Selfsufficientish.com

Hi-- I'm here in North Carolina, US, and there are TONS of these blueing boletes growing all over the yard after a big rain. I've read differing accounts online of whether they're edible, varying from "choice!" to "never eat anything that turns blue!" Any firsthand experience/ins...

I might suggest using a typical ratio of green/brown in your ericaceous compost bin, but use only pine or fir needles for the brown, plus maybe some peat just to get you started. Maybe it would serve you well to water your boggy spot with a teaspoon or two of vinegar per gallon or so of water, too? ...

-A bundle of old costume jewelry with some really nice sterling silver bracelets. -A box of new clothes (fleece vests, some jeans and socks) that were just my size. -Several wooden chairs. -A small frying pan perfect for camping. -A bag of canned food and boxes of cake mix, macaroni, etc. -A broom -...

I know some of these are repeats, but these are my favorite ways: -Make a big pot of bean soup with a smoky ham hock, and keep it simmering for hours. -During sunny days, open the drapes and lay something dark-colored in the sun (to absorb the heat.) -Close the doors to unheated/unused spaces, and u...

I used to use the crystals every now and again, until an unfortunate intimate incident that involved getting aluminum salts in one's mouth . . . yeeeech! Like eating a green persimmon! I've been concocting my own spray-on deodorant for a while: -Witch hazel prepared in alcohol (bought in a bottle as...

<bristles> Please keep in mind that there are several U.S. self-sufficienters on here, too :wave: There are large and growing communities of mindful people here . . . . that's not to say that most people don't think the stereotypical American super-size way, 'cause a lot of folks do. But then I supp...

Hooray for you and Delilah! What healthy-looking babies!

Has anybody ever had any luck naturalizing them? We hear the occasional bobwhite quail in the fencerow here, but they used to be everywhere. And I hear that naturalizing them is difficult because their "instincts have been bred out." Somehow I don't quite believe that . . . any thoughts?

Hello from the US! Hope you like your experiences here so far.

Thanks for building this forum, Andy! And I can't wait for the book to be out.

Not sure I'd call Rove as much of a "brain" as I would "an incarnation of evil impulses packaged as a fat little greedy mean a$$-kisser"--but I'm just sayin'. And it's not as though I have a solution, except to not participate as much as possible in their agenda of big oil and bi...

Hazelnuts (US) - Filberts (UK) My understanding . . . we call them hazelnuts UK call them hazelnuts too. Who call 'em filberts anymore? I remember a children's story about a boy and a jar of filberts, and it was in an older UK-edition book, so maybe that's just an anachronistic name for us all? Gla...

Can I humbly request an exception to the complete dislike of the US and A? Plenty of us here are sick of the way things are going, too, and we can't afford to move away and don't wanna leave our families :) So, on my list: -Gigantic passenger vehicles -DVD players in minivans (what? you can't talk a...

Some US-isms-- Cilantro (US) - Leaves of coriander plant/Chinese parsley Coriander (US) - Seeds of cilantro plant (they're the same plant to us) Arugula (US) - Rocket (UK) Garbanzo Beans (US) - Chickpeas (UK) (we use both terms) Hazelnuts (US) - Filberts (UK) My understanding . . . we call them haze...

<presses nose longingly against window> I so envy all of you . . . we had a late frost this spring followed by a horrible summer drought, so our blackberry fields were almost totally fruitless this year (we usually pick six or seven gallons or so.) I'd had big dreams of blackberry wine, cobblers and...