Well, Mr Dirty Boots and yours truly have been blogging this blog for just under two months and we’ve got just over fifty RSS Feed subscribers! It feels like a little mini landmark for the site. So to the RSS Feed Subscribers: Yay – Thank-you for following! Now if there is anything in particular you would like to see more of, on this ‘ere blog please let us know. We enjoy the interaction and are happy to oblige if we can. All you subscribers give yourself a little ‘whoop‘ and a clap, from us! Many thanks – it really is […]
How Long Do Chickens Live And How To Kill Them Humanely
We learnt how to build a Chicken House for free and have our almost free Chicken nesting boxes for the lovely Eggs but there is a VERY important thing to bear in mind when raising Chickens and egg laying. Are you going to keep them for ever? What will you do if one gets ill or hurt? The reality is that Chickens raised for Eggs will not keep on laying indefinitely. As Hens get older Chicken egg laying will slow, they start to lay less and less. Chickens will lay well for about two years and even by then you […]
Manure Tea – Best Natural Fertilizer?
If you’re growing your own food you need your plot to be as fertile as possible. Manure is the small-holders best tool for improving fertility quickly. If you have a supply of manure then making up some manure tea or manure water is a quick way of ensuring plants have a soluble supply of all the nutrients they require. Make Manure Tea / Manure Water Fill a bucket 1/3 full of manure. Fill up with water and put on a not too tight lid. Leave the manure water for two weeks to ferment and allow nutrients to dissolve. Dissolve the […]
Reduce Food Waste – 20 Ways to Reduce Your Food Waste.
Our month of joining the Reduce Food Waste Bandwagon has paid off. Publicising our decision to reduce food waste has been a great motivator and we’ve learnt from the experience. Firstly there is lots of food we can easily waste; part jars, leftovers, stale bread, imperfect fruit. Secondly we don’t actually waste that much. I’m pleasantly surprised! Our main bad behavior is overzealous fruit purchasing when things are cheap and potato peel. I did think about freezing peel to add to veggie soups but I know I’m never going to want to eat such a soup. Instead we’ve been more […]
Oil Fruit Tree Spray – Winter Insecticide
One of the main problems in the fruit orchard is combating over-wintering insects. A simple effective homemade solution is to use an oil based pesticide. Oil Fruit Tree Spray Recipe Mix one litre of cooking oil and 200g soft soap. Boil, mix again and bottle. Dilute with 20 parts water before spraying on trees and shrubs The oil smothers insects and their eggs while they shelter in trees and shrubs. As it is oil based it is long lasting and will not need to be re-applied after every rainy spell. This is particularly good in the fight against overwintering mealy […]
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Nicotine Spray Insecticide
Another frugal, vegetable plot tip for you. If the insects are winning and your soap spray just isn’t strong enough to cope with a massive infestation why not try a nasty nicotine spray insecticide? Smoking may be bad for us, but it can be even worse for insect pests in the garden. Nicotine Spray Recipe Boil 100 cigarette ends in 4 litres of water. Strain and bottle. Dilute with two parts water before spraying the solution on infected plants. Nicotine spray is a very effective insecticide against many pests including weevils, caterpillars and leaf miners. It is strong though so […]