A blog about creating a homestead with gardening and home crafts.
Time to read 10 mins I review some commonly found peat-free multi-purpose composts and give you the scoop on some other peat/free alternatives below. What is Peat? Peat is an unsustainable growing medium that has provided the base of commercially supplied garden composts (soil) in the UK for decades. It is mostly made up of... Continue Reading →
In our current house, I only started the compost heap about a year ago but it's coming along. Nothing usable just yet, but it's breaking down nicely with a combination of green and brown organic matter from the house and garden. Worms tend to find their way to the compost if it is open-bottomed heap... Continue Reading →
As we recognize our responsibility to consume more responsibly, I reflect on what role one of my favourite crafts, knitting, has in the sustainability conversation. Knitting as Slow Fashion By its nature, knitting is a slow process. For those who indulge, it is a long, enjoyable way to make clothes, accessories and gifts for ourselves... Continue Reading →
Wasabi is a member of the Brassicaceae family and it is very similar to horseradish. It grows from a rhizome in the earth similar to ginger or turmeric and is commonly eaten and grown in the wetlands of Japan.
Since buying organic fruit and vegetables is way more expensive than the regular range, I thought it would be interesting to actually compare the cost to see if it really works out cheaper to grow your own organic produce. I decided to make the comparison between the humble cucumber and tomato.
The veg bed hasn't been touched since my last harvesting of mange tout and French beans in November. With No Dig, there isn't much to do until the beds are ready to receive their first seeds and seedlings, but feels good to make a start.
Blocking is the penultimate step in garment knitting. (The last step is usually weaving in ends.) Blocking is the act of submerging a knitted garment in water or steaming it, to get the required form of the garment and to "relax" the stitches in order to get the best fit possible. This helps the garment mesh together to construct cohesive fabric. It is like a spa treatment for your hand knits.
Vanilla is an expensive commodity because since there are no natural insect pollinators like the Melipona Bee in other places, vanilla flowers have to be hand pollinated, a very delicate process, in order for each flower to produce any seed pods...
If you are thinking about purchasing your own greenhouse, there are many on the market and one of the biggest questions is, what material of greenhouse to go for? I have been fortunate enough to have experience of both so I thought it would be cool to weigh up and compare the two. Both certainly have their pros and cons and what I have to share may help with what is a relatively costly purchase.
Time to read 7 minutes Once you have taken the time to sow, grow and harvest your own vegetables, it's equally important to know how to conserve and store your produce so you enjoy your harvests well into the winter months. Here are a few tried and tested ways I have stored some of the... Continue Reading →
All Homesteading 