Selfsufficientish.com

Hello dear fellow Selfsufficientish friends! Anyone in the Bristol area who would like to meet, this week (end April, early May)? Tea is my tipple. It has been a long journey down from Orkney , but worth it. I do find it very hard to be away from Rachel and Gilly (one year old) but I guess it is par...

Hi Al, here is a radio clip of me on the radio last night, talking about the Power Off weekend: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/mainframe.shtml?http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/scotland_aod.shtml?scotland/orkney_mon 28.5 minutes in, if you want to listen to local radio. :) Please sign up for the event ...

Hello there! We are trying an experiment and an adventure, to spend a weekend without any electricity, seeing how we can adapt and find creative solutions, and enjoy ourselves, so that we know how to live should anything go wrong in the future. If you would like to know more about this, and hopefull...

Hi - can anyone tell me how and where to get hold of the cheapest ingredients for soap making? - lye, or other such basic components. Any tips on how to make lye, or how to make soaps from scratch. We are looking at using olive oil and lye but I was kind of hoping to find some industrial soap concen...

I hope the chef is actually good at cooking - the word 'celebrity' is so tarnished and degraded nowadays, it means nothing.

Bon appetit

Welcome from Scotland

My uncle lives in Iowa and my wife is from CT and DC.

Best wishes to you and the bunnies.

If you like these ideas, have a look at this for another version:

http://www.kellykettle.com/

I use one - it is fast but limited in its use. A good toy. And fast.

Time to dig this one up!

The thinking now is to provide the power for a number of machines - replacing the electric motor - washing machines, flour mills, and so on.

I will revisit the sites you guys suggested. Thanks again.

Nice to know - thanks.

Thanks for this.

Any idea what is the situation in Scotland?

I'm a fan of Transition Towns so it is good to be in contact with you.

All the best!

Quick and easy cooking that uses little gas and utilises the instant cooking of a hob, should include steaming and stir-fries - so lots of tasty vegetables. I do flat breads in a pan, so a variation on the pancake theme. And popcorn is easy. Also, if you have not got one, I recommend a pressure cook...

Hi there - I know the feeling :) How about trying a real fire, now and then (when safe)? I find nothing beats the taste of food grilled over flame or embers, you can roast in a pit, or better still get yourself a Dutch Oven, and then bake bread etc. Even a barbeque would lift your culinary creativit...

Hello I am doing something similar here in Orkney, north Scotland. If you saw my post on the How do I get Motivated? forum, yesterday, you will know that I am a member of Couchsurfing and this has the potential to be used for the sort of working holiday you suggest. We have had people here digging t...

OK - I got to ask, please how do I go about eating raw nettles, without problems? Living inthe far north of Scotland there is no way I'm coming down to Devon or anyway south of Inverness, until the economy picks up. But this sort of gimmick seems right up my track. A web link or tips would be great....

Hi - in addition to the plants mentioned above, I really recommend Dulse - but to get it you need to get wet - either snorkle or go at lowest Spring tide - red weed often found growing on the Kelp. Worth it. Introduce these plants gradually into your diet - too much of a good thing can leave you fee...