By Maureen Cooper, Wooragee Landcare
In my first article I put forward my next goals for living lightly and I have achieved one, at least. My superannuation share portfolio has now been shifted to ethical investments and I now bank with Beechworth Bendigo Community Bank. This may seem a little thing to do but I now feel cleansed of the greed which permeates the larger corporations.
My solar power plan will have to wait a little longer as I just finished, and will be self-publishing, an environmental book titled “Bimblebox – a Nature Refuge under Siege” which will hopefully gain more support from the Federal Government and the general public to prevent an 8,000ha Nature Refuge in the Desert Uplands of Queensland from being mined for coal by Clive Palmer (our Prime Minister wannabe). I know this is not in your area but it is an important milestone in my fight to save this unique area. For anyone interested in the plight of Bimblebox Nature Refuge you can go to the website: bimblebox.org and read all about it. The book has been launched in Brisbane and is available from Friends of the Earth on 07 31712255.
My gluten-free and dairy-free cooking is still a joyous adventure. I do love cooking (and food) and I am experimenting more with tofu which is cheaper than meat, easier for me to digest and very sustaining between meals. My latest venture is Scrambled Tofu: Saute some chopped onion, sliced mushrooms and halved mini Roma tomatoes. Add some frozen peas and the mashed up tofu. Sprinkle with soy sauce and remove from heat. Yum.
The vegetable garden is still providing me with plenty of greens and I will shortly have a couple of Henry de Zwart’s raised vegetable garden beds made from the wood and iron of an old shed. This will save my back and help keep rabbits at bay. My cross-bred bantams (the Wafflebums) kept laying a few eggs all through winter and are now laying so many that I have been able to keep my daughter’s family provided with eggs. Even though they are free range most of the day there are times when they have to stay locked up if I am away for the day so the foxes don’t get them, so I have changed their chicken feed to Peters Free Range Poultry Mix which has many extra goodies and does not contain restricted animal material. More news soon.