Showcase: Planting on Borrowed Ground
Christy has 4 separate blogs, each dedicated to an aspect of frugal living:
It takes a lot of work to maintain multiple blogs, but Christy still made time to answer several questions for other Frugal Hackers like herself.Tell me a little about yourself: who are you?
Hi, I am Christy, a.k.a. sweetcultivator, a believer of God, a single mom of one teenage son who is in a hurry to inherit the earth, a compulsive knitter, a novice gardener, a lover of cats and all critters (even the sneaky little squirrels that ate my carrots), an aspiring novelist, an armchair environmentalist, and just as generally confused over the nonsensical world we live in as the next person. I am a recluse by nature and painfully shy but have discovered a boldness using a keyboard.
How did you come up with your username?
I chose my username Sweetcultivator as two references. Most important is a reference to God the original Cultivator and His loving cultivation of each of us. And secondly, for my desire to reach out to others to enrich their lives with whatever talents and resources I might possess. In other words, I wish to be a sweet cultivator.
My blog Planting on Borrowed Ground is actually the title of my first novel which is in the draft stage. Basically it means that sometimes you find yourself in a hard position with everything to gain and nothing to lose. By planting on borrowed ground (meaning you have none of your own) you can gain a foothold and begin to climb out. You can start to grow again but it also requires great faith.
Do you think there is a downside to being frugal?
There is a downside to being frugal and an upside. To me the downside is that it takes more effort, more patience, more discipline, more dedication, and more attention to details to harvest small differences than not being frugal. To me, the upside is that the small differences add up to a bigger achievement in the financial peace one can get from having money in savings for emergencies, a sense of accomplishment when a debt is paid off, in knowing that I can get through a difficult time (esp. as a single parent), and in having knowledge to protect myself from being taken advantage of by companies, employers and others who do not have my family's welfare at heart. In other words, frugality gives me a sense of empowerment. I can control where my money goes and what I am willing to sacrifice or not. To me, that is a huge upside that far outweighs the downside.
Do you feel your blog has a special niche of its own? Did it happen by design or by accident?
I think my blog does have a special niche, in fact more than one which is why I have spun it off into four separate blogs.
Planting on Borrowed Ground was the endeavor of my getting my feet wet and finding my voice. I launched it just as I was filing for a divorce, studying for a certification to determine my future career, contemplating my 39th birthday and my son reaching some milestones in growing up and preparing to leave the nest in a few years. Although I was too time constrained to put in a lot of posts I did start to notice a few trends in what I did post and over the last few months I have revised that blog to hold my main frugal and commentary writing and spun the rest of the posts into three other themed blogs.
Sweet Cultivating focuses on novice gardening using next to no money, simplified techniques and planning and using the garden to supplement the household with food and beauty. I would like to share the idea that anyone with an interest can garden regardless of their financial, physical or spatial limitations. The content here has been sparse lately with my using the summer and winter to complete some professional certification exams. I look forward to spring and have no doubt I will be prolific in posts with no shortage of subjects as the gardening season draws near.
Frugal Knitter focuses on pursuing my passion for knitting with frugality. There I offer tips and project sharing to use knitting materials wisely and to create knitted objects to augment a frugal lifestyle as gifts, practical home-making items (no tea cozies allowed), clothing, charity items, etc. Like everything in my life now, it must be simplified and have a purpose even if I am doing it for fun. I also do some quilting and other homemaking crafts so a few of those tips and projects will find their way there as well.
Condensed Cook focuses on not only cooking to save money, but to also simplify with time, space and effort savers while preserving the accomplishment of good taste and nutrition. I have fifteen to twenty minutes a day for cooking, struggle with an energy-robbing chronic illness and have a tiny kitchen. Despite the challenges though, there is a way to simplify and to create something wonderful in the process.
Did it take you a while to "find your voice," or do you feel you've always been the same as a blogger?
It did take a while for me to find my voice. It was not just a journey in writing the blog but something I went through as a person as well. I think the most significant payback in blogging is using the blog as a tool to grow and to share that with others. I had to figure out just where it was I wanted to go and what I had to say that was worth sharing. Years ago I launched a personal website along with the current trend of the time but it really fell short of what I was looking for as a personal statement and as a tool to meet other like-minded people. I think the blog is recreating social communication between people that has been lost in recent years and opening up communication without borders.
Define frugality in your own words. Do you think it means different things to different people?
I think a lot of people believe frugality is just about being cheap and saving money. To me, it is actually about using everything we have to the best use –time, money, energy, tangible belongings, the ground we live on, the air we breathe, political and religious freedom, friendships, the opportunity as parents to shape who our children become, anything we have.
Do you have a favorite frugal site?
Like Merchant Ships- I love her creativity and her sense of style. I wish I had known a lot of her wisdom when my son was small.
Freebies4Mom- I love all the coupon/freebie links and especially the savvy knowledge of how to use them.
the homespun heart- I loved the series on freezer cooking. Now if I could just find a real freezer on Freecycle……
Does frugal living come easily for you or is it a struggle?
Frugal living is definitely a struggle and I am constantly fighting the impulse monster, the disorganized disorder and the lazy bug.
Do you have any frugal heroes or role models?
I think my frugal heroes were the pioneers who traveled across uncharted territory with no more than would fill a wagon and ended up with little that survived the journey. They rebuilt their lives by scratching together homes and livelihoods with next to nothing, in dangerous surroundings and enabled the survival of their families. I love reading any historical accounts I can find of how they lived and managed.
What was your worst or craziest frugal idea?
Last year in my first year as a real gardener I saved scores of tin cans to transplant tomato seedlings. I failed to realize that in Mississippi anything planted in metal tends to bake. I lost quite a few green babies.
I have so enjoyed reading all of the various Frugal Hacker blogs and I hope that I am able to contribute even a small amount towards what I have received. I feel I am just getting started with my blogs and am eager to see what I can create and share.
Would you like to have your blog featured here? Join the Frugal Blogroll, and email me to request a questionnaire.
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One Response to “Showcase: Planting on Borrowed Ground”
March 7th, 2008 at 11:49 am
What an honor to see my blog in your list of favorites, thanks! I look forward to exploring your blogs, especially Condensed Cook. I can always use time-saving tips in the kitchen!
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