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regrowing vegetables

Zero-Waste Basics

7 Zero-Waste Steps That Cost Zero Dollars

Posted on February 4, 2021February 4, 2021by The Zero-Waste Chef

Living a lower waste lifestyle should save money, not bankrupt you. These seven zero-waste steps cost zero dollars.

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Climate Crisis
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- Homesteading

Lazy, Experimental, Give-It-a-Whirl Gardening

Posted on October 21, 2020December 29, 2020by The Zero-Waste Chef

If Covid disrupted the food supply chain, imagine what more extreme weather will do. Now’s a good time to start a garden.

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Zero-Waste Basics

How to Grow Basil from Cuttings

Posted on August 15, 2017August 17, 2017by The Zero-Waste Chef

basil growing in a pot

I’m so excited about this tip, I decided it deserved its own blog post, rather than just a footnote in another post (which I had originally planned to do). I buy basil often at the farmers market. When I get it home, I store the bunches in jars of water to keep them fresh. It […]

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This year’s crop of preserved lemons. I used ove

You know the old saying: When life hands you bitte

You know the old saying: When life hands you bitter oranges, send them to a facility to generate enough energy to power a large water purification plant.
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Unlike resource-hungry edible corn grown specifically to produce ethanol fuel, iconic Seville oranges grow all over the city whether they end up in marmalade, liqueur, a landfill or a biogas harvesting facility. The energy generated is a byproduct of the orange waste and the facility that will do the conversion for the pilot program already exists. In other words, the very efficient pilot creates energy from waste without building new infrastructure to do so. More of this please!

I had wanted an electric grain mill for years and

I had wanted an electric grain mill for years and resisted buying a new one. Then one day, my neighbor gave me this beauty! She was moving and no longer ate bread. This Excalibur grain mill is at least 40 years old and works very well. I saw one on eBay the other day for $100. A new wooden grain mill costs about $800.
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Here you see it with some teff I ground up. (To grind small grains, you reduce the distance between the grinding stones.) I somehow didn’t record the grinding of the teff, but you can swipe to see the result and a video of some mystery grains being ground up. I put those mystery grains into sourdough discard cracker dough last night.
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If you are looking for a grain mill, a pasta machine, a sewing machine or other small appliance—or really, anything at all—ask around, post your request in your Buy Nothing group, check Nextdoor, look at Facebook Marketplace and so on. Put it out to the Universe.

In my quest to squeeze as much goodness out of lem

In my quest to squeeze as much goodness out of lemons as possible, I started a batch of limoncello, a lemon liqueur. With a vegetable peeler, I removed the peels of a bunch of organic, unwaxed lemons and am steeping them in vodka.
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My lemons were massive so let’s say I used the equivalent of 7 medium lemons. I carefully removed the peel (not the pith) from the lemons using a vegetable peeler, placed the pith-less peels in a clean jar, poured 500ml of vodka (a generous 2 cups) over top and closed the jar. After this steeps for a month, I’ll strain the infused vodka and add a simple sugar syrup to it. I’ll start with 1 cup of sugar to 1 cup of water and add more sugar syrup to the lemony vodka to taste if necessary.
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I plan on using a little bit of the finished limoncello to bake biscotti and a grown-up lemon cake. I think those will taste fabulous. The majority of the limoncello will go into the freezer. One day—soon, I hope—I’ll ply guests with it!

These pics for #EasyWhenYouKnowHow Sourdough Bread

Good news! . Victoria will ban single-use plastics

Good news!
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Victoria will ban single-use plastics by 2023, beginning by phasing out banned items in its own government systems within a year.
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The ban includes plastic straws, cutlery, plates, cotton ear bud sticks and polystyrene cups and containers. When announcing the ban on Saturday, the environment minister, Lily D’Ambrosio, said that these items account for about a third of litter in Victoria.
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The ban includes bars, cafés and restaurants but not medical or scientific equipment and exemptions will apply for emergency, disability and aged care services as needed.
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Plastic contributes to the climate crisis all along its life cycle and Big Oil is currently ramping up production of the stuff. Regulations like these will make a big dent in preventing plastic pollution at its source—production.

Our lemon tree didn't produce much this year so I

Pasta that prevents food waste! . We had some wate

THREE copies up for grabs of the book “Plastic F

THREE copies up for grabs of the book “Plastic Free: The Inspiring Story of a Global Environmental Movement and Why It Matters”...
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One person can make a difference! In July 2011, Rebecca Prince-Ruiz (founder of @plasticfreejuly) challenged herself to go plastic free for the whole month. Starting with a small group of people in Western Australia, the Plastic Free July movement has grown to an estimated 326 million strong community across 177 countries, empowering people to reduce single-use plastic consumption and create a cleaner future.
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From the book description: “This book explores how one of the world’s leading environmental campaigns took off and shares lessons from its success. From narrating marine-debris research expeditions to tracking what actually happens to our waste to sharing insights from behavioral research, it speaks to the massive scale of the plastic waste problem and how we can tackle it together. Interweaving interviews from participants, activists, and experts, Plastic Free tells the inspiring story of how ordinary people have created change in their homes, communities, workplaces, schools, businesses, and beyond.”
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TO ENTER:
1. Like and comment on this post and tell us about one single use plastic item you are choosing to refuse.
2. Follow @plasticfreejuly
3. Follow @zerowastechef
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Conditions: This giveaway is open internationally and prizes will be shipped to all countries excluding Australia and New Zealand. There are 3 books in total to be given away. Entry closes on Saturday, February 27th at 11:59pm PST. I will randomly choose the winners and notify them by DM. This giveaway is in no way administered, sponsored or endorsed by Instagram.

This weekend’s shopping includes a smallish farm

This weekend’s shopping includes a smallish farmers’ market haul on a new-to-me background. Total cost of the background: $0.
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On Saturday, I “shopped” at something like a moving sale or estate sale where everything was free. A friend of a friend left town just as the lockdowns began last year and hasn’t been back since. She has decided to stay on the East Coast and from there is co-ordinating the move of her belongings from here on the West Coast. She’s leaving behind loads of stuff, a lot of which would go to landfill. So, on the weekend, several of us descended upon her home—masked and socially distanced—and cleared out boxes and boxes of useful stuff. I’ve posted just some of the things I grabbed.
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I’ve wanted a table to put in the window for taking pictures and voila! (The burlap sac came from a local café that roasts its own beans and tosses these bags out.) We had no glasses; now we do (not shown: half a dozen more that I need to wash still). The little teabag rest is smaller than the ramekin I’ve been using (and it frees up a ramekin). My oven mitts are shot and this pair still has the tag on them. Charlotte needed a desk lamp; one magically appeared. Finally, I grabbed this never used, unopened Blu-ray player to post in my Buy Nothing Group (we don’t own a TV). Several people asked for this right away and I need to randomly pick a recipient today.
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I say this all the time on here but when I need or want something, if I’m patient, it eventually shows up. I can’t tell you how often this happens.
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I hope everyone’s week is off to a good start.

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