With a dozen trees in need of some trimming we planned on shredding the off-cuts and using them to layer the floor of the chicken compound. Unfortunately, shredders don’t quite work like that.
Our home-made cheese is maturing. Read more...
We added three new hens to our flock. Read more...
We're baking sourdough bread. Read more...
We're knitting a woolly blanket.
Read more...
Garlic needs some very cold weather before the spring comes along if it’s to grow well, so the snow and ice we’re having right now makes this the perfect time to get it started.
With summer in full swing, the plot was due some mid-season maintenance. We moved the tomatoes outdoors, built a climbing frame for the cucumbers and pulled an impressive number of weeds from the carrot runs.
Plant a tree and you get a wonderful sense of achievement. Perhaps it’s because we have it drummed into us from an early age that trees are the world’s lungs and we won’t survive without them, or maybe it’s because when you’re done you can already see the results, and they’re usually four feet high. Here’s how to do it.
Chilis not only taste great – when used appropriately and in moderation – they look good, too. Growing as colourful fruits on small bushes, they make an attractive addition to a windowsill or conservatory or, if you have a suitably sunny spot outside, a pot in the garden. They’re also the perfect crop for the self-sufficientist without a garden of their own.
Onions are a staple in pretty much any country’s cooking. They can be the main part of a meal, as in onion soup, or a constituent part of a salad, risotto or casserole, so it makes sense to grow your own wherever you can. This can be done from either seeds or onion sets and, with little difference in price between the two, which you choose is a matter of personal preference.