My inner domestic goddess

RAS

Hiya

With respect to the garden:

1. Once the leaves drop, gather them into piles with a net over the top or into bin bags with a couple of small holes punched; free leaf mould.

2. Work out the aspect, shelter and shading in the garden. Even now, go out with a few cheap canes (try the pound shops) or long twigs and mark out the edge of the sunny areas early morning, noon and just before dusk. These are your prime growing areas. Then get some rags of the same size, tie them to stick, plant at intervals and see what havoc the wind causes over the winter. This helps you work out where you need to increase shelter.

3. Clear a decent sized patch of top-growth. Dig out any bramble roots. Try to lift all this off the ground so it can dry (a pile of branches would work). Collect large cardboard boxes when you are in town. Open out and cover sections of your planting area; maybe work from a path or from the centre of the planting area. Once the herbage is throughly dry, pile it on top to keep the cardboard sheets in place (or make pins by dismantling wire coathangers and cutting 15cm lengths). Leave till say February when you will find most of the ground nicely cleared by the worms. Dig out any remaining perennial weeds (dandelions etc). You now have a putative veggie patch.

3. Drainage is all. The most important thing my father taught me is that if you want to drain land, you divert water at the top of the field. So work out where is top and check the ditches. Check that ditches above them are not blocked and diverting water onto your land and make sure water can drain down off your land lower down.

Good reads

John Seymour, I am new here myself. Best advice. Learn to do one thing well each year and then expand your range.

Elizabeth West - Hovel in the hills - the short chapter on gardening will be useful to you.

Margritte Patten The Basic Basics Jams, Preserves and Chutneys

JennyJewell

Hi there JoJo - just wanted to say congrats You are doing what I have wanted to do for soooo long
I live in Wales too - Bridgend area but one day I will live in Oxwich Bay near Rhosselli, we have seen our dream house there, just need the Million £'s to buy it lol!
Enjoy your new found lives and freedom
Much love,
Jenny x

Gigervamp

Hi JoJo, just want to say Hi and welcome to Wales.

I'm an ex-Londoner and have been living in Wales for 13 years now and wouldn't live anywhere else! I feel like I'm home, and I often have to remind myself that I'm not actually Welsh!

You're living in a lovely area.

You've had some great advice, all the things that I would have suggested, so I won't repeat it. One thing I will add though is, make sure you keep a good storecupboard in the winter. It can get pretty snowy here, especially in the mountains and you may find yourselves snowed in sometimes. Oh, and we often have powercuts, at any time of the year, so make sure you have candles and torches..

I'm looking forward to reading about your progress.

Gigervamp

JennyJewell wrote: »

Hi there JoJo - just wanted to say congrats You are doing what I have wanted to do for soooo long
I live in Wales too - Bridgend area but one day I will live in Oxwich Bay near Rhosselli, we have seen our dream house there, just need the Million £'s to buy it lol!
Enjoy your new found lives and freedom
Much love,
Jenny x

Hi Jenny, you're in the same area as me. :hello:

Winter_Phoenix

jojo1974 wrote: »

I have always been a career woman, not a home body. More through circumstance than choice and I want to embrace our new lifestyle and become that inner domestic goddess that I know exists.

But where do I start? I have never had to plan meals (meals brought daily from supermarket) I have never had a large garden crying out to be used. In fact I have never had to do anything other than work for someone else.

My suggestion would be to use your "career woman" skills to tackle the exciting new challenges in your life. Make each thing (e.g. "the vegetable garden" or "meal planning") into a separate project. Choose your objectives, do your research, make your plans, set yourself deadlines (or at least a timescale), and then do it. Keeping a journal is a brilliant idea - who knows, there might even be a book in it, or at least an article or two!

Good luck

phizzimum

jojo1974 wrote: »

I have just announced to him in doors that I'm making Jam. His response, we don't eat jam, we don't like jam. My reply, yes but mum does and she has chickens!

QUOTE]

Don't worry, my kids never liked jam until they tried homemade stuff. We've found this to be true for lots of things - homemade/homegrown tastes far better to shop bought.

And don't forget blackberries can be used for pies, crumbles, cheesecakes, wine and (DH's favourite) blackberry vodka!

jojo1974

I now have 3 kilos of blackberries freezing in my fridge and have been researching all the possibilities for recipes. They seem endless, although so far have been consumed solely as blackberry smoothies. I hadn't even used my blender before this week, but have to say I am very impressed. Not only by it's ability to blend but by my ability not to have smoothie plastered across every surface in the kitchen.

On a more annoying note, vacuum cleaner number 3 has decided that it no longer wishes to function for me. Please don't think 'OMG she can't even operate a cleaner, there is no hope.' It is purely that we are doing extensive renovation work and these high tech vacuums are allergic to plaster dust.

At the moment I am sitting in a smog filled living room debating how to tackle a now even more dusty room than before I started. Luckily with it being a bank holiday weekend, loads of sales on so we shall welcome vacuum number 4 into our home. But this time it will be well vetted.

I have decided this weekend will be filled with jobs I have put off. We did do a lot or sorting before we moved but I have no idea where all the junk has accumulated from again! My suspicion is Mr JoJo is smuggling in contraband.

Domestic godesship is much more difficult than I ever thought it would be. Not only am I dealing with smog but today a foolish Jackdaw decided to use our chimney as a halter skeleter. It sat in the log burner with mournful eyes. Stupidly I just opened the door to the burner without planning what to do with it once it was free again.

Who would have thought that one bird could fly covered in so much soot. I am testament to it's ability and so are the bird shaped soot prints on most of my ceilings, walls and windows.

I am pleased to report however Mr Jackdaw is back in the wild, no worse for ware and with a great story for his pals. Let's just hope he has given up on thrill seeking.

Finally, I have no choice but to buy Mr JoJo a new wardrobe. With all the hard work he has being doing his waistband his drastically reduced. Never a bad thing. However watching him mopping the floor with his disobedient trousers round his ankles is to much for my eyes on a Friday afternoon. Although he said people pay good money to see that sort of thing. Hmmmmm not so sure about that.

Gigervamp

That jackdaw was lucky you didn't have a fire going!

I've heard that blackberry whisky is very nice during the colder months and is easy to make. Just layer blackberries and sugar in a large glass jar and top up with whisky. Store in a cupboard and give it a shake every few days for a couple of weeks, then about once a week. Start tasting it after a couple of months and when it's to your taste, strain it into a sterilised bottle. Use the boozy blackberries in cakes or something.

jojo1974

Hi Gigervamp

I have a feeling if I made blackberry whiskey that 1. It wouldn't last a couple of months and 2. There wouldn't be any left for baking. Not saying him in doors is a heavy drinker, but he does love a tot of whiskey lol

Floss

Or blackberry brandy on the same prinicple as above...lovely in a hip flask on a winters walk

In our house, boozy blackberries make adults-only black forest gateau at Christmas with some chocolate log & whipped cream... :drool: