Becoming self sufficient from scratch-my diary

wildlifeservices

Hi Moozle,

Don't be too scared of the wild mushrooms. Though some can kill you, most are harmless and a few very good to eat. Just get yourself a good book - try Roger Phillips' Wild Food or his fungi book, both excellent!!

I'm also starting along the self-sufficiency road, in North Wales, and have 8 hens and a cockerel, lots of yummy nettles, tatties planted, and lots of free-range bunnies in my field. Next step nettle beer and a decent veggie plot!!

Regards,

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Gigervamp

I don't think simply using illustrations or photos in a book is good enough for mushroom identification. Don't forget that just last year, there were a couple of families poisoned by wild fungi that they'd picked, thinking they were safe. I think one or two people even died.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3094133.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hampshire/7625343.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/north_east/7593032.stm

frugal_fifer

Hi, can I come and join you all on this fantastic thread? I have dabbled in veg growing and am starting to get more confident each year. The ideas you are all sharing are brilliant and even though I am jealous of those with the hens I am looking forward to hearing how you get on with them - it is something I hope to be able to achieve in the future.

majormon

if you chop everything up small before you layer with grass cuttings /.
/shreddedpaper/ dust from vacumm cleaner/ and of course a layer of soil then periodically get the kids to poke canes through the sides of the heap (to let air in ) you will get a viable compost heap ready to use in the garden in three to six months instead of a year (and its a lot cleaner to use) good luck with the self sufficiency and if you have a wall round any part of your garden paint it white to enable heat loving plants to take advantage of it:T

Sazbo

Thanks majormon that's good advice. I have been looking on Recycle now and it seems I can get a small compost bin at a v reasonable price (subsidised by the local council) with a free caddy thrown in:D - so I reckon I might go for one of those! :T

Saz x

Moozle_2

:beer:Hello and welcome to everyone new on the thread.

Update: Have planted garlic cloves (just average shop bought), about 4 bulbs worth.
None of my seeds have germinated yet..... how long on average do seeds take?
Spuds arent showing either?
Maybe i'm being a bit impatient?

Glad to see a few more peeps have been inspired, its nice to think we are not at the mercy of the supermarkets all the time:p

bonsibabe

Hi all, not much got done today as i was at the dentist. But the resident dalek in the garden got a good feeding of ripped up paper and some soil and some more veggie peelings. going to go out tomorrow morning and give it a good poke with the fork in the faint hope that i see some worms. if not the kids are out with their little gardening tools to dig up some worms and chuck them in the dalek!

hope you are all well, and must remember to get some shop bought garlic tomorrow and plant it out as well.

night all xxx

CleanerConscience

bonsibabe wrote: »

lMy next door said to me today that she is going to keep all her tea bags and loo rolls as well for me, she has 3 kids and goes through loads of loo rolls in a week just like me! So I'm not going to rip them up am going to use them for getting air into the pile!

I use my old loo rolls in the same way as a peat pot. You just need some sort of tray underneath to stop your compost from falling out the bottom. They're great for things like french beans. When the seedlings are ready for planting out just plant the whole loo roll which means you don't disturb the roots. It rots down fine and you can dig it all in when you dig in the bean roots.

rowsew

Hello

I've been reading all the posts with much interest. I've always been interested in gardening - especially where food is concerned! We moved to back to my homelands in Dorset nearly 3 years ago, and we are lucky enough to have a garden big enough for the tinies (2 pre-schoolers), 2 cats, and Hurrah - now 5 chickens. After a false start (I've had major back problems after having the children, and ended up having surgery last year :mad: which slowed everything down) I feel like this may finally be the year we are more successful at providing a good quantity of home grown food. Last year was a wash out apart from salad leaves, cherry tomatoes - before the blight - and courgettes - but even that small contribution made a difference to the food bills and the diet.

This year I am growing my potatoes in those lovely Morrisons shopping bags (much cheaper than the gardeners 'potato gro-bags' - small ones are 28p and the large ones 38p - I figure 2 maincrop or 3 salad type seed potatoes to each bag. I have started off lettuce, peas, tomatoes, parsley, courgettes, pumpkins so far in the mini-greenhouse, and have planted out my beetroot seedlings and onion sets just yesterday. Also last years strawberry runners went into a big pot with a new apple tree (Russet - yummy) at the weekend so I am hoping for a fruit bonanza. The cherry tree we planted 3 years ago looks like it might actually fruit this year, but I am praying that the wind will not blow off all the blossom...... We live near the sea and the winds are a killer sometimes!

The chickens are busy rotavating the garden without permission, little do they know that Chickenopolis awaits in the next week - and they will be stuck in their run without a fence to fly over! As we are moving our shed this week, I will also be investigating the contents of our 2 composting bins, which have to be moved too - hopefully there's something good in there.

If you have a local Horticultural society, I suggest you see what sort of things they do - ours has a co-op kind of shop, lots of cheap plants to buy - if your veg seeds don't take - and loads of people with gardening experience whose brains you can pick. Local allotment associations can be good too, even if you can't get an allotment.

Anyway, a long and rambling post, sorry, but best wishes to everyone here, and happy growing.

wildlifeservices

Gigervamp wrote: »

I don't think simply using illustrations or photos in a book is good enough for mushroom identification. Don't forget that just last year, there were a couple of families poisoned by wild fungi that they'd picked, thinking they were safe. I think one or two people even died.

Photos are fine for most of the good edible mushrooms, as they are usually quite distinctive. People who die generally either don't have a book or don't pay attention to what it says. If in doubt, don't, but if no doubt, eat!!

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