Selfsufficientish.com

it also depends on how your growing seasons pan out as to what you can grow when -( I note you are in the northerns climes so should take note from those in your lattitude) I have a long growing season with mild winters so can crop something for most of the year; however I also have hot, dry summers...

I go with you Odsox! No one - despite their claims - can make a really good, soft, bulls blood red in a cool climate. Even in Oz we have people claiming they can do this at higher altitudes but the taste test proves them wrong; they usually taste "green" and unfinished. We also brew Guinness here bu...

consuminglocal and in season is long gone - people expect to be able to buy the full range of "fresh" produce all year round. Mangos and Avacados used to be rarely available and then only in Northern area. Now Australian grown mangoes are available for 8 months of the year and avacados for 6 months;...

I recently bought a specific organic healthy food product - one I can't usually get and used to be sold loose back when the authorities perrmitted such dangerous and unhealthy practices. The product now comes in a recylable cardboard box (all the relevent sustainability logos thereon) inside of whic...

I think our "leaders" also ned to look at the artificial barriers to recycling - the will to recycle is one thing but the recycling industry itself imposes barriers also. Soft plastic packaging, bubble wrap etc. is not accepted now because these materials get stuck in their automated machinery, food...

Not really sure where to post this so I stuck it in here. While flying to yet another phsycobabble, socio-political, worthless, outcomeless meeting I read a few interesting facts published by a firm of eco-architects (pushing their business no doubt but interesting) I have checked their figures agai...

For me using a wider spacing at 150mm approx and using soluble fertiliser rather than compost etc. Onions don't seem to like much organic matter. I discovered the wider planting technique this year when the cockatoos and galahs ate 3 out of 4 plants. However, we grow diferent varieties (short day to...

I recall this discussion on another thread a while ago. Plactics are inherently environmentally stable but many are now designed to break up (not break down) with exposure to ultraviolet light. Some have starch added to the polymer to speed the break up process. We have recently been shifted to a gr...

If you are only after rainwater the collecting surface only needs to be high enough to get the water to run into the barrel.

Air drying - not a problem this year. January temperatures min 24c - max 45c, average RH 25% (lowest 7%), rainfall 38mm (1.5 inch):

About to close up for a few months - the weather is still very hot (high 30's to low 40's) no rain and nothing forcast for the next month at least. What rainwater we have left is designated for drinking only, everything else is running on river water. No pastures so all animals are being had fed I w...

Welcome Tbird. I am also a beginner (laggard?) bumbling my way through the Ishish process so don't worry. I have a hot, dry climate and will need to put up shadehouses to grow in

I have discovered the secret to mowing lawns and you can all have it for free; pay someone

Protecting heritage buildings is a sore point with me (bearing in mind Oz built heritage is only 200 years old). I am in a Heritage Protection Zone which means I cannot do anything with my house that is not in keeping with the style f the zone. However, this only applies to the exterior of the build...

I'm with you Mmm - correct use of the english language (case deliberate) is a skill that is rapidly fading. Essentially it is not taught these days and over reliance on spell and grammar checkers (mostly written by barely pubescent software developers with English as a second language) is leading to...

Not sure! Keep or keep not, there is no "not sure". All my Uni papers, research work, maps and publications recycled I have. Older than 5 years and redundant they are.