It is tough NOW. So how are we coping

ixwood

http://www.permaculture.org.uk/mm.asp?mmfile=whatispermaculture

maryb

Sylvan
Try using your plums in an upside down pudding. You make a toffee sauce (I use about 4 ounces of butter and 6 ounces of sugar, but I've seen recipes with different proportions) and spread that over the bottom of an ovenproof serving dish. Put plum halves all over the dish cut side down and then top it with a sponge cake mixture (or a muffin mixture) flavoured with ginger and cinnamon. Bake until the cake mixture is done - the timing depends on the dish, I use a shallow rectangular one which cooks more quickly, then turn it out into another dish to serve. It looks beautiful with the plums glowing through the toffee and the ginger complements them wonderfully. It's DD1's all time favourite

mardatha

I will try one tomato plant like that, just out of nosyness to see what will happen.
Stopped snowing now its still just 3-4".
Why d'you need to spend £99 in asda to get it delivered ? They bring mine over £25.

fedupfreda

mummysaver wrote: »

Any pea growing tips? Would they work well in tubs? I might have more chance with slug control then! Was thinking about the price of peas at the mo, they seem expensive as well - yeah I know, what doesn't at the mo!

Hi mummysaver, peas grow brilliantly in containers, this is how I grow them as we also have a terrible slug problem. In fact I grow most of my veg in containers or growbags for this reason. Just make sure to punch some drainage holes in the bottom of the container and put about 1" of gravel in the bottom before filling with soil or compost - helps the drainage no end - especially if we get another wet summer like last year :sad: Practically the only veg that actually goes into the ground is runner beans, which seem to grow like mad in my soil. Mind you any fruit seems to do really well. Hardly suprising really - the blackberries around here grow like mad, my kids get heartily sick of blackberries by the end of the summer holidays, they must be quite glad to get back to school...:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

mummysaver

Good morning! Thanks for all the replies everyone!

Miss B - I had a look at the carton of passata and the tin of value toms last night, the passata has 50% more calories, so I think I shall invest in a few when my tinned toms stocks run down. It used to available in bottles in the smart price range in Asda, but I haven't seen it in our one for ages, think it was about 27p - I used to use it in sauces all the time, will have to have a look again!

Mardatha - good point about when we all have our own tom crops, I wonder what'll happen, hope they do drop the prices of canned ones, I can then stockpile for winter! Somehow I doubt the prices will fall though!

Reverbe - haven't seen the value stock cubes in our little Mr T's since they dropped the prices, they sold them off and then replaced them with the market value or whatever range - unsurprisingly it is more expensive!

Chrisbethany - thanks for the tips, never too much information, I need my instructions to be very simple lol! And pea pod wine sounds cool, must look for some more demi johns on freecycle or at the boot sales!

Caterina - thank you for the dried runner bean tip, never done this before, do you soak them overnight and then boil like normal beans before using? How do you store them, in a container when they've dried out or in the freezer?

Elizabunny - hope your throat is better soon! Don't want your oh to get too used to not being bossed around lol!

Primrose - we love celeriac, so will give that a go if it's nice and easy - I like easy!

Maxjessdru - Autumn Bliss raspberries are now on my list! Thank you so much :-)

Sylvan - your list of plum jams did make me giggle! We have enough blackberry and apple jam to last a lifetime, well it felt like it when I made it! I just love my jam maker though, it has certainly paid for itself, and there was me thinking it might not and it was a luxury! In fact it gets so much use that it sits out permanently next to the kettle - I'm sure it can't just happen to me, but when friends visit they nosy about through the pickles and jams and chutneys and aquire jars, or they drop heavy hints! I enjoy making it though and most of my friends donate produce for making said stuff, think some of them are just glad to get rid of whatever they have a glut of lol! One friend buys me lunch once a month in return for a supply of chutney and pickles - fab bartering I think! Enjoy your SC - mine is a huge shiny silver one as well, it was full of veg stew yesterday, but it all got eaten as predicted, aside from a small portion that I shall be eating for lunch today. On the subject of Harissa, Barts Spices make a version, I had a quick look at work last night!

Ixwood and Aril - thanks for all the tips and linkys, will be busy reading this afternoon I think, damn the hoovering! Still must be moneysaving and OS to sit in front of the computer with a hot cuppa and plan a fab veg garden for the summer!

Fedupfreda - my peas will def be in pots this year, I love peas, and I have really fond memories of sitting on my nan's backdoorstep with my cousins shucking thousands of peas every summer (I have a big family and we all used to be sent to my nan's for the summer hols!), and since it's been pointed out that you can make wine with the pods, well there'll be no stopping me! I don't think my kids get sick of eating blackberries, but they do get slightly fed up of being expected to fill assorted containers whilst walking the dog each year! They're getting wise though, as they tend to drag other village kids along with them to help them pick lol!

Reverbe

Caterina wrote: »

Do you seriously think they actually care whether we notice or not? The supermarkets have destroyed the smaller shops, wiped out all competition and now they have got most people in a stranglehold, with no choice but to shop there.

And now that they got so many people exactly where they wanted them in the first place they start raising the prices, unchallenged.

I for one will try to stay away from supermarkets as much as possible, even though I cannot avoid them 100%!

I'd love to do that myself but I don't drive and we have nothing in our town. No bakers that are more than a glorified sandwich and pasty shop, 2 market stall greengrocers with expensive below standard produce which they always take from the back..:rolleyes: , and a butchers that only sells in massive multipacks.

I live in a flat with no room for mass storage and don't have any access to a garden to grow my own.

sb44

Reverbe wrote: »

Speaking of things going up in price.. I went into Mr T today to stock up on value stock cubes and noticed that the last time I bought them just before Xmas they were 8p for both veg and chicken.. today the chicken was labelled at 19p and the Veg at 10p!!!!!!!!!!!!

Do they think we won't notice (hardly as most ppl who watch pennies watch every penny) or not care cos they are still good value in their eyes??

I sometimes buy tins of beans and sausage from Lidl, they were 28p the other week, went in last night and they are now 45p!!!!!! Needless to say I didn't bother buying any.

elizabunny

mummysaver wrote: »

Good morning! Thanks for all the replies everyone!

Elizabunny - hope your throat is better soon! Don't want your oh to get too used to not being bossed around lol!

Thank you for your thoughts mummysaver but don't worry, I'm well dosed up on honey and lemon (laced with brandy:rotfl: ) So I've solved the silence problem at least for now and DH doesn't have to suffer any longer:rotfl:

On the 'growing' front so far this year, I hope to grow my usual tumbling tomatoes in hanging baskets. I usually do really well with these, but blight did get the last of the crop last year.

I grow an Alpine type strawberry in a 2 tiered containers, these usually do well.

Runner Beans/ Bush Beans are on the list but I didn't get a large crop last year.

Also Potoes grown in a big tub usually go well (we don't have a huge amount of space for rows)

Salad leaves will be started this month in the GH, we had masses last year from March to November.

Herbs will be grown in the borders along with the flowers.

Swiss Chard under the Apple Tree need to solve the caterpiller problem with this though, as we were eating 'holes' for most of the season

I will try again with Cucumbers they are always rubbish, don't know what I'm doing wrong.

We've got a wormery so I'm hoping to boost our soil a bit this year with what I think they call gardeners 'black gold' (not sure if this is right:o ) Hopefully this will do some good and I've got two traditional compost bins -one ready which needs to go in sooner rather than later. Getting all excited now -I love growing things. Happy gardening everyone!

[Deleted User]

I just picked this up. Consequences

KIEV (AFP)--Russia on Wednesday halted all shipments of its gas bound for European customers that pass through Ukrainian territory, a spokesman for Ukraine's state gas company Naftogaz told AFP.
"Russia stopped all transit through Ukraine" at 7.44 a.m. (0544 GMT), said Naftogaz spokesman Valentin Zemlyansky.
"Russia has left Europe without gas," he added.

Gigervamp

It looks like it's mainly the eastern European countries that have been hit with this.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7814743.stm