Vote for your favorite tip - 4th Birthday Competiton

[Andy Hamilton]

Firstly I want to say a big thank you to everyone who donated money from my massive bike ride.

Secondly I want to say to everyone who entered well done! It was pretty tough deciding which tips would be in the last 10. I did do a bit of - "ip dip dog sh*t"(elimination rhyme) in the end as there were more than 10 good tips so if none of yours made it, it is probally down to luck rather than them not being good enough.

So without further a do here are the 10 that made it. I have given them all a one or two word names to make voting easier. I have also allowed 2 votes per person so that if people want to vote for them selves they can, I suggest that you don't vote for yourself twice but that is up to you. To make a change I have also put a 10 day limit on voting for two reasons, firstly to try and get the prizes out before Christmas and secondly as I never know when to cut off a vote.

1. Ants in the house
Firstly find out where the nest is or as close to it as you can guess. Hopefully this is outside the house!. As MKG said try to disrupt the trail then a blob of jam does wonders near by (put an empty jam jar on it's side and put the blob of jam in that to keep it dry. It'll keep them busy for weeks). Next make sure all your sweet product jars are clean in the pantry/cupboards and don't leave anything hanging around in the kitchen (like veg peelings waiting for me to take them to the compost!)
You may see the occasional "scout" these are ants just randomly checking out the area, if there is nothing to get they will not send in their mates.

Ants in the garden or " I think they are farming aphids/killing my plant"
Yes they do farm, they protect the aphids from preditors (lacewings L'birds etc) and "milk" the honey dew.
Technically they are not harming the plant directly, indirectly the blackfly/aphids devisate your crop.
I think I can firmly now say it has been proven that the above jam jar/jam method in amongst yer veg does change the ant behaviour. They will stop with the protection/milking and go for the easy jam treat. I think they actually regard the aphids as surplus and actually attack them, and or allow the predictors to get them.

2. If you don't like Christmas cake use this recipe I created & if you keep adding rum to it, it will stay fresh for ages & may make you drunk after a couple of slices.

250g Demerara sugar
250g Butter
4 eggs
250g Self raising flour
2tbsp Dark rum
2tbsp Cocoa powder
100g Glace cherries
50g Flaked Almonds
200g Dark chocolate (70% cocoa)

Cream the butter & sugar together & then add the eggs. Sift in the flour & cocoa & stir in add the rum almonds & cherries, coarsely chop the the chocolate add it too the mixture, if it feels too stiff add more rum bear in mind it does give a thick constistancy anyway as all Christmas cakes do. Place in a preheated oven at gasmark 4 for 1 1/2 hours. Turn out onto a cooling tray. The cake keeps for a while as long as you top it up with rum from time to time. mmmmmmmm, It also works well for wedding cakes.

3. Use sea weed around your veg to keep the slugs off. When it's wet it's salty and when it's dry it's sharp. Either way the slugs hate it! At the end of the season it can either be dug in or chucked in the compost.

4. Don't get stressed trying to become completely self-sufficient overnight, you'll burn yourself out and give up if it becomes too difficult. Take small steps and just do what you can when you can.

5. After Christmas, save the flimsy plastic trays from boxed chocolates and use them for ice cube trays. We used the trays from a box of Flake Moments and they are the best ice cube trays we've ever had - massive ice cubes, about twice the size of normal ones, and they come out of the trays really easily without the tray splitting, or having to bang it on the counter to get the ice out (and the box of chocolates we used were from out of date stock from my work so were entirely free! so definitely more Ish)

6. If you live in a victorian draughty home like ours, eliminate drafts, use a candle to see where they are blowing in, we are always broke and use papier mache to fill in gaps in flooring boards window frames etc, you can mould it around doors and frames to create a barrier and it can be painted to match up with existing paint schemes,
Make it with wallpaper paste to stop it developing mould, shread paper by hand, then use a stick blender to get it smoothed and add loads of salt to discourage mice and add fireproofing, if you need to make lots of the same shape to edge a door frame say, make a plaster of paris form, lay cling film over it, lay the papier mache on it, let it 'set' for a day, carefully lift and dry on a flat tray on top of a warm radiator or boiler for a few days, when dry, glue it onto the door frame, and fill in any gaps with more papier mache, if filling gaps in floorboards, add tea, coffee, anything to match up the colour of the wood, remembering it will dry a lighter colour.

7. Waste not...always use the very last drops - not just talking about wine! For example, if you have bought things like tomato sauce, when it is getting to the end, leave the bottle inverted so that every last drop is used. A small amount of vinegar shaken in the bottle can also mean none is wasted(Do put the lid back on securely first, my Dad didn't once and sprayed the ceiling.) . Likewise things like shampoo in bottles can be left inverted. If you have fine hair like mine, you really don't need very much, it can last ages and a second wash is rarely needed.Toothpaste tubes can be squeezed flat with a pencil to encourage the last bits out then split open to get the very last dregs. Soap can be collected and remade into new bars, it also lasts longer if its not left with water in the dish. Its amazing how much you can save if you apply these principles to everything you use - 'don't chuck it out until you're absolutely sure its all gone.' Then recycle or re-use the container if at all possible.

8. for anyone who has ever lived in a tiny, one bedroomed flat in Bath... Andy, I lived in a bedsit on Wells Road in Bath when I was working at the radio station there, many miserable moons ago. It was tiny and awful, and was about 30 feet from the railway line. Much to my horror, I opened the curtains one morning, wearing nothing but what God blessed/inflicted me with, to see an Intercity waiting outside my window for it's signal to pull into the station. An environmentally friendly way to wake oneself up abruptly without the need for a long, hot shower...

9. if you are like me and sew a lot, try to invest in a pair of surgical clamps. They have ridges at the grabby end, but are gentle enough for bits of human so they wont harm your delicate fabrics, they lock just past the hinge so they can hold things in place nicely and they're sooooo strong. they are great for holding awkward or thick lumps of fabric while you tack them, they work really well for turning tubes the right way out and they're fab for freaking out new friends who see them hung by your sewing machine and realise what they are. I got mine out of Russian Doll's un-used home birth kit when she had Zach

10. If you want to ditch disposable household stuff for cloth but don't quite know how to go about it then 1) get a wee bit organised and 2) go one thing at a time.

We started using cloth nappies with home made fleece liners and got into a nightly washing routine. Then we ditched baby wipes and made our own from fleece. These went in the bucket with the nappies. Once muslins became less of a daily baby essential as DD grew, we cut them into hankie sizes as well as roughly 6" square sizes and had them in a basket in the kitchen to be used instead of kitchen roll or tissues. At this point we began a bucket system where we threw tea towels, muslins, rags and the cloth napkins that we moved onto once kitchen roll was banished. We still use the bucket though DD is long since out of nappies.

At some stage in all this I began using a Mooncup and now use cloth sanitary towels as well. The washing seems to do itself with a bit of planning. All I need to do now is persuade the family we can live without loo roll!

[Andy Hamilton]

Ok, that is the end of this competition and it looks like Anne A has one. So please can you PM me your address and I will get the signed by everyone copy of the selfsufficientish bible sent off to you straight away.

I did personally thing that this was the best tip too so I am glad that it won!

If you live in a victorian draughty home like ours, eliminate drafts, use a candle to see where they are blowing in, we are always broke and use papier mache to fill in gaps in flooring boards window frames etc, you can mould it around doors and frames to create a barrier and it can be painted to match up with existing paint schemes,
Make it with wallpaper paste to stop it developing mould, shread paper by hand, then use a stick blender to get it smoothed and add loads of salt to discourage mice and add fireproofing, if you need to make lots of the same shape to edge a door frame say, make a plaster of paris form, lay cling film over it, lay the papier mache on it, let it 'set' for a day, carefully lift and dry on a flat tray on top of a warm radiator or boiler for a few days, when dry, glue it onto the door frame, and fill in any gaps with more papier mache, if filling gaps in floorboards, add tea, coffee, anything to match up the colour of the wood, remembering it will dry a lighter colour.

Second prize goes to eccentric_emma (It was a draw so I tossed a coin, seemed the fairest way to decide)

"5. After Christmas, save the flimsy plastic trays from boxed chocolates and use them for ice cube trays. We used the trays from a box of Flake Moments and they are the best ice cube trays we've ever had - massive ice cubes, about twice the size of normal ones, and they come out of the trays really easily without the tray splitting, or having to bang it on the counter to get the ice out (and the box of chocolates we used were from out of date stock from my work so were entirely free! so definitely more Ish)

If you could PM your address to Big Al he will sort you out with a candle making kit, cheers big al

Thanks for entering everyone, new competition will start next week.

[Anne A]

Thanks everyone for your votes
I am so pleased to be the owner of Andys SSFish well travelled and signed bible, tis an early Crimbo Prezzie
Anne A xxx

[eccentric_emma]

EEEEEEEEEEEEEP I came second!!!!! Thanks guys! Will PM Big Al right away! *very excited*

[Millymollymandy]

I'm very pleased cos I voted for the two of you. I thought they were great tips and they were ones I hadn't heard before.

Well done!

[hedgewitch]

Congrats!!!

[eccentric_emma]

Thank you! *insert acceptance speech here*

[mrsflibble]

congrats to the winner!

[Anne A]

I have just received my copy of the Self Sufficientish Bible , signed by everyone Andy met on his Bike ride. What a fantastic book it is, this will keep me busy reading for a long time, the pictures are lush and its full of handy tips in te side bars.
Thanks again to all who voted for my 'Candle' tip, and a huge hug to Andy for donating this Bible as a prize, it must have been a wrench to give it away?
Anne xxx

[Millymollymandy]

Awwww I'm glad you are happy with it and you have something really unique there.

For me what was brill about your tip was not so much the candle (hell I can just put my hand there and feel the draughts!) it was the filling in with papier mache that I thought was fantastic! It's somewhat more refined than the masking tape around some of the windows we've been using up to now.

[Andy Hamilton]

and a huge hug to Andy for donating this Bible as a prize, it must have been a wrench to give it away?
Anne xxx

Yes it was, but I am glad it went to someone who really does appreciate it. The real difficulty was lugging it around, I wonder how many oat bars were needed to transport that 677 miles

But as a result I hope loads of people have read your tip and now think of how much carbon might be saved, so thank you for posting it!