Archive for May, 2010

When slugs attack

May 6, 2010 at 6:36 pm · Filed under Green Stuff ·Tagged , , , , , , ,

Ack! Yet again those slippery slugs have managed to get at our beans!  Here’s a list of six things you can do to combat slugs:

  1. wait till dark and go hunting with a torch
  2. run copper tape round the base of plants – no point nailing them to wooden boards as they can travel through the soil
  3. put porridge down around vulnerable plants – slug love it and it dries them out
  4. beer in jam jars (just make them higher than the surrounding ground, slugs get in, but beetles don’t fall in) suckers them in to drown drunk
  5. slug pellets – least liked, but best to put them under logs etc
  6. nematodes – small worm like creatures that squirm up slugs back passages and eat them from the inside out.  Take that slugs!

Pictures from left: First pic – of bean growing through the side of paper pot, 2nd pic slug destroyed bean plants, 3rd pic fresh asparagus! mmm tasty… 4th pic latest view of the smelly fertiliser decomposing!

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Voting

May 6, 2010 at 6:04 pm · Filed under Green Stuff

So who did you  vote for?  Having closely followed the debate between the three main parties, I decided I didn’t want any of them.  I did like the pirate party, thought they had some good ideas especially relating to the latest labour blunder – that was the icing on the cake which made me switch sides off labour, the ID cards scandal being the other privacy issue I really just don’t get.

I was underwhelmed by the amount of information in the press regarding the green party – a shame really because they’ve got some good ideas but to be honest I’d prefer some green policies in their manifesto – it’s quite a bit of greenwash really… and I’m bitter about the benefits people get, because I work and my previous property barely anyone did.  One such chap got a brand new car every three years, a flat (which was then renovated to similar standards which cost me three grand) and he also got an updated boiler – whereas I’m still stuck with my old boiler.  He winged when his benefits were cut to push him back into full time work because it wasn’t worth it! Grr.

Anyway, best of luck for whomever you vote for, just don’t vote BNP.

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Featured: Self Watering Mini Garden

May 3, 2010 at 8:50 pm · Filed under Instructables

If you’re going away this summer and want things in pots to still be alive, you can take inspiration from RomanH‘s instructable on a Self Watering Mini Garden.  There’s plenty of self watering pots so the principle is pretty similar.  The only thing you need to bear in mind is that many plastic boxes will not be UV resistant and become brittle over time.

Click HERE to see the instructable

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Rhubarb and Apple Chutney

May 3, 2010 at 8:33 pm · Filed under Recipes ·Tagged , , , ,

I’m sorry, I’m about to to mention the ‘C’ word even though we’re in May – it’s time to think of CHRISTMAS (you were thinking Chutney was going to be it didn’t you…)

The recipe is “Christmas Spiced Apple & Rhubarb Chutney”, and the current batch (and infact all batches as I’m not a big chutney fan) were made by my wife.  It’ll be ready just in time for Christmas as chutney takes a while to mature.

Ingredients:

1.5KG Rhubarb
500g onions
500g red eating apples
1.5 cups sultanas
1KG soft brown sugar
1.25L apple cider vinegar
4tsp salt
1tsp cayenne pepper
1tsp ground cloves
1tsp ground cinnamon
2tsp ground ginger

Instructions:

Peel & thinly slice the onions, core but don’t peel the apples but thinly slice them.  Cut the rhubarb into chunks (1-2″).

Put it all into a stainless steel or enamel pot and bring it up to the simmer.  Simmer for two hours, stirring every 15 minutes as it reduces it gets thicker.

Wash and sterlise the jars & lids.  Pour the chutney into a warm jar & place lids on straight away.  Leave to cool.

The original recipe was taken & adapted from a member (frizz1974 originally taken and adapted from a link from Minerva) of the Jamie Oliver website.  Enjoy

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Allotment update!

May 3, 2010 at 8:11 pm · Filed under Green Stuff ·Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,

My second trip to the allotment this year (though my wife has been down many more times than me!)

First pic is the chili and pepper plants I’ve planted up from reduced price plug packs.  Second pic is the current herb and salad bed.  The third bed is the remains of the leeks from last year as well as the new brussel sprout plants.  4th is the onion bed planted in september/october time.

The fifth pic is the rhubarb bed.  You’d probably not realise that we’ve actually had about 18-19KG of rhubarb from here.  Scary stuff, that’s a lot of rhubarb to chomp through.  My wife spent Saturday night skinning the rhubarb and chopping it into 1-2″ chunks which is now in the freezer.  Freezing is one way to deal with the glut, but there are others!

Sixth pic is our fruit bed.  My wife made a good decision which was to put the old walk in greenhouse over the fruit bed.  We can now stretch netting over it to make a handy moveable cage.  The strawberries have been moved from the old bed which was over run with couch grass and the rest had been relocated from the garden path.

7 & 8 are a view from the bottom of the plot, and nine are our new purple planting brocolli

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Selsey herb and spice co, ginger beer plant

May 2, 2010 at 7:35 pm · Filed under Green Stuff

I’ve had an awful lot of search requests for the selsey herb and spice co – I assume specifically relating to their ginger beer product.

It is my opinion that it is unlikely to be a true ginger beer plant as it seems to be a product offered by a supplier to other businesses as a traditional ye old English product.  Since it’s not a great idea to leave a ginger beer plant wrapped up in plastic or unrefrigerated, it’s likely to be just plain old yeast.

There’s nothing wrong with all these yeast recipes, just be aware that it’s not a true ginger beer plant.  A real ginger beer plant gives a much more complex flavour, but the yeast varieties tend to be sharper (a bit like the commercial varieties you can get in store)

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Ornamental Paving Slabs

May 2, 2010 at 7:15 pm · Filed under Instructables

There’s so many boring paving slabs out there and I thought I’d have a go making my own for my allotment.

This particular slab is actually for aesthetics only,  You can making this for stepping on, you just need to apply a couple of inches more thickness than I did and add a bit of chicken wire.

Click HERE to see the instructable

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Easy water strawberry planter instructable

May 2, 2010 at 7:12 pm · Filed under Instructables

We English love our strawberries and cream…

Strawberries are incredibly easy to grow and are technically not berries.

The summer is coming and now is the time to plant them! (Yes now!)

Strawberry planters are great for several reasons – fruit is easier to see and pick – a big boon for the aged whom can’t bend down and can be placed in easily accessible level surfaces like patios.  They’re great space savers as you’re growing up not down.  Once established, they’re quite pretty too with a tumble down effect of fruit pouring down the sides.  You can also move them about easily, so if a hard frost is due, you can move them into the greenhouse over the winter season.

In the UK you can buy strawberry planters but most people have a hard time with them because they don’t set them up right to begin with and they’re a real pain to water.

This instructable shows you one of the best ways to setup a strawberry planter to make feeding and watering a doddle!

Click HERE to see the instructable

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Zeer – or pot in pot refrigerator instructable

May 2, 2010 at 7:06 pm · Filed under Instructables

It’s getting hotter every day and your electricity bills are not environmentally friendly.

This credit crunching fridge is a sure way to be sure your beverages will stay chilled in the hottest of heats.  It’s much greener than your average electrical fridge and will work anywhere where there isn’t a lot of humidity.

The pot in pot refrigerator or Zeer was made by Professor Mohammed Bah Abba, though there’s evidence it was in use in early Egypt.  It works on the principle of evaporative cooling.

Click HERE to see the instructable

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Nettle Fertiliser Instructable

May 2, 2010 at 6:58 pm · Filed under Instructables

Fertiliser isn’t cheap – neither is organic fertiliser.  I’m also a cheap skate and seeing as during the growing season you need heaps of fertiliser for fabulous veg, here’s a guide to making your own.

Click HERE to see the instructable

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