I’m already spending regular time now in the garden whenever I can getting rid of the dense web [...]]]> I intend to spend much more time in the garden than I did last year (I blame endless unpacking and house sorting on that) and aim to get a higher vegetable yield this year (weather permitting!).

I’m already spending regular time now in the garden whenever I can getting rid of the dense web of nettle roots, liberally spreading well rotted horse manure, fresh chicken manure and straw from their housing and home made compost around and mulching heavily with cardboard to reduce the number of weeds. My aim is to spend about an hour each afternoon outside after the day’s indoor jobs have been done.

We’re planning to create small designated raised beds for growing and mulched pathways for walking on all as near to the house as possible recognising that the further away the growing areas are from where we naturally spend time (near the washing line, the large pond, the workshop) the less likely we are to notice when plants need weeding, harvesting or watering.

Runner Bean seeds

Most of my seeds came again from the Real Seed Company who are so lovely and give explicit instructions on how to carry out one’s own seed saving.

They say on their website ‘WE DO NOT SUPPLY HYBRID SEED OR GM SEED,
We only supply Real, Open Pollinated seed. Here’s why:
Real Seed breeds true, so you can save your own seed.
But that’s not the only reason . . . real vegetable seed is better:

You will be told that these new leeks are ‘more uniform’, ‘straighter’ and so on. But what about flavour and adaptability? People seem to forget that we want to eat & enjoy these things – food is not just a commodity!

For all those local to us here this is reposted from the Cwm Harry Community Garden Blog which our permaculture tutor Steve Jones is involved with:

There is a great UK network: Seedy Sunday that encourages gardeners and growers to save seed and to swap them, and it is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. Of course it doesn’t have to be a Sunday, and we are holding the first Newtown community seed swap event on a Saturday, 19th Feb, as Cwm Harry Land Trust, from 10.30 am – 3.00 pm.

For all sorts of reasons SELLING saved seed is against the law, but swapping saved seed is encouraged, and even if you have none to swap yourself, you can always make a small donation, or agree to volunteer on our garden project in return for any you do take.

There is a UK national Heritage Seed Library, managed by Garden Organic which exists to conserve rare varieties of vegetables, but it is really important that all gardeners get involved in saving at least some of their own seed.

Why save seed? Lot of reasons really, here are a few good ones..

Saving money is an obvious reason – its all FREE!
Promoting biodiversity and local strains of seed
Conserving older varieties
Building links between local growers in the area
Building local food security
This informal event is free to enter, (donations accepted but not expected), we will be offering some talks on seed saving and growing techniques and offering tours of our community garden. There is lots to know about seed saving, some plants are really easy to save seed from and grow on the next year, whereas others need some specialist skill or attention for success.

If you would like to help organise or contribute to this event in any way please get in touch. Otherwise, just come along on the day, no need to book!

[NB: Look out for a local seed swap event near to you in the coming weeks prior to the beginning of the busy spring planting time. If you can't find one perhaps organise one yourself...]

I’ve been given two great thrifty money saving Christmas ideas from the wonderful newsletter produced by Sue at www.nomoreclutter.co.uk

1. My favourite idea is to use a pretty basket and pile it high with newish things you have around the house and can easily can say goodbye [...]]]>

Free gifts in a pretty Christmas basket

I’ve been given two great thrifty money saving Christmas ideas from the wonderful newsletter produced by Sue at www.nomoreclutter.co.uk

1. My favourite idea is to use a pretty basket and pile it high with newish things you have around the house and can easily can say goodbye to (eg. paperbacks, unopened makeup, booze, newish DVDs, computer games, toys, pretty jewelry, scarves etc) perhaps tying a bit of pretty ribbon around each thing. When a Christmas guest arrives you are able to invite them to chose a gift for themselves from the selections. Apparently the official name for this is re-gifting. I love it.

2. Like many people who find it hard to let go of stuffI have a ‘present box’ which always seems to be full as I buy little bits and pieces throughout the year from charity shops or special offers and also add to it the things we are given but are unlikely to use. This year I shall attempt to empty the box by giving the things as presents or by adding to the open re-gifting basket. Some of the things in my present box have moved house with me once already and have just been packed again for our next house move this week. I’ll be darned if I’m moving any of those same treasures a third time when we move house again!

3. Another thrifty idea for gifts came to me in our beloved local library this afternoon when the children and I were looking through the Usbourne Treasury of Christmas. It has recipes for heart shaped peppermint creams (which are even easier to make than my ever popular playdough recipe). I’m not sure who will get the most joy – the kids while making them or their grandma when receiving them and eating them… I shall be making the smallest token nods towards christmas present making afew jars of pink grapefruit curd (like lemon curd only more original and prettier in colour) for our extended family members.

Peppermint Creams Recipe

Ingredients:
White from one large egg or two small eggs
8 oz icing sugar (one cup of confectioners’ sugar or frosting if you live in the US)
Small amount of peppermint essence
Food coloring (optional)

Beat the egg white in a bowl with a fork and sieve (sift) in 6oz of icing sugar (frosting). Add pink, green or blue food colouring (a very steady, adult hand is required for this, and the tiniest sprinkle of food coloring will do the job). Mix well with a wooden spoon and then sieve in more icing sugar, a little at a time, until you have made a stiff paste. Shake a little icing sugar on the work surface and empty the paste onto this.

Add 3 – 4 drops of peppermint essence and gently knead until you have a smooth paste. Have a taste of a small piece and if the flavour is not strong enough, add a few more drops of peppermint essence.

Sprinkle icing sugar over a rolling pin to prevent sticking, and roll the paste to a quarter of an inch (0.5cm) thick. Cut out individual peppermint creams with a star, circle or heart shaped cutter, or, if pressed for time, cut out small squares with a knife.

Cover a plate with non-stick parchment or greaseproof paper and place the peppermint creams on the paper. Cover with a clean tea towel and leave overnight in a cool place (but not the fridge). Store in an airtight tin or jar.

A number of beautiful looking catalogues regularly come through the post addressed to me. I usually open them, flick through and then [...]]]> It must be human nature to want to acquire things. I used to love shopping and spending. These days I’m always trying to think of more ways to keep spending to a minimum.

A number of beautiful looking catalogues regularly come through the post addressed to me. I usually open them, flick through and then throw them in the recycling bin. I used to keep them and pour over them and use them to buy presents for Christmas or birthdays so I had improved. Today I decided to put a stop to temptation and to ask the companies wasting their catalogues on me by phoning up to ask to be removed from their mailing list. It is so much easier to not spend money on things you don’t actually need if you don’t see them.

Admitedly the Lakeland catalogue does look extremely enticing with its pretty spotted bowl full of salad on the front and I know it does have lovely things in it but I already have a huge number of nice things. I can live without whatever they are trying to sell me. They are trying to make money and that’s why they’ve produced a catalogue and sent it my way.

http://timesbusiness.typepad.com/money_weblog/2008/02/the-thrifty-fif.html

I’m already doing some of them (cooking in bulk, using leftovers, magazine swapping with a friend each month, using a piggy bank for all my loose little bits of change, reusing pots and bread bags for [...]]]> Here’s a fantastic list of easy ways to save money from The Times Online. Some really good ideas.

http://timesbusiness.typepad.com/money_weblog/2008/02/the-thrifty-fif.html

I’m already doing some of them (cooking in bulk, using leftovers, magazine swapping with a friend each month, using a piggy bank for all my loose little bits of change, reusing pots and bread bags for storing sandwiches and leftovers in, using pan lids to keep in extra heat and turning off the hob a few minutes before the food is eaten) but was unaware of several choice gems including:

When taking your car for an MOT use a local council test centre rather than a private garage. The council centres do not offer repairs and therefore have no vested interest in failing your motor. Contact your local council for details of your nearest centre.

Check whether it’s cheaper to buy medicine over the counter rather than putting in a prescription. Many commonly prescribed medications, including painkillers, allergy tablets and dermatology creams, are also available over the counter without prescription. Often it’s much cheaper just to buy them this way, rather than paying the £6.85 flat prescription charge.

If you do buy fresh herbs and find it hard to get through a whole bunch, instead of throwing what’s left away make frozen stock cubes. Finely chop the herbs, put them in an ice cube tray and cover with oil. Put the tray in the freezer. When frozen, pop out the cubes and place them in a freezer bag for easier storage. Next time you need herbs for soups; pastas, etc. add a cube to your recipe and warm.

Being thrifty and frugal is definitely becoming strangely fashionable. Everyone’s talking about it, only a few are doing it…

A brief look at our fixed monthly outgoings identified our rent, [...]]]> Ever since we noticed our monthly food bills rising without good reason, since we heard more and more about the so-called ‘credit crunch’ and the predicted downturn in the economy, we started thinking seriously about what options we had to make ourselves recession proof.

A brief look at our fixed monthly outgoings identified our rent, food, fuel, insurance premiums and phone bills as our biggest expenditure areas.

An extremely quick win was to have a short and pleasant chat with nice customer service people at our respective mobile phone providers to agree new (and lower) rates for fixed annual contracts (including a free brand new phone each despite my telling them that neither of us needed new handsets).

This is great news as it means a net monthly reduction of about £70 between us plus two swanky new Nokia handsets which we will immediately try to sell on eBay (it worked last time) without even taking them out of the boxes.

Put in real terms the results of these two short phone calls will cause us no hardship (we will still be able to make phone calls and send sms messages which are the only two functions we use on our phones despite them being apparently capabable of so much more) and will save us the equivalent of the approximate cost of twenty new pairs of jeans, ten pairs of good shoes, about forty take away meals, two thirds of a months rent or one week in the sun for the whole family.

Tremendous.