It was getting tough in 2006 and the workhouse still threatens us in 2011

ceridwen

Reverbe wrote: »

I'm not sure Suzi but I picked some the other yr and stuck them in a jar of cheap honey..

I'm guessing you mean those big fat rosehips and that you just prepared them (ie topped, tailed, deseeded) and then chopped them up and mixed them in and that was that = job done?

Have I got that right? ...and does it keep for long?

Jolaaled

ceridwen wrote: »

I'm guessing you mean those big fat rosehips and that you just prepared them (ie topped, tailed, deseeded) and then chopped them up and mixed them in and that was that = job done?

Have I got that right? ...and does it keep for long?

I think the main problem with rosehips is how to get rid of the little prickly hairs, that surround the seeds, which aren't too tasty. Some sort of processing e.g. boiling and straining will get rid!

Jolaaled

Also...this sounds worth a try, tho not done it myself yet:

Rose Hip Tea: For fresh rose hip tea, steep 4-8 hips in a cup of boiling water for about 10 - 15 minutes.

CRANKY40

Good morning,

Interesting news (well it is in our house). We've finally managed to sneak some pumpkin plants past the snails and slugs that usually eat them, and although they are taking over the garden, we actually have baby pumpkins. The house elf was very excited yesterday - we cut some mint and froze it, and another couple of handfuls of blueberries went in the tub in the freezer ready to make jam. We collected some almost ripe tomatoes (I like them like that ) and the little person washed them and put them away in the fridge.

He is telling our friends that we are harvesting ready for winter. I've been growing this and that in the garden since he was old enough to pick things (peas, carrots etc), but this is the first year that he's actually grasped why we do these things. For me, that's almost as satisfying as seeing our own food growing.

Mardatha thank goodness you're back. Too much housework is a dangerous thing We've missed you.

Reverbe

ceridwen wrote: »

I'm guessing you mean those big fat rosehips and that you just prepared them (ie topped, tailed, deseeded) and then chopped them up and mixed them in and that was that = job done?

Have I got that right? ...and does it keep for long?

well i didnt really do anything except wash them and put them in job done. I wont be eating them so had no need to prepare. The flavours/goodness seems to get through to the honey anyway..:D I did the jar last year abd very rarely use honey. Just had a look at it and it looks and tastes ok tho.

HariboJunkie

CRANKY40 wrote: »

He is telling our friends that we are harvesting ready for winter. I've been growing this and that in the garden since he was old enough to pick things (peas, carrots etc), but this is the first year that he's actually grasped why we do these things. For me, that's almost as satisfying as seeing our own food growing.
.

Bless him. :A Am sooo jealous you have pumpkins. I have never got them past seedling stage.

Mardatha I meant to ask, how is your son after his op?

Redlady where are you?:cool:

Gailey, where are you too?

Have done lots of chores this morning so am rewarding myself with a coffee break. Want to have a look at the storecupboard today and keep a wee list in my purse of what needs topped up so if I seen any of it on offer I can snap it up. I need the list as I often forget my shopping list and then wing it when I get to the supermarket convincing myself that we have run out of certain things, only to come home and find I have 10 tubs of butter.

Still not up to foraging yet but am getting everything readdy in anticipation, including buying gin and vodka to make my fruit liquers. :drool:

mardatha

Son is still in pain but not ill any more thanks
I cleaned out the spare room that had filled with junk again (it does this during the night when it thinks we cant see it) and cleared out a load of clutter. Had sold some things on Gumtree and then had to use the money on a new router. Which didnt solve anything as it was AOL's fault :mad: so although I didnt score, I didnt spend either. And now have a spare router lol.
This will sound mad...but since its you lot I know it will be ok I have pretty Ikea net curtains that have gone grey. I have lots of soap colouring dye and wondered if it would work on the nylon of the nets... I have deep crimson and purple and violet and between them all it might do a nice pale mauvey shade that would look better than the grey/white..?
We have torrential rain here, of almost ark-building proportions, so the garden can get on with it! I need to lift some tatties but not today .We've decided not to grow tomatoes next year as this year was too much. Having a rest next summer and will do flowers on the windowsills instead, then plant them out when they're big enough. My American forums are all full of very busy ladies canning and dehydrating and pickling and I just dono where they get the energy. they are feeling the pinch as well as us, prices going very high they said.
I suppose we should start thinking of winter but I just canny face it yet - although its getting autumnal here already , was pitch dark last night quite early on.

GreyQueen

HariboJunkie wrote: »

Bless him. :A Am sooo jealous you have pumpkins. I have never got them past seedling stage.

Mardatha I meant to ask, how is your son after his op?

Redlady where are you?:cool:

Gailey, where are you too?

Have done lots of chores this morning so am rewarding myself with a coffee break. Want to have a look at the storecupboard today and keep a wee list in my purse of what needs topped up so if I seen any of it on offer I can snap it up. I need the list as I often forget my shopping list and then wing it when I get to the supermarket convincing myself that we have run out of certain things, only to come home and find I have 10 tubs of butter.

Still not up to foraging yet but am getting everything readdy in anticipation, including buying gin and vodka to make my fruit liquers. :drool:

Hi HJ, I'm sure I saw redlady posting that she was going camping for 10 days a while back so I think she must be off on her hols. Hope she has a great time.

I'm preparing for a camping trip and have just lucked out at Halfords where they have Gelert Sleeping Pods (oval sleeping bags for the uninitiated) reduced by 40% to £19.99.

Well, they have one less now as I have one!

EDIT: we cross-posted Mardatha; re your greying nets, I don't think the soap dye will hack it. Nylon is a petroleum product and is normally dyed in the fibre before the item is woven/ spun/ knitted as it is very difficult to do. Don't think you can home-dye it successfully with anything.

However, there is a product to brighten dingy white net curtains. Think it's called summat like Glo-White and may be a Dylon product. Think John Lewis has it and sure have seen it in supermarkets and hardware stores. HTH.

aplaceinthesun

Morning all

Managed to get a few pounds of plums from the tree I mentioned yesterday so will be making some jam with them I think.

HJ - well done on the knitting , glad it sounded a stress free experience !!

Cranky - wow well done with the pumpkins, ours didnt get past the seedling stage especially with Mr and Mrs Big Slug and their 28,000 relatives.......

Ceridwen - can you use extra virgin olive oil OK for frying ? will be handy if so, I thought you could only use it for salad dressings and using neat ...... I have some nice tasty organic ev olive oil which I have just used for dressings but theres loads of it (must just buy a small jar next time...) and I cant see it all getting used up for this purpose. If I can fry with it that will be great !

Off out for a walk with the doggies, then off to work........ not much fun! (work that is ) ..... pork and mushroom (well lots more mushrooms than pork!) stroganoff for dinner tonight.

Have a good day everyone.

hex2

Cranky - well done on the pumpkins, we have one surviving baby too. Usually get one per plant so not really worth the space but the children like to grow them.

Chocolate cake made for birthday boy. I went to Mr T yesterday for value chocolate and they don't appear to stock it any more which is a shame, at 60p for two bars it makes a superb cake. I also bought value reduced fat cocoa powder - £1.30 against £2 for the standard stuff. Hope it tastes ok! I also got 50g of fresh yeast as a freebie, looking forward to playing with that for the first time.

I have also soaked and cooked a whole bag of chickpeas to go in the freezer, this is to go with a big batch of curry base sauce that went in yesterday. I do cope with a crisis by filling the freezer.

Just doing the maths a 500g packet of dry chick peas costs 78p and gives 1100g of cooked chick peas. A 400g tin of chickpeas costs 39p in MrS (3 for £1 atm) and yields 240g drained weight. 4.5 tins out of a bag of dried peas so 78p/4.5 equals just over 17p. I always wondered if it was worth it, and now I know.

Mrs Chips - good luck. We are doing something similar, with a potential 75% drop in income. It is really making me re-think what we have and how we spend it. Biggest problem is protein driven DH - if it doesn't come with a big lump of lean meat then it isn't food, and he doesn't like anything sweet or any bread. Trying to change things by making fish cakes for example so I can use one fillet instead of two but it is an uphill battle. Sometimes it is easier just to give him my portion and have some cheap peanuts for protein instead - but they seem to have stopped those too.