Reading a book on WW2, called "Civilians at War". A reporter goes along to interview a "poor" road sweeper in rural Kent who is living on a wage of £2.16/- a week, when the average wage was about £7. They felt sorry for this poor man and expected something out of Dickens. However, this is what they found:
"When we got there we found a well-kept cottage with a garden big enough to contain hens, a goat, two pigs, and enough vegetables to feed a platoon. Fruit trees, a huge pile of logs, 3 little girls and their apple cheeked mother busy baking bread. When we got back to the office, the Pictures Editor said if anybody would take on his job, he wanted to go and be a rural road sweeper in Kent."
This is how I want to be! But I dare say things grow a lot easier in Kent than they do up here...
Decaff wrote:With you on the garlic smell Deeps, I stank the place out, including the stairwells for a few days Finally got rid of the smell by burning a cedar scented candle. Next time I do garlic I will light the candle at the same time! I have a sage one which is rather strong, but better than garlic dehydrating I don't mind the onions, they get blanched first to open up the pores so to speak so they rehydrate properly and the smell is much reduced by doing this. Still got half a jar left of the garlic I did way back in the beginning if the year and I use it a lot!
I blanch onions and carrots, with the carrots it seems to help them not go black round the edges as well as quicker dehydrating times. I've never thought about countering the smells with anything, after early plays with it, I realised that removing it to the garage made my life a lot easier. I've not been doing anything to exotic on the dehydrator, I've seen people doing bolognese and stuff to make home made MRE's but it all looks a bit....unnecessary, certainly for me. I tend to do batches of fruit or veg although I've done jerky which worked well. Maybe one day I'll expand my dehydrating horizons.
diamond lil wrote:Reading a book on WW2, called "Civilians at War". A reporter goes along to interview a "poor" road sweeper in rural Kent who is living on a wage of £2.16/- a week, when the average wage was about £7. They felt sorry for this poor man and expected something out of Dickens. However, this is what they found:
"When we got there we found a well-kept cottage with a garden big enough to contain hens, a goat, two pigs, and enough vegetables to feed a platoon. Fruit trees, a huge pile of logs, 3 little girls and their apple cheeked mother busy baking bread. When we got back to the office, the Pictures Editor said if anybody would take on his job, he wanted to go and be a rural road sweeper in Kent."
This is how I want to be! But I dare say things grow a lot easier in Kent than they do up here...
Thats why Kent is called the Garden of England
“A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves.” ― Edward R. Murrow
"Remember Politicians are like babies diapers they both need changing often for the very same reason" - Mark Twain
If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal.
I had plans to start a small single IBC project but these have been put on hold pending our house move. If/when we move, I'm keen to get a small system going and then work out how much we would need to upscale in order to make a reasonable dent in our food requirements. I'm set on using trout as the fish species and I'm keen to see if I can grow root vegetables, namely spuds.
I'm not expecting much produce from a single IBC but from there I can work out how large a project has to be in order to provide two to three meals per week. That would be my ultimate goal.
I remember watching a family on Doomsday Preppers that half drained their swimming pool using the deep end for Tilapu fish and the shallow end for green produce. They had a poly-tunnel over the entire pool and I seem to remember they were feeding a family of four. If anyone remembers this episode and can point me towards it on youtube, I'd be grateful. I can't seem to find it.
Briggs 2.0 wrote:Is anyone on the forum using aquaponics?
I had plans to start a small single IBC project but these have been put on hold pending our house move. If/when we move, I'm keen to get a small system going and then work out how much we would need to upscale in order to make a sizeable dent in our food requirements. I'm set on using trout as the fish species and I'm keen to see if I can grow root vegetables, namely spuds.
It's something I want to dabble in too, Briggsy. I have a small off grid system in mind to try next year at the allotment mine will utilise a couple of blue barrels I have kicking about and I'm thinking of crayfish as the living part(I can catch them in the river) I like the idea of Trout as well.
Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain~anon
Briggs 2.0 wrote:Is anyone on the forum using aquaponics?
I had plans to start a small single IBC project but these have been put on hold pending our house move. If/when we move, I'm keen to get a small system going and then work out how much we would need to upscale in order to make a sizeable dent in our food requirements. I'm set on using trout as the fish species and I'm keen to see if I can grow root vegetables, namely spuds.
It's something I want to dabble in too, Briggsy. I have a small off grid system in mind to try next year at the allotment mine will utilise a couple of blue barrels I have kicking about and I'm thinking of crayfish as the living part(I can catch them in the river) I like the idea of Trout as well.
I'm toying with the idea of an IBC with the top third cut off and flipped over to give 600 litres for the fish and a square metre of growing medium. Or keep the IBC intact and make a suitable growing bed from barrels or water butts cut in half. We seem to be on the same page - crayfish and trout can go all year round requiring no temperature controls. The only thing stopping me at present is the house move. Mrs B is worried IBCs full of fish will deter potential punters plus of course, I've then got to factor in moving the fish. Although, I could eat them I suppose....
Yup, I don't know about you, but this project has to be free, or as cheap as possible as the whole point of the exercise is to reduce our food bill and be more self reliant.
Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain~anon
Brambles wrote:Yup, I don't know about you, but this project has to be free, or as cheap as possible as the whole point of the exercise is to reduce our food bill and be more self reliant.
Ditto. On a shoestring to see if it's reliable and produces enough to warrant it. The harvest show on the BBC featured a large set up and the farmer was quoting 30% faster growth from his crops. No chemicals, just nature. My only concern is the initial set up to get the water cycle rate correct for the fish and the plants to flourish.
Finally got rid of the smell by burning a cedar scented candle. Next time I do garlic I will light the candle at the same time! I have a sage one which is rather strong, but better than garlic dehydrating
I don't mind the onions, they get blanched first to open up the pores so to speak so they rehydrate properly and the smell is much reduced by doing this. Still got half a jar left of the garlic I did way back in the beginning if the year and I use it a lot!
