Selfsufficientish.com

I was dreading making the funeral arrangements when she became ill but when I saw that she had specified a natural burial it became a little project to take my mind off of things while she was in hospice. I had no idea natural burials existed and learned all about them. And I'm sure you can imagine ...

I've just had to arrange a green funeral and a natural burial for my wife who sadly passed away earlier this month. Its actually very interesting process. You need to be on-the-ball and ready to pounce with detailed instructions to give to the hospice and undertaker immediately upon death. If you do...

There are few things greener than a traditional village fete. Local life, local produce, connecting with your local community etc etc. Is it just me or are these going by the wayside? That said, the big music festivals can be green via education. Who here hasn't signed a petition at a festival? Or h...

I've been going back and forth as to whether or not to plant potatoes in my allotment this year. Last year, I dabbled a little and got a few wonderfully tasting potatoes. But this year, the local gardening centres are out of seed potatoes so I'd have to spend about £10 to order some oneline and get...

I make this all the time. It tastes just like the stuff you get from a Chinese restaurant. You can subsitute chicken breast for the tofu. The chili garlic paste and brown bean paste can be found in Chinese markets or online. They really make the flavour authentic. Sichuan Kung Pao ‘Chicken' 12-14 ...

Your pragmatic approach sounds like a great idea but I wanted to alert you to another idea to ponder. One of the guys in my allotment created a water-butt feeder into raised beds. He put a large water butt propped up at the highest point of his allotment with a series of flexible tubing leading from...

I found myself saving loads of money as a result of getting a box scheme when I lived in the city. Just the fact of having food delivered to my door meant I went to the supermarket much, much less. And as we all know, the undisciplined shopper can wind up spending far too much on impulse buys every ...

A bit more about peat: There is now a fully fledged anti-peat lobby which has chosen to use all sorts of rather underhand propaganda to further its aims. Very few of its arguments stand up to scrutiny. The main claim leveled is that peat is a 'non-renewable' like oil. This is simply not true. If car...

You can do it with "natural" soil too - well, with lots of your own compost, of course. No need to buy vermiculite, and definitely no need to buy peat, and destroy the last few peat bogs we have! Sustainable peat is available. Also, for the SFG method, one buys peat once and never again. ...

I have the great good fortune to live in the midst of the country - this afternoon, I walked the dogs through the local fields, teeming with sheep with lambs at foot, young bullocks, pheasants, rabbits.......all was well with the world........what a sad, bleak place the countryside would be if the ...

I'd rather buy a pair of leather shoes that are going to give and fit and last years than a pair of pleather ones that are not oging to wear the same. I buy a certain type of boot, and a pair can last me anywhere from 2 years to 6 years, depending on how often i wear them. I have a pair that are 2 ...

I agree it is a minefield, but it certainly is worth exploring. ... As far as the vegans/veggies being green or not, try using this calculator once as you eat now, record the score, and then do it again but check the 'vegan' option and then compare scores. http://www.carbonindependent.org/ Oh I agr...

Last time I looked there were 2 allotment plots available in Conwy. Its only a two plot mini-allotment. The only issues are that they are smack bang in the middle of a slight dodgy council estate and get this: there is no water at the plot at all. You'd have to cart it all in yourself. Why the counc...

Looks like we can learn a lot from China. They are building Dongtan, a completely self sufficent city with zero greenhouse emission public transport and generating their own power and water.

http://www.arup.com/arup/newsitem.cfm?pageid=7009

I have been doing SFG in my allotment for a couple of years now. I love it. We've converted our whole allotment to boxes now. I don't have the new book though. What's changed from the old method?