Selfsufficientish.com

I guess the important thing is that the rollercoaster has started. We may only just be pulling away from the station, but the movement will gain momentum and improvements will happen. So, shall we share tips and hints? I have been known to remove wasteful packaging at the shop and hand it back to th...

MKG don’t lose heart and turn the garden into lawn. There must be another way. Is there any possibility of swapping spare fruit for vegetables? That way you could plant more tall fruits but still get vegetables. Also, what about raised planting outside? Search on Pinterest for pallet planters for sa...

I did succumb. I’d been thinking about a new vacuum cleaner for months (I don’t rush into these things). AO were offering the one I wanted at a whopping 80 quid off. Funny how all the other websites were advertising it at normal price at only 10 more than AO we’re selling it for. Just shows how over...

My problem is that I just can’t get my iPad to log me in so I have to remember my password. That just doesn’t happen very often. So I’m usually one of the readers who doesn’t post. Managed it today though on the second attempt.

That’s very odd about the cuttings not coming true. I’ve not heard of that before. Mind you, I did buy a rose, labelled as pink, from a local supermarket and it turned out to be yellow. Hmmm.

the Mediterranean dome on the other hand has great potential. It would be fantastic to build your house in there, you could grow everything you needed for food (provided you went vegetarian). That would be the ultimate in dropping out and ignoring the rest of the world. There must be a flaw in that...

Flo wrote:Only the young nettles are tasty - the older ones are unpleasant.

Ah, but if you "prune" your nettles (cut them back to just above the ground) they'll sprout new, fresh young leaves. Maybe not if it's already frosty where you are but I'm still harvesting mine.

If you can't beat 'em, eat 'em.

Has anyone else noticed that horse muck seems to be very good at carrying nettle seeds? Nettles thrive in heavily manured soils so it might just be the manure encouraging existing roots. That's why they make such good compost as they have very deep roots which soak up the nitrogen from the soil. I ...

Vegetable curry and rice. Both came out of the freeer as I need to make some space in there. I made the curry a few weeks ago using parsnips and leeks from the garden. Unusually, I'd also frozen some cooked rice at some point. Can't remember when. Tasted ok though.

Since discovering that I'm gluten intolerant and allergic to a lot of foods including dairy, chocolate and soya, I've ended up on a virtually paleo diet. The good news is that I've lost over three stone. The bad news is that my food treats are now black coffee and dried fruit.

The Defra advice is now targeted at specific locations. Guess, who's still in a high risk area?

Hi Bonnie That's fantastic news, congratulations and good luck. I've not got much advice to offer that hasn't already been said except that the fabric can slow down the water flow a little and cause it to run off if you're not careful. If you use the ridge and furrow method and water in the furrow, ...

Thanks, both. There's no obvious sign of incoming damp so I suspect the plants are the main source of condensation. I don't want to get rid of all of them but I do have a dehumidifier which would help. putting some heating in would also help but I don't want to heat it until it has some insulation. ...

Hi Could any builderish type people give me some advice please? I have a fairly standard PVCu conservatory. It's south facing with one solid wall against the living room, another wall which is almost all made up of the French doors into the dining room. The third wall is double glazed PVCu windows a...

Thanks everyone. I gave up gluten about 8 months ago and I'll never go back to eating it. My whole life has changed. I'll post the details in another thread. The only thing that hasn't got better is my memory. But I gather it takes a long time as I have to wait for my gut to recover before I start t...