Selfsufficientish.com

Thank you both for your replies. As it is likely that two or three more pumpkins will be heading our way, I will be able to try out a few recipes. The ravioli will be a good way to use up eggs too.

I don't flush the tissue either; I bin it or in winter, burn it. But I have never, and would never buy packets of tissues - I use toilet roll instead. Admittedly, hankies don't take up a lot of room in the washing machine but I guess this depends on how many you get through. I remember that my mothe...

Thanks for the hanging container info; looks very useful as the canes have to be in the ground for the tomatoes anyhow. Does anyone know what pests might attack young coriander plants? I had some pots with seedlings growing on an outside window-ledge. When I opened the shutters one morning, the cori...

Thanks. I may well try roasting chunks to get an idea of the flavour. Perhaps I should have said that we both dislike sweet food (chocolate included!), so I'm really looking to use the pumpkin in a savoury recipe.

Thanks for the info. I grew carrots one year, but the ground is poor (stony and clay) so most were fanged. I haev now dug a new plot, so may try again next year. We have tons of elder growing locally, so I will definitely try the spray. I also get bitten a lot (currently covered in large red lumps),...

I read an article on the BBC site about them last week. Although they were a British invention, further development on them was ruled out as constructing the lines etc would be ten times the cost of standard lines. As a result, other countries such as Italy have been been developing them. They seem ...

Harvest the herbs on a dry day and divide them into small bunches. Strip a few leaves away from the base of the stem so that they can be tied in neat bunches without mould forming on the stem. Tie the stems firmly, and hang the bunches in a warm, airy place away from direct sunlight. Flowers and lea...

A neighbour has given us a pumpkin, but neither of us have eaten one before. I have found a number of recipes online, but don't know what to try as I don't know what they taste like. I'd be grateful if somebody could try to describe the taste so I get a better idea of what to do with it! I am curren...

For some some strange reason I was recently thinking about anagrams and came up with what I thought was a good one for Self Sufficientish: Lifes hints suffice Then I thought that some amusing ones must be within Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall: whiningly flash huge tartlet its well-hung, healthy farting...

Although it is a tad late this year, I'd be grateful for advice on both companion and sacrifice planting for the next season. I know that growing marigolds or basil with tomatoes is beneficial, but I'd like to know how to deter pests, and if that fails, what can I plant to attract the beasts from my...

Congratulations! Enjoy your honeymoon; you'll need a break before the time-consuming process of changing names on credit cards, driving licence, passport, bills etc! Assuming that you now have a new surname...

Hankies are very 'green', and that is the problem; they become too green...
Tissue/toilet roll paper might not be eco-friendly, but surely tissue is more hygenic? Plus you don't need to put tissues in the washing machine, thus saving water and electricity.

I can't help with their identification, but a kind person on SSI posted a link to Rogers Mushrooms website a while ago http://www.rogersmushrooms.com/. This is an excellent site which has easy-to-use identification keys which should allow you to identify your fungi.

It's up to you whether or not you choose to use a towel; the ripe apple is the most important factor. If I have had a small-ish quantity of tomatoes to ripen, I have put them in the tea-towel drawer with an apple. However, for larger amounts of tomatoes, this isn't practical (unless you have lots of...

The best way that I have found to ripen green tomatoes is to put them in a drawer or crate along with a ripe apple. Apples are probably the best as they give off a lot of the gas ethylene. A 'closed' container such as a drawer, box or paper bag is ideal as traps the gas, speeding up the ripening pro...