This is not a ‘self sufficient’ tip. This is just a really simple way to make Romesco Sauce. But if you’re planning to be self sufficient in the garden and are going to replant your sprouting onions you need to know how to make a great Romesco! It is a great sauce to eat with grilled scallions / calçots. Heck its lovely with grilled meat, fish or veggies. It is lovely warm, hot or cold. It is a great way to use up stale bread and all those chillies and peppers good growers will have dried in the autumn. It […]
Onions Sprouting in Store?
Lots of people seem to worry about their onions. Onions have a terrible habit of sprouting in store when the temperature changes. Even bought onions may start to sprout green shoots in your kitchen cupboard or refrigerator. This is nothing to worry about the onion is a biennial plant and it wants to get growing again in its second year even though it has been pulled out of the ground. Are Sprouting Onions Safe? Yes, Sprouting Onions are Safe! Firstly sprouting onions are fine to eat. Basically the green shoot is just the beginning of a scallion so you can […]
Homemade Yogurt – Creamy or a Bit Runny?
Following on from my post about making yogurt at home I have a discovery for you. For blogging purposes, I’ve been studying the varying qualities of my homemade yogurt rather more closely than usual. Homemade natural yogurt can vary quite a lot. Sometimes it is a bit runny and sometimes insanely creamy. Both textures taste good but the ultra creamy homemade yogurt is definitely more attractive (and more impressive when boasting about a new skill to friends or serving as a dessert). How to Create Creamy Homemade Yogurt Use a Less than Fresh Yogurt ‘Starter’ In my experience yogurt made […]
Homemade Lye From Wood Ash
What is Lye? Lye is a key ingredient in soap making. It is a strong alkali or base substance which reacts with fat to form soap. You can buy lye in the form of caustic soda (sodium hydroxide) or you can make your own homemade lye in the form of caustic potash (potassium hydroxide). Firstly lets get the health and safety stuff out of the way. All lye is extremely corrosive. Keep your skin covered, wear goggles to avoid splashes to eyes and definitely keep all lye out of the reach of children and pets. It can be fatal if […]
The Ongoing Blogroll
Some bloggers are terribly organised and keep an efficient system of blogroll updates. Letting all their readers know who and why they’ve added new links each month or so. That won’t be happening here! For a start with the two of us reading lots of blogs it would be difficult. Mostly though I just don’t think we’ll remain that organised. So as we notice blogs in our readers that we should have linked to, but haven’t, we’ll put them on the blogroll widget on the right. I’ve put a few on for now, in no particular order or reason. They […]
The Casa Dirty Boots 4 Year Crop Rotation System
This is the 4 Year Crop Rotation System we follow. Year One Apply lots of muck and plant potatoes. When the potatoes are lifted we plant brassicas which will all be harvested by very early the following spring. Year Two Sow peas and beans along with some spring sown brassicas for harvesting in summer-autumn Traditionally you would apply lime to the soil before sowing. Year Three This is time for the miscellaneous crops (anything not included elsewhere). Melon, cucumber, peppers, aubergine, tomatoes, lettuce and onions are all included in our miscellaneous crops. We apply a mulch of well rotted compost […]
Getting the Most from the Veg Plot – Crop Rotation
What is Crop Rotation? Crop Rotation is simply the moving of crops from one plot to another over the years. So rather than keep a bed for planting potatoes in for ever, each year we plant potatoes in a different plot. The easiest way to think of, and record crop rotation is to assign a type of crop for each year of your crop rotation cycle. There are numerous systems but perhaps the most common is the 4 Year Crop Rotation system. You break up the crops into four distinct groups and assign them a year. For example potatoes and […]