Well, after a lot of huffing and puffing the new look website is here !
While the look of the site is the first noticeable change much has changed under the hood. The main site and the forum are now acting much closer together, so now it is possible to comment on posts on the main [...]

Common Comfrey is related to both the herb ‘borage’ and the similar plant ‘Russian comfrey.’   Herbalists have used it for centuries, including the classical Greeks and the Turks.   Its old English name was ‘knit-bone’ or ‘boneset’ because its ability to heal wounds.
Comfrey – As a plant feed
Comfrey is often eliminated as a [...]

Frost can be a gardeners friend or enemy, it is early February as I write and I am eagerly awaiting a frost to help break down the big clods of earth I have turned on my allotment. This is especially useful if you have thick clay soil.
Frost as a Friend
A frost will also kill off [...]

This method of establishing a wild flower garden I stumbled on quite by mistake and have since encouraged others to try the same.
After harvesting my carrots I left the land-fallow, I no longer wanted to grow any crops, as I would soon be leaving the house. After quite a short amount of time weeds started [...]

Vitamins can be broken into two groups – Fat soluble and water soluble. The Fat Soluble vitamins are Vitamins A, D, E and K.   They are stored in the liver so unlike water soluble vitamins, (B vitamins and Vitamin C) they are not always needed every day.
Vitamin A – Retinol and Beta Carotene
Retinol and beta-carotene [...]

Iron
Iron is useful throughout the body but it is mainly present in our blood where it is attached to a molecule known as haemoglobin. It is the presence of these haemoglobin molecules that gives us red blood cells making our blood red. People with not enough iron in their diet will suffer from a condition [...]

Dandelions are traditionally a well-know bane of most gardeners, their deep roots make them a tough weed to eliminate from any plot.   To ensure they do not return the entire root must be taken out. This is perhaps best done in the autumn if they are to be used, as this is when the [...]

Extract from Selfsufficientish Bible You can use a range of plants for home dying. Clothes that are dyed with natural dyes should not be machine washed as the colours can run. Before dying, treat the fabric with a mordant to fix the colour.
1. Soak the garment for at least 2 hours in a mordant solution. [...]

This article originally appeared on the Big Green Idea’s newsletter for December 2008
The dream of becoming self-sufficient in at least food is one that many of us aspire to but unfortunately few of us can hope to achieve. The hankering to live the rural idyll is often hindered by the simple fact that where we [...]

After finding out that Japanese Knotweed was edible (use the young shoots as you
would rhubarb) I began a quest to find out what other invasive weeds could end up on the dinner plate.
I came across a German man called Peter Becker who it seems shares some of my passion for eating invasive species.
Amongst other [...]