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Make Compost From Your Kitchen

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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

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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?

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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

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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, […]

Make Your Own Easy Peasy Piccalilli

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Yes, as you can tell I have gone a little preserve crazy.  But hey if there is spare food around we should do something with it.  Here’s how to make piccalilli.  As ever there are no fancy skills or equipment required and the end result is vibrant and tasty so go on have a go yourself!  As with most pickles and chutneys this one adores strong cheese but personally I think its fab with jacket potatoes and cottage cheese. Easy Peasy Piccalilli Recipe A traditional pickle from the days of the British rule in India this is exotic looking but […]

How To Save On Electricity

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Living totally off grid we are very conservative with our energy usage. This was not always the case though. When we lived in the UK with all the modern conveniences that town living brings, we never really thought about the electricity we were using in the home. Now it is a completely different matter. When the Sun shines we get electricity which is stored in a bank of batteries, but no sun equals no power to store. We have a generator as a backup but we would rather be ultra conservative in our energy usage and keep the use of […]

Beetroot And Orange Chutney Recipe

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Simple Pink Beetroot And Orange Chutney A great way to preserve the beetroot glut and a bit more interesting than just pickling the roots in vinegar which can get a bit repetitive.  This is great with bread and cheese or to liven up a salad with some feta too.  The salty cheese is balanced brilliantly by the sweet chutney. Ingredients for Beetroot And Orange Chutney Recipe 350g raw beetroot, scrubbed and cut into 1cm dice 350g eating apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1cm dice 300ml red wine vinegar 200g sugar 225g onion finely chopped 1 garlic clove crushed finely […]