The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Community => Introduce yourself => Topic started by: greengates on January 24, 2009, 09:43:12 pm
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Hi everyone
Found this forum through following the link to the Family Save-All, the book featured this evening in The Victorian Farm.
We aren't smallholders but have half an allotment and plan to get real with the garden as well this year. We're interested in maximising our food production in the area we have got and improving our self-sufficiency, though it will never be complete of course. The garden is quite small (we live in a semi) but people used to grow things on their Anderson shelters after all so I'm going to stop letting it put me off and do raised beds to grow some more veg in, at least in the parts of the garden that get any sun . . .
We haven't enough land to keep animals, but we have three cats.
I'm getting more and more interested in learning how to cook economically. Last week I saw that Morrison's had put up their tins of Heinz soup to eighty-two pence . . . I didn't believe it, sixteen and fourpence (I'm giving my age away now!)
I'm not a brilliant cook but learned a lot from my mother who has a good set of basic skills which lend themselves to making the best of what you can get.
We also make jams, jellies and chutneys from what we can grow or get cheaply and try to enter into the spirit of the thing. We give some of it away as presents and if someone does us a favour, so apart from eating it ourselves it oils the wheels a bit (and people bring us their jars . . . )
Hoping to check back often and meet people and get some hints & tips.
All the best for now!
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I'd love to havea go at chutneys and things - so recipes would be handy. I'm going to have a go at building a couple of raised beds - I made some when i built my house back in Aberdeenshire, but they were hip high and needed a lot of filling. Just need to measure up and buy wood.
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Hi Annie,
I'm not a 'cook' by any means, but because of cash flow problems I made chutney for xmas presents this year, I used this receipe
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1158/mary-berrys-christmas-chutney (http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1158/mary-berrys-christmas-chutney)
I was pleasantly surprised at how good it tasted (but did go easy on the cayene) and got lots of compliments from the recipients.
On the subject of raised beds - I went to these guys http://www.dj-mckenzie.co.uk/contact.html (http://www.dj-mckenzie.co.uk/contact.html) and got old scaffold boards, enough to make 4 beds, 8x4 and 16in high for £100. I'm intending lining the inside of the wood with plastic or pond liner (whatever I can get my hands on) to try and prolong their use. Obviously the place I went is down here in Lanarkshire but there's bound to be similar up in your area and it saves paying B&Q or Homebase prices for the wood! Just waiting for a rain free day when hubby's not suffering from gout to get out and get them made & filled now!
Karen :)
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I've got a couple of tame builders (did my conservatory fro me) - just waiting for them to come back to build my patio next week or two,so I'll chivvy them to find some boards for me.