Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

Moorviews

Hopefully you found something inspiring in the kitchen😊

 I am finding the weather a little frustrating recently. It’s either too wet, too windy, or too cold for what I want to do. The birds have started singing again in the mornings and this prompts my desire to get going in the garden. I also need to be quick or they will be nesting all over the place and creating no go areas. I have quite an overwhelming list of jobs in my head which I need to commit to paper, where it will look even more overwhelming!

Growing rocket in a spent Growbag sounds like a great idea. Do you sow it in September and keep it in the greenhouse?

foxgloves

@marionmgcars - It is expensive having electrical work done, but as you say, we can't do it properly (or legally!) ourselves, so it's one of those things we have to pay for. We had about £1100's worth of wiring work done as part of our recent renovations - it was a bit of a shock to see the quote, but the electricians were very good & quite happy to work their way through my long list of tasks from a major one (actually making the box where electricity comes into the house legal, as it was one big ancient mess) down to little ones like fitting an outdoor light, USB sockets, etc). Then of course, to keep it all legal, they safety tested every single socket & electrical fitment in the house & provided us with an extremely detailed report.....which I've filed as it will be a useful thing to flap at any future owners. We do feel better knowing that it has all been made safe (I'm trying to make you feel better when you get that bill)

@Moorviews -Yes, that is exactly what I do. I usually have 2 growbags up on the greenhouse bench over summer - one for aubergines & one for cucumbers. When they've finished cropping, I compost them, fork the bags over to loosen any compaction, then in early September, I sow one with rocket & the other with some sort of salad leaves - 'salad bowl' lettuce this time, but I've also done mizuna & lamb's lettuce in the past. Unheated greenhouse, but I've still got a lot of rocket standing, despite the freezing conditions. Hope it stands till Saturday, as I've put it on our meal plan!
F

foxgloves

Hello Icicles,
Well, as the garden is still frozen white, I now accept that despite wanting to crack on with more outdoor tasks, there is virtually nothing I could have done out there today.
Listened to my audiobook in the kitchen & got on with a few things - I even cleaned the fridge!
Just a few small wins:
*Wrote grocery shopping list.
*Found my marmalade recipe & worked out how many kg of sevilles & sugar plus lemons I need to make the desired quantity. Added to list.
*Rounded up veg which isn't going to be used before it starts walking around - 2 big peppers, diced a small potful for next time I make a pizza & sliced the rest. All now in freezer.
*Fed sourdough for baking tomorrow. Used the discard/pour-off portion to make a batch of rosemary & seasalt crackers. Well, I say crackers......I am actually going to call them 'Rosemary sourdough squares' as whenever I've made these, only the ones on the outer edge of the tray really go sufficiently hard to warrant the name 'cracker'. The softer ones are very nice though, like tiny squares of a tasty flatbread. Good for snacks or dipping. It's nice sometimes to make something with the portion of culture which gets poured down the sink or binned every week.
*Mixed up a jar of cajun seasoning. I like using it when I make jacket potato wedges, but we've usually bought it. Spotted a recipe today & as we had everything in stock, I made up a small jar myself.
*Rounded up a library bag of returns for tomorrow.
*Did a few surveys - not that many around this afternoon, but at least my January PA earnings total is now in double figures.
*Mr F has just pinged me to say he's on his way home & will sort dinner. That suits me, as I can pop out to the post box then knit my hiking sock heel. Very easy meal tonight - Jacket potato with the last of the ratatouille from nature's summer bounty, topped with cheese. Have defrosted more of our apples for dessert. We both feel that the stuff we grew last year has stretched well - still plenty of tomatoes, pasta sauce & pesto in the freezer, as well as apples, & plenty of chutney & jam in the pantry, as well as my beginner attempts at bottling, which I haven't opened yet.
Right, time to get my boots off & hotfoot it off to post this birthday card.
F x

lucielle

You’re achieving so much. Need to do a meal plan but sometimes I lack inspiration. 

L

CL21

Ooh, never occurred to me that you could make Cajun seasoning! We love that on wedges too. Off to Google a recipe 

Baileys_Babe

We make cajun seasoning and a couple of others from herbs and spices in stock also means we can tweak it if we need to, often needing to make mixes milder to suit dd. Over the years we have gradually increased the heat.

Moorviews

That’s great information thank you Foxgloves. I wouldn’t have thought to put the growbags up on the bench so that’s a very useful tip regarding the aubergines as well. 

I enjoy blending seasonings too and it does help to make the best use of the stock of spices. 

You inspired me to try bottling in your previous diary. We have bottled some spiced apple purée from our less good looking Bramleys. We are hopeful that they keep well and that we can enjoy it with yoghurt until the next apple season. I look forward to hearing about the results of your tomato experiment when you start opening them. 

foxgloves

@lucielle - Well, I think we can all sometimes feel a bit like that with meal planning. If I need inspiration, I get a pile of cook books out to peruse (no point owning a book case full if I don't use them) or borrow a few different ones from the library. In fact, I don't usually buy a cook book these days unless I've borrowed it from the library & know for certain it isn't going to be one I end up using for just one or two recipes.
@Baileys_Babe & @CL21 - Well worth doing. The cajun mix was a new home made one for me, but have made garam masala, fajita spice mix & also tandoori spice powder. I have a well-stocked herbs & spices section in the pantry so it seems silly to buy stuff I can make virtually for free. I have an old DK Spices book which has lots of recipes for different mixes at the back. I shall have to dig it out & see if there are others I fancy trying.
@Moorviews - I still have quite a few containers of zizzed up homegrown tomatoes in the freezer, so haven't needed to open the bottled ones yet. I am so hoping they will be OK.....not just because I don't want botulism, but because my intention is to grow extra tomato plants again this year to step up production. I can't remember the last time we bought any tinned tomatoes, but it must have been around July, I think, as our crops were good.
f

QueenJess

@foxgloves I’ve never made my own spice mixes, but I really should do as I’ve got a well stocked drawer of them. Do you mind sharing the name of the book as I might have a look at a 2nd one online?

Makingabobor2

When you say "Zizzed up" tomatoes, do you literally mean they have just been whizzed in a processor to make them like tinned tomatoes? If so, is there a particular type that you would recommend growing for that purpose? 
 I only started on veg growing last year, although I did do a tomato in a grow bag many years ago....lol.  DH has made me a veg trough and is going to make me another as we don't have room to actually plant anything in garden, so will all be tubs, troughs and grow bags etc.  
Last year I successfully managed some carrots, although not many and a few potatoes in tubs (grown from old ones that had sprouted). Also I bought a couple of courgette plants and they were ok.  Really enjoyed it all and starting to plan what I should do this year. Want to do a lot more. 
You seem like the person to ask if I get stuck....LOL. x