Selfsufficientish.com

last on my ipod playlist was allegri's misiere. you?! Baby Please Don't Go. Mance Lipscomb's version from 1960. And no ipod here, I have his LP Texas Sharecropper & Songster spinning on my turntable. Wow! Just found a video... http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x167x4_mance-lipscomb-baby-please-d...

We've given up growing and selling produce locally. Customers expect "local" veg boxes to contain out of season produce, they expect exotics that would never grow in Scotland, and they expect prices to match those of the supermarkets. They also don't want "old-fashioned" veg. A t...

Rats are extremely intelligent and wary of anything new, which is why poison is usually ineffective. Is there any way at all you can physically exclude them from your property or, at least, from the parts you want to protect? Efforts in that direction now could save a re-occurrence of the problem. ...

You will have to kill them. As has been said, live-capture traps aren't humane if the rat is left in it for more than a couple of hours and if you do move the rats elsewhere, you're simply dumping the problem on someone else. I use poison baits but don't like to rely on baits alone as there's then a...

Just dig deeper and have people stacked. Or get buried at sea. Get buried in Scotland. I can't believe Britain is running out of space for cemeteries. Just far too much privately-owned land, perhaps. Stacking is being considered, but there are regulations involved. As for it not being believable: N...

greenorelse wrote:Burning - what a waste of resources.

On the other hand, Britain is fast running out of space for cemeteries. Cremation need not be wasteful—why not make crematoria part of bio-fueled power stations? I could be burned up to keep the OH warm for a couple of hours. :D

I was once a pallbearer where the bloke being buried had made his own coffin from salvaged floor boards and pallets, with old iron door fittings for handles. It was very sturdy but was a bit rough around the edges so most of us ended up with splinters. He'd have been amused by that.

I don't see how the hoes I use could be any sturdier—they're used hard and often. None have broken. The blades are a little worn down but are in better shape than my stainless steel spades, which have a lost about 10mm of the blade in the past 5-6 years. I work 19 large vegetable beds, two half acre...

bonniethomas06 wrote:.I think we are lucky as they both appear to be female - although anyone more in the know please correct me if I am wrong.

Definitely lucky. Our last hatching of Scots Greys resulted in 11 cockerels and one hen. Lots of chicken dinners but not many eggs in prospect.

I think that the community we live in may be an exceptional one, but I wonder if others find the same thing. Anyone else busier living the "good life" than they were in the rat race? I used to do an 80-hour week for a high salary—it would be into six figures today without allowing for pro...

The pigs are worth it. Many of the potential customers, though... And if that sounds harsh, well, how would you handle getting earfuls of abuse at all hours of the day and night from people convinced that "the customer is king" and I'm only here to serve them on bended knee. If I don't ans...

why do you spose its so much more expensive in your area than others? or do you think its more down to your mis-fortune in no longer having a nearby abattoir? it is indeed hard to compete with others if they can get cheaper slaughter/butcher costs. still you can at least bring pork for your own con...

Stoney - your costs are so high! - are there no alternatives? Yes, I know, we should be more efficient, explore alternatives and cut costs to deliver a price the customer finds acceptable. Something else we get told a lot. We have the "choice" of three abattoirs. The nearest, a 30-mile ro...

If many customers had their way, we wouldn't break even. I've lost track of the number of times I've been told either:

"You shouldn't be in it for the money."

Or...

"The market decides the price, not you as the producer."

My replies to both the above are better left unsaid!

Our slaughter costs, per pig, are:

Transport to abattoir (120-mile round trip): £17.50
Slaughter (inc inspection, levy, delivery back to us): £63.70
Butchering: £40
Total: £121.20

In other words, that's £2.69 per kilogram without the costs of breeding the pig or finishing it. It adds up.