Search found 1640 matches

by The Riff-Raff Element
Fri Jul 19, 2013 5:21 am
Forum: Eco Products and Innovations
Topic: Straw bale toilet
Replies: 6
Views: 19196

Re: Straw bale toilet

Ammonia is very pungent, though (contrary to popular belief) not actually that toxic. You'd need to vent at the very least, but what you would end up with would be ideal for cultivating mushrooms. As someone has already said, wood shaving are the normal substrate for dry toilets - they don't contain...
by The Riff-Raff Element
Thu Jul 11, 2013 7:06 pm
Forum: The ish Local - (Chat)
Topic: Attitudes towards thriftiness
Replies: 17
Views: 17210

Re: Attitudes towards thriftiness

I admit to pleasure in thrift. Small things like using the delay setting on the dishwasher or washing machine to take advantage of overnight tariffs which must save us about €20 per year, but it feels right. I am genuinely concerned that modern economies appear to be based on practices that are comp...
by The Riff-Raff Element
Thu Jul 11, 2013 5:10 am
Forum: The ish Local - (Chat)
Topic: Attitudes towards thriftiness
Replies: 17
Views: 17210

Re: Attitudes towards thriftiness

Modern robber baron capitalism depends on ever-increasing consumption, so anyone adopting a thrifty approach is something of an enemy. Hence the promulgation of the attitude that thrift is somehow bad. If everyone in the West stuck to buying things that they truly needed and avoided unnecessary purc...
by The Riff-Raff Element
Wed Jul 10, 2013 6:01 am
Forum: The ish Local - (Chat)
Topic: Bloody, Bloody, Weather
Replies: 54
Views: 33734

Re: Bloody, Bloody, Weather

Bulworthyproject wrote:Hot, Hot, Hot
Barbecue Weather
If only we had a supply of charcoal...
by The Riff-Raff Element
Tue Jul 09, 2013 5:32 am
Forum: What's in the pot? Recipes and anything about Cooking
Topic: Last man standing
Replies: 5
Views: 7779

Re: Last man standing

White currant jelly. One of the finest preserves there is. I wish I could grow white currant, but the heat here kills them - I've tried more than once.
by The Riff-Raff Element
Thu Jul 04, 2013 7:02 am
Forum: Allotments, Veg Patches and Container Gardening
Topic: Rotating Grain
Replies: 9
Views: 7398

Re: Rotating Grain

You could grow it as green manure, but I think it would be more use grown for a whole season. There's no reason a fourth course couldn't follow the maize. Around here, some of the more forward thinking farmers divide their land into two halves, plant one half with alfalfa for three or four years and...
by The Riff-Raff Element
Wed Jul 03, 2013 5:21 am
Forum: Allotments, Veg Patches and Container Gardening
Topic: Rotating Grain
Replies: 9
Views: 7398

Re: Rotating Grain

Oats can be under sown with clover once the plants are away, but you'd be too late for that now. If you have access to plentiful manure , you could follow oats with winter wheat, then sow a green manure with a view to sowing maize or sunflowers in the third year. Maize and sunflowers can be interpla...
by The Riff-Raff Element
Thu Jun 27, 2013 5:14 am
Forum: Allotments, Veg Patches and Container Gardening
Topic: Weeds, weeds and more weeds. Help!
Replies: 56
Views: 48507

Re: Weeds, weeds and more weeds. Help!

The Vendée - where we live in France - has recently forbidden the use of all weed killers on verges and pavements. There is concern that excessive amounts are being washed into water courses via the gutters by the rain. This has been met by some howls of protest that there is no scientific evidence ...
by The Riff-Raff Element
Wed Jun 26, 2013 5:19 am
Forum: Welcome New People Say Hello
Topic: potatoes
Replies: 9
Views: 7650

Re: potatoes

I think a licence should be required for a cat. Just like shotguns, you should have to demonstrate a need for owning one. I can see a place for the farm cat that keeps rodents under control, but otherwise, what are they for? They decimate the wild bird population and enrage neighbours when they crap...
by The Riff-Raff Element
Mon Jun 24, 2013 5:45 am
Forum: The ish Local - (Chat)
Topic: Bloody, Bloody, Weather
Replies: 54
Views: 33734

Re: Bloody, Bloody, Weather

Sun forecast for the foreseeable. Thank God! I have done what I can to repair my battered tomato patch and am now living in hope of getting at least something from it.
by The Riff-Raff Element
Mon Jun 24, 2013 5:41 am
Forum: Home Brew and other Country Skills
Topic: Soft Salami
Replies: 2
Views: 3771

Re: Soft Salami

I don't let my chorizo (salami by another name, really) get too hard. Provided that the mould covering has no signs of black in it (and if it has then you have got problems) you're probably OK. Pig slaughtering here traditionally takes place in late autumn to allow for a cool curing - I'm surprised ...
by The Riff-Raff Element
Fri Jun 21, 2013 5:28 am
Forum: Allotments, Veg Patches and Container Gardening
Topic: Weeds, weeds and more weeds. Help!
Replies: 56
Views: 48507

Re: Weeds, weeds and more weeds. Help!

Some would say that if glyphosphate is the best of the bunch all the rest must be really bad They are in my book! :lol: The ideas in that article have been around for a while. The point is that glyphosphate employed correctly should never enter the human (or animal) food chain: surplus on the soil ...
by The Riff-Raff Element
Fri Jun 21, 2013 5:13 am
Forum: How do I??
Topic: Blogging and money
Replies: 5
Views: 8732

Re: Blogging and money

I have no idea how anyone makes money from blogging. I have been paid for writing, but that is entirely different. I always thought that any cash came from people clicking on the ads and so was dependent on the traffic. As far as the tax is concerned, obviously you would have to declare any money ea...
by The Riff-Raff Element
Tue Jun 18, 2013 11:17 am
Forum: The ish Local - (Chat)
Topic: Bloody, Bloody, Weather
Replies: 54
Views: 33734

Re: Bloody, Bloody, Weather

So sorry to hear of the devastation where you are Jon, it is so hard when this is what you rely on for your livelihood, desk jockeys can never understand the problems facing people in the countryside. It's worse for the growers, true enough. But it's not great running a tourist business in an area ...
by The Riff-Raff Element
Tue Jun 18, 2013 5:39 am
Forum: Herbs and Vegetables
Topic: Tea
Replies: 2
Views: 4299

Re: Tea

I believe that the world's most northerly tea "plantation" is in Yorkshire and is run with considerable pride by the bods who make Yorkshire Tea. You might have a go at contacting them for some tips (PG).