About Us
Photo: Fiona in a bee suit with smoker
My name is Fiona Nevile (fn on comments) and Danny is my partner. I want to share our journey towards our goal of partial self sufficiency. It is such a satisfying, old fashioned endeavour, that provides moments of glowing pride alongside the occasional smelly disaster.
I started this blog after we decided to invest in our future. Retirement looms in a few years time. Often I work in houses where people have recently retired. Usually they’re testing the water. They have plans that they have dreamt about and tweaked for years:
- Raising a few chickens
- A small vegetable patch
- Bees
- Homemade wine and liqueurs
- And the individual extras which could include stock car racing, dabbling on the Stock Exchange, breeding terrapins, planning the trip of a lifetime and dreaming about a lottery win that would finance the lot.
Watching from the sidelines, I realised that often the first four of these interests can take years to get up and running. So I decided to start early. These activities are so satisfying that within months I was peering over the parapet. Why not cure and smoke our own bacon and make salami? How about making sausages and homemade butter? And where could we find food for free?
Five years later I’ve realised that we are investing in now as well as our future retirement.
Why just plan for the future? Investing in now can be a bumpy ride but generally we’ve found that it’s fun and our quality of life is so much better than before. Each week our horizons expand.
Photo: Danny and Dr Quito share a joke
We live in a pretty 17th century cottage (pictured above on the header) in the heart of an English village on the Cambridgeshire/Suffolk border. Our East Anglian cottage cast includes three Miniature Pinscher dogs, one Maran hen, five lady bantams, a small Golden Seebright cockerel + three Leghorn cockerels, two hives of bees (140,000 at the height of summer) and a 28′ pond that used to house a lot of fish before the heron visited for the gourmet feast of a lifetime.
This website charts our journey towards deluxe self sufficiency and beyond. Our aim is to live like kings on the lowest possible budget. Visit our new forum for inspiration and ideas from our readers.
My articles have appeared online in the Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Chicago Sun Times and many other publications. Use the ‘contact us’ tab to speak to me. Writing commissions are always welcome.
Because I have been ill and unable to work since July 09 we decided to host advertising on the Cottage Smallholder site from December 09. Click here for more details.
Danny adds: a brief potted history of Fiona’s career, which has ended up in our attempt at partial self-sufficiency.
Thank you for your comments. And a bit of silly bath time fun with the Frothing Sea Monster trick!
Cutting energy costs
Recipe for sausages baked with herby garlic infused beans, bacon and tomato
Tracing some of my ancestors has taken me on a long journey
Recipe for lamb shanks braised in red wine with shallots: slow cooker/crockpot
The cupboard was bare – so what was The Contessa going to eat last night?
FD
Hi Fiona
I love the site. Fantastic I can see why it’s so addictive!
Lots of love to you and Danny
Susan
Hi Susan,
So pleased that you enjoyed your visit!
I am enjoying your stories so much, especially as you live in an area to which I aspire.
hi enjoyed reading your site , I have 3 min pin dogs also, and think they are wonderful .
Hi Dawn,
So pleased that you are enjoying our site. Life wouldn’t be the same without the Min Pins, they are bantering under the kitchen table as I write this!
I enjoyed reading your site. Could you tell me what software you use to create it as I like the layout/style. Many thanks.
Mt grandfather kept bees, my grandmother kept ducks. Not a good combination. The ducks ate the bees as they landed at the hive. Fast food! Edwin
Hello Edwin,
I am pleased that you enjoyed reading my site.
It is a WordPress blog (http://www.wordpress.com). The software is free and there are loads of free pieces of software available for WordPress sites. The theme is Light 1.0 and it is designed by Stephen Reinhardt.
Very tickled by your description of the ducks and bees!
Hi
I found your site whilst looking for ‘foraging’ information and it has great information; is there anywhere on the site I can post a photo so someone may help me identify a fruit??
I am 30 and I thought I was a bit ‘sad’ going to pick sloes every year and make sloe gin but I am glad to see other people my age do it too…. mind you my friends never called me sad when they were drinking my sloe gin!!!
Thank you.
Alexia
Hi Alexia,
You can email me through the contact us page and attach photographs. If I can’t identify the fruit I can put it on the site for the world to comment.
Of course you are not ‘sad’ foraging for sloes. You are clearly someone who is bright enough to twig that there are hedgerows bouncing with loads of things that are delicious and free.
Thanks for leaving a comment. I am 20 years older than you but still experience the adrenalin rush when I find something delicious in the hedgerows. I just wish that I had twigged all this 20 years ago.
Hi, I’m enjoying your site and finding alot of new info! We’re in the process of trying to uy a smallholding and I was wondering how much land you have and how self siiufficient you manage to be?
thanks, Catherine
Hello Catherine,
I am pleased that you are enjoying our site. We have a third of an acre. This is not enough to be totally self sufficient.
We are a bit more self sufficient as each year passes and we become more experienced in the kitchen garden. Our wine is now quite drinkable! Basically we have a large and productive garden. We could never be completely self sufficient. This requires more land and more time.
I reckon the ideal plot is five acres. You can do a lot on an acre. If you haven’t got it already, a great book on self sufficiency is John Seymour’s The New Complete Book of Self -Sufficiency. I review it here http://www.cottagesmallholder.com/?p=131.
Hi, Fiona
Just discovered your site this week and am loving it.
Have already tried one of your recipes and it was delicious. Know I will try more in the future as they all sound like just the sort of food I enjoy.
Thank you.
Hi Fiona,
I absolutely adore your site! I came across it last week when I was trying to find a recipe involving the quinces I found growing in a hedge near me and I must say that I am hooked. I only wish I had come across it earlier in the year when I could have taken full advantage of it – I speak in particular of the damson cheese recipe. There were so many damsons on the trees near us that we just stopped picking them after a while as we had no idea what to make with them and my poor boyfriend was getting very tired of coming home from work to find no food and a girlfriend covered in jam, licking the back of a spoon and looking quite pleased with herself for having made a jam that set so wonderfully! I did also find that the stones skimmed from the pan after the sugar is added make delicious snacks to suck on when they’ve cooled. The bf got some very strange looks when he took some into work and spent all day spitting out damson stones!
Basically……….thank you for this wonderful resource. It is a joy to read and I cannot wait for the day when we can afford to buy enough land to grow our own food.
And in reply to the lady who said she thought she was “sad” for rummaging through hedgerows for sloes to make gin aged 30….I am 23 and have been making my own jam since I was 22 and am totally foraging obsessed!
Hi Vanessa,
I’m delighted that you are enjoying the site. I do hope that our recipes work for you. Thanks for leaving a comment.
Hi Minamoo,
It’s great that you found the site. What a shame about the damsons going to waste.
I am foraging obsessed too. There is nothing more mellow than to be out and about looking for nuts and berries. Any if I discover a new source of bounty, it is a joy.
Hi
Found your website while searching for dark orange marmalade recipe – what a wonderful site – will come back and look at it in more detail. Best wishes from Perth Australia
Hi Moira,
So pleased that you are enjoying the site. Good luck with the marmalade.
I thought there must be some fellow foragers out there somewhere! Have just returned from my (almost) daily walk with another bagfull of blackberries – can’t believe no-one else picks them around here. They are so abundant if you know where to look!
My husband says that our sloe gin gives him wierd dreams – I think it’s a case of quantity and not the quality doing the damage, but then again they were French sloes! Having read your sloe sherry recipe I am kicking myself for discarding the sloes from the gin in the past – in future I shall certainly be recycling them – thought there must have been a use for them apart from compost material. Thanks for the knowledge.
Hi Catrin
Glad to hear that your blackberries are still edible.
There are loads of uses for gin soaked sloes, see the comments section on both our sloe gin posts. Sloe chocolate, crumble, mincemeat, Christmas cake etc.
Thanks for dropping by.
Hello,
I found you by accident when looking for recipes for my bumper harvest of quinces. I live on one of the smaller, less known Canary Islands – La Palma, and logging onto your site makes me feel a lot closer to all I left behind 12 years ago. I will certainly be visiting you regularly, and by the way the quince recipes were just what I wanted.
Many thanks
Hi Jane,
Thanks for leaving a comment. Lucky you with a bumper harvest of quinces. I am so pleased that you found what you wanted.
Just found you while looking for quince jelly directions (I live in Utah in the U.S. and have a flowering quince) and wanted to thank you for your delightful blog. How fun to think of people all over the world boiling a few quince for some jelly. Will be visiting you again and again.
Hi Liz,
Thank you for visiting. So pleased that you are enjoying the blog.
Quinces are a great autumn fruit that are ignored and left to rot by so many people. I do hope that your jelly turned out well for you.
Referring to gin soaked sloes. I know of a producer of sloe gin who actually added a small amount of water back to the sloes once the gin mix had been drained off, and this resulted in some further gin alcohol and flavour extraction from the sloes, and this could be returned back to the rest of the gin mix. I don’t remember the exact quantity unfortunately, but it might be worth experimenting with.
Hi Martin,
Thanks for the tip. Definitely worth experimenting with this idea.
I have just come across this website, by accident,whilst looking for recipes for Damson jam recipes that also include other fruits – I have one for Apple and Damson jam and Damson and Marrow jam. Does anybody have any other ideas!!!! I love your site, I did’t realise there was so many other people that are as mad as us. I have shelves full of every sort of jam you can think of, we shall never eat it all. It’s got so bad that my husband is now as fanatical as I am. We scower the countryside looking for the ‘raw’ materials, but I am rapidly running out of space.
To Catherine who would like to be self sufficient,- we have just over an acre of land, and grow 80% of our own vegetables and fruit. We also keep chickens, we have 13 at the moment, which means I usually have a few to sell, and this helps with the cost of the their food. Unfortunately this year has been a bit like the curate’s egg, good in parts, and we shall have to buy in potatoes because our’s got the blight. The onion crop was also poor, but that is part of the fun of growing your own, you never know how it will turn out. It also tastes much nicer.
Nice to come across like-minded people.
Hi Margaret,
I am so sorry that I have no damson jam recipes that include other fruits. We do have a wonderful damson chutney reccipe http://www.cottagesmallholder.com/?p=70 (that includes other fruits). I am very proud of our recipe as it is delicious and one of the first recipes that we created.
We find that our preserves are great as swaps for things that we want – demi johns, plants, bacon, cheese etc. If we had more they would sell well at a farmers market. Why not go and examine a local market. I bet that you could sell your preserves from someone’s stall.
Thanks for leaving a comment. Good to hear from people who are interested in the same as us but judging from your comment, a little more philosphical. I cried when our potatoes got blight. The only way I can produce flowery (Irish style) pots for Danny is to grow them myself.
Hi Mildred, (Sept 30th). You can get jars very cheaply from http://www.ebottles.eu . I’ve just bought 180x llb jars with gold lids for £63 delivered. My daughter and I need that amount for all the Quince stuff we make, but you don’t have to buy that many. However, smaller orders incur postage costs. They have endless types of jars to choose from.
Thanks for that info Teya, I will add it to my ‘Favourites’, they have a great stock of jars!
Hi Teya and Mildred,
Mark left a comment about buying jars and bottles a few weeks ago and recommended a place in London http://www.frenchflint.com. This company looks like a pretty good source of bottles and jars too.
A friend works in a bar. They have lots of empties of small size wine bottles with the screw caps they can let me have for free.
Is it ok to use those for bottling rose hip syrup?
Brilliant site
Hi Carol,
The small bottles would be perfect for bottling rose hip syrup. Just wash and sterilise them first.
Once the bottles of syrup are opened they need to be used pretty quickly so small bottles would be a good idea.
Thanks for dropping by.
Love your site! It’s full of ideas. I just have to be carefull that I don’t get carried away and forget about my work (farming/cheesemaking).
.
The comment above about being covered in jam and no dinner on the table sounds very familiar to me, luckily my husband eats jam too
Hi Marion,
Delighted that you are enjoying the site.
Farming and cheese making – what a wonderful combination. Cheese making is something that I’d really like to get into one day.
Thanks for leaving a comment.
Hi again, I have just (I know – prematurely) started to sample this years sloe gin. I have to say it tastes wonderful already so I’m not sure how much will get to mature fully! However, it has a very pleasant almond scent which I have been told could be cyanide from the stones…..should I be woried of can I just go ahead and enjoy. As a first time sloe gin maker I’m not sure what is normal.
Thanks
Catherine
Hi Catherine,
Don’t panic there are tiny amounts of cyanide in fruit stones and apple pips etc. The amounts are so infinitesimal they will not effect you.
However. The Romans used fruit kernels to kill enemies. You need an enormous amount and they were cleaver in the way they processed them.
Lots of people add almond essence to their sloe gin. We always do.
Thanks for getting back so quickly – I can relax and enjoy another “sample taste” this evening.
I also put almond essence in a couple of bottles, tried it for the first time yesterday – definitely worth doing!
Your excellent site is going around the world…
http://martyn-dormer.livejournal.com/friends
Hi Martyn,
Thank you. Much appreciated!
Hi Fiona,
I just wanted to leave a note to say I’ve spent most of the weekend browsing through your site since discovering it on Saturday morning (I can’t quite remember how!) – thank you for providing such an entertaining and well written blog; and thank you also for giving me a number of christmas present ideas for my parents, who are very into self-sufficiency – John Seymour sounds like the bible they’ve been looking for!
I’ll be back often – your recipes look fantastic, too!
Thanks again,
Rob
Hi Rob
Thank you so much for taking the trouble to leave such a heartening comment. Delighted that you are enjoying the blog.
John Seymour’s book is a joy! Best check that they haven’t already discovered the tome as it is the number one self sufficiency book.
Thank you for a wonderful site. I have bookmarked a fair few of your recipes to try and will let you know how I get on. I’m especially excited about the marzipan! I am also making your quick Chritmas Cake.
I’m truly aspiring to your way of life, but walking out the front door has a way of bringing me back down to earth with a bang! I live in a terraced street in Liverpool…however your Christmas cake will be enjoyed by the Mother in Law in Ely and my Mum in London!
Thanks again for the great site…am off now to find out how to make gin! I can always forage when visiting the in-laws! Mmmm…
Hi Crystal
I made the last minute Christmas cake today! I had 2 hours to go shopping and of course dallied a bit. I returned to find Danny lifting the cake out of the oven. Have just fed it with its dose of Whiskey!
Our way of life is great and we do realise that we are lucky. Our life is busy – up early and it’s late before I crawl into bed. Sometimes I miss the old sparky city life. It’s the buzz that I miss not the tube and the dirt and the rush. If I spend a day in London I am always delighted to get home to the stillness and quiet.
So pleased that you are enoying our blog.
Just looking for a pheasant reciept for tonight & stumbled upon your site..Had to leave a comment as I have already finished a gallon of my sloe gin and still have seven gallons of cider left. You have brought a smile to my face and purpose to my day!! that is until I freeze again in my workshop!!!!!!
Hi Stephen
Thanks for leaving a comment. Hope that you found a pheasant recipe that you liked.
We will be cracking open the sloe gin at Christmas! And we have some sloe vodka left…
Great that you are enjoying the site.
Hi Fiona,
A note of thanks – my parents received a subscription to Bushcraft magazine and a copy of Seymour’s Self Sufficiency on the basis of your recommendations here – and their noses have rarely been out of them since Christmas day (except a trip to the beach yesterday and tree planting this afternoon).
So the success of our christmas is largely down to you – thank you again!
Robert
Hi Robert
Thanks so much for dropping by and leaving an update on your parent’s Christmas presents. I am delighted that they were a success. Bushcraft is a great magazine and the John Seymour tome is a wonderful addition to any house with an interest in self sufficiency.
The walk on the beach and tree planting sound like you had the sort of Christmas that I love.
Hi
Happy new year to you all, just a short note to say what a fantastic site to find all the info I needed for a fantastic phesant meal/menue, keep going the hedgrow section is amazing
cheers WOOF
Hi Woof
Happy New Year to you, let’s hope that is great for us all!
Happy New Year to you both! I spent Christmas without the internet and checking your blog was one of the first things I did when we got back. Needless to say the posts I’d missed were as brilliant as ever.
Christmas has brought me a new stash of recipe books to peruse and I’m looking forwards to trying some new vegetarian dishes.
I hope 2008 brings you both happiness and plenty of new challenges and adventures!
Hi Clare
Happy New Year to you too.
Thanks for leaving such a positive comment – it made my day!
Just wanted to say thanks for a great, helpful site. Like lots of others, I found you by accident while searching for advice on my chickens.
My partner and I live in a cottage in the Forest of Dean and have around an acre. We call it our little piece of heaven as we moved here a year ago from the ‘burbs’. I was born and brought up in the country and my family were always pretty self sufficient.
We’ve so far acquired approx 50,000 bees and our honey harvest this year was around 50lb. We rotovated part of our field for potatoes which like lots of others, didn’t do too well with the blight. We now have 8 chickens and grow just about all our vegetables. We have cooking and eating apple trees, pear trees and a couple of quite rare ‘Blaisdon’ plum trees (great for Dowerhouse Chutney).
I’ve rattled on too long but just wanted to say how lovely it is to read about like minded people and congratulate you on your site.
Hi Christine
Of course you haven’t rattled on for too long. I loved reading about your acre in The Forest of Dean.
Bad luck with the potatoes. I reckon that in 2008 we are going to have to bite the bullet and treat the ground if we want to grow pots. Unless we have an extended freezing patch between now and April. I am going to spray with Bordeaux Mixture – this can be used organically. HFW mentions that he uses it in his first bestselling book.
Great to here that your rescue chucks are doing well!
Fruit trees are a joy. We love ours. But we are battling with honey fungus (loves apple, pear and quince trees). We’ve lost a handful to this daemon.
It’s great that you are enjoying the site. Thanks so much for leaving a comment.
Discovered your wonderful website whilst searching for a recipe for potato cakes! Have just read through every post on bee-keeping as I’ve always wanted to do this myself. A passionate gardener, I have always been worried that I would never be able to mow the grass or trim the hedges if I had beehives as this might anger or annoy them.
What do you think?
Regards and well done – a fantastic website
Denise
Hi Denise
Our beehives are well away from the lawn, behind a thick yew hedge. So the lawnmowing doesn’t worry them. When John cuts the yew hedging he hasn’t had a problem as yet(!) I personally wouldn’t fancy hedge cutting a foot away from the hives but he is happy to do it.
Great that you are enjoying the site.
Hi Fiona
I have always wanted to live on a smallholding. My grandmother grew her own vegetables and kept chickens and my parents grew their own too. The idea has always been appealing, my life took a different path.
Now as I read your articles I am more drawn to living on a small holding, and I have no doubt that one day I wll acheive this. The recipes are fab, I have made your apple chutney and looking forward to veggie moussaka.
Yor articles are inspiring…can’t wait to keep chickens.
Thanks for the inspiration.
Krys
Hi Fiona,
I just wanted to say how much I enjoy your site, we are making very small steps towards self sufficieny, such as keeping chickens and growing our own veg. This year I am hoping to move on into forraging for mushrooms and fruits.
I find your site a real inspiration and it helps me unwind from the day job. Its really nice to dream about having what you have, at the moment I live in a suburban semi, but in the future I would love to own a smallholding.
Hi Kris
We have a large garden – about a third of an acre, rather than a smallholding. It’s large enough to engage in the smallest of smallholding activities – bees, hens, growing vegetables etc. One day I would love to have a goat for cheese, butter and milk.
I’m so pleased that you are enjoying the site!
Hi Erica
Great that you keep chickens – they are such a joy! Home grown vegetables taste so much better. I find that foraging is a great way of unwinding.
Thanks for leaving a comment.
Hi Fiona,
We are just about to complete on an old Farmhouse with a half acre garden and are really looking forward to growing our own vegetables. We already have chickens and ducks and would love to expand our menagerie. We love your site and really enjoy the recipes and ideas
Thanks Kim
Hi Kim
Oh this sounds superb. You can do so much with half an acre.
I do hope that the move goes well for you.
Having made my Sloe Gin I remembered I had some Bullace in the freezer and was about to make some Bullace Gin. However, my owner and trainer read about Bullace Brandy (we found a very nice and cheap Brandy in a French supermarket, the Gin was even cheaper!) Have you been able to extract the secret recipe from the villagers please?
Regards
Hi Ken
I haven’t got my mitts on the recipe yet, I’m afraid. I have tried plum brandy. It took about three years to be drinkable and was very disappointing. Bullace gin and bullace vodka both work well.
Happy glugging.
My first visit to the site, I stumbled in through a link looking for a lamb meatball recipe !! Am trying your one with the creamy tom sauce tonight. Not quite as self sufficient as you being in the middle of Solihull but have two chickens, blackberries and a greenhouse, its a start I guess. Looking forward to delving more into the site for tomorrows tea !!
Many thanks.
Hello Sally,
Thanks for leaving a comment. I do hope that your meatballs turned out alright.
You can do a lot with chickens, blackberries and a greenhouse!
What a lovely site you have here
I get my my hands on my first allotment this weekend so I’ve been madly surfing for things about veg growing etc, hence my arrival here
I was interested to read your post yesterday about mixing seasons in your fruits… things like that just don’t seem to be mentioned in my (one and only so far) gardening type book
Hi Raehippychick
Glad that you are enjoying the site!
Exciting that you have just got an allotment, there’s nothing like growing your own. Very therapeutic and it tastes better too.
Loads of people make the raspberry mistake! Even Christopher Lloyd.
I have just found your site, it is great just what i need, we have just moved to a 1800 cotage with a large garden and i will be using your site now for advice on growing my veg. i already have my broad beans,spring cabbage,onions and kale in,i have never had a veg garden before,so it is all new to us.keep up the good work.
Hi Lesley
I’m no veg expert. Just enjoy growing some.
Your cottage and garden sounds like a very exiting move. Wish you the best of luck with all your projects.
Thanks for leaving a comment.
I first posted re the leek and potato soup recipe but have delved further since then (I should be working) and am enchanted by your site.
Our kids have left home and we both have the option to work at home so we are planning a move to somewhere with a much larger garden for veg. I am also interested in growing and using natural dyes for knitting wool. I did some successful dabbling a few years ago following recipes in ‘Cooking with Colour’ and found it gave a wonderful sense of wellbeing and satisfaction. Have you ventured into this at all on your plot or other readers- I don’t know if it was just a 90′s thing.
Hi Sheila
I’m delighted that you are enjoying the site!
I haven’t tried dying my own wool (yet). I used to love knitting but that was many, many years ago.
Hi there! Stumbled across you site while looking for recipes for Rack of Lamb. Listening to our interview with the Beeb. I’m in Harrow, NW London. It’s Easter Day and it’s snowing! Now decisions…I’ve have 3 recipes I can go with. Your simple one with red wine sauce, Gary Rhodes’ one with honey & mustard glaze or one from the Beeb with a garlic & herb crust. Hmmmmm…… What will you be eating today? Luke.
Hi Luke
I do hope that you chose our recipe! The others sound tempting though…
We dined on shoulder of lamb at my sister’s house today. Excellent.
Thanks for leaving a comment.
Hi there, found you over on http://casalba.wordpress.com/. What caught my eye was you mentioning Newmarket…I have a few friends there, and my mum lives in Exning.
Hi Anne
Gosh, it’s a small world isn’t it!
Thanks for dropping by.
Hello, Fiona-
I stumbled across your site a few weeks ago, and have enjoyed reading it immensely! I do hope to try out some of the recipes- they sound delicious-especially the pork pies- haven’t had a decent one in years. I was born in England but moved across the pond as a child aeons ago. At times your posts make me wish I’d never left- although I had no choice in the matter at the time.
Thank you for a lovely site-
Grace
Hi Grace
Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment. So pleased that you are enjoying the site!
it is 17:46 on 17th april am just trying out your slow roasted belly pork has been in the oven for 5 mins!! ill let you know how it turns out!!
Erica
Hi Erica
I do hope that this recipe turns out well for you. I love it!
beautiful site, great title. fun to read. wishing you well from a different climate, different garden, but same lessons and similar issues,
Hi Ancel
Thanks for leaving this comment. You have a beautiful site too. Loved reading about your adventures in Costa Rica!
just tried your pork meatball recipe, previous attempts at making meatballs not successful with the little critters being too dry and tasteless- my husband says they are delicious….
Hi Tammy
Thanks for leaving a comment. I reckon that it’s the bread that makes the meatballs so melt in the mouth.
Delighted that you enjoyed them!
Good to hear your adventures with your guinea fowl! We have had a similar experience, starting with 6 keets last April (1 female, 5 males) and have managed giving the extra males away, a sudden and tragic death this spring, and finally the current match of two happy guineas. I am shocked at how much quieter guineas are when there are just TWO- surely a magic number for us who love our quirky birds, but still like to hear quiet most of the day.
Good luck to you!
Jaynie
Hi Jaynie
Yes! Moving from 4 guineas to 2 made a massive difference to the sound in the garden and the chomping of layers pellets!
Sorry to hear that one died. I still feel a bit wobbly when I think about Lightning.
We are not going to breed with ours this year. Mrs Boss is sitting on duck eggs and that is enough for the summer!
One year on after the blight of 07 – potatoes been in a month and today noticed lots of leaves going black … not like the blight of last year, they look as if they have been painted with a black dye in large patches. Am just outside Manchester, weather has been warm and dry until last few days when dropped to 5c at night. Only noticed the patches today. It hasn’t been either particularly wet or warm and wet …. Any ideas what it might be? and if so – what to do? Surely can’t be blight again this early? Can it? Have about 120 plants, so hope not. HELP!!!
Hi Chris
It sounds like blight to me. Or they could have been frosted. I’m no expert and it’s difficult without seeing the leaves.
If you treat them now you have a chance of the potato plants surviving. There is a lot of information and advice (maily in the comments section) of my article on tomato blight http://www.cottagesmallholder.com/?p=366 Tomatoes and potatoes belong to the same family so respond to the same treatments.
I am planning to spray my plants with a weak solution of brodeaux mixture(as an insurance) when I have got a moment. BM can be used organically.
Thanks.I shall run out immediately in the morning and get some and get on the job. I lost most of my spuds last year with blight, had to get them up early and pray. Leaves now don’t look as they did last year though. Lost most of the tomatoes too. So am now totally despondent now this has happened, and so early in the season too. It’s so damned disheartening! I tried to find your blight page (I used it last year, surprise, surprise!) but the link must have become corrupted or something, and couldn’t find it.
Thanks for comments anyway.
Hi Chris
The link works now I had the word blight too close to the link, apologies. Spray the ground as well as the plants as the spores will be lurking there, if it is blight.
I reckon that the combination of wet earth and hot sunny days (10 days or so ago) might have been a lethal combination.
Good luck and I hope that you fix the problem.
I’m going to spray my tom plants too and the area where they are set.
Your crew living with you sound like fun. Any hedgehogs? I envy those in England who have seen them nearby. Hello from California. We have sea otters but sadly, no hedgehogs.
Just wanted to say what a brilliant Blog you have. We are just making our first explorations in the world of growing our own food and have had loads of ideas! What caught my eye was you mentioning Newmarket, Im just down the Road in Thurlow! Small world eh!
Hi Terra
Yes we do have fun with our stock.
We have had hedgehogs in the garden but the Min Pins give them a hard time and we rarely see them these days. I have seen them in the garden next door.
Sea otters? I have not heard of them.
Hi Claire
So pleased that you are enjoying the blog. Good luck with growing your own. Thurlow is a lovely spot.
Hi there, further to my comment of last week re: had I got blight yet again? Well, was undecided whether it was cold damage as temp here had dropped dramatically with biting wind, but looked like blight. I used the Bordeaux mix as you suggested and plants look somewhat better a week on, shored up, and the the untouched ones bright and healthy. Question – husband in his wisdom sprayed EVERYTHING with the mixture – including fruit bushes with fruit on (gooseberries, currants, blueberries etc, even an olive). I assume the fruit will now be inedible?
Hi Chris
The French use Bordeaux mixture on their grape vines so your fruit should be fine – washed after picking!
Glad to here that the pots are looking better.
Well that’s certainly good news! Heavy rain overnight, first for ages, and spuds looking OK on the whole, the leaves that have gone are withering now but there SEEMS to be some new growth around on some, and all are flowering happily. Fingers crossed! We are hoping to dispose of some of these self-seeded sycamores this year from the property which surrounds ours on three sides. I counted 15 last time (most over 40ft high) and 3 oak trees have now been discovered too. Sometimes wonder why I bother with a garden when it is a woodland glade in full summer!
Hi Chris
The sounds like good news, fingers crossed.
We have a sycamore problem too. But we are in a conservation area that looks after trees – even self seeded sycamores!
Hi, I just stumbled across your brilliant site and am hooked already! I was looking for a good elderflower cordial recipe as they’re out in full bloom now and i want to make some of my own bottled sunshine! I have a tiny courtyard garden, and am gleefully waiting for my peas, beans, tomatoes and squashes to start producing!
Wonderful site, i look forward to the next installment. I may even attempt my own mayonaise at the weekend *gasp*!
Hi,
just found your site and love it. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and recipes!
Many greetings from Southern Germany,
Ulrike
Hi,
We have a field which we are thinking of keeping bees on, and also planting some fruit trees and wild flowers to provide something to keep the bees busy with! I was initially thinking of a couple of apple trees, cherry trees and something else – I have been reading with interest about the sloe gin/vodka – I may be tempted as I have been known to make rhubarb schnapps and elderflower cordial in the past – but do you have any suggestions on what other fruit trees may be useful for general food/cordial/alcohol recipes?? Many thanks – love the site!
Julia
Hi Ulrike
Thanks so much for dropping by and apologies for the belated response. I am on a work overdrive at the moment!
Love your blog, you have a beautiful garden and even though I don’t knit at the moment I do enjoy reading about the nuts and bolts of knitting. Superb rainbow wool!
Hi Julia
I would always include a quince tree. With these you can make a good quince vodka, quince jam (wonderful) and membrillo (quince paste). A greengage tree would be a great addition too – wonderful wine and jam and British greengages are the best in the world. A damson tree would be good too – again good wine and liqueurs but also superb jam, chutney and jelly.
How about an Elder tree for cordial – they flourish anywhere even in a shady corner. The flowers and berries make superb wine too.
Sloes are best grown as hedging.
Hi Elise
Many apologies, I missed your comment.
As you have discovered, you can do loads with a courtyard garden but I am impressed with the amount of stuff that you are growing! Hope that you are picking peas soon!
Hi – just discovered you via 60goingon16 and the elderflower champagne saga. Lovely site and most inspiring. I’m a slightly distant East Anglian neighbour!
hi i wonder if anyone could give me some chicken advice ? I’ve been keping chucks for just over a year and haven’t had any problems until now. however, the last couple of weeks we think peggy has gone broody. we keep taking her off the nest but she returns straight away but she’s stopped layng so she’s not actually sitting on anything. is this usual ? If you shut the door to the house she just sits behind it and isn’t really interacting with the other chickens who seem to be taking a dislike to her. I don’t know if this because she is always on the nest and they dont get a look in, but the others dont seem to be laying much either. The other worrying thing is that she has lost most of the feathers to her chest and some under the wings since all this has started, it doesn’t seem to be moulting, could it be that shes losing them because she’s sat in the same position for such long periods of time ? She doesn’t seem to be ill and eats when you take her off the nest. any advice would be useful thanks.
Hi Juliet
Thanks for dropping by. Just flew through the ether to look at your blog. Great stuff.
Hi Paula
Your hen is broody. The loss of feathers is part of the broodiness, she is preparing a nest for the arrival of chicks.
We have an article on broodiness in hen’s here http://www.cottagesmallholder.com/?p=25 and an article on how to make a simple anti broody coop here http://www.cottagesmallholder.com/?p=289.
I do hope that it all turns out well for you.
juliet, thanks for your reply, will try the coop.Paula
Hi Paula
I’d love to hear how it works out for you!
Hi, I found your blog while searching for a quince recipe. I am an ex-pat now living in New Zealand with my husband and 14month old son. We live on 10 acres (for nearly 2 years now). Slowly working towards being more self-sufficient. Looking forward to beekeeping, winemaking and a productive fruit orchard, among other pursuits. I enjoy reading your stories and recipes, cheers Bridget
Hi Bridget
My brother lives in NZ too! It’s a lovely country filled with opportunities.
You can really do stuff on ten acres. What a wonderful place for your son to grow up.
Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment.
i LOVE this website.
I’m glad I found your site. You are doing something I’ve dreamed of for years.
from Austin, Texas, USA
Whilst rummaging through the internet looking for jam/jelly recipes i kept coming back to your site and followed your recipe for plum jelly, i have a bumper crop, my little tree is aching with them!
Fingers crossed for the set it’s sat on the window sill as i write…beautiful colour!
Hannah 29 – Forager – New Forest
Hi! Just found your website and hope you may be able to help me identify fruits that are growimg on my new and v.overgrown allotment in S.E. London. I thought they were sloes in May – but are now much bigger and taste like plums. They are ripening now and falling off branches. They look blue/purple on trees, but on my kitchen table look redder! The trees are spindly, prob because there are so many growing together, but the ones at the back are about 15′ tall with browinsh bark and v.large spines. Thanks, Fran
bought some tendergreen dwarf beans from our local netto. they are now ready to pick but we have noticed that the beans look like they are black and green marble effect. is there a reason for this and are they safe to eat
Hi Philippe
Thanks for leaving a comment, much appreciated.
Hi Charles
Glad that you are enjoying the site.
Isn’t Austin, Texas supposed to be a really cool place to live? I heard a programme on the radio about Austin recently.
Hello Hannah
Oh I do hope that it set! Lucky you having a bumper crop this year – ours are rather sparse.
Thanks for dropping by.
Hi Fran
Without seeing a photograph, it’s difficult to say.
I think that these may be wild plums or cherry plums – they are about the size of a 50p bit. We have two recipes using them – wild plum jam and wild plum jelly. Our delicious damson chutney can be made with wild plums as they are quite a bit tarter than the average plum.
Hi Val
I am assuming that you are referring to the beans rather than the pods. Lots of bigger beans (runners and broad) have marbled beans and they are fine to eat. I’ve never seen dwarf runners with marbled beans but there are hundreds of varieties out there!
Hi Fiona,
Slightly random but I think I have quinces popping up in the back of my garden, they are greenish, shaped like a misshapen lemon with red blushes developing – does that sound right? If not any clue?
its the pods that are marble effect, and i’m a bit worried about cooking them as they are dwarf beans and not runner or broad beans. therefore i will be eating the whole pod
Hi Val
I Google marbled bean pods and some varieties have marbled pods! See here http://www.innvista.com/HEALTH/foods/vegetables/stringb.htm
So I think that they are safe to eat.
Thainking about it, Netto coudln’t affors to sell beans that were not safe to eat.
Hello,
I’m currently researching various weight loss programs and courses.
So, if you don’t mind please answer in this topic: What’s your single most important question about weight loss?
Cheers, JD
Hi Fiona,
I discovered this site by accident, looking for advice on my shallots, which you very kindly gave me. Thanks for that…i have a small garden, which i am growing leeks(very successful, potatoes(also successful),shallots…still to find out….and I would love some advice on how to grow garlic…this is all in large tubs…
My son is growing tomatoes, but they all have rotted underneath, which we think is because of erratic watering?
Anyway, many thanks for all the advice that you give to everyone, it makes for fantastic reading… I’m hooked…
Phyllis
Hi I have just found your site and have been happily reading my way through. I am in my first year of beekeeping and also keep hens and smoke my own salmon and make my own bacon and bread. I have a small plot and grow as many vegetables as I can so your site is right up my street. Keep it up I especially enjoy all the recipies…
Diane
Hi Like most other people I’ve stumbled on your site by accident (whilst searching for natural salami casings!!)
I’ve really enjoyed what I’ve read so far and am now waiting for my husband to go to work tomorrow so I can spend the day reading through your archives whilst pretending to do dutiful wifely chores!!
Pat
Hi There,
I came accross your website looking for a crab apple jelly recipe. I can see your apple chutney is a real hit; do you think I can use crab apples in this recipe? If not can you recommend a crab apple jelly recipe to me please?
kind regards
p.s thanks for such an interesting site, i have really enjoyed reading through all the entries and recipes!
Hi jdpolson
I’m sorry but I don’t have a single most important question about weight loss.
Perhaps that’s the reason why I’m chubby!
Hello Phyllis
What a shame about the tomatoes. Are the leaves a bit wilty and blackish brownisg at the edges? If so you probably have blight and need to burn the infected bits. Blight could easily spread to your potatoes – they’re the same family.
Garlic is easy to grow in tubs. It needs a sunny, sheltered location. Buy a head of garlic from your local garden centre and split it into cloves. Make a hole with your finger about 2 inches deep and drop in the cloves, pointy end up cover gently with soil. Allow about four inches between each clove. You can plant the cloves closer but the heads of garlic will be smaller. Start feeding every other week from February and lift in July.
Planting garlic in October works very well for us as they need a frosty period to get them going.
Hi Patricia
Great that you are enjoying the site! Thanks for leaving a comment, much appreciated.
Hi Gini
I’m not sure about using the crab apples for chutney. Personally I think it would be a waste as apples are so easy to come by and crab apples are precious in this neck of the woods.
We make a wonderful hot crab apple jelly which is a real hit with everyone. We finished our batch of six jars in a couple of months. Our recipe is here http://www.cottagesmallholder.com/?p=470
Hi
Enjoyed the visit to the site and have bookmarked it already. I was looking for Gin recipes and found some,also advice from yourself, thanks again.
Just finished browsing the site, not gone everywhere yet; I like the recipes and will be trying some.
Regards Tony
Hi Fiona,
I stumbled on your site today whilst looking for an apple chutney recipe. I have spent almost the whole day in front of the computer reading your excellent blog, and now I have a sore neck!
The chutney didn’t get made, either!
Like you, I enjoy foraging and cooking, and you have given me some interesting new ideas.
I’ll be back,
Judith
Wow! Who would have realised that a 10 minute stretch on my pc looking for recipes on sloe gin and bramble jams would end up in hours of reading through your blogs and recipes. Will be making plenty of pit stops to your site for advice and recipes in the future.
The gin will have to wait till tomorrow now
Just wanted to drop you a line and let you know how glad I am I found your site!
My many Google searches for recipes every time I found a new foraging delight persistently turned up Cottage Smallholder pages so i finally decided fate was trying to tell me something and settled down for a good browse.
Your wild plum chutney has gone down well and we had that cheesy welsh rarebit type thing tonight for tea but the biggest success has been the belgian pears, except I used wild ornamental quince, they are unspeakably good. I’m in the process of bottling 3kilos for Xmas prezzies
Thanks again! (and I’m sure my friends and family will also thank you after Xmas)
I love your site…have tried two of your recipes so far, for apple chutney and the apple and chilli jelly. I left a comment on that page….delicious stuff. Gave it to my husband the next day on his sandwiches, with ham and cheese, and he said it was absolutely fantastic.
We am from South Africa (have been here for 7 years) where there is not the same abundance of berries and apples to make all these chutneys and jams, so I’m learning a lot. I’ve found that our friends love getting home made gifts and the jams, jellies and chutneys don’t last long. I’ve already got a stock of apple chutney, apple and chilli jelly, and blackberry jam for Christmas gifts. I have quite the little home industry going here. Thank you again for these great recipes.
Hello Fiona,
Just popped in to let you know that we have successfully used your rosehip syrup recipe and its lovely.
Reading your blog just now I noticed your comments about planting garlic and have always wanted to grow garlic so I’ll try it this year.
How are your chickens? Mine are losing feathers everyday now but thankfully still laying so I don’t mind picking up the feathers.
Keep up the good work, will call again. Thankx
Last year used your recipe for Japanese Quince jelly. It worked really well and we gave quite alot of it away at Christmas as people were really impressed. I just came to check it for this years crop and noticed you had a place for comments. Many Thanks for the recipe.
Stumbled on your site while Googling for a recipe to use up a load of cheap and very ripe bananas – the banana and date chutney recipe was just the job, although quite a lot of it got eaten before it made it into a bottle! I’ve never posted on a blog before but just wanted to say how much I’ve enjoyed rummaging round and I will definitely be back. We moved to the Welsh Borders about 3 years ago from the South East, acquired a dog and a vegetable patch and just wish we’d had the nerve to do it years ago.
Found you when I was searching for chicken arks, you sound just like us, we are in North wales and have been growing organically and learning to be cottagers for the last 25 years. I have really enjoyed some of the recipes and plan to have a go at some of the chutneys this being the “seasons of mist and mellow fruitlessness”
Cheers
Found you when I googled for Game recipes, going to try your “Beastley” casserole tomorrow night.
I too love this time of year, warming foods, wonderful colours (we are in the Scottish Borders)even the chore of hauling wood to cut is OK when the log burner is blazing. Looking forward to Christmas when Mrs Aga gets going and I have to fight off the cats and dog to get near the oven. Thank God for “townies” who make room for the remainder of us to live in such wonderful surroundings!
Hello Fiona, very good web-site packed with really interesting stuff well done with the bee keeping a very important job in of itself!
I enjoyed your little radio interview and was surprised to find your just up the road from us, We are following your example and currently are in the process of bringing an old vegetable patch back in to use and reshaping an very overgrown apple tree, My great Uncle (Prof W Tutte, who is on your village web site) and several ancestors were from your village.
Hello, just wanted to say how much I am enjoying your website. Im 27 and its been my dream for the past few years to have a smallholding and live as self-sufficiently as possible, so I am finding inspiration from you whilst I put a little bit of money away each month to make my dream come true!
love this site! in 1999 we left the city, found a home for about the price of a good used car and we’ve never looked back. like you, we’re working toward that goal of living well on very little cash. we live on a good-sized lot in a village of about 200. we’ve packed our yard full of various projects like a huge garden (it all gets canned or frozen) chicken coop, small orchard, meat smoker and hopefully an outdoor oven/summer kitchen next year. we “landscape” with stacks of firewood and compost bins! not many people would choose to live like we do and it’s a lot of hard work but we’ve never felt so secure. hope things continue to go well for you.
What a wonderful website and I haven’t even browsed everything yet. I found you while searching for things to do with my crop of blackcurrants. I’ve no idea why the birds didn’t eat them all this seaon like they usually do. Could it be my garden/orchard is now providing other more interesting food! Besides the Blackcurrant Schnappes I put down for winter (it’s Summer here now) I ended up eating most of them fresh on homemade yoghurt with wheatgerm, sesame seeds and LSA sprinkled on top. The rest went in blended Smoothies made with other fruit juices or milk, ripe bananas etc.
I have bookmarked your site as it is so interesting and helpful – any chance of putting the most recent blogs at the top of the page to avoid scrolling down each time? Or is it just that I’m a bit upside-down here in New Zealand? Also I’m very impressed that you respond personally to each blog. Inspirational all round.
Hi Fiona
only just discovered your blog – was looking for gardening info on broad beans! I too am a rural person and rather than waiting till I am old and grey decided to just get on with it and do the things I love, keeping my chucks, growing veggies etc despite a fulltime job and 2 teens. I love your recipes although I don’t have the gift of cooking but can throw a good Shepherd’s pie together if required. Hope to catch up with your site every weekend,
best wishes. Jane
Have just found your website whilst searching for seville oranges! Wanting to make marmalade and trying to find a source for these oranges – only just started looking so am sure I shall find some if its not too late.
We are a couple of months in to running a wood-fired range (Marshall) which provides heating, hot water and cooking. Cooking is totally different and takes a LOT longer! Also completely unable to maintain a constant heat – it goes up, down, all around and I am having to totally rethink how and when I cook. I want to do marmalade but am slightly nervous about achieving and maintaining the 104 degrees boiling point long enough for a set! I shall try though!
Terribly sorry about your bantam – we have chickens and named the first four – we now have ten and perhaps would name them if we could tell them all apart but maybe it is slightly easier if there is a loss not to have named it – certainly for the children. There have been tears but certainly when Glitterbelle(!) passed away my 8 year old was inconsolable – I definitely find illness and death the hardest part of keeping animals.
Its lovely to find a website/blog achieving what I am trying to! Thank you so much for taking the time to write about everything when you must be so busy with your smallholding.
Regards, Meggonymay
Thank you or a great site, 6 months ago I decided to leave full time work a bit early bought an old house in a little village near Bendigo (Australia). Wish I had done it years ago. We are battling severe heat and no rain but am determined to keep on trying for a self sustainable vegie patch.
To date I have raised a fantastic herb patch, failed with tomatoes and everything else, even potatoes (they all turned to pot pourri with 40 degree plus heat wave over last month). Have had an abundance of plums and Australian Garlic, (like Russian garlic).
Anyway am keen and still trying
Just discovered your wonderful site! I live in a town and have dreams of escape to the peak district, for now I’m contenting myself with a veg patch and will eventually convince my boyfriend that chickens are the way to go.
Thank you for all the helpful tips and advice in plain english! I’m also enjoying Victorian Farm and will learn some skills! No one ever taught me these things as a child!! By the time I’m 50 I think I will be quite useful!
Many Thanks again keep up the good work
Jo
[...] recipe comes from this site, The Cottage Smallholder. I am amazed at this couple. They took the plunge and went self sufficient on their own [...]
hi feona
well i think u should put a picture of u and Danny on this page (about us)you see it gives the reader a mental image of the authors who are teaching us advising us in such a good and helpful way .
hope to see u both :}on this page soon .Good day
hey fiona,
hope you are well. for some reason my browser keeps sending me to your front page, and it keeps making me want to ask: How is your pond?
Hi,
What a fantastic website. Kept me occupied on a sad sunday evening!
Am going to try recipe for onion gravy tomorrow!
You sound so content – I dream of your lifestyle.
Hi Fiona, I have just found your blog, and love it.I have just started one of my own, and have discovered a whole new world out there! You are a woman after my own heart – I love what you are doing, and you have so many great ideas. I especially envy the way you can “forage” for food, it is pretty difficult to do that in southern australia, although, there is probably a whole lot I could learn about bush tucker. I am having a hard enough time keeping up with my own yard and family!
Thanks again for a great blog.
Hello Fiona, I lost my dog-eared Penguin Book of Jams, Pickles and Chutneys, googled ‘apple chutney’ and found your site. What a delight! As a child growing up in SW15 in the 1950s, I used to help my mother on her allotment. She was born in Worcestershire where the family ate what they grew so she had never shopped for vegetables until she married and set up home in suburban London in the late 1930s.On her first visit to the greengrocers she asked for peas but had no idea of quantities so when the greengrocer asked how much she wanted, she replied 20lbs. When my late husband and I bought our house, on the outskirts of Newmarket, we had a wonderful long garden the size of two (or even three) allotments. Pete grew almost all of our own veg. and I still miss the taste of those first new potatoes, the rhubarb, runner beans, broad beans and the asparagus I used to cut with my grandad’s old asparagus cutter (with his initials carved on the wooden handle). Pete did all the planting, I did the weeding and hoeing and we shared the harvesting. Thanks to all that home-grown produce I don’t ever remember buying jars of baby food: my son and daughter ate what we ate, just pulverised in a Mouli blender which I still use to make soup nearly 30 years on.
I stumbled across this site quite by accident and have a feeling I’ll be spending a lot of time here
I’m only 25 so quite a long way off of retirement and having my own smallholding is still quite a distant dream, but a year ago we bought our first house and I’m finally free to at least have fun with my garden and start growing. I have three raised veggie beds ready for the spring and I’ve got plenty of seedlings sat on windowsills around the house waiting to go outside. This year will be very experimental and I’ve got a lot to learn but I’m very excited. Today is the spring equinox and the real start of all things new.
You are a great inspiration, thank you for all your wonderful advice.
Your introduction applies almost perfectly to me – except I don’t breed terrapins and, by accident, I was given far far more land than I expected.
It’s been fun – even laughing at the local beekeeper when we removed four (yes, four!) beesswarms last spring. He got stung but I had no protection and didn’t. An interesting feeling as they crawl across your face but I was taught by an expert!
The land is littered with fruit – almost name it and we have it from cherries to quinces to sweet chestnuts and far far to many apples.
I barter; a friend cuts and removes the hay, my grand-daughter rides and I get the processed hay which is transformed into all sorts of veg and fruit (and flowers for the house). Others want wood for their fires so ………
I thought I had a few ideas but I don’t know whether to thank you for all the advice you make available or look away!!! Thanks Fiona
Hy I have just foud your wonderful website and I think that in way I was meant to find it . Reading it it has given me some serenity which I really needed . I am an Italian lady ( 41 years old ) that has been living in the Uk for 10 years now with my anglo/italian husband and my miracle (my 8 year old son ) and our cocker spaniel Lucky . I have been dreaming of going back home to Tuscany for the past 3 years and infact we should have moved last summer , but because of the housing market we were unable to move , therefore no olive trees to sit under, and no limoncello. I have realised that I have to find some tranquility for the next 2 years at least here in the Uk I live in a nice town in the West Midlands , and have to try and find happyness here for the time being . By reading your stories it has given me the strenth to believe that it can be done even in the uk , and try and forget about how dangerous it is for young people and children ( I work in a secondary school )to live in this society . I was bought up with my parents and my Nonna and Nonno ( Grandpa & Grandma)and that is the sought of life that I want for my son .
We have decided to inrease our family with 2 chicks and 2 indian runner ducks , have you any advice , is it a lot of hard work ? Many thaks MAnuela and I apologise for the long post
Hi fiona -
Just sending a quick note to tell you your blog is cherished in Brooklyn NY! Keep up the good work, our best to the min pins!
Hello Jen
Thank you so much for leaving this comment. Just the fillip that I needed this evening. Do you, by any chance, live with Min Pins too?
No min-pins here, I’m owned by a Vizsla who seems confused by the fact that he’s a) not human, and b) not the size of a min pin (as in he thinks he’s a lap dog when really he’s 45# of elbows, ribcage and tongue).
Also he seems confused that he isn’t the activities director on a cruise line. He seems destined for a job with a scarf, clipboard & a flair for dramatics. That’s probably another story altogether…
I can’t wait to make your slow cooker chicken stock.
I am in love with your full use of vocabulary, you have a wonderfully descriptive, melodic use of words. Your posts play out in my mind as a lovely english comedy / commentary. It is thoroughly enjoyed!!
Keep well,
Jen
Huge pats to Vizsla. The Min Pins think that they are already in a cruise ship…
What a lovely blog and site. Well done. We have alpacas and llamas and are at http://coirealpacas.blogspot.com, also enjoying some eco and simple living!
Hi Lucy
I love Alpacas. Best of luck with your ventures.
Hi Fiona. Just to let you know that I, too, adore your site from my home at the bottom of New Zealand. My family live on 20 acres and we are fairly self sufficient. Yesterday I made your Rosehip and Apple recipe and it is stunning. Its 3am as I write this…I wanted peace and quiet read your recipes!
Hello Fiona
Great to hear from you and really delighted that you are enjoying our site.
My big brother lives on North island (Feilding). So there is a good connection.
Thanks for dropping by.
Hi I’ve just found you’re fabulous site whilst looking for a dandelion wine recipe. I retire in a couple of months and have been lucky enough tobe able to rent 4 acres . It’s so big .I will keep coming here for inspiration
Hi Ian
Thanks for the nudge about dandelion wine. We can harvest just enough for one demi john from our garden (so that are orgainc!).
Four acres sounds wonderful along with retiring in two weeks time. Your future looks very rosy to me!
Hi Fiona
Found your site today by accident, I don’t usually leave comments but thought I must! Love your lifestyle think its one lots of us aspire to. We have an allotment and my wife Anne is the one to make jams, preserves and lots of other lovely goodies. Will have to try the wine and liquors.
Good luck I will be back
Hi! Your site was mentioned on one of the ones I was looking at for Watercress, so I thought I’d have a look at it. I’m of a similar age (50 next month!) but have always been into all things to do with free food and/or smallholding. I’m lucky enough to have almost 4 acres, but don’t actually live there at the moment. There is an old schoolhouse on the property which I hope to get pp to convert into a home. John Seymour has been my hero since I was 18, and I’ve had Suzanne Beedel’s Pick, Cook and Brew since about then as well. It’s nice to see more things on telly to cater to people like us, but I wish they would really do a proper smallholding series! I will keep coming back to this site, thank you for your hard work bringing info to the masses!
Hi Fiona! This is such a lovely site you have here, and I’m green with envy of it. The time, effort and care you put into everything you do is breathtaking. Thank you for sharing your ideas with others.
Fiona, lovely Website, hope you are still enjoying your journey. As someone who is chronically disabled by Lyme Disease, it seems my dream has been lost. All the women in my family were removed from nature at life’s end, destroying their wills and psyches. They often spoke of it, asking why they could no longer hear the birds, feel the grass. It is tragic. What you are doing is so, so important to wellbeing, and a great example to many. I can only hope…
Hi Fiona
I have been following your blog for a few months and it brings some light and warmth into my day whenever I read it. With a farmhouse,vege patch, dog and children, I also have the desire to live a simpler life and cut costs on food. We are about to start out with our own chickens too! No bees yet, but a swarm landed onour roof last week, to our amazement. Not sure what to do about them – any suggestions? Will they just move on of their own accord?
Sharon
Hi Fiona. I really love your site and what your trying to achieve – totally inspiring. I’m making Danny’s Dauphinoise potatoes tonight with and really looking forward to them. All the best. Jane
Hello,
I just wanted to drop a note to tell you how much I enjoy your blog. I check in about three times a week and have been doing so for the last year. My husband and I also have a small farm and raise vegetables, chickens, and (hopefully) apples. I also forage for wild foods here in northern Minnesota, USA. Thank you for inspiring us!
Best Regards,
Chris
Hello Chris
Thank you so much for leaving this encouraging comment. Great that you are enjoying the blog.
Your Minnesota farm sounds great. We just have a third of an acre here but there’s still al ot more space to develop on our plot. At the monment we are digging up a lot of our lawn to extend the vegetable patch!
hello
what a wonderful site,found while looking for a recipe for any thing to do with elderflowers, love your stories about the min pins and will be trying the elderflower and lime jellies weekend,will be visiting site fot future inspriation
best regards
Diana
Just found your site whilst looking for a remedy for a broody hen, now have to convince my husband to make it.
I see you have a maran, we have one, Audrey, who is a houdini. We found she was climbing up inside the hedge and getting out over the fence. She has visited all our neighbours gadens. Quite a character! We have four hens, the other three are as good as gold a bit thick in comparison. Love them all. The garden is a dust bowl though. CHICKENS!!! Wouldn’t be without them. Started a trend down here in Exmouth, Devon, few friends have also embarked on keeping them.
I also have taken over next doors, back garden for a veg patch, which is coming on well.
Thanks for the advice. Helen
I am delighted to have found this blog/site! I have an orchard and kitchen garden in south Dorset that I tend after gardening for a living 10 hrs a day May – Nov. Am busy making elderflower cordial and found you after looking at a few different recipes. Will be visiting you regularly. Thanks for the friendly space.
Lovely to hear you back again fiona. Glad you’re feeling better. Danny did a grand job in your absence – you may have to move over and takes turns if he gets the bug!! I’m glad he lent you his laptop to carry on for now – hope yours is better soon (and not too costly).
Get your Gravatar!
The image beside this comment is my Gravatar and we have started to use these now.
Gravatars are Globally Recognized Avatars.
An avatar, or gravatar, is an icon.
What you do is sign up for free at http://en.gravatar.com with your email address. Then you upload a photograph of yourself or whatever image you want to see beside your comments.
The best part is that your image will appear most anywhere on the web where you post a comment using the same email address.
It’s fun and you can change your avatar as often as you want!
Groucho and I share “feature eyebrows”!
well, how about that. I’ve been gravatar shopping and it was very satisfactory indeed. (if it works that is….first outing should accompany this post). Thanks for the tip Danny.
I’ve been avidly reading the comments whilst looking for receipes for bottled fruit. My husband and I have been fruit picking at a local fruit farm and have made many jars of jam, some more successfully than others as part of our pre-chrismtas preparations. I’ve found the site incredibly useful and love hearing what other people are doing. Just wish we had some acres to grow our own as we live in a modern house with a tiny garden. One Day!
Hi Fiona, I apologise for using your blog to send a message to someone else, but Edith’s entry just reminded me how lucky I am.As I put in my april entry , I share 6 acres with the chap next door, it is mostly meadow, we have about a dozen hens,half laying and half too young yet,five geese and a large vegetable plot.
The thing is, we rent it. We are not well off but feel that the improvement in our quality of life makes it a fantastic investment
Hi Ian
I totally agree. Working six acres or a tenth of an acre is so satisfying.
I once bought a house with no land, I left within a year.
A great website. I came across you when I googled ‘growing purple sprouting brocolli.’ This year is my first year of growing it and I wasn’t too sure what it would end up like. I’ve got a very small space for growing and despite warnings about planting it far apart, I chucked it all it and hoped for the best – my patch is now taken over by brocolli and beetroot! Seeing your comments on your site has put my mind at rest that it is still all going fine. So thanks. However any tips for keeping the nasties at bay? The brocolli leaves are all getting nibbled- I was assuming it was snails or slugs (we’ve quite a lot) but you mentioned the butterflies – I’ve not seen any, but then you never seem to do so. Any tips would be welcomed.
Found this site when looking for a receipe to make my first jam. Friend sent over some plums from their garden, so many I don’t know what to do with so decdided to make jam. Off to the supermarket for the ingredients. Wish me luck.
Hello Claire
The cabbage white butterflies have been in abundance this year. They lay eggs which hatch out as caterpillars with a taste for brassicas. If you can find the patches of eggs wipe them off the leaves ASAP. You can pick off the caterpillars but you have to kill them or they will return.
Hello Ann
I do hope that you enjoyed making your jam.
I love this blog!!!
my friends and partner always joke and say im old before my time because i love gardening & growing veg. i just feel there is more to life than all the materialistic things!!! dont get me wrong i do love nice things etc but sometimes i like to disapear into my garden and grow something…
We have recentley moved to a new area. we dont have any conection to the area but we were fed up with living on the outskirts of london in a tiny flat, with crime being the way people make a living!
i noticed a lady picking blackberries the other day whilst on my way to the super market to pay around £1.99 for a tiny punnet of them!!! i didnt buy any!!! i took my children out and showed them what mummy used to do as a child. i cme across some damsons – although i didnt know what there where. i had an idea so i punched in damson to google and up came your blogg. I LOVE IT!!! i am in no doubt that i was looking at damsons, i am now on the look out for sloe’s. i thought i had found some but i have not seen any thorns, even though they look like them.
anyway….. thank you for all this wonderful information. i will indeed teach my children any new skills that i learn, most probably from your blogg now that its in my favourites
xx
Hello Sara
You made my day!
I love foraging – looking out for blossom in the spring and then returning to pick in the autumn. Very few foragers round here. Which is crazy as the hedgerows are thick with fruit. You have to be on foot to spot them, though.
Just happened across your website which is immediately a favourite! I live in Willingham so not too far from you I’m guessing and 3-years ago my husband and I bought a slightly run-down house with 2.5 acres which we are now renovating (the land especially which had become extremely overgrown). This year we are finally making something of our land (instead of chopping, strimming, spraying) with the addition of a 35ft polytunnel, 5 laying hens (now 4 sadly), veggie beds, an orchard, and many many plans for the future!! Good luck with all your plans and I look forward to reading more!
My husband found the site whilst looking for a larger chimney brush!! He instantly thought that the site would be something I’d love!!I grow loads of herbs and some veg etc. I forage every day as I only need to walk through the bottom of my garden to fields of haw berries, blackberries, rose hips, sloes, damsons and mushrooms from time to time. My only problem is work! Without it I couldnt afford to live here but with it I hardly have time to live how I’d like to.
Whats the answer do tell me!
Just a quick word of appreciation for a fascinating site. My other half (Ann) found it while looking for things to do with sloes (as well as gin) and I’ve spent the rest of the evening exploring!
We seem to have had a bumper crop here in the Isle of Wight (hello Colin Boswell!) and it seems a shame to leave too many on the bushes…
I have soooooo enjoyed my unplanned excursion into the 41 wine and spirit recipes – thanks very much for your site. I’m just about to launch into 2009 damson gin production, having experienced a year of “no damsons” in 2008. I did experiment with blueberry vodka instead (2nd time) but didn’t keep a note of sugar content . . . and have had variable results/serves me right I suppose. However, blueberries now at silly prices and as I haven’t enough space to grow them shan’t be testing this year. I am truly delighted to discover a second use for gin-soaked damsons – boy – does that suit my recycling tendencies/without a headache . . .
This really is a wonderful site, and if you haven’t already, I think you should publish a book of your recipes.
I don’t know how easy it is in WordPress, but the only thing I have found myself wishing for is a breakdown under the main headings. You’ve got over 300 recipes and it would be very useful (IMHO) to be able see a list. I know half the pleasure of browsing is to stumble on stuff, and you can tell me to go away and stop being pedantic, but I’m sure there are lots of things on here I would rush to read if I knew what they were…
Hi James, and a sincere Thank You for your many contributions.
You have hit a nail on the head. I have finally managed to take some annual leave to do some work on the site (and mow the lawn, weed the driveway . . . the lists of ‘er indoors go on and on
)
That is task #1. The top priority. Give it another week and it should be in place, along with some other improvements
Thank you, Danny. I wasn’t expecting quite such a rapid response! Don’t let me keep you from your chores, though…
Hi there, just came across your site whilst googling ‘rhubarb gin’. We have inherited a glut of rhubarb – 3 beds to be precise and I run out of ideas every year as to what to do with it. Any tips would be greatfully received!
Just to let you know I have a huge pan of apple chutney on the go – your recipes are very easy to follow. I have some plums sitting in sugar to turn into plum jam first thing in the morning. I love your site and will keep you posted – can’t wait to taste!
Hello Mrs Jelly
With three borders of rhubarb I reckon that the last ingabitants of your house were making wine. Rhubarb wine is very good indeed – why not try some? It takes 2.5 kilos to make a demi john. You’ll be laughing.
I have just discovered that rhubarb water is a great organic pest control. I’ve no idea how you make it though.
Rhubarb vodka is supposed to be good also rhubarb and ginger jam.
Hi Sarah B
Delighted that our recipes are easy for you to follow. I like recipes to be straight forward – great flavours with minimal effort. That’s what it’s all about!
Am delighted through an old lady in our village have discovered i have picked bullaces and now have found a website that might give me a recipe for them? Any ideas? Thank you Abigail
Hi Abigail
Use the raw search to find recipes for chutney, jam, jelly and liqueur. Bullaces are a type of plum so all the plum recipes are relevant.
Wow, just wanted to lift my hat to you both and your website…it really is a very special honour that you find the time to share your wealth of knowledge this way!
We have just moved on to a hectare and a half in Central Portugal and have acquired a wealth of fruit and nut trees. I found you after looking up walnuts as we have 7 or so trees, and thankfully not too many bushy tailed competitors!!
It made me so sad to see fruit rotting on the ground on arrival, and I am determined to be on the case processing all the up and coming ones. My vans small cupboards are already packed with jars of chutney and jam, and once i have a proper kitchen there will be no stopping me!! Very glad to have found you, and will be a regular and appreciative visitor to your site!
Sending warm and sunny regards Helen XX
Hello Haery Faery
We’re blushing now.
Good luck with your new adventure in Portugal!
Hi. I was directed to your site by my sister who is starting to get hooked on the foraging. Very nice site. I’ll be back.
Hi Fiona and Danny! Great site and a real inspiration for us as we embark on our life in the country. Just picked our first sloes today after we found some in a hedgerow outside our local parish church!
I’ll let you know how we get on following your excellent recipe.
Thanks, Nigel and Tammy
Hi Michael
Thanks for dropping by and leaving a comment.
Hello Nigel
You are at the start of a really great adventure.
Moving to the country was the best thing that I ever did.
Fiona,
Just found your site whilst looking for fruit flavoured vodka recipes and have now got kilner jar, vodka, raspberries and sugar at the ready! I am hoping that if I start it off over this weekend it may be drinkable by the Xmas holidays.
Have also bought some apples and couple of mango to give them a try with vodka – but fear that this could end up in absolute failure….
Am loving the site – just found it and am very impressed! Will be visiting frequently in future and have just sent a link to my wife.
Iain.
Hi just stumbled across this site. FANTASTIC!!! Just thought i’d say that you dont need kilner jars or glass jars. I use old lemonade or any fizzy drink plastic bottle to make all my soft fruit gins. And reusable over and over. Have to say I made blueberry and damson about 3 weeks ago and although blueberrys are expensive, WOW, stunning colour and verrrrry drinkable. Also I am looking for the recipe for used gin soaked sloes and cider! Can anyone help me out here please? Keep up the fab work here and I for one will be a very regular visitor. Toni
Hello Iain
Best of luck with the raspberry vodka. I’ve just made some myself with the first of the autumn raspberries.
Not sure how the apples and mango will turn out – I’d love to hear how you get on.
Great that you are enjoying the site.
Hi Toni
Thanks for dropping by and for all your tips and suggestions. I tend not to use plastic as it can impart a taint over time. I keep lots of empty bottles in the barn for grog and cordials.
I’ve just done a search of all the comments on the blog and found this recipe from Peter:
“add the ginned sloes to a good medium farmhouse cider then add a good shot of gin this is called SLIDER it is probably the most potent drink there is but tastes lovely!!!!”
And from Douglas:
“LEFT OVER GINNED SLOES- add cheap cider to bottle- drink next day, then add more cider- drink next week!! Gets most of alcohol out and is lovely.”
It would be worth posting on the forum for slider recipes.
Just ran across your site. Very fun to read all the recipes & comments.
I happened on your site by accident I suppose. I was re-reading Agatha Christie’s ‘Murder With Mirrors’ & Miss Marple talked about making damson gin. I wondered what the heck is that & headed for the internet to do some searching. Et, voila! Here you are.
Can damsons & sloes be purchased? There’s not a lot of them growing in the American Southwest (New Mexico to be precise).
Hello Vanessa
Great that you are enjoying the site. How marvellous that Agatha Christie led you here!
Sloe generally are not sold in the UK. Damsons are sometimes sold here but all the commercial growers seem to be fizzling out – early frosts and the cost of picking the fruit are bid factors.
We make a lot of different fruit gins – which I much prefer. Strawberry, raspberry and lemon gin are great to make at home. Kumquats work very well too.
Nigel Hannant: Big Mistake! don’t pick your sloes until AFTER the first frost – it makes all the difference. Picking them prior and then freezing them is NOT the same. Let Nature do it for you!
WG.
Hi
I found your site by chance when looking for a sloe gin recipe.
My son is in Hungary and the Sloes were abundant.
We tried the freezer route but without great success, we only had the weekend to do it all, but perhaps I ought to have left them a little longer. On the whole I’d say leave it until the frost has been.
My son has your aspirations so will I’m sure visit your site often!
Hi WG and Stephen
I’m lucky as I have access to sloes in someone’s garden so I can wait until the first frosts.
The freezer route is OK but we have found that waiting until after the first frosts is better.
Hi FN.
Just found your site while looking for sloe vodka/gin recipes, think it’s a cracking site, just wondering if you can help me identify a fruit that looks like a sloe apart from it’s size, tastes like a sloe but everyone is saying it’s too big to be a sloe, once again, thanks for the great web site.
Hi Corky
How big is the sloe? I’ve seen them as big as pound coins in the past.
There were no sloes last year so we didn’t know what the spiny little tree tucked away at the end of the garden was. This year we do! They are about the size of a gooseberry. Is it possible to upload a couple of pics for identification purposes? I posted an hello to the forum and mentioned it there, but can’t find out how to do it.
I posted an entry to the Hello I’m…. forum, did the sum and saved it, but there is no sign of it. Have I done something wrong?
Hi Fiona
I have hit your website many times for tips and recipe ideas for jams, chutneys, pickles etc.The latest is quince cheese. Having made quince jelly for many many years I have decided to give the cheese a go………I hope to be fairly self sufficient (ish) in a few years time so please keep up the site and it’s wonderful message.
It is nice to see something positive and fulfilling online.
Thank you
Shirl
Malvern
Worcs
Hi Shirl
Thank you so much for dropping by and leaving such a hartening comment.
Hi Fiona & Danny,
Well, after a brief ‘google’ for tips and re-assurance on our moulting ‘Super Brown’ chicken (one of 4 – Dot, Peggy, Ronnie & Roxy…anyone spot a theme here ?), I’m still here reading and now commenting on your amazing site many hours later !
Yes, we have the chickens, the now moved & raised veggie patches (the chickens brand-new built to order run and coop reside on the old patch), fig tree, bluberries, a small but lovely kiwi, not to mention the 2 rabbits who take ‘the girls’ surrounding their run and puzzling over what the heck they are with total distain !
And this is in the modest garden of a 3 bed semi between Leicester and Burton On Trent….so really no excuses people, live the dream !
Thanks for sharing your experiences and wealth of knowledge, and best wishes to you both……
I’ve just found your site while looking for Strawberry recipes. I am now going to make Strawberry Liquor. My husband and I live in Auckland, New Zealand, and have a large garden out the back, at present picking a small bucket of strawberries every morning.
This site is great, easy to navigate and find what you want. I’ve bookmarked you now, and will be back, no doubt spending lots of hours perusing the pages. I love this ability to communicate all over the world so easily.
Hello John and Jane
You are so right. You can live the dream in a small space it just means thinking around the box rather than just outside it.
Great that you are enjoying the blog. Thanks for leaving a comment.
Hi June-Lily
My brother lives in NZ – Feilding, North Island. So I have passed through Auckland airport!
How good to be collecting a small bucket of strawberries each morning. We’re going into winter here and I’ve planted some new plants in one of our fruit cages. They came bare rooted in an envelope through the post!
Hope that your liqueur works out well. Thanks for dropping by.
Hello Fiona,
You are actually living my dream! Previously for the last 6 years in South West France and now currently in Somerset, I try (and frequently fail) to live my life in the most self sufficient way possible.
As a single mum of 2 tinies who works more than 40 hours a week the first thing to hit the skidpan was the vegetable plot. In France: Melons, Pumpkins, Gazillions of tomatoes, lettuce, cucumber, potatoes, herbs, aubergines, courgettes, beetroot, carrots…..I could go on but I can’t remember them all!!! In England: One wonderfully productive courgette plant which was almost completely swamped by the overenthusiastic nettles!
Riverford Organics got my business instead *blushes shamefully*!!!
We do still have our 2 lovely hybrid hens and I raid my mother’s garden for anything we don’t have on a regular basis! The hens did manage to produce enough eggs for me to sell at least a dozen each week until November so they must be very happy and the girls love cuddling them so we’re all pleased!
I also made Sloe Gin and Sun(oven) dried tomatoes for all my Christmas pressies this year.
Despite this (which when written down looks far more impressive than it feels!) I still want to do more.
Thanks for providing more impetus and inspiration. Would you agree to me linking to your blog on my own site? I should love other people to benefit from your wit and warmth.
Lizzy. x
Hi Lizzie
I’m not surprised that the veg plot had to go when the tinies arrived – it does take a lot of time. I’ve heard that the Riverford organic boxes are good, you’re supporting organic farmers and that can’t be bad.
We want to do more too but it all takes time to get a new project up and running.
Delighted that you are enjoying the blog all links are always welcome.
Hi there! Stumbled across your site while looking for recipes for Fresh Cranberry Sauce for Christmas 2009. I’m looking foward to how it will taste….mmmmmmmm. Your site is very nice and easy to navigate. My girlfriend is telling me that i should ask you over to where we live , West London, Ealing Broadway, so you can help us make the cranberry sauce, you’ll have to excuse her she just woke up, but if you would like to feel free.
Hello!
Found your site looking for something to do with the brace of pheasants my fiance bought for christmas. He would love to have a garden and aspires to a smallholding (He’s watching River Cottage as I type!) but for now we’ve got a few containers on the balcony of our flat. Baby steps!
Looking forward to browsing the rest of the site
K
Hello there I came across your lovely website whilst browsing for white sheets! What a lovely surprise. We live in a rural Wiltshire village and last year we aquired a huge allotment 2 mins from our house. We were leased it quite late in the season, so we just chucked in all the seeds we could get our hands on and in no particular order, So you can imagine what happened! Is there any advise you could give a novice veggie and fruit grower who has a lot of enthusiasm but not much of an idea of what to do. Thanks
Hi,
I have found this website, it is great! we moved to my dream home about 6 years ago, when I say dream home, more in my dreams, the place needed loads of work, we had no money, no water, no electric, 2 acres full of tree stumps, but, we had a vision, our own animals, veg, bees, no neighbours, homemade wine and good homemade food. We are getting nearer, we brought our ducks, hens with us from our previous rented home, along with our dog. Over time I have managed to get more and more animals, all on a very small budget, we have a generator that we run for about 4 hours a day, a wind turbine, that runs a radio and a light, a spring and we have managed to get a horse for the kids and clear about half an acre, still waiting for it to grass! It is hard work, but I couldn’t live anywhere else! It’s nice to see there are other people out there, doing and wanting to do, the ‘country thing!’
Keep up the great work and good luck
Lindsey
I’m enjoying your blog and hope to learn lots, we’re just starting out here in Shropshire but so far it has been wonderful. Can’t wait for Spring!
Lou
What a brilliant find! Your website will prove invaluable – already given us loads of info on chickens – so we have bravely taken the plunge and ordered the coop, and the vegetable patch is ready for raised beds – only need patience now!
Fiona,
Greetings from a similar maritime climate- Seattle, Washington. You have a wonderful blog and I am so happy to have found it. Thank you for such fascinating posts, and please continue to write!
-Julia
My second hom, well done.
Hi
I too have only just found your site. I was looking for a recipe for “Eggy Bread” and your website was listed in Google, and found myself surfing” the other pages. I do not want to be a sycophant, but I find the content very informative, and mirror the lifestyle and philosophies I would very much like to aspire to. I wish you well and hope to use your experience for my own benefit often in future.
Congratulations on achieving your life style. I hope it is as rewarding as it sounds.
Hi Richard
I love cranberry sauce too. West London is just a bit far from the cottage but I’m sure that you got on fine as it’s so easy to make!
Hi Kirsty
I started out with stuff in containers too. Mange tout peas worked out really well in a giant pot. I also saw a lot of interesting ideas for growing stuff in small spaces at Hampton court this year. Long containers that hang on walls etc. Might be worth checking them out.
Hello Debs
Lucky you to get an allotment. If you want growing guides and tips you can’t beat John Harrison’s site – http://www.allotment.org.uk/. His book is very popular too.
Hello Lindsey
Thanks for dropping by. It takes ages to gradually set up a dream but you seem to be doing so well. Love the idea of the wind turbine and spring!
Hi Lou
I’m enjoying your blog too!
Hello Amanda
I love my flock of chickens! Great to hear that you are getting some too. Best of luck with the raised beds.
Hello Julia
Thank you so much for dropping by. I’m delighted that you are enjoying the blog.
Hi Mutley
Thank you!
Hi Dexter
I love the lifestyle. The change was gradual and has been hugely enjoyable. We still have much further to go which is an exciting prospect. Thanks for leaving such a positive comment.
Aha! When I read your game pie recipe I thought you were somewhere in Northern America, but now I know. You have an awesome site and you are living the dream so many people pine for but you have the courage to do, warts and all. I hope your health has improved and all is going well for you both.
Hi Fiona & Danny
I’ve visited your website a few times before but I’ve only just read the story behind it. There’s great inspiration here for me. I will be 58 in April and am hoping to be able to retire soon. I have all that I want here in my home and garden, but just need to be able to spend more time and energy on living as self sufficiently as is possible.
I’m fascinated by your garden gate stand. I wish I lived near you and could buy the flowers you are planning to sell. As vegetable growing gets more important to me, the garden space allocated to flowers get smaller.
Good luck with the venture!
Hi Rosie
Love your slow cooker site! Thanks for dropping by.
Hi Stella
Thank you for leaving a comment.
Quite a few of our flowers will be grown in amongst the vegetables! The herbacious borders are in desperate need of an overhaul so growing flowers is the perfect excuse for doing this!
Good luck with your retirement!
Hi Fiona, Almost into Autumn here near Bendigo and one of my vegie patches has been a great disappointment. It was super prolific in September but end of Oct when I returned from six weeks in Europe it was 3-4 feet high with overgrown vegies and weeds, cleared it heaped on the compost planted some tomatoes and noticed a heap of self seeded zucchini leaves coming up. Left them, turned into total ground cover eventually got flowers, lots of them all male and thats it, not a single zucchini. Toms are doing fine other people locally have had super crops of zucchini but not me. Garden is in full sun, gets plenty of tank water and we have had some good rain. Any ideas?
Hi Fi
I’m an early retired smallholder nr Sevenoaks in Kent. A few chickens that are going off the boil, raised beds (defended this year against a new population of rabbits. I love rabbit stew!) three apple trees, one new plum, one new cherry, a dove coop (white homing pigeons used at funerals – guess what my other half does for ‘a living’)and two Jack Russell pups.
I love your site. Full of interesting things and directions to help all over. Keep it up.
Definitely going to give your raspberry gin a go! Currently undergoing a transformation at my place of work (a nursing home) to provide a vegetable garden for us to grow our own food, really inspired by your website! I would love to be self sufficient and being 24 think that I have plenty of time to prepare for the future, thank you!
About a year ago we moved to a lovely cottage with an enormous garden in the Devon countryside. My hubby is a gamekeeper and works ridiculous hours so i finally have the time to live my dream of veggies and chickens and home cooking all smothered in lashings of sloe gin! In fact it was Sloe gin that first brought me to this site, now it seems whatever im searching for the first result is always this site, recipes and tips and tricks. Today i was looking for help with my broody Maran and again i ended up here! So i just wanted to say thanks, its a wonderful site full of great advice and good humour, its as if you’ve been the experienced friend on my shoulder in everything ive tried! Keep up the good work!
Hi Ann
Sorry I’m a bit late in making a response. I find that zucchini do best for me in large pots. If I plant them in the ground they don’t do well. They also like nasturtiums so why not try planting them in pots with nasturtiums next year.
Hello Rocky
Your set up sounds great. Love the idea of white homing pigeons – what an unusual career!
Thanks for your good wishes, much appreciated.
Hello Hollie
The raspberry gin is excellent but a bit moreish so watch out.
Love the idea of growing veg for the nursing home – the residents will really appreciate the taste of ultra fresh veg.
I wish I’d started trying to be self sufficient at your age – well done.
Hi Kirsty
I love Devon. I was born there and spent quite a lot of my childhood there too.
Yes gamekeepers have to work such long hours these days.
Isn’t it great keeping chickens and growing veg! so therapeutic and satisfying. Do try raspberry gin this year as it’s out of this world (even if you have to buy the raspberries).
Thanks for dropping by.
Hi! Just found the site and it’s great!
Just thought I’d say hello and tell you that after I found your secret-garden blog post I visited the little stall in Fordham and got myself a few little plants
You’re living how I aspire to… one day! For now it’s just veggie growing but I can’t wait to have some chickens. Or some ducks, I can never decide! And I’m determined that this year will be the year i get around to making some home made wine!
Nellie x
I found your site while searching for tips on rural gardening. I’m not sure about bee keeping but bee attraction is high on my list of gardening priorities. As is chickens, and a veg plot and all the rest.
It’s a lovely site full of interesting and fun articles and one I’m sure I’ll keep returning to.
Hi Nellie
Thanks for dropping by. I haven’t been to the Secret Garden stand for weeks now but everything that I have bought from their always thrives!
Ducks are sweet natured but very smelly and messy – I’d go for chickens every time.
Good luck with the wine!
Hi Debra
There are so many ways of attracting bees to your garden without having to keep them yourself.
I’m combining flowers and vegetables this year and this has been successful so far and the kitchen garden is full of pollinating insects.
Great that you enjoyed your visit to the site!
Hi, just found your site. Very interesting. Have just retired and gone back into chickens and veg on a larger scale having done it all before large scale when the family were at home. Had goats, sheep, rabbits, hens, ferrets,dogs, cats etc over the years. Also kept bees, but they didn’t like hubby and stung him at every oppertunity, and was dorset rep on BBKA for some years. Have already copied recipe and it’s always good to get anothers perspective and new ideas.Oh, have third acre garden and two thirds paddock. Very wild/wildlife friendly and an oasis in middle of mono culture grass farmland Keep up the good work. Caroline
Funny that I found your site looking for cucumber pickle recipes to use up an abundance of cucumbers, funny as we are so far away in Darwin- Northern Australia. I work for Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation, where we teach primary kids to cook what we grow in our garden. Of course our monsoonal tropical climate is very different, but we do have cucumbers!!! Thanks for the great site
Hello Fiona (aka “Pip?”),
Found your site through web search for Petronella Lovegrove and practically fell off my chair! You may not remember me, from Stover 5th form. 1969. I am from Bermuda and “hung out” with you and Victoria G.,”Woody”, etc. Anyway, you have a fabulous site and I love your concept of self-sufficiency and all. I am a teacher and getting ready to retire in a few years so look forward to your information and wisdom in providing for your self. Take care and keep up the wonderful work! It is great to see an old acquaintance. Best wishes, Ginny
Hi Fiona,
I wonder if you can help. We have six hens, bought as point of lay earlier in the year, and they keep laying large double yolked eggs. We have already lost and replaced one because she ruptured herself. They are running free in a run aprox 150sq mtres but I wonder if I am feeding them too well. Any thoughts? Thanks.
Caroline
Hi, just a quick hello as I am new to the site…. GREAT site – am finding so much useful information and friendly people. Keep up the great work x
Hi there, i love this site, i’ve just found it after trying to find recipes for pickles and preserves. We’ve started an allotment this year and every week I find another new fruit of some sort and i’m desperately trying to do ‘something’ with it all!!! some great recipes on here, i’m already addicted!!! xxx
Hi Becky
Great that you are enjoying the site! How exciting that you’ve got an allotment – so many people would give their eye teeth for one.
Agree totally with all the comments I’ve read, your site is wonderful, delighted that I found you looking for soda bread!……Now I visit almost every day.
Thankyou for sharing your lifestlye, tips and treats with us you are an inspiration to us all,n I too love growing my own veg, trying out recipies, you do make such an interesting ‘read’, perfect mixture, in fact I feel as If I know you, it’s the personal touch that you add that makes your site so special, Thankyou, to you both, regards, Odelle X
Hi Fiona, discovered your site recently and am now an avid reader – so many interesting articles and comments to catch up on. Thanks for all the lovely articles/comments on foraging and making jams and pickles. Been foraging round the back of my local supermarket this afternoon (no, not in the bins, though I’m tempted to see what perfectly edible goodies have been dumped) – came back with some rosehips and hoping to have a go at your rosehip and apple jelly recipe. Saw a heron and 3 cygnets whilst hip-picking, and also got caught up amongst what seemed to be an after-school cycling team, all very politely avoiding me as I picked my way along ‘their’ track. Made the usual supermarket visit such a more uplifting experience. Best wishes to you and Danny.
Hi Heather
One of the great tthings about foraging (apart from the bounty) is that you do seem to step into a different world and see things that you may have normally missed. Very envious of you spotting a heron and cygnets.
Thanks for dropping by!
I loving reading your site and picking up hints and tips, I live in west london suburbs luckily pretty close to the greenbelt. It is amazing how many edible fruits I have managed to find on business parks (there is a very abundant kiwi vine on the business park where I live) and various other suburban settings, there are tons and tons of good food going to waste every year, so I’ve been on a personal mission to make a dent in that waste by eating, preserving and giving away wild cherries, plums, blackberries, sloes etc etc.
I also have an allotment where me and my mate grow lots of lovely organic veg, I’m pleased ton say or organic method has been just as fruitful as the old boys that love their fertiliser and chemicals!
Hello Fiona,
We have just moved to live in the Auvergne in France, and have a beautiful quince tree in the garden, together with apples, pears and lots of blackberries.
I started looking for what to do with quinces, and was launched into a whole new world by finding your site – it’s fabulous – well done, and I hope you are feeling better now after your spell of ill-health.
Many thanks
Debbie
Hi Fiona, I tried my uncles sloe gin brew and it intrigued me to make it for my self. Since finding your site, I am an avid reader, I am embarking on brewing several fruit gin and vodka recipes, based mainly on your recipes. I will let you know how I get on, many thanks for you inspiration and keep it all going. All the the best, Peter
Hi Fiona and Danny,
I’ve found this site by chance and just know I’m going to spend hours searching round it and learning new things to try.
Cant wait!!!
Hi Fiona, Danny and the animals
What a great website – its all my hopes and dreams in one place!
I am sorry to hear that you have been unwell and hope you are on the road to recovery now.
I have wanted to become self sufficient for a long time now. Do you need any help on the smallholding? The labour would be free and I am happy to do anything, digging, cutting, harvesting, in return for some advice and experience. I have a lab/greatdane cross by the name of Harvey who is the loveliest dog in the world, very friendly and patient who would be with me along with a tent that I am happy to pitch anywhere with my torch and my sleeping bag!
If this doesnt interest you then maybe you could pass my details onto someone who might be?
Thank you for reading my message X
Hi, I can’t believe my luck in finding your website! I hope your self-sufficiency is going very well. I love all the tips, tricks and recipes! I was wondering if you can help me out? I am planning on starting to make me own jams, jellies etc this week. My only stumbling block is how to sterilize the jars and lids, there are so many conflicting ways. If you help?! Many thanks, Claire.
Hi Claire
The method that I use is to wash the lids and jars in hot soapy water and rinse. Then stand the jars upright on a baking/roasting tray and pop them in the oven (any water will evapourate during heating. Turn the oven to 160c/140c fan and wait until it reaches this temperature. This will sterilise the jars. The lids I boil on the stove top for 5-10 minutes and then dry upside down on a clean tea towel. You can sterilise a tea towel by ironing it.
Hi Jayne
What a wonderful offer of help and a Great Dane too.
At the moment we are coping – we just have a small third of an acre plot and no spare bedroom
But I’ll have a think of other bloggers that might be interested in your kind offer. I’ll email you within the next couple of days.
Just found your site when loking for a blackberry and apple jelly recipe. i think its going to be a great inspiration for me!
Sue
Hello Fiona,
I love your blog- and have spent a happy afternoon when I should have been working reading through your various posts! Dont tell the boss!
I used to keep a blog- but sadly havent had a chance to update for ages now.
I wondered if you could tell us more about your terrapin breeding? It sounds exciting and I dont think you have mentioned it anywhere in your blog.
I used to keep terrapins myself and loved the little fellas- but boy did they make their water pong! They used to live a pond over the summer and inside over the winter.
Thanks for taking the time to update your blog- you have a great sense of humour in your writing which is great!
All the best
Owen
Hello Owen
Thank you so much for leaving such an upbeat message!
Unfortunately terrapin breeding was just an idea that I caught out of the air for possible retirement activities. Along with stock car racing and dabbling on the Stock Exchange! I rather like the idea of stock car racing and terrapin breeding – so you never know
Loved the idea of your terrapins living in a pond in the summer.
Had a peep at your blog – great stuff! Can’t wait until you have the time to update it.
What a great site! I found this while looking for recipes to use the glut of cucumbers that my special school students have grown in our organic garden and can’t wait to try loads of your recipes. I am busy trying to raise funds to set up a supported employment opportunity for young people with severe learning difficulties based around growing and selling good food, raising chickens, serving fabulous tea and cake, and making and selling craft items and I have been really inspired by your site and so many of the ideas would work really well for us.
Keep up the good work!
Di
I have only just found this site…it’s positively lovely….
Hi, accidentally found this site when searching for recipes for Apple Chutney. I love it. Am a disabled almost 80 year old, who has a small Garden, I grow everything in Pots, make all my own Jam Chutney and Wine. Not to mention Soap and Cosmetics. I have always loved making things. I make cards to raise funds to feed feral Cats. Will be back! love Tina x
I’m another one who found you by looking for a recipe, this time for Rose Hip Syrup, thank you for Katey’s which I will be trying over the next few days.
We also live on a small holding but until a year ago it was used solely for keeping the ponies. Like you we’re trying out retirement for size, semi retired but still running my business, finances not really being wonderful enough to be retired completely. So, the first to retire fully were the ponies, bless them, which left us with the space to experiment at little.
This year we’ve been concentrating on what there is already here, gleening all and everything that we can use. The rose hips being the latest.
The one problem I always have is that I spend so much time making something from what we have – Apple Jelly for instance, I forget that I still have to run the business – albeit as semi retired – and I find I’m working a full day making stuff!
Maggie
I found your amazing site after looking for a recipe for hedgerow jelly a few weeks ago. I’ve made this, quince jelly plus apple jelly from your site. Unfortunately my attempt at apple & chili jelly turned into toffee when I answered the telephone in the midst of jelly making. Quite delicious though. I will be attempting your recipe for membrillo in the next few days. I hadn’t made jams or jellies for years, but got back into it for fundraising for a local animal charity and it is amazing how much satisfying it is to see the filled jars glistening like jewels.
Everywhere I go now, I am looking for fruits to forage. Does anyone know what this is http://www.flickr.com/photos/54689013@N08/5146301568/ It’s about the same size as a large marble, has a soft yellow centre and no stone.
I think this may be arbutus unedo, the strawberry tree.Not edible as far as I know, bue lovely in arrangements and the birds like them
Found you as I was searching for advice on plucking ducks, just been given my first one and only have experience of pheasant & partridge, I guess the principle is the same?! We grown veg & herbs, make jellies jams & Sloe gin and are longing to move back into village life if only the property market would pick up. I think we will visiting this site for ideas in the future, keep up the good work!
Hi Juliette and everyone, I have a large old Strawberry Tree,it is absolutely beautiful and the fruit on my tree are edible and delicious, they have a subtle strawberry fragrance and flavour when ripe. Small birds and possums seem to like them. Will post a pic later today.
Hi there humans and min pins! I also found you website by a lucky accident and have spent the happiest of mornings lost in cottage smallholder land! A true treasure trove of anecdotes and wisdom, it struck a chord with me as someone who is also approaching retirement and wanting to live better and more simply – odddly enough I am mid way through John Harrison’s excellent “low cost living” which I see you have written about very recently. Love how you have charted your life and adventures (and misadventures!) here and look forward to hearing much much more about you all XX
Hi Sue
Thank you for such a heartening comment. Every teeny step seems to make a huge difference as our values have gradually changed too. Delighted that you are enjoying the site.
Love the site, am going to make cranberry sauce tomorrow if the snow will let me out to buy a bottle of port! Also enjoyed reading of the experiences of others. Keep up the good work
i love this site too – stumbled across it when looking for recipe for chicken thighs and red onions! thank you so much – have spent all afternoon browsing around – I love it!
Happy New Year everyone! happy growing, harvesting,cooking, preserving and enjoying!
Last year I added jellies and membrillo to my repetoire of jams chutneys and gins.(sloe jelly is divine!) Just about to start on marmalade which will fill those gaps on the shelf left after giving my home made presents. your recipes never disappoint
I have literally stumbled across your website, and it’s fantastic. I quite envy your lifestyle. My dream is(or was to be self sufficient,probably too old now at 54) However I’ve just secured a small allotment, so hope I can at least grow fruit and veg successfully. I’ve already started making my own chutney and pickled onions; using recipes at the moment, however I’m using shop bought ingredients at the moment. I was actually searching the web for a recipe for a sweet lime pickle, but can’t find one anywhere. Any ideas, or do you have a recipe for this? I will definately put this site on my favourites, and ‘tune in’ regularly now.
Regards,
Graeme.
Like Graham have just come across your site looking for ways to grow watercress and was fasinated by your recipe for curing bacon, cant wait to try having had quite a few bacon free saturdays living in france
look forward to trawling through the rest of the site.
thanks
bryan
Just came across your website, really good, my family want to start a small holding and are making plans, can’t wait for next blog post
Hi there all
Am soooo excited to have stumbled across this wonderful site.I’m 34 have dreamed of a smallholding all my life but for now my tiny garden,all container,has to suffice. Found you while looking for info on seed sowing and propagators!!
I see there are so many other areas I’m yet to enjoy,jam making and foraging for starters.
I’m actually new to gardening,last June I planted my first seed and now all visitors are amazed when they step through the front gate. My mum calls me Monty Dam.
Thanks again comrades
Hi
Nice to see someone doing good stuff.
I’ve been setting up my own fruit and nut picking and processing blog this year, with my children.
I go under the guise of the Urbane Forager.
http://theurbaneforager.blogspot.com/
Any idea where I might get swing top bottles for my elderflower champagne that needs bottling tonight – Yikes!
Alain
love this site,found it by chance and am just in awe. we have an allotment and it’s great to read what to do with whatever is season.we also forage and living in a city we are amazed at people walking by loads of produce,we can be found on hands and knees picking up the droppped hazel nuts much to the amusement of other pedestrians.will certainly be visiting your site again,a true wealth of knowledge thank you
Just made 7 pounds of runner bean chutney,can’t wait to try it. Also made plum brandy and plum vodka.Roll on xmas so can try it all.Great site,and great recipes. Many thanks.
so happy i stumbled upon this site. don’t know if our place could be called a smallhold, but we also had same thoughts before our retirement. also started early enough and now there’s hens, a veggie plot, fruit trees and berry shrubs. we collect our own water and grow willows for keeping the place warm in winter. cheers and thanks.
You write in the style of Betty Macdonald “the egg and I” book funny ,warm and very helpful to those who want to have a go.Found you by accident!As was out foraging picked heaps of (I now know sloes) made sloe and onion chutney husband refused to try until fruit was confirmed sloes! and loved it
Picked 5 pounds of sloes this afternoon [surprised they were ripe yet] They are now washed and in the freezer until i have bought the gin.Also found loads of small plums, nobody round here seems to pick them. What a waste.
Hello Fiona, like many others, my husband found your charming site while looking for sloe gin recipes. What an inspiration you are! Enjoying browsing your site and will certainly come back for more. xx
“Picked 5lbs of sloes this afternoon” [Mowdrops]
Yet again, another has fallen into the mistake of picking sloes TOO EARLY.
The “best” sloe gin will only be made AFTER the first frost – picking sloes in September and then freezing them is not the same.
They’ll still be there in October and November and will be the better for it (when ‘frosted’ naturally) – take my word for it!
WG.
Hello, just wanted to say i came across your site a couple of days ago … reluctantly i persuaded my partner to spend a few hours yesterday looking for anything we could find in the hedgerows. We now have a fridge and cubourd full of 3 different varieties of apples and probably 6 kilos of pears all found growing wild! Recently our local supermarket was selling apples at nearly £4 a pound so now i feel like we did something worth while…just got to work out how to use them all up! I have never even thought about using things that grow all around me so thanks for the advice on here, now me (and my partner!)cannot wait until next weekend to explore again
Hi, just found your website and it is fantastic. My daughter and I are trying to find ways of raising money for one of her twins, he has just been diagnosed with Cerebal Palsy and we are doing everything we can to raise the money to send him to St Louis so that he will be able to walk independantly and keep up with his brother.
We are learning fast how to make jams, marmalades, chutneys etc to sell on to friends and at craft fairs. You site has helped us enormously. My grandsons website is http://www.aidensfootsteps.co.uk if you want to check it out.
Thanks again and have saved your website to my favourites so will be a regular, thanks.
What a wealth of information and a lovely read to boot. I have just blogged about discovering the joys of foraging and my first efforts at turning my plunder into something more edible. My blog seems to going down well with the Mummy readers on Britmums site too. Wishing you all the best for the future x http://britishmummybloggers.ning.com/profiles/blogs/we-ve-discovered-a-new-hobby
I stumbled onto your site while searching for a recipe to accommodate the bucket or so of green grapes a friend gave us. Thanks for the info.
I was delighted to read a little bit about your expeiences so far as they quite closely resemble ours(husband Calum & I) except that we are striving for a level of self sufficiency on a small island just east of Halifax, Nova Scotia. Our climate and terrain are much more rugged than I imagine yours to be. Not ideal in many ways but as we subscribe to the Permaculture principle of seeing not the problems but the creative solutions we are enjoying (most of) the challenges. At this point we have various heritage poultry breeds and fairly extensive veggie gardens. The next step seems to be goats. Stay tuned! And yes, hope you’re feeling better. Jenni
Hi Fiona and Danny what a great site you have I was looking for an article about watercress and did a search and found your site 4 hours later I am still reading about the chickens ducks dogs and bees lol. I am an expat living in Azerbaijan and have a small holding in the south in a place called Lankeran. As it is semi tropical there growing things could not be easier and this year after clearing the land of blackberries (several pounds of jam made) We planted clover and had three cuttings from it. We did have several goats but with winter being rather wet and the chance of snow they were sold. We’ll get more in the spring. Love the recipes and will be trying a few on my Azeri friends you keep telling me to open a restaurant, I’ll pass on a few of my favorite Azer dishes that you may like. And a local delicacy called Lavengie which is made from walnuts and prunes that makes a great chicken and fish stuffing.
It’s 5a.m, been up for hours as my daughter poorly with gastroenteritis and she is pregnant, wanted advice that’s why I’m on computer at this silly time. Found the advice I needed and thought I would look for a chicken soup recipe to try and tempt her when she feels up to eating again.Clicked on your page and hey presto! found just what I am looking for. Thankyou so much. Have added you to my bookmarks and when I am not so tired, I will definitely be looking again. Many thanks and good luck to you.
Fiona ! Just found your site from Google as I was looking for a dark Oxford Marmalade recipe. We bought some at a country market while on a weekend away and alas it is all gone! We only got one jar.
Living in South Australia, my 61 y.o. partner (originally from Trumpington, been in Australia 40 years plus) has hankerings for such things – which can be hard to find here.
It will be some time before we can get away to the same place again and stock up, so, with Christmas holidays coming up for me, I should be able to face the ordeal of watching the pot. Hence looking for recipe – now to source some Seville oranges !
Many thanks for sharing your wisdom and information on this site, I am reading in my tea breaks at work.