My Off-grid and need to be frugal diary

AnimalTribe

The weather has been lovely today, warm but not too hot. I spent the morning in the garden weeding, and pulled up some lettuce and mustard that was bolting, to make room for other stuff. My new favourite lettuce is Webb’s Wonderful. The plants have been in the ground for a long time and I just pick a few leaves as needed. They seem to make a great comeback and even though other lettuce types have bolted these haven’t. They are crispy with a good taste.

DH needed a few DIY things from town, so I went with him. We did some grocery shopping and went to the pet store.

My old croc-style shoes have holes in the bottom, so I ordered two cheap new pairs, and I wore them in the garden today. They are very comfortable. I don’t see the point of paying more for something so basic.

AnimalTribe

Another raspberry picking session this morning and 6lb more jam made. I’ve done some weeding and planted: cabbage, kale, spinach, kohl rabi, spring onion and lettuce seeds for some autumn/winter crops.

This evening I’ve cut out some felt shapes to make Christmas decorations. I know it’s early but I want to get them up for sale on Etsy by the beginning of September. I’ll sew them in batches as I find this easier.

AnimalTribe

So, it’s been one of those days. DH tests the generators every now and again to make sure they're OK. Of course, one he fired up this morning kept cutting out. He figured out that the tank part of the genny, which is made of metal, was rusting on the bottom and the rust deposits in the fuel were intermittently blocking the fuel line. He is investigating whether or not it is economical to fix, ie buying a new tank, or whether we should just buy a more modern genny with a plastic tank.

We use portable power packs that we recharge when we have lots of wind or solar energy, and use them during calm, overcast days. One of the smaller ones is failing to charge, so something else for DH to fix.

Finally, one of our water butts is leaking. Again, DH will have to see if it’s repairable. It’s hard work this self-sufficiency/off-grid lark.

I on the other hand, have had a reasonable day. When I went to town on the 29th I bought a few different types of chilli, and today I’ve saved some seeds from some of them to plant next year. The majority of chillis were frozen as DH loves chillis. I still have some other types of chillis to sort.

I’ve been looking through my felt decoration pattern sheets, but I seem to have misplaced a few, so I made some new patterns today, and did a bit more cutting out.

AnimalTribe

I bought a big stack of old craft magazines from a charity shop a while ago, but I haven’t had a chance to look through them until today. I spent a lovely few hours flipping through them to give me some new craft ideas. I’ve come up with a few things that I think will work well with a few changes, so I just need to make them as templates and get started.

DH figured out what was wrong with the small power pack. The charging lead had fractured, but he’s managed to fix it. So that’s one repair but still a few to go.

DH took one of the dogs for her annual vaccination today, she was great in the car (she used to get upset and very car sick), and she was good with the vet. The vet said she was very healthy, the perfect weight and a lovely personality. That’s an A+ report card if ever there was one.

AnimalTribe

DH and I had a rare trip into the city to meet up with friends for lunch. The company was good, but the vegetarian food options weren’t – still it’s the company that’s important.

We called into a few shops to get some things we can’t get locally and I dragged DH into Tesco, not fun for either of us, as we both hate supermarkets, but they had some things I wanted: 5kg bags of sugar, pearl barley and some other stuff. DH snagged some reduced price meat stuff so he was happy.

A quick trip into Holland and Barrett, a skip dump on the way home and a top up of petrol. We arrived home very tired, so we just watched a DVD.

AnimalTribe

It’s been a bits and pieces kind of day. I made my usual catch up phone calls, did some tidying, did some weeding and started to declutter another room.

I spent a fair amount of time picking, what I think are cabbage white caterpillars off the nasturtium – there were so many. The plants looked great yesterday, and today the leaves are almost down to stalks. It’s amazing how quickly caterpillars can destroy a plant.

While DH and I were in the garden we had two couples stop at the gate to chat with us. We don’t get much traffic, but we do get a number of walkers who want to stop for a chat. They are either very impressed with the surroundings or think we are mad for living so far off the beaten track.

My craft room is in complete chaos, and full of clutter, so I started to tidy it out this evening. I’m going to tidy it bit by bit, so it will take me some time, as it is so full. I did manage to cut out some more felt to start sewing up though. The tidying is a chore, but the making is fun.

rachmac3

My nasturtiums took a beating the last few weeks but are looking more healthy today. I picked my first courgette since I moved here and had courgette and kohl rabi fritters with a freshly laid egg and garden grown herbs. It was lovely to have a whole meal of homegrown stuff! 
I think the caterpillars have moved onto my perennial kale now. I'm surprised the chickens haven't eaten them.
I haven't really spent any time in the garden this weekend but I have spent time eating and preserving stuff from it so that's ok.

AnimalTribe

Rachmac3 Naturtiums are so pretty, prolific and edible too. I hope the kale doesn't suffer too much and you at least get a crop. Courgette and kohl rabi fritters sound lovely, sadly none of my kohl rabi grew. I agree it's so satisfying getting a whole meal that you've grown yourself. Freshly laid eggs, I'm so jealous, I so miss having hens and ducks

It’s been an interesting day so far – the wind cracked and blew out a window on the caravan. I can’t figure out how, but fortunately, it is plastic, so there was no glass to clear up. DH taped the crack and I held it in place while he taped it back onto the caravan. It wasn’t easy working in the wind, but we got it done. It doesn’t look pretty, but the caravan was used as a storage shed for animal feed, when I had a menagerie. It’s just used as a general storage shed now.

A drain pipe also came adrift and I had to hold that while DH put it back in place. Two large branches have fallen off two different trees. A few pots were blown out of place too, and have now been secured. The wind is still howling so goodness knows what we’ll find tomorrow morning.

foxgloves

It will almost certainly be caterpillars of the large white butterfly on your nasturtiums. They love 'em! I have sometimes grown a few as decoy plants if I've been growing cabbages but in recent years, all vulnerable brassica/kale plants have been covered with insect mesh here & it's really done the trick where caterpillars are concerned.
F

AnimalTribe

Foxgloves thanks I'll use insect mesh next year.

Well DH and I survived the storm. Looking around this morning there are a few missing slates from the roof and another branch has broken off a tree. The branch is hung on another branch high on the tree so I just have to hope it falls on its own and misses the fence.

DH has pulled the other two tree branches into the yard ready to chop up once we have a calm day.

DH and I have recently been on somewhat of a spending frenzy, so we have decided to have a no spend month. Obviously, we have to pay the regular household bills; Council tax, phone, internet, insurances, petrol, but other than that we are going to try to limit what we buy to: milk, marg, yoghurt and bread. I have loads of food in the house, fresh veg in the garden, and plenty of home grown fruit in the freezer.  I also have plenty of dog food and dog treats. I think I will manage fine, but DH may struggle - we'll see.