Earth Mother

Image via Wikipedia - Not your
typical Earth Mother

If I say "earth mother," you have a vision - a lady who's wearing natural fibers, maybe looking a little hippy, someone who is naturally nurturing and likes to create things with her hands.  I don't claim to be one of those (though I don't think it'd be that far of a stretch).  The truth of the matter is, more and more, we're getting back to the earth.  We desire simpler living, which is cheaper now days.  How are we making it happen, living in a subdivision like we are?

We garden.  I think this is the one thing out of which we draw the most pleasure.  My husband thrilled in planning our garden (all raised beds because of our high-clay soil), and our daughter and he love digging in the dirt.    Our toddler and I like going out and reaping the harvest.  Last year we scored several 25+ pound watermelons, more cantaloupes than we could eat and tomatoes galore.  This year, we're taking it to a whole new level.  Thanks to my grandparents, my brother- and sister-in-law and a good coupon from Bed, Bath & Beyond, I was able to purchase a pressure canner so we can put up some of those vegetables to enjoy after Summer's harvest is but a distant memory.  I've tested it out with homemade black bean and corn salsa.

Related to gardening, we've started composting.  Why should we throw things like egg shells (they add LOTS of lime to the soil), apple cores and potato peels in the trash when we can add them to the pile of grass clippings that started our compost pile?  It's something both sets of my grandparents always did (one set still does), so it must be a good idea to nourish the soil in this way.  Well-nourished soil is healthy soil, and healthy soil makes for beautiful, healthy produce.

We are also simplifying our finances.  We will not be relying on credit going forward, instead paying cash for whatever we want.  We are dropping all debts (eventually, even including our mortgage) and decluttering our home, selling off as much as we can.  We don't need all this stuff.  Looking ahead, when we're ready to move, we won't have all this junk to relocate.  You can read all about this journey here at my other blog.  (That's also why I have not been blogging here as faithfully as usual.)

Are there ways that you can think of to live more simply?  What would you like to achieve by doing so?