Right then, continuing the ‘Preserves – Basics’ theme. This is some information that you need to know about the ingredients you’ll be using. Fruit and Vegetables These must be in good condition before you preserve them. So disgard anything spoilt, over-ripe or rotten. You don’t want to introduce any moulds or fungus into the product before you even start the preserving process. Beware of coatings to commercially produced fruit. Wax coatings on citrus and other fruit should be scrubbed off or peeled. Pickling is a good way to use up any under-ripe overly firm items. Green tomatoes are a traditional […]
Solar Radios Reviews Wind Up Radios Reviews Crank Radios
I really can’t express what great little Eco Gadgets Solar/Wind Up Radios are. Next to the Laptop it is probably one of the most used items in the house. We purchased a Solar and Wind Up Radio over ten years ago now and it is still going strong! A minutes worth of winding and it runs for well over an hour! Click for Discount Crank Radios or read on to find out why we love our original Freeplay wind up/solar radio. When the sun is shining it quickly stores up energy and runs the whole day. We really have found […]
Preserves – Basics Part 2 – Methods of Preserving (Canning)
A continuation on our introduction to home-preserving. Here we’re talking about canning / bottling fruit & vegetables. Luckily the first few preserves I made were from Mrs Beaton’s All About Cookery. These Victorian recipes assume the cook knows the basics of preserving and general hygiene in the kitchen. They didn’t scare me into not trying, which many books I’ve read since might well have done. Here I want to share some of the basics about methods of preserving foodstuffs that should help you in your kitchen. What Is It? There are a myriad of ways to preserve fruit and vegetables […]
Make Compost From Your Kitchen
Part of any drive towards living a more self sufficient life involves trying to grow as much produce as possible. To this end we should all be composting as much as we possibly can. Compost works wonders for your soil, and the richer it is the more we can grow. But are you forgetting something? Every day many people who have a compost heap neglect a very important part of the composting bible – the Kitchen. The kitchen produces a vast amount of compostable material every day but it is all too easy to just throw scraps in the bin, […]
Compost – How to Compost
How to Have a Useful Compost Heap Lots of people wonder why their compost heap doesn’t do much or worse still turns to a pile of evil smelling slime. Usually this is due to a lack of stuff , or a lack of variety of stuff ending up on the compost heap. We need to add as much to our compost heaps as possible. It means we get more benefit from a bigger heap of finished compost. We also save time and money as we’re not sending so much stuff to landfill. It’s our own waste so why not sort […]
Compost – What to Compost?
What Can You Compost? Compost ANYTHING which was once alive. That’s what nature does so why don’t you? This list shows you many of the things you could be composting, whether you feel you should depends on your lifestyle. Try to at least add one more thing from the list to your heap and you’ll be throwing away less and getting more for yourself from your own waste. Add all of the things on the list and I promise you’ll have very fast acting, super rich compost and a happy healthy garden. I know as that’s what we’re lucky enough […]
Preserves – Basics Part 1 – Utensils & Stuff
The main thing to know is that people have always preserved food in times of glut. That means its possible to do so without any fancy equipment or scientific knowledge. Here though are a few pointers – things you should know if starting to make jams, chutneys, pickles and so on. we should all try to store as much produce as we can vie preserving/canning. Food preservation does not need to be overly complicated and it can be done with a minimum of equipment. Preserving Pans are expensive. You don’t need one – what you do need is a heavy, […]