4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[KateG]

We've got an allotment but it is 11 miles away and is currently being tended by my parents (who are loving it, they've rekindled their marriage and feel young again, it is so lovely to see). I've got a small vegetable patch at home which has enough room for sprouting brocoli, peas (which I can't seem to grow ), runner beans, leeks and i'm hoping to squeeze my aspargus in there too. I'm growing carrots, spuds, spring onions, lettuce, tomatoes, chillis, peppers, cucumber, courgette and squash in various tubs around the garden...obviously not going to get enough to keep us going but a bit of fun.

 

My veg patch:

 

I make my own compost via a womery but would love to compost my own grass cuttings etc. Can those composters sit on a hard floor and do they smell?

 

What else can I do? I want to be eco friendly and self sufficient.

Dammit, I want to be an all round domestic goddess

[Guest]

go foraging! It's fab, we started it last year and have foraged nettles and made nettle soup, elderflowers and made elderflower cordial, we've found apple trees growing wild and made crumbles galore! We've had tons of blackberries and elderberries which are currently frozen and will be made into jam.

 

This year we hope to forage for even more free food! Grab yourself a copy of Richard Mabeys 'food for free'. Foraging is fun, free and best of all, you can make a feast with your findings

[Guest]

don't forget growing things in wall mounted/hanging baskets too if you're short on space in the garden. Utilise the front garden too if you have one. We've got recurrants growing up the garage wall on trellis.

[KateG]

Oh I forgot about the apple tree- got to thank the victorians for that gem. The apples are a bit tart though!

 

foraging sounds like a brilliant idea and I will certainly start keeping an eye for places to go when the timing is right, thanks for that.

 

Sadly, no front garden. I have got strawberries in a hanging basket. what else can I hang? Im thinking I'll have more hanging space once the walk in run is up - I can get a few baskets off the top of that.

[Guest]

try herbs or different varieties of tumbling tomatoes

[Guest]

p.s. make chutney with your tart apples, I've got a brill recipe that i used last year if you want it?

[KateG]

Ooo Poet, yes please that would be really helpful. I can usually only stomach one or two apple pies a year so a chutney would go down really well.

[Guest]

here you go, it's delish!

 

viewtopic.php?f=20&t=33580&p=524599&hilit=patten#p524599

[KateG]

here you go, it's delish!

 

viewtopic.php?f=20&t=33580&p=524599&hilit=patten#p524599

 

Excellent thank you. I look forward to the apples coming now for once

[Guest]

I made it with the wild apples we foraged Have fun! xxx

[TheGirlsMum]

Ive just planted up loads of tumbling toms in hanging baskets mainly because the pesky chooks are demolishing all the plants in the garden so there's something like 8 baskets planted up......we like tomatoes in our house

[missuscluck]

Dont forget about all the money you can save by making your own stuff rather than buying ready made. Its an outlay at the start but the best money saving device I have is my breadmaker. We make all our own bread, rolls and pizza with ours. Saves a fortune.

 

Of course if you make all your own cakes and biscuits with your eggs it saves a fortune too.

 

I have got lots of pots all over the place with veggies in and hanging baskets with tomatos in too.

[Guest]

if you're going to make, chutneys etc and you need equipment; pans, jars etc then a really good place to go is a boot sale.

 

We went to one yesterday to sell some of our stuff but I ended buying some lovely embossed kilner type jars and some bottles for about 20-30p a time. It's really worth going!

 

as they're usually held in fields, you could always do a bit of foraging while you're there, there's bound to be something worth having in the hedgerows

[Matthew]

We've got an allotment but it is 11 miles away and is currently being tended by my parents (who are loving it, they've rekindled their marriage and feel young again, it is so lovely to see). I've got a small vegetable patch at home which has enough room for sprouting brocoli, peas (which I can't seem to grow ), runner beans, leeks and i'm hoping to squeeze my aspargus in there too. I'm growing carrots, spuds, spring onions, lettuce, tomatoes, chillis, peppers, cucumber, courgette and squash in various tubs around the garden...obviously not going to get enough to keep us going but a bit of fun.

 

My veg patch:

 

I make my own compost via a womery but would love to compost my own grass cuttings etc. Can those composters sit on a hard floor and do they smell?

 

What else can I do? I want to be eco friendly and self sufficient.

Dammit, I want to be an all round domestic goddess

 

For utilising space I recommend the square foot gardening technique.. not something I use as I have an allotment but its great inspiration for stuff that you want to grow at home for cut and come again or fresh from the soil crops.

 

Use the allotment for stuff you can harvest and freeze/store in bulk (squash, beans, potatoes etc.)

 

This way you maximise the yield from both sites.. less worried about missing stuff on the allotment and having items close to hand to pick when ripe at home. (e.g. courgettes )

[chickenanne]

For living more sustainably generally I would simply suggest you use less.

Do without, mend things, try to avoid overpackaged stuff, re-use things, and buy secondhand where practical. When you do buy stuff, try to get decent quality things that will last, and avoid throwaway stuff that after a few months will only be good for the bin.

I know I sound really austere, and I don't mean to, but there's nothing green or sustainable about chucking things away. It's astounding how many companies use "green credientials" to sell pointless junk that will end up mouldering in the back of a cupboard after 6 months.

Ok, may think about getting off my soap-box now....

[mostin]

For living more sustainably generally I would simply suggest you use less.

Do without, mend things, try to avoid overpackaged stuff, re-use things, and buy secondhand where practical. When you do buy stuff, try to get decent quality things that will last, and avoid throwaway stuff that after a few months will only be good for the bin.

I know I sound really austere, and I don't mean to, but there's nothing green or sustainable about chucking things away. It's astounding how many companies use "green credientials" to sell pointless junk that will end up mouldering in the back of a cupboard after 6 months.

Ok, may think about getting off my soap-box now....

 

It's very true though. My Grandma always used to say "Buy cheap, buy twice" and it's true. I find that if you spend double, things will often last five times as long, not just twice as long.

 

It's hard to do the initial outlay though , but we've found as the years go buy, we just don't need to replace all the things that our friends seem to be constantly replacing. I'm sure we save money, resources, and a lot of time and hassle in the long run.

 

Getting off my soap box now .

[AJuff]

This is the perfect time to make Elderflower cordial. I made some last year and it is so lovely and very easy. I made as much as I could and we missed it when it ran out. I was advised to smell each flower head before picking it as if it smell like cat pee then don't use it as it's been pollinated and gives a not too nice flavour to the cordial.

 

I followed Country Livings recipe to make 1litre of cordial

 

18-20 flowerheads

2 lemons, juice and thinly pared zest

1kg caster sugar

1 litre boiling water

 

Put lossom and lemon zest in the bowl, add water. Cover with a clean cloth and leave for 24hrs. Strain into a pan and heat gently, add lemon juice, boil for 5mins.

 

Pour into sterilised drinks bottles. Dilute to taste.

 

We used sparkling water after reading elderflower champagne horror stories of exploding bottles!!!

 

I'm very excited as the first flower opened today!!!!!!!!!! Later than last year.