Sneaky ways to save the pennies

Ches

My friends and I always used to do this in the 70's. Kept you warm in the cold weather too.

northwest1965

Well done you BigMummaF. It'll save you a fortune!!:j

ChapelGirl

Becky_2 wrote: »

Last weekend we bought various herb plants in the garden centre. They are cheap now. We are keeping ours in the garden so some plants like basil will have to be cut down for the winter but will apparently come back in the spring.

Basil is an annual, so I would be amazed if you succeed in keeping it through the winter. Our Thai basil has just been caught by the frost and the only thing I can do with it now is strip off what I can from the leaves and chop them with a bit of oil and freeze in ice cube trays. The rest is compost-bin bound.

I also have mint, french tarragon, sage, winter savoury, and chives, all of which are perennials and should over-winter. The parsley will go for a maxmum of 2 years after sowing before it goes to seed.

For annuals such as basil and coriander and for parsley the cheapest option by far is to buy a packet of seed and follow the sowing instructions. Sometimes you even can get reduced packets of seed which are on or near their use-by date from pound shops or market stalls. They might not all germinate but you are almost bound to get more seedlings than you need, even so! (or should that be even sow!)

PS - your fennel is a perennial too. You can chop the old dead stalks right back to almost ground level and they will pop up again from the root in the spring. Ditto lovage. I have grown lovage in the past because it is said to be good as a celery substitute in stews, but actually I find it a bit too strong a flavour. However, once you have it, you have it for life!

Sian_the_Green

I have been doing a cookery course at the Ministry of Food in Rotherham and they said to use the top of the tomato (the spider bit!) in the soup and also use all of the stalk of the basil; they said any leafy herbs can be used like that. Means you could chuck in the whole plant if you need to get rid

annie123

African blue is a perennial basil often grown here in the UK, many of our annual types are perennial in hotter climates but they dont like our winters.....I wonder why:rolleyes:

ChapelGirl

African blue? I've not grown that one myself. Any relation to Norwegian blue? :rotfl:
http://www.laurelfarmherbs.co.uk/herbcatalogue/details.php?plantid=79
It sounds like a nice plant for ornamental purposes, as long as it's kept frost free. Unfortunately I can't think of many places in Britain which are frost-free all year, except maybe the Channel Islands. :think:
Personally I think I'd rather have the common or garden sweet basils or the bushier small-leaved greek basil (ocimum minimum) for salads and cooking, but you pays your money and you takes your choice...

The ancient Greeks and Romans used to believe that you would only get a good basil crop if you shouted and cursed while sowing the seeds.

BigMummaF

Perhaps I'm a reincarnation of a farmer bourne of Greek & Roman parentage then, as my attempts at gardening are always like that ChapelGirl :rotfl:

ceridwen

BigMummaF wrote: »

Perhaps I'm a reincarnation of a farmer bourne of Greek & Roman parentage then, as my attempts at gardening are always like that ChapelGirl :rotfl:

ah....now you know where you're going wrong then BigMumma :rotfl: - perhaps you should try playing them a little bit of light classical music instead when you're doing this....:D

Penelope_Penguin

cathij0269 wrote: »

if you get a ladder in one leg of your tights don't throw it away, just cut off the laddered leg at the top. next time you ladder a pair of tights do the same thing. you then wear both pairs (a leg each) the added bonus is that the double waistband acts like control pants. a light spraying of hairspray often prevents ladders (and can help with static control)

As this has fallen from the front page of OS, I'll add it to the Snaeaky Ways to save the £££ thread

Penny. x

chinagirl

Sian_the_Green wrote: »

I have been doing a cookery course at the Ministry of Food in Rotherham and they said to use the top of the tomato (the spider bit!) in the soup and also use all of the stalk of the basil; they said any leafy herbs can be used like that. Means you could chuck in the whole plant if you need to get rid

:eek: NOOOO!! Those 'spiders' scare me rigid. I can barely bring myself to touch them when preparing tomatoes. Sorry, I won't be cooking them in my soups. They will be going swiftly in the bin where I can't see them anymore, lol