse or the glove compartment of your car. Space in itself is a gift you can give yourself no matter how small a space you live in. You could actually live in a huge house but have a cluttered night stand or bathroom sink that makes your life a hassle everyday! Clear those spaces and feel the joy of a place to set a cup of tea or a book you're reading, or a candle.

If you need an emotional clean out, try going through your boxes of pictures. You don't have to save every picture of everyone you've ever known. You may find pictures of people you no longer associate with. Why do you need their picture? You were there anyway. Who needs the picture?

Isn't it time to stop beating up on yourself about your weight? Often, once we accept who we are a healthier self will follow. How about your age? Perhaps throwing out clothing that you probably won't fit into again and may be too youngish a style, ( belly shirts,) are something you should let go of. Give yourself a break! Buy something that looks great on you that you can wear today.

Then there's your health. How about a good look into your freezer. Throw out the mystery food and eat something fresh. You deserve it!

Now let go of your limitations! Enter your painting in an art show, go dancing, join a book group, sing Karaoke, whatever! Add something valuable to your life. You won't regret it.

Minimalist's Backyard - Taming the Mess!

If you haven't tamed your backyard yet due to bad weather, floods, etc. I's not too late. Here are some tips to get you started.

1. Good Design:

First of all, a good design aimed at low maintenance will really help. Decks are great because they can cover a large area, are great for entertaining and most importantly, let the rain water absorb and the earth breathe. Avoid lawns. They are the highest maintenance item in a yard and waste water. If you have one rip it up and replace it with bark or gravel paths through beautiful perennials.

2. Trees:

The best trees are ones that don't drop leaves. Basically pine trees. We plant Leland Cedar on all of our properties due to their quick growth and low maintenance. They can turn a yard with no privacy to a very private one in about three years. The squirrels, birds and cats love them too! Routing the water from your downspouts to your trees really helps relieve the storm drains and here in Portland, we get a discount on our water bill for doing so.

3. Privacy:

Trees don't always solve every privacy problem. When they don't, you can use trellises with vines. I recommend either potato vines or honeysuckle. Star jasmine is also great but takes longer to grow. Clamatis usually dies out in the winter. There are some non deciduous ones but they grow more slowly.

4. Flowers:

To save money and time I grow perennials. That means if you don't have too bad a winter, they come back each year. If you put a cold frame or plastic to keep the frost off them, they'll have a better chance depending upon where you live. Buying a few showy hanging plants each spring really makes you look like a super gardner too!

5. Vegetables:

My vegetable garden is completely grown in containers. They're just ones that trees came in and misc ones I've picked up. I do this because I hate to weed.

6. Watering:

I have two drip systems with a timers. I created them myself. They cost around $150 to do the front and back yards. and I am sure I have saved much more than that on my water bill and in plants saved. It was fun to put together too. It's just a hose with off shoots of little hoses to each plant that I want to get water instead of watering an entire area which encourages weeds. I even have it routed up to my hanging plants!

7. Compost:

I have a compost bin that is open on the bottom so the worms can come up. I just put my kitchen scraps and yard debris in it so I don't have to take them out to the curb. Less work for me! To read more about composting you can read: Minimalist Composting: Why It's Worth It

8. Weeds:

You're gonna have them. I don't let them get me down. I just go out a couple of mornings a week for about ten minutes in my clogs and halter top with a shovel and get my frustrations out. Then I throw them into the compost bin and reward myself by picking some flowers, herbs and vegetables.

Happy gardening!

The Minimalist Kitchen - Fresh Food

More About Food:

My minimalist food philosophy is to eat fresh. So I shop at the local farmers market once a week. If you don't have time for that, you can get a variety of local produce delivered right to you door in most cities. Here in Portland we have Organics to You. Check the internet for companies like this in your area. Green Tip: Using food that was grown near where you live requires less transportation causing less pollution and thus your carbon footprint.

I cook from scratch quite a bit as well. If you don’t know how to cook, learn. It will save you a huge amount of money and your food will have a much higher nutritional content than if you eat processed food. You'll also be skipping all of the preservatives, additives and chemicals found in processed food.

Frozen Food: Freezers should stay full. This saves energy. If you don’t eat a lot of frozen food, you can fill it up with baked items like bagels, English muffins, and loaves of bread. Frozen vegetables are picked fresh then frozen. So they are healthy. Two of my favorites to incorporate into a lot of dishes are spinach and pureed squash. As I mentioned before, dry goods like flower and bread crumbs last longer in the freezer and nuts store well in the freezer because their oils won't go rancid. Storing these items in your freezer help to keep it full and frees up room in your cupboards. Of course, making extra portions of whatever you're making for dinner and freezing it for another day is a great time saver as well. The Renolds Handi Vac is an inexpensive way of vacuum sealing your food. It is small enough to fit into any drawer but works as well as those huge sealers.

Some people like to keep coffee in the freezer but according to INeedCoffee.com there are a lot of conditions around this, such as when the coffee should be used after it's thawed and how it should be wrapped. Check out the linked article for the details. The best way to store coffee is in an air tight cannister at room temperature, and it should be consumed within two weeks.

Fridge Items:
Keep your fresh vegetables at eye level so you remember to eat them. If you don’t, they can always live on as compost! Use the lower sections beer and soda. Green Tip: Buy juice in plastic recyclable bottles. Save your time by keeping my easy food like, French bread, cold cuts and cheese ready to eat. That way everyone can feed themselves!