Selfsufficientish.com

Also, why does it cost so much to buy a handful of berries, in the supermarkets anyway, when the same things can grow with minimum effort by even not-particularly-enthusiastic gardeners, or even hedgegrows and such places? We had good crops of raspberries that had come from our neighbour's garden w...

Amused to read through this thread 4 years on. iGoogle has been killed, SketchUp was shut down, the streetview cars have been spying on people's wifi, and GMail has been letting the NSA read your love letters and job applications. Sigh. It all looked so bright and shiny, not so long ago.

LOTS of new varieties. This is the year I'm really settling into the swing of this garden. Year 1, we moved here a little too late to really sort stuff out for the main growing season. Year 2, I was overseas for half of spring. This year, year 3, I'm here and I'm keen and it's all happening. We're g...

My understanding is that dog and cat feces may contain parasites that also affect humans, and that if you put it in your veg garden there's a risk you'll pick up those parasites. Hot composting is meant to kill them, I think, but I'm no expert -- just vaguely remembering some stuff I read a while ago.

Another chard-lover here! The trick is to have it in things, not just try and eat it as a side-vegetable. We use it in frittatas and quiches, stews and curries, all kinds of things.

Julie, those barbajuans look great -- I'll have to hunt down a recipe!

Depends where you are! I'm just starting my spring planting here. You don't seem to have mentioned your location in your profile, but knowing that might help us give you answers.

Ah, fair enough! Living somewhere where it grows easily, it hadn't quite occurred to me that it might be imported from halfway round the world. Though I suppose I don't know the origin even of the bamboo stakes I buy at my local nursery. I'd *hope* they're local, but I'm not sure.

I've noticed that different places in the world use different terms for muesli-type breakfasts. To me, muesli is a mostly whole-grain-based breakfast cereal that's eaten cold with milk. Some people eat their muesli soaked (which we call Bircher-style, I think, but I don't like it that way). In Austr...

Ooh, yeah, I'd like to know more about the oil cleansing method too.

(Btw I use rosehip oil, but not as often as I should. I might try some of the suggestions in this thread about blending it with other things... I might like it more if it smelled nice at bedtime.)

Just out of interest, why is bamboo considered "not sustainable"? I had never heard that. Potentially invasive, yes, but very much renewable for the same reasons!

If you want to get into the professional/paid side of blogging, there are heaps of resources out there. One place to start is the Problogger blog (I can't post links, but it's problogger dot net). Also look for blogger meetups in your area (try using meetup dot com to find one) and you'll almost cer...

Hi! I'm new too, so mutual newbie fistbump!

I've never had apple jam. Is it smooth or chunky? I made some apple butter this year, which is smooth, spreadable, boiled-down apple paste, and it was pretty good. I'd love a recipe if you had one to share.

A.

Hi all, New here, just discovered the forums, and delighted to join you all. My name's Alex (I also go by Skud online in many places), and I live in the northern suburbs of Melbourne, Australia, in a share house with two other women. We have a small block with as much veg garden as we can fit in it ...