really old style living?

ChocClare

Finally...gasp...got to the end...gasp...of this thread :dance:

Brilliant stuff on here - I have followed links to the Down to Earth (where I've joined the forum), learnt recipes and tips, found out about things I never knew - and also discovered that I am not the only certifiably insane person on this forum (and am actually pretty far back in the queue judging by some of the laugh-out-loud posts I've read on here ).

Couple of things:

I subscribe to Home Farmer magazine and honestly think it's the best thing since sliced bread, so to any of you who don't already get it, I'd say give it a go - I've learnt so much from it. In the first issue I got I learnt how to make cider vinegar from apple cores and peel, loads of brillo recipes for using up veg in the garden, got inspired with the "52 meals to save the planet" to try and make at least one meal a week from things I'd grown myself, learnt loads of good stuff about chickens and bees - etc etc etc

In re the comfrey request earlier (I was going to offer, but I see someone (sorry, can't remember who) has beaten me to it) - I personally have a million seeds, many of which I will never use, so if anyone is looking for something for an end of year or next year garden, please feel free to pm me: you could have some seeds for the price of a 2nd class stamp, much cheaper than buying them, even in Wilko's. I would suggest that between us, we could probably have a little seed swap?

Slugs - wasn't it on here that there was the link to making collars out of plastic bottles?? (lost track now) You cut a slice out of a two litre bottle, cut the top edge jagged so it looks like a crown, then bend the "teeth" of the crown outwards and slugs will apparently not climb over it because it's too sharp. Failing that, I'd say dig a pond and introduce some tadpoles - nothing gets rid of slugs faster than frogs and toads (and they don't mess the place up like ducks do).

Regarding the original question - self-sufficiency or as near as poss - I just saw on the news tonight that the world shortage in wheat (and Russia's continued ban on wheat exports) will have knock-on effects on food prices as it will affect not only the price of bread but also dairy, eggs and meat, as wheat is used in the feed for animals, so now would be a good time to start that stockpile perhaps! We are so lucky in the West, however much we moan - I really feel for those in the Third World for whom the price rises they're talking about can literally mean the difference between life and death.

They recently harvested the wheat in the fields behind us: we always buy a half-hundredweight bag from the estate every year. We are so lucky that this has cost us £5 for the last three years - hurrah - and we grind it with an attachment I got for my (grandmother's 1970s) Kenwood Chef. We do have a hand wheat mill but you have to be strong! Bread made this way is DENSE - we tend to cut it half-and-half with ordinary flour - but it fills you up the way modern bread just...don't.

Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this thread - I've really enjoyed it.

ceridwen

Hi ChocClare

Oooh to the making cider vinegar from cores and peels....errr....any chance of the "recipe" for that purlease?:D (maybe you might want to send it as a PM if there might be copyright problems...?)

ChocClare

The cider vinegar was a letter from a reader, so I don't think so.

Basically, you put apple cores and peels in a jar, cover in water - and leave.

Do you want me to write that out again? :rotfl:

She said you'd need at least 12 apples, but that you can just keep adding to it. You need just enough water to cover.

It becomes vinegary quite quickly. I haven't done this yet, but if you had a cider vinegar "mother" - the sediment at the bottom of an existing bottle - and added some of that to your jar, I imagine it would speed the process up a lot.

I have used it only for adding to hens' water so far. I have 8 million apples to process tomorrow, so may well start another batch or two.

ceridwen

ChocClare wrote: »

The cider vinegar was a letter from a reader, so I don't think so.

Basically, you put apple cores and peels in a jar, cover in water - and leave.

Do you want me to write that out again? :rotfl:

She said you'd need at least 12 apples, but that you can just keep adding to it. You need just enough water to cover.

It becomes vinegary quite quickly. I haven't done this yet, but if you had a cider vinegar "mother" - the sediment at the bottom of an existing bottle - and added some of that to your jar, I imagine it would speed the process up a lot.

I have used it only for adding to hens' water so far. I have 8 million apples to process tomorrow, so may well start another batch or two.

Thank you.

Will any type of apple do or does it specifically have to be one type of apple (eg cooking apple)?

Let us know when you do have a go.I would imagine one might have to leave it, say, two weeks or so to "brew"? Presumably as well one would leave the container uncovered? Also wondering what type of material it would be okay for the container to be made of (eg whether it would react badly against being in a metal one or summat)?

I guess the letterwriter is well used to various sorts of experimenting/cooking generally - so it sounds simple - but to a beginner in many respects such as myself we tend to like a more specific/step-by-step process..

Admit myself to having two styles of writing down recipes:

- one for my own reference only will be written in short form (eg make half a pint of cheese sauce)

- if I gave the same recipe to someone else I would lay it out step-by-step - as I wouldnt know how experienced a cook they were and would have visions of them standing there thinking "But my cheese sauce is lumpy - ceridwen didnt say that might happen or what to do about it if it did...." So I would be adding in the exact ingredients to make the cheese sauce and mentioning that I beat it about with a balloon whisk just after adding the milk to the flour/butter.

ChocClare

Oh, I have made it. I put all cores and peels from a pie-making session in a ceramic jar, covered with water and put the lid on. The first lot were all the same type, but I have added more (different ones) and topped up with water. They have been sitting there for several weeks and I have been pouring off and adding to as the weeks progressed.

What I haven't tried is adding the vinegar "mother" from some existing cider vinegar. As I say, I'll try that tomorrow and report back on whether it makes the process quicker.

It isn't a complicated process - that is literally all there is to it. The only thing is, I would put the lid on LOOSELY - mine was a push-on lid, and it got pushed off by the fermentation, so a screw-top jar is definitely not such a good idea...

Charis

Thank you for this. I've put buckets of peel and cores in the compost this week, but I'll have more soon and will give this a try. Cider vinegar is quite expensive compared to ordinary vinegar. My greengrocer tells me that cider vinegar and honey in hot water taken daily is wonderful for preventing colds. I would try it but it may not be so wonderful for the tooth enamel, so I'll save it for a remedy when I've actually got a cold.

D&DD

Thanks very much for the recipe Clare thats really handy

Ceridwen re the dehydrator I'd be chuffed with that price,sounds like the buyer will get a bargain there.

ceridwen

D&DD wrote: »

Ceridwen re the dehydrator I'd be chuffed with that price,sounds like the buyer will get a bargain there.

Reet y'are then. I think I might have two possible takers lined up so far - one for cash and one through the LETS scheme - so one way or another I imagine it will find a good home.

seasalt_2

Ran out of bread at the end of last week and didn't realise until opened breadbin to make DD's pieces about half an hour before bus - made VERY quick scones with on the turn milk - didn't bother to roll out the dough and use cutters - not that I ever do - just patted it inot a rough round and scored into wedges like soda bread - lighter that way too as less handling - went down a treat for everybody's bfast although had to send DD to school with hers wrapped in a cloth as still too warm to shut in a plastic piecebox - made two more batches since then - good toasted with jam for after school too.

Oh, and does anyone else cheat by grating the fat for eg scones/pastry etc? It's what my mum always did and I got into trouble at school for "cheating" but by the time my sister started cookery, the (same) teacher was teaching them all to do it that way. Long time ago now though!

Patchwork_Quilt

Quick question on the vinegar please. Do you sieve the apple cores and peels out of the vinegar occasionally or do you just leave them in?