Cheap printed handkerchiefs can have lots of uses. You can patchwork them together to make baby doona covers, cushions or pillows, or sew them together down one side to make a cloth baby book. One of my favourite uses for handkerchiefs turns them into cheap, pretty lavender sachets to scatter everywhere.

Just take a single handkerchief. It helps if it has some sort of circular pattern because you start by straight stitching a circle around the centre:

Next you draw up the thread so that it forms a bag shape, like a bubble:

Now you fill the bag with dried lavender buds:

Draw up the thread tight so that the lavender is enclosed in the bag, and put in a few stitches to hold it all in place:

Finally add a pretty ribbon bow and make a loop so the lavender sachet can be hung in a wardrobe. You can stash them in drawers, gifts of clothing and baby blankets, or wherever you want the scent of lavender.

The completed lavender sachet:

I have been busy with the shoeboxes and other projects lately, leaving not much time for blogging – but here is an update on shoebox progress so far:

I have nearly finished two shoeboxes, for a boy and a girl aged 5-9.

I was hoping my little chihuahua guest, Princess, would look more impressed!

The teddies are ready for school – here is a close up of their backbacks with exercise books tucked in:

My granddaughter Chloe gave me the idea for the backpacks. She is fascinated by the project and quite sad to know that there are children who may not get Christmas presents. “But what about Santa Claus?” I told her we were helping him…

I have started making shoeboxes for the Operation Christmas child appeal. I started collecting shoeboxes and Christmas paper to cover them.

Covering the box is a tricky operation!

I shall also be checking out the craft patterns at the website for items to add to the box, as well as hitting the shops.

The Samaritan’s purse website also has a great campaign going where you upload a picture of your tap (or faucet!) and the sponsor will donate $2 to the Samaritans good works. It’s great fun, and i’m happy to know my humble kitchen tap raised $2 for water projects.

Here’s what I did with an empty plastic bottle last night. I had an open can of dog food that I wanted to put in the fridge but I didn’t want it tainting anything else – like cheese!

I peeled the label off the bottle and cut it in half with the kitchen scissors. Then I covered the can of dog food with some greaseproof paper and inverted the lower half over the paper and rammed it down. It works fine, though a straight sided bottle would probably have worked better.

I am using the other half – with the neck of the bottle – as a handy funnel for filling recycled jars with dried beans, rice or whatever without spilling it everywhere. You can see it propped in the glass.

I have also heard you can put potting soil in the lower half and grew little plants there, like a terrarium. I intend to use plastic bottles – well, the bottom half anyway – to place over seedlings to protect them from frost.

Two beautiful children receive their shoebox gifts.
Image by kind permission of Samaritan’s Purse.

Years ago, I read in an English magazine about a project to send shoeboxes filled with Christmas gifts to children in wartorn eastern Europe. I thought it was a wonderful idea and wished I could take part, but I could find nothing like it in Australia.

Just by chance today I came across the Operation Christmas Child appeal run by the Samaritan’s Purse organisation. And it’s shoeboxes! I can’t wait to get started covering shoeboxes with colourful paper, stuffing them with gifts and sending them on their way to a child somewhere.

I have the brochure which details what you need to put in – and most importantly, what you need to leave out. The shoeboxes are marked Girl or Boy in three age groups, so that is six I am planning to make for starters. There is a donation of $8 AUD minimum to help speed each shoebox on its way but that’s a small price to pay to bring joy to a child. I’ll be blogging each shoebox as I complete it.

You can print out Girl and Boy shoebox labels from the website and there’s a map to show your nearest drop off point in Australia. It’s a marvellous project and I hope lots of people get involved.

Every one of us has a larger, cultural `family’. Mine are the Travellers, the nomadic peoples of the Uk and Ireland. Others are Roma, Australian Aborigines, African tribes…all have one more thing in common. All these `families’ know what hunger is. They know what hope is too, even though at times it seems as much out of each as a decent meal.

At Blogging4Change there is a most moving post about the sufferings of a cultural family, in Serbia. I expect to read many such posts in support of Heifer International and its worldwide blogging event to raise awareness of hunger and give hope to those who are hungry.

What is it like, to be so poor that you cannot even afford a loaf of bread? It means you are living in a world where you can no longer help yourself. It means you cannot go down to the stream and catch a fish, you cannot go out into the fields and hunt a hare, as Travellers used to do. When all that is considered lawless behaviour, you have to resort to stealing, or poaching, as it was known, hunting game that belonged to someone else – someone who didn’t need it, because they could affrd to buy their food.

But worse, if there is no game in fields and streams, if there are no fields and streams, i there are only the streets where nothing grows, or barren land with no clean water – how can we even begin to imagine how powerless people become, as we drive down to the supermarket to stock up?

It’s been many decades since I knew what it was like to be hungry, but I have never forgotten. You never do forget how it feels to be denied something that nature provides for all, the rich and the poor, the powerful and the powerless.

The answer of course is for those with more to share with those with less. IMPACT believes every little thing you do helps to make the world a better place. Here are some ways to make a difference:

Give a gift of a goat to Rwanda

Click to feed the hungry – costs nothing!

But the hungry aren’t always in far flung exotic places – they are right in front of you. If you have enough to share, resolve that in your own `family’ no one will go hungry. Work in or donate to a soup kitchen, or a charity that collects food gifts, volunteer at a charity shop, never hesitate when you see a way you can help, even if it is only sharing your lunch with a homeless person in the park. Every little thing we do helps, and brings hope.

The Earth’s a junkie
Craving toxic waste
Hooked on CFCs
Shooting up on CO2
Until we all
OD

I can’t believe I wrote this 11 years ago – back then it was all about fridges and aerosols, the ozone layer and dwindling oil supplies. Now it is about global warming, alternative power and dwindling oil supplies.

Have we moved on, closer to solutions? Have we made any real and measureable differences? Time is running out.

Back in the day, I read Grass Roots (the Australian self sufficiency magazine), grew herbs and veges, made my own pasta sauce and took the accusations of being a tree hugging hippie with good grace.

Today, I read Grass Roots, grow my my herbs and veges in boxes, make my own pasta sauce and am no longer called a tree hugging hippie, because I live in a community where everyone else does the same.

But that doesn’t mean I’m not still part of the problem. I still drive a car (petrol at that), I still use grid power for most things, and I still don’t recycle as much as I should. I advise people to recycle and use plastic bottles for plant pots and funnels, but there are only so many plant pots and funnels you need.

I firmly believe that big problems can be tackled by people like me just by doing what is at hand – every small action is important to the overall job of making the world a better place. That is what IMPACT is all about after all. But we need to know,while we are tackling what is in front of us, that people in power are tackling what is in front of them.

We have hope, at last, that the larger issues are on the table and being acknowledged. It is good to see the world’s leaders moving forward on climate change, it is good to see them even acknowledging what is happening.

But so much more can be done. Sustainable housing and communities need more encouragement. In Australia, I would like to see public housing upgraded with water tanks and solar power, I would like to see future public and low cost housing follow the lead of the ecovillages that are now being created. These developments are out of the reach of low income families, but if they became a public housing project, they would ease the housing shortage in this country and help homeless families in Australia. It’s a matter of doing what is in front of you.

We don’t really need to save the planet – there have been five extinctions of life, to a greater or lesser degree, so far and each time life has started again. We need to prove ourselves worthy of living on it, work toward giving everyone a chance to live with decency and pride. Sustainable communities can be built anywhere, and should be. Extreme poverty and degradation has horrible consequences, but the answer is not to try to raise everyone to the level of the greatest consumers. Not everyone can follow their dream of living at the expense of everyone else. It is to lower expectation, accept less in some cases, so more can be given to others.

I gave up credit cards a long time ago, and I have never looked back. But still private debt is our biggest burden. If people could afford to simply save for what they need, and weren’t bled dry for interest when they do borrow, maybe money would once again be no more than what it was meant to be – something in lieu of bartering.

So much greed has contibuted to our present situation that it is hard to see where we cn start to mend it. But once again, we can start small. Pay cash, save up, do without what you can’t afford.

Yes, it’s hard. But Earh Day is meant to remind us that is always something we can do to make an impact, no matter how small.

Stock up with this rich pasta sauce and save money. You can bottle this sauce in sterilized bottles, but I prefer to freeze it in plastic containers. I was lucky enough to have about 10 kilos of Roma tomatoes given to me (one of the perks of living in a lush growing area) and last night we had lasagna – I’ve given the recipe for that as well.

Home Made Tomato and Basil Pasta Sauce

I’m not giving quantities for this as the result is really up to the cook. I like lots of basil and black pepper – you may prefer less, or want to add different herbs and spices.

First cut up the tomatoes and whizz through a food processor, skin and all. Put the pulp in a bowl or jug. If you don’t have a processor or blender, chop very finely. It will be a lumpier sauce, but still mighty good.

In a large, deep bottomed pan heat two tablespoons of olive oil, and gently cook chopped onion until it is soft. I used young spring onions, as I like the flavor, but you can use Spanish or white onions. Add crushed garlic (yes, I like lots! Use one or two cloves, or a whole bunch, just adjust to your own taste). When the oil, onions and garlic are well blended and the vegetables very soft, (don’t get the pan too hot, or they will burn) add the tomatoe pulp.

Bring the pulp to the boil and chop up some fresh basil leaves. Again, go by your own tastes here – I chopped up half a bunch, and saved the rest to make pesto.

Stir the basil into the pulp. As it comes to the boil, the sauce will lose that foamy white look and become deep red – like this:

Let it bubble like this until the white foam is all gone, and turn down the heat so it can simmer. At this point, you can start tasting and adjusting the seasoning to suit yourself. I added sea salt and cracked black pepper, oregano, sage and a couple of bay leaves – sometimes I add red wine, fresh parsley – whatever I feel like and is available.

Keep simmering until the pulp has reduced and is a rich deep red. You will notice the pulp thickening – keep stirring it, making sure all the herbs and the olive oil are well mixed in.

It should look like this:

Turn the heat off and let it cool, before putting into plastic containers for the freezer. If you want to put it in jars, do this while the jars and the mixture are hot.

Beef, Bacon and Cheese Lasagna

This is a very rich lasagna – a little goes a long way, but it’s perfect for a crowd.

500gr minced beef
500gr bacon pieces
4 cups pasta sauce (or a large jar shop bought)
olive oil

Cheese sauce:
2 tablespoons flour (any will do)
2 tablspoons butter
Milk
grated cheese
salt and pepper

Heat the oilive oil in a heavy bottomed pan and cook the mince beef until mostly brown, then add the bacon pieces and stir together. Add the sauce, simmer for about ten minutes and take off the heat.

Make the cheese sauce by melting the butter in a small pan over low heat (the butter must not burn). Turn up the heat until the butter is bubbling (but not browning) and stir in the flour. Cook the roux for a few seconds, then start adding milk, constantly stirring, until the consistency of custard. You can make it thicker or thinner as you wish by adding more or less milk, but white sauce for lasagna sould be fairly thick. You will need around two cups of milk. Add salt and pepper to taste, and stir in about a cup of grated cheese – I like a well matured cheddar. Take off the heat.

Assemble the lasanga in a deep dish by spooning a little sauce mixed with water into the bottom of the dish to keep the bottom layer of pasta moist. Put down one layer of instant or fresh lasagna pasta. Spoon over half the meat sauce and level off. Add another layer of pasta, and spoon over the rest of the sauce.

Top the meat sauce with one more layer of pasta, and pour over the cheese sauce to completely cover the last layer of pasta. Make sure no pasta is showing, or it will not cook. Top with a sprinkle of grated cheese.

Bake the lasagna in a hot oven for about twenty minutes or until the top is brown and the pasta cooked through.

Serve with a smile.

I was worried when torrential rain started – how would my boxes cope? Would they float away? Would they fill up and overflow? In fact they stood up to it very well, and the plants loved it.

The sage – front in the black pot on the right – didn’t like it much, but the rosemary and the parsley (in the red planter) are thriving.

I’ve got cabbage on the left, tomatoes in the middle and that’s a strawberry reaching out to climb up the fence.

So far, so good – I am very happy with my experiment so far – and no weeding!

IMPACT’s first post for 2009 is about gardening, one of the most economic and sustainable things we can do to make a difference in our everyday lives. Gardening is not only a way to save money and trips to the store, its good exercise too – save money on the gym!

But what if you live in a small place with no garden, or are a renter with an unsympathetic landlord who doesn’t want you digging in the backyard, or are usually on the move? The answer is a portable garden, one you can take with you when you move and which can be situated in a sunny spot on a porch, verandah, balcony or backyard without having to make major changes.

The basis for the portable garden is the good old polystyrene box – the kind fruiterers use. See, right away we are considering recycling something, and that’s a great start.

The best boxes are the ones with holes in the bottom, but you can use any box and just put holes in the bottom yourself with something sharp.

These are some of my boxes.As you can see I have laid down a base for them, to stop weeds coming up in between.

But the boxes can be set on concrete, wood, anything. You can raise them slightly on bricks or other supports to ensure good drainage.

You can use othercontainers besides boxes as I have here, recycling old pots – it’s just that boxes are cheap – I get mine for free. You can recycle other smaller polystyrene packaging as well – below I’ve used some for raising seeds.

For soil I just use potting soil, which I get for about $3 AUD a bag. But I also spinkled a biy of slow release fertiliser around. This seedling is doing well.

I’ll be keeping the blog updated on the progress of my portable garden. Love to hear from anyone else who is doing this, or wants to try.