Do I really spend to much on food?

CCP

jackieglasgow wrote: »

Pots? Planters? At the moment, I am using those flexible buckets you get from the DIY stores for my carrots, potatoes, asparagus, and the courgettes and tomatoes will be going in them soon, Our garden will more than double in size next year which will make a big change to life but the tubs do me fine just now. You'd be surprised what you can do in a small area, but you'd be better on the Gardening board for that!

Apologies for the quick wander off topic, but - can you grow asparagus in tubs, then? I have a patio garden at my current flat and I'm still learning what can be grown in tubs / grow bags - if asparagus is a possibility then I'm going to have to try it. I'll be off to the gardening board, I think.

Oh, and it's pan-fried in butter and black pepper for me - :drool:

crux

ceridwen wrote: »

Front garden food - why not? A potager could look very attractive. Also take a look at the front garden on the Dervaes family website (google Path to Freedom) and there are various photos of their food-producing garden (including the front bit).

LOoks very attractive to me:D

Hmm, I'm not sure now.

I agree it 'could be' fantastically nice but...

Practically wise. It takes a lot of time just to keep a regular Veg patch by all accounts and most regular veg patches I ever saw have been pretty rustic regimented looking things. To tend to both veg and flowers and to grow it into something attractive, complimentary and evolving would I think be a full time hobby. The task of an accomplished gardener, not just a part time gardening guy who likes the odd home grown salad.

I mean the idea is really quite appealing, I just wonder if I would have the time available to make it work.

Something to contemplate on for me.

jinky67

crux wrote: »

T! Sometimes I think I have a shortage of common sense .

That's because you are a man:rotfl:

crux

jinky67 wrote: »

That's because you are a man:rotfl:

Guilty as charged!

se999

Hi Crux although some of the ideas in the book I mentioned were rustic in origin, my last garden wasn't at all, it was actually more the minimalist design for low maintenance.

Main planting of the borders was using perenials, shrubs, grasses etc., with bulbs used to lift the colour at different times of the year. Then the productive stuff was slotted in the gaps. Borders were mulched, so after the inital crop of weeds, minimal weeding.

On the paved patio area, tubs were used to grow climbers up the fences.

The house had glass all along the back on the ground floor and was minimalist in feel, so the garden design had to match it.

I think if I'd grown too many veggies etc., I wouldn't have been able to keep the look I wanted.

crux

I know somebody mentioned making jelly on this thread but I can't find it.

I buy those sugar free jellies for the girls in my life, personally I will not touch them because of the artificial sweetener, but the girls like jelly and don't like the sugar calories so.... I buy them.

But they are quite monsterously expensive. 59p for one pot of jelly!!!!

so....

How to make sugar free jelly (or reduced sugar) without the sweetener and more cost effectively???

We have small Tupperware pots with lids that can hold an individual sized (if slightly large) jelly.

At the super market last night I saw regular gelatin was expensive, £1.50 to make 1 pint :eek:

I would be keen to add fruit to the jelly, which would help the sweetness but where to find good value Gelatin? and how do you get a hint of sweetness/flavor without sugar?

Any ideas?

se999

You could price up agar agar instead of gelatin. I don't know if it would work out cheaper, it's the vegetarian alternative derived I think from seaweed.

puss14

I grow herbs and vegies in my front garden, I think the key is to just accomodate them with what you already have, for example I grow parsley around my rose bushes and it looks very attractive and not at all out of place. Other things I grow out the front atm are rocket, nasturtiums, loose leaf lettuce, silverbeet, rosemary, chives, sage and pineapple sage. The only comments i have had from the neighbours is asking if I could spare some silverbeet:D

thriftlady_2

crux wrote: »

At the super market last night I saw regular gelatin was expensive, £1.50 to make 1 pint :eek:

I would be keen to add fruit to the jelly, which would help the sweetness but where to find good value Gelatin? and how do you get a hint of sweetness/flavor without sugar?

Any ideas?

Was it leaf gelatin Crux? That stuff is very expensive. The powder should be a lot cheaper. It comes in little sachets like this. It's 69p a packet .Leaf gelatine is slightly easier to use but this stuff works just fine just follow the instructions on the sachet-one sachet sets a pint of liquid.

What I do to make a sugar-free jelly is to use a tin of fruit in juice. I use the juice as part of the liquid and top up with water, then stir in the fruit. My favourite is orange jelly with tinned mandarins. You can also use fruit juice from a carton like apple or cranberry.

You can use any fruit you like except fresh pineapple or kiwis because they contain a protein dissolving enzyme which will dissolve the gelatine (not sure this applies to agar agar). Tinned pineapple is fine as the canning process destroys the enzyme.

taka

You can buy small sachets of hartleys, rowentree or Supermarket reduced sugar jelly crystals that you make up yourself to make it cheaper but they'll still contain artificial sweetners. They are normally somewhere in the custard/tinned fruit/dessert isle of a largish supermarket.

If it is more important that the jelly is free of artificial sweetners than being sugar free you can buy veggie jelly crystals from your local health food shop (or online) but of course these contain sugar!

I've never seen reduced sugar jelly without artifical sweetners, Sorry! Agar agar in my local healthfood shop is eye wateringly expensive!