As The Workhouse Approaches....How To Do Everything To Avoid It, the Old Style Way

r.a.i.n.b.o.w

saveabobortwo wrote: »

Madartha with stocking up my tins maybe im no good at gardening and then when i read thats what everyone expects you to do growing it dont help some people have ever so good intentions but dont always get the results you want.harvest this harvest that i have nt got nothing to harvest.

Nobody is expecting you to grow anything. Do want YOU can.

claudiac_2

Taurus - Had a look on the green fingers bit of this site- Apparently you wait until the flowers have died off a bit, but take a gander over there for more advice if you have time.C

ceridwen

7_week_wonder wrote: »

This is such a stupid question but: Having stocked up - does everyone then run their supplies down, or do you make sure you always have the same amount stored (so everytime you use one you replace it)?

I'm just waiting for the nice people to come and do our (free:D) cavity wall insulation. I hope it makes a big difference.

Personally - I vary a bit on the level of stock-up provisions - but feel a major reason for being stocked-up is so that I dont have to buy whatever-version-the-shop-has-at-the-time of an item I am after (even if its not the one I want). If I think "I've used one - so get one" (ie the replacement) then I can hang on in there and wait for the chance to get what-I-planned-on-in-the-first-place rather than having to gulp and get it (ie the less desirable one the shops have at that point in time).

Re cavity wall insulation - its not possible in my place - but I did persuade my parents into getting it done in their home (ie a more modern house than mine is and suitable walls for it) and they have commented since on how much warmer/cosier it makes their house feel. My mother was not best pleased with the disruption whilst it was being done (but - like her daughter - she HATES a level of hassle that might go straight over the head of a lot of other people .....) - but they are glad overall that they have had it done. But a lot of other peeps won't have a home in a style that requires scaffolding to go up to get the job done OR a firm that "cuts corners" by not cleaning up after themselves - which is what happened with my parents' house/firm chosen. So - count out the scaffolding hassle and doing the contractors "housework" for them - then they are glad they had it done.

You so know that things have changed when your parents ask you for financial advice:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

r.a.i.n.b.o.w

saveabobortwo wrote: »

I grew potatoes in gigantic pots these didnt do well although had big plants on them only produced very tiny potatoes.

Harvested too early.

saveabobortwo wrote: »

the slugs ate all my strawberries.

You mean they ate the leaves? Usually birds eat the berries. Use slug pellets and copper tape round the pot, and cover with a fine net (net curtain is fine)

saveabobortwo wrote: »

my tomatoes grew ever so big but would nt go red i have one windowsill thats at the back door to save waste i picked them green they didnt ripen so i made a green tomatoe chutney with them .

Started growing the plants too late, and/or picked too early. LOADS of people last year found they had green tomatoes on the vine for months. Next time, cut the top of the plant when 4 or 5 trusses have started growing fruit, this will direct all the growing energy into the fruit and ripening.

HTH

r.a.i.n.b.o.w

taurusgb wrote: »

For the first time ever I have grown some seed potatoes in a green potato bag (they and the bag were a free gift). They are now towering above the bag and have just flowered - so can some kind soul tell me when I harvest them please?

When I do eat them I crtainly hope they taste better thn the ones i've been buying lately - tried 3 different shops and 2 different varieties and they were all tasteless and watery:mad:

Apparantly if you remove the flowers it will help channel the growing energy into the tubers.

They're ready to harvest when the leaves/shoots start looking like they're dying back. If you can't wait, have a furtle (I believe that's the tech name for it!) around in the mud and pull a couple out to see what they're like.

grandma247

My youngest and I went to a farm on a educational visit a few months ago and they had made a solar water heating panel so that visitors could wash their hands in a sink in the barn with warm water. The panel was just propped up (and probably fastened) to the barn wall near the floor but facing the sun.
I turned the tap on and even at that time of the year,late march or early april it was pleasantly warm. I am very tempted to get my ds to help me make one and get it fixed to the kitchen roof for washing up water. I will have to do a bit of research I think.

psso

Jediteacher - did you know about the SMA Staydown baby milk ?

My DD had a baby 14 months ago and couldn`t keep his milk down. Got stuff from the Dr to put in the bottle of milk to thicken it but that didn`t work. Happened to be in Tes** and saw the Staydown (for babies with significant reflux) so gave it a whirl. MAGIC.

Still had the raised bed end etc but the milk was brilliant, would recommend trying it.
No, I dont work for the babymilk company - I`m just a happy grandma passing on some info.

OK, back to lurkyland till next time.

ceridwen

stiltwalker wrote: »

You can do bread completely without salt like the Tuscan's do but beware it will stale very quickly hence all the Italian recipes involving stale bread - lol.

White will rise better than wholemeal but non of it will be as light as chorleywood method bought bread but you find after a while that eating that is like eating cotton wool! I get my flour from lembas, I have a friend that does a bulk order every few weeks, there were several suggestions earlier on the thread of places to bulk buy I think. As for yeast I use fresh and just ask at the bakery in the supermarket and get given it free - they don't advertise this you just have to ask.

As for cooking costs I tend to have the oven on anyway for dinner and cakes etc so have more than one thing in at once rather than just putting it on for the bread but if you have freezer space you could do several loaves at once and freeze some so you only have the oven on once.

Hope that helps - once you get into making bread it becomes part of your routine and it is so much nicer. It doesn't really take as long as you think, only 15 mins to mix and knead then the proving.

Not even that - ie the 15 minutes. Mine takes 5 minutes to make/40 minutes to rise/40 minutes to bake. Therefore 90 minutes -and I'm done. In extremis - I have just taken the 5 minutes to make and then stuck the bread to rise overnight in the fridge, then 10 minutes the next day to "acclimatise" whilst I do my morning routine and the 40 minutes baking. Sorted:)

I literally find it very difficult to eat supermarket bread these days - now I've got used to my own and actually prefer my own to any other bread I can get ANYwhere and must not forget the loaves of bread a couple of peeps have commissioned me to make and bring for the next LETS Trading Event or my name will be mud...

saveabobortwo

i know your right really its just not as easy as you think growing your own produce it is sticking 2 fingers up really and i know i should get back on the horse and i will after all iv already spent the initial outlay on all these pots and a composter, tools etc so its a waste not to use them. i get ratty then laugh to cheer myself up but really the only way to beat them is grow your own, batch cook mend make your own stuff i like it really because not being a people person with an extremely awkward personality i detest feeling that the food companies/power companies have got me over a barrel i sincerely thankyou for your tips on veg grown in the shade and i shall read them all and take note.;)

r.a.i.n.b.o.w

r.a.i.n.b.o.w wrote: »

You mean they ate the leaves? Usually birds eat the berries. Use slug pellets and copper tape round the pot, and cover with a fine net (net curtain is fine)

Just to add: I mean cover with a net once berries start to appear, because if you cover too soon the flowers won't have a chance to be pollinated