We can’t hope to supply all our own firewood, although we are doing surprisingly well so far – we haven’t bought any wood for three years, using what was here already, wood from demolition projects etc, fallen trees, pallets (we have a pallet mountain, and could get more if we only got through cutting this lot up), [...]
Archive for the ‘self-sufficiency’ Category
the big little woodland plan
Posted in frugal living, general wittering, smallholding on 27 November 2009 | 2 Comments »
new pullets on the block
Posted in chickens, livestock, self-sufficiency, smallholding, tagged chickens on 25 November 2009 | 3 Comments »
Yesterday we moved some of the hens around. Brown-neck, who was with her two chicks came out of the growers coup – and settled back in with the main crowd straight away, without so much as a backward glance at her charges.
Then we threw the three girls we are definitely keeping out of the ‘cockerel [...]
waiting for rain
Posted in chickens, general wittering, grow your own food, livestock, self-sufficiency, sheep, smallholding, vegetables on 15 November 2009 | 4 Comments »
The forecast had given dire warnings of heavy rain for today, so it was with surprise that we woke up to sunshine. We rushed out to make the most of it before the rain came – and that is how the day went.
Himself finished digging over veg bed 8 (only 8 more to go then!), [...]
pork sausages
Posted in grow your own food, livestock, pigs, recipes, self-sufficiency, smallholding on 10 November 2009 | 6 Comments »
We’ve been sausage making again. This time using one pork hand, one slab of pork belly, and all the bit and pieces saved from the butchery day. Delish.
We also set aside enough sausage meat for the chestnut stuffing for that winter festival thingy, and another lot for sausage rolls. Homemade sausage rolls are always so [...]
mud
Posted in grow your own food, self-sufficiency, smallholding on 3 November 2009 | 6 Comments »
Torrential rain. Always makes me laugh when people tell me how the raising of meat uses so much more water and therefore it’s not environmentally sound to eat meat (they say,tucking into their palm oil whatever..). Water, in this part of the world, is in plentiful supply.. and we live in one of the rainiest places in [...]
november
Posted in general wittering, self-sufficiency, vegetables on 2 November 2009 | 3 Comments »
It just seemed to sneak up on us – I suppose the good weather making us forget it was autumn, then suddenly it’s November. And blustery and raining.
I’ve stripped the last of the tomato plants, and picked my last tomatoes – a few more batches of roasted tomato sauce for the freezer, and some jars [...]
mackerel sky
Posted in general wittering, self-sufficiency, smallholding on 29 October 2009 | 2 Comments »
It’s been unseasonably warm lately – I’ve been doing loads of drying laundry outside – and am constantly surprised by how early it gets dark – as it does not fit with the weather.
I’ve been out cutting up logs today; a slow are arduous process with a bowsaw, but think of the money we save on [...]
clocks change
Posted in general wittering, self-sufficiency, smallholding on 25 October 2009 | 3 Comments »
And I am disoriented once again. I must be getting older…
Actually woke refreshed and raring to go.. which was unusual, and probably indicative that I mostly don’t get enough sleep – an extra hour went down well. But of course all things outside went on at the normal times, and the animals looked askance at [...]