Hello all

Scott · Post: # 17782Post **Scott** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 5:29 pm

Just wanted to say hello to one and all. Found the site when searching on google for anything on selfsufficiency due to a want for a greener and healthier approach to day to day living. What a find, the site is just what I needed. Its also the first time i've joined a forum. So its all change for Scotty. Sorry, I shouldn't refer to myself in the third person, it doesn't give a good impression.

See Ya!!

ina · Post: # 17787Post **ina** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 6:22 pm

Hi Scotty, and welcome to the forum from a voluntary Scot...

Don't worry about not making a good impression. We all love people who make fools of themselves

Funny enough, this is the first forum I ever joined, too - as you can see, I'm still at it, almost a year later. It kind of grows on you.

Andy Hamilton · Tue Apr 18, 2006 9:34 pm

Hello there Scott and welcome

Are you the same scott that nearly got lost in server swap over, if so then a big thank you for perservering. If not and you don't have a clue what I am talking about, then a big thank you anyway

Have you made any steps towards a greener and healthier life?

Millymollymandy · Wed Apr 19, 2006 6:35 am

Hi Scott and welcome to the site. There's plenty of info here so just fire away with your questions!

Wombat · Post: # 17853Post **Wombat** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 10:01 am

G'Day Scott, nice to see you here and welcome to the site!

Nev

Scott · Post: # 17865Post **Scott** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 12:09 pm

Hello agian, thanks for the replies and welcomes. If you like people that make fools of themselves I should feel at home, and this will be my first port of call with any questions.
Andy- I am the Scott who got lost. Thanks for the e-mail, I was a bit baffled when I couldn't log in. That'll teach me to cheak my e-mails. I'm making steps towards a greener and healthier life, mainly being more aware of what I'm eating and where its coming from, recycling and carrying a bag! At the moment I'm renting, so my next step is to follow some of your tips for rented accommodation.
Any advice will be greatfully recieved.

Take care all!!!

Andy Hamilton · Wed Apr 19, 2006 4:32 pm

Yep I rent too Scott, the thing to do is always ask the landlord/lady when you want to do something. I am goig to have to ring her in the morning to see about getting a water butt fitted. It is a real pain not having the freedom to do what you want to the house/flat.

We have aback yard and I would love to break up all the concreate, alas I can't it is a feature to have off street parking. To by pass this I am growing potatoes in tyres and have an array of window boxes sitting on the ground out side. I have also tried to grow in plastic milk bottles with the bottoms cut off, not the best I must say. They will need to be bigger than the two pint ones. I attached about ten to a bit of wood, stuck compost in all of them and planted some herbs, thus making a movable herb garden. They have all come up, the dill and corriander seem to work the best, parsley is ok. Tarragon and basil pretty rubbish.

For rented accomodation you really have to ask yourself how long will I be here for. If is for the gorwing season and you have a garden,great get planting. If you have a back yard or are going to move then container gardening is the way forward.

ina · Post: # 17890Post **ina** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 6:39 pm

... and if you are using large containers, make sure the yard is accessible with a forklift!

Always amuses me, reading those advertisements for houses: 2 bedrooms, parking for several cars in the drive.

Do they assume that each bedroom holds two persons, ergo they need space for 4 cars?

Shirley · Post: # 17892Post **Shirley** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 6:55 pm

hi scotty!

Nice to meet ya... rented accommodation is a pain.. we've only just moved out of rented into our own place and it's great not to have to worry about what the landlord wants/doesn't want blah blah blah...

nem · Post: # 17913Post **nem** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 10:15 pm

hi..i just wanted to say hello. umm..ive been dabbling with green for a long while but now ive moved from the uk to the netherlands and its going sooo much easier. weve got an allotment now and ive started growing a bit..im loving the whole thing. we hope to become as self sufficient as possible over the next ten years....its all so amazing...and so much fun..okay shyly sneaking away again now...

Millymollymandy · Thu Apr 20, 2006 6:18 am

Hi Nem and welcome. Where are you living? I lived in the Netherlands for just under 2 years before moving to France. It's a nice country full of really friendly people - who speak English!

nem · Post: # 17932Post **nem** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 7:27 am

im in Drenthe. people here barely speak dutch let alone english! maar ik spreek goed nederlands hoor....

ive been here 9 months...we are going to live in brittany in 6 years or so hopefully! im from jersey uk..the NL are great but brittany..its like my spiritual home :) where did you live in the NL?

Andy Hamilton · Thu Apr 20, 2006 8:46 am

Hi there nem and welcome to the forum good to hear from you. PLease don't be shy about asking for any advice or about any self sufficientish problems that you are having. We have years of advice on here.

nem · Post: # 17943Post **nem** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 11:01 am

thanks andy. i have so many questions i dont even know where to start! dont you all just find it outrageous that people can have ten or twenty years of education and still not have a clue how to grow a bit of food?! crazy world!

things i can think of that i need to know right now are...

a) i have a rasberry plant thingy on my allotment and my motherinlaw just gave me a net to put over it to protect the fruit from the birds..umm..what do i do with this net??!!

b) i made lil holes in my lawn and threw wildflower seeds on it but i dont have even one little flower! someone told me that its really hard to grow wild flowers...and some people have said that if i dont continually mow my lawn it will die...but i dont really like boring lawn...i want the garden to get a bit wilder..the people we bought the house off have made it nice in a yuppy kind of way but...not reallllly my thing..someone said leave it for a year and do nothing see how it grows but not much has happened to it in a year..lol thats how dull it is! what to do what to do? i always wanted to have a bit of long grass with some wild flowers.

c) my paprika havent come up at all..all my other seeds have come up...except the dates..anybody grown a date palm?! do paprika take more than a week to come up? i think its been two weeks

thanks.

Millymollymandy · Thu Apr 20, 2006 11:38 am

You've gone native Nem - paprika!!!

Only I can't remember if that word means pepper (i.e. capsicums) or chillies! I think you might have to wait a bit longer and it depends whether they are in a warm place - they'd come up quicker in a heated propatator than just on a window sill.

I lived in Soest - where the Queen Mum's palace was. Well I'm sure the building is still there! RIP Queen Mum. I don't know where Drenthe is - is it in Friesland? And why are you calling yourself spring roll?

. Ik hep mijn nederlands vergeten (or something like that)!

Wildflowers in lawns is a difficult one, cos wildflowers need absolutely NO fertiliser whilst grass requires nitrogen. If your soil is naturally rich you won't have much luck with wildflowers. Your lawn won't die if you don't mow it. Isn't it funny, even I would like to have fewer 'weeds' in my lawn and you seem to have a really nice grass-and-nothing-else one!!!

Re the netting - not sure myself - throw it over it? That's what I do with strawberries - just roughly cover them.