i feel a bit unprepared saying this, but a blog calls for challenges...and i'm up for it!  i want to see if i can shop mostly from the farmer's market for our food.  i don't have access to a farmer's market in the winter months, but summer is better than never, right?  

this week, i dove right in.  i'm excited to see how it goes.  

what are you enjoying from the farmer's market right now?

love, 
jane

i think it's pretty much accepted at this point that shopping at the farmer's market is better than shopping at the grocery store.  if you pick the stand with some discretion, you will meet the farmer who grew the food laid out in front of you.  (there are some sellers who get their offerings from distributers.  they are not farmers.  read their signs and if in doubt, ask.)

the food i buy at my farmers market was grown within miles of where i hand over my cash.  it's LOCAL!
it is unpackaged and my own bags and containers are welcomed.  it's ZERO-WASTE!  
i choose farmers advertising that their produce is grown without pesticides.  it's ORGANIC!  
i also get to learn the stories of my farmers.  

the pony-tailed, always chatty dad of two girls who grows the best greens around took a trip last year and lost the last of his crop to the negligence of those he left in charge.  we were so disappointed to not see him there toward the end of last year, so i asked him about it.  you can bet we'll be visiting him every chance we get this year!

the sweet, dark-haired women who know only a few words of english are refugees from bhutan who grow vegetables in their yards.  i respect their tenacity and sacrifice for their families...and i appreciate their fantastic vegetables on my table.

our adventure has come full circle, and we are back home again.  we had a great time visiting, catching up, exploring, relaxing, and reading.  i honestly did not miss a single thing the entire week (except maybe a bug-free environment).  i wanted to make a few notes about how the "minimal" packing worked out, so here goes…

essentials:  
we used every single thing on the essential list except for bandaids and umbrellas (phew!).  i would definitely pack those again…just in case.  we were expecting rain, but it never came.  if you camp, you know how blessed that makes you feel!  the mosquitos were ferocious in one camp spot…we all have plenty of itches to remember them by.

clothing:
i am so happy about how this worked out!  i knew i could probably leave one dress at home, and that held true.  i never wore my olive button-down shirt or the long sleeved t-shirt i packed at the last minute, being afraid of cold nights in the tent.  i bought a zip-up sweatshirt, because i didn't have one…and i am happy that i did.  if i had the same nine day trip to do again, this would be my clothing packing list:
-caftan
-black tee dress
-grey light cardigan
-constellation tank
-olive shorts
-black tee
-light jeans
-toms
-flip-flops
-athletic shoes + 2 pairs socks
-leggings + long tank = pi's (the hood on the sweatshirt was great for keeping warm at night)
-5 underwear + bra
-swimsuit + hat
-towel
-zip-up sweatshirt
-jacket

food:
we were with family for the first half of the trip, so we ate with them.  during the camping part of our trip, we ate out a couple times.  we also went to grocery stores, buying just what we needed for that meal and buying some bananas for breakfast each supper time (to eat with the granola bars we brought from home).  we didn't even use our towel/placemats.  my mom couldn't believe we didn't have a can opener for the can she tried to pack for us.  i didn't have the heart to tell her we didn't even pack silverware!  :)  we used our paring knife to cut shared sandwiches in half and also for vegetables.  we only camped four nights, so this approach worked for us this time.  i'm glad to know that there would have been room for my bin (i just wasn't sure, since we'd never taken this car camping before).

we love finding local food along the way!  it is cherry season, so we stopped and bought these cherries from the family that grew them.  they were also selling the most delicious cherry ice-cream sandwiches ever!  yum!

one of the encouraging things we noticed were recycling bins in the campgrounds!  we were able to save any recyclables and sort them out there.  fantastic!

and the prius?  plenty of space- really.  we didn't even have to pack that carefully.  it was great to wake up that last morning in the tent, with a long drive ahead of us, and be gone in 20 minutes!  

i just have to say again that i didn't miss a thing!  we were truly four happy campers!

wishing you happy trails,
jane

"the very least you can do in your life is to figure out what you hope for.  and the most you can do is live inside that hope.  not admire it from a distance but live right in it, under its roof.  what i want is so simple i almost can't say it:  elementary kindness.  enough to eat, enough to go around.  the possibility that kids might one day grow up to be neither the destroyers nor the destroyed.  that's about it.  right now i'm living in that hope, running down its hallway and touching the walls on both sides."  animal dreams by barbara kingsolver

my usual system for eating on the road involves a plastic bin packed with 4 enamel bowls, 4 spoons, 4 forks, dishcloth, kitchen towel, dish soap, knife with cover, small cutting board, can opener, salt + pepper, and a few zip locks…in addition to all the small items that we are taking (like clothesline and pins, flashlight, bugspray, sunscreen, itch cream, bandaids, meds., lighter, wipes, shower gel/shampoo, and toothpaste).  it all fits in that one bin.  the great thing about the bin is that it holds everything together, but when we need to wash our dishes…we remove the stuff and use the bin to wash dishes in.  we also have a very small cooler that we've taken in the past.

this year we have a smaller vehicle, so i'm trying to streamline as much as i possibly can in the hopes that we can fit what we really need!  the bin isn't coming this time.

my strategy for this year's system is to use a couple kitchen towels to eat off of…like furoshiki placemats.  we don't really like to have to do dishes on the road, so avoild them if possible anyway.  we won't be camping for too long, so i think we'll be able to just eat things that don't need utensils or real plates.  it can be annoying to keep a cooler stocked with ice anyway, so we'll do without that also.  we'll probably shop each day to keep things from spoiling.  here are the type of meals i see us eating:

breakfast:  
granola bar + fruit

lunch:
bread + cheese + cucumber or red pepper or salami + fruit

treat:
ice cream

supper:
same as lunch or hotdogs + chips + s'mores

other add-ins:  bulk items we find along the way, cookies, nuts, carrots + lots of water in our water bottles + coffee will be necessary for one of us daily :) + we will probably eat out a couple of times

i'll let you know how it all works out!  

love,
jane

we have just come through the thick of snap pea season.  in order to save a bit of their sweet, fresh goodness, we snapped the ends off, de-stringed them,  and cut them in half.  some of those pictured here had shells that were past their prime, so the peas inside are all that survived.  these were put right into freezer bags, air squeezed out, and frozen.  they will make welcomed additions to stir fries and noodle soups in the weeks and months to come!

"today's bohemians seek to erase the distinctions between work and play, and our living spaces reflect that lack of boundaries.  the new bohemian home is a multifunctional playground for exploration and experimentation.  our new bohemian lifestyle is rooted in freedom:  free-spirited, free-form, and free of rules."  justina blakeney in the new bohemians    

 i want to live inside this book!!!!  love, love, love it!!  

beatrice valenzuela's airbnb link

you probably don't need that link

i'm a minimalist.  now what? link

our tribe is getting ready to go camping in a prius.  i've written about packing our essential camping items, and now i'm thinking about personal packing.  in order to keep our packed items as compact as possible, we are packing our clothing and personal items in baggu bags.  i will pack a couple extra empty bags…one for dirty laundry and one for groceries.  as items switch bags, the bags expand and compress to fit exactly what is inside.

here is what i plan to pack:

caftan
black tank dress
black tee dress
grey cardigan
olive button down
constellation tank
black tee
olive shorts
light jeans
flip-flops, toms, athletic shoes, socks x2
hat, swimsuit (we are going to the beach!)
microfiber towel
underwear
1 jacket/coat (it's going to be in the 50s F at night)
pi's:  leggings + tunic tank (+ long underwear)(+ all of the above layers)(+ maybe a wool hat- there may be a story about me tying my hair under my chin to keep my ears warmer)

toothbrush, razor, conditioner, comb, deoderant, tiny hairspray?, hair-ties, bobbypins

water bottle
camera + charger (with a roomy memory card)
phone + charger
1-2 book(s) + notebook, pen
(no computers!)

i'm excited about only taking 11 main pieces for the 9 days we will be gone!    i drew out my outfits, especially for the days that i wanted to look a bit better when seeing family and friends.  that made me feel like i'd have enough and be happy wearing what i have in those situations.  my eleven main pieces include:  3 dresses (that also look cute with jeans), 2 layers, 2 tops, a pair of shorts, jeans, toms and flip flops.  i could probably do with less.

i usually plan to do laundry on longer trips, since this allows us to take half the amount of clothing.  last year, we stayed at a airbnb where they offered to take our laundry to a laundromat.  we left it out in a bag in the morning…and there was a bag of folded, clean laundry when we returned that evening.  it saved us from spending one of our days in the laundromat.  this year, i think we'll be ok without doing laundry.

camping in durango, co last summer was cold!  we ended up buying winter coats at the rei scratch and dent sale in los angeles and wearing them in our sleeping bags in big sur and yosemite.  this year, we are going to try to be a bit more prepared.  my minimalist side does not like to use up so much packing space on coats, but it is necessary!  we bought a stuff sack to put our coats in…to compress them as much as possible.

i hope it all fits!!

love, 
jane

trips have been the catalyst for many a minimalist transformation.  the realization that one can be comfortable and happy with nothing more than what fits into a backpack is incredibly liberating and mind expanding.  i am hoping to apply this principle in reverse as we prepare for four nights of camping…with our family of four…in a prius (after spending a few nights with family).  last year's camping trip was done in our now defunct 1999 honda-crv which was not huge but had more space to pack than this car.  

first, i have to be sure that the camping supplies fit.  we need our tent, air mattresses and sleeping bags.  this is the first round of "necessities"…sleeping, eating and a few comfort items.

tent, tarp, rug
tiny broom and dust pan (same one we use in the house)
garbage bag (to put the tent and tarp in, if we have to pack it up wet)
2 air mattresses (with pumps charged)
4 sleeping bags
4 small pillows
4 small chairs

beach sheet (full size sheet) (doubles as table cloth)
clothesline + 10 clothespins
flashlight (with new batteries)
bug spray, sunscreen, itch cream
bandaids, neosporin-to-go
matches (in waterproof container)
marshmallow sticks
wipes?? (we have some left-over from babysitting)
advil, allergy pills
toothpaste, shower gel/shampoo in one (shared by everyone)

a couple old kitchen towels (to eat off of)
knife with cover

frisbee, card game(s)??
umbrellas


things we are not taking this time, but did on our last trip (in this category):
plastic bin
4 enamel bowls
4 spoons, 4 forks (our regular ones from home)
washcloth, dish towel, dish soap
small cutting board
salt + pepper
can opener
a few ziploc bags
small cooler
laundry detergent 

personal packing list is up next.  it always gives us a sort of embarrassed/proud laugh to wedge ourselves in between the huge rv's with our humble accommodations.  i'm so glad to not have the burden of taking care of all that equipment and to not have to pay for the gas to haul those beasts around…that feels great until it starts to rain or the temperatures dip below 50 degrees…but, oh well, we are camping!  :)

love,
jane