Best wellyboot forward. Pips frugal edible garden adventures.

Pippilongstocking · 13 June 2014 at 3:52PM

Well hello again dear hearts.

Diary number (erm I forget) - here we are again with a new challenge. I've been so heartened by the support on here that we're on to our new adventure and I couldn't do it without you. Having cleared the debts from £35k (yes that still makes me shiver in 2008 when we started) now its just down to just a student loan and two overdrafts and a tiny loan from a chum, we're doing OK but it could be better.

Reduce and clear the overdraft(s) 2 x £1000
Clear the £550 we owe to a chum (0%)
Keep our credit cards paid off each month now they're clear.:money:
Look at our student loan (just look, not think just yet)
Support our DD and DS at uni
Make a largely edible/productive garden to feed us and keep us warm
Get some chooks
Walk some hounds and keep a newly acquired f/t husband happy and well fed.
Try and help 'The Rock God' to live frugalls and help us to over pay the mortgage (s) where we can.
Keep up with the small things we know that work

So dear hearts, the next adventure continues. We've left our windy isle and have reassembled the troups in a rural windy coastland near beaches and forests.

We've just moved into a very pretty but inedible garden. As we're all about keeping the costs down we'll be growing as much as we can. Lucky for me I love gardening eh? :rotfl:

Best wellyboot forward eh? Lots to be done and lists to be made. Its late in the season so we'll have to get cracking in the garden to make room for some edibles for this season.

Thanks for popping by! Those interested in more adventures with wellyboots and gardens you'll find my (largely) edible gardening blog here. Usually haivers (Scottish word for talking nonsense) but never far from the garden, a plant, a decent walk, or the beach.

:A

Pippilongstocking · 13 June 2014 at 4:02PM

Saved for the financials and all that gubbins.

mooomin · 13 June 2014 at 4:37PM

Ooh I'm your first visitor!

*puts kettle on*

Cheery_Daff · 13 June 2014 at 4:40PM

And I'm the second one! :j :j :j :j I'll have a cuppa if you're making one moomin

*brings cake (not for you pippi) and biscuits and cheese*

Welcome to a brand new diary and brand new adventure, what larks! :j :j

teapot2 · 13 June 2014 at 4:42PM

Shiny new diary :jwell done on the CC slaying and enjoy your new home and gardening challenges.

groatie_queen · 13 June 2014 at 4:49PM

Great to have you back online! I hope the garden conversion project results in some lovely grub to keep your budget on track. I've no doubt you'll batter away at the overdrafts with the same creativity and tenacity that saw off the cc's.

xx GQ

Ellidee · 13 June 2014 at 5:01PM

*subscribes*

xxx

Tescodealqueen · 13 June 2014 at 5:24PM

Have wandered in and out of your diary for a while. Glad you have settled and look forward to reading about your edible gardening exploits, I dabble a bit but not nearly enough to be self sufficient. Happy new diary

Pippilongstocking · 13 June 2014 at 5:56PM

Visitors already and the boxes are just unpacked.

How exciting.

Tescoqueen - hello and hope you're well. Tell me please of what you dabble in.

I'd like a cow and a pig, not so keen on sheep, TRG said no to all of the aforementioned. I'm allowed some chooks though. Busily building hen house at the mo. Thanks for popping by. Both my mother and best chum work for the lands which you are Queen of.

So far in the garden (in pots to be planted) we have
Tomatoes
Courgettes
Cucumbers
Peas
Beans (french dwarf/french climbing/runner)
Tomatoes (all bush)
Chilli's
Herbs (parsley, chives, thyme, rosemary, lavender and Basil)
Spinach
Sweetcorn
Alpine strawbs

That's a wee bit to get started eh - lucky for me there's a really good independant nursery close and one of my good gardening chums popped by at the weekend and emptied a car boot of plants for me here. Nice lass.

Elidee hello and thank you for popping over the fence to here - nice to see you

Groatie Queen - thank you for the compliment, I'm a bit daunted, very reduced income but also I guess reduced expenses (ie not a whole house myself to pay for) and looking forward to growing some grub. I'm thinking of doing something that Sparkles and a few others suggested and reducing the limits on my OD gradually and using that as a target to clear them. I'll start with one then work on the other.

Teapot2 hello me dear - the house is awash with more bags and boxes from TRG's flat. Whilst I've moved *me* we've yet to tackle the whole of his flat. That's a whole other can of worms though as my stuff about filled this place. I'm looking forward to the garden. Don't you just love this time of year. Although not the monsoon I'm currently stuck in.

mind you it saves watering the pots.

Cheery me dear - cheese and biscuits how delightful. You're a star and there's Moomin popped the kettle on too. I'm telling myself to get those hens ready quick so I can lob you some eggs me dear.

Tea all round I say. Peedie is snoring sweetly on the kitchen sofa. Feels so good to have a cosy country kitchen again and have the sofa just ready for a bit of snoozing on.

Haggis and I are watching the rain, he's just as grumpy in the rain as he is in the sun. All of these hamper bird chasing which he loves. We're about to have a 'stern' conversation about chickens and how they don't get chased.

I'm netting them in top and bottom and overhead. There are foxes in the area and I just can't take the risk of those. Or, ahem, haggis's getting into the cage. Peedie will of course just eat their food but Haggis is a chaser......

Now time for a cuppa

Pippilongstocking · 13 June 2014 at 6:06PM

And speaking of frugal eating and weekend meal planning. I'm still at £42.02 for grub this month so far and aiming for £100 spend. We've raided the cupboards at TRG's flat and have a goodly amount of store cupboard stuff. I've been buying reduced bread/cheese/fruit/meat as I see it so the freezer is slowly filling up. (No blackbirds in this one I have to say.)

Week 3 in the new hoose - vague meal plan.
Today - sausages I think tis torrential so comfort food is being sought.
Tomorrow we've visitors (9 altogether) so I'm making a giant spag bog with real mince and probably about a 1/4 soy mince mixed** in and lots of veggies/salad/reduced crusty bread.
Sunday - we've a wedding in Glasgow and we'll be fed there.
Monday - Stirling all day at meeting so I'll likely make something over weekend and just take that out ready. Or use up weekend leftover grub
Tues - working at home will prob have something like fish
Wed - visitors, think we're getting taken out for tea

Thursday - Working at home, probably something from the freezer.

We don't need much shopping this week coming but milk, maybe some extra fruit and any seasonal/reduced veg I see kicking about.

The freezers are quite full of reduced grub already as I've spent me time acclimatising to my local bargains. We're equidistant to a number of different shops who all seem to reduce things differently. Mr M seems good for fish. Mr S (big one) good for fish/meat/bread - Co-op good for veggies and bread, Mr S (smaller one) good for fruit. Not a Mr T very close (aside a metro sized one) but did venture into one yesterday and used some coupons.

The local greengrocers seems to do good deals too and you can buy single things. Which seems to be quite sensible.

I've even made Greying proud and bought my first 'supersix from the shop that sounds a lot like Abba.

I've also been to the local botanic garden which has baskets of free grub to take (spinach thinnings) so we filled a bag. Half of that's now in the freezer.

I aint proud me. Free is free and grub is grub. I filled a bag and walked proudly around the garden telling folks there was free grub in the veg borders to be had.

And slowly finding my feet with the grub suppliers.

No eggs though (eek!) - I made a pact with myself I'd do without til I got chooks - I may live to regret this. But my won't the first egg taste so good.

** soy mince mixed into the browned mince right at the start really bulks it out and if done at this point you can't see the difference I don't think. Even TRG eats it no bother. I'll also add a fair bit of veg too and that will push it out even further. I'm aiming to feed 9 (6 adults, 3 bairns) from a 750g packet with extra for another tea for us and hopefully a few (or at least one) smaller packed lunch for TRG.

Pippilongstocking · 13 June 2014 at 6:14PM

Oh and aside paying for the balance of the move, a NSD here today.

Best wellyboot forward. Pips frugal edible garden adventures.

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