The Cottage Smallholder


stumbling self sufficiency in a small space


Rats in the chicken run

Posted in Chickens, Guinea Fowl | 16 comments

Rats in the chicken run

The rats are back. The harvests are in and they are looking for a decent source of food and water for the winter. What better than a spacious run with layers’ pellets, fresh vegetable scraps in the morning, and the possibility of bagging two plump one month old chicks. Mice are around all year but rats are generally seasonal visitors in our run. “Let’s winter at that cosy cottage down the village,” must be the Rat Master’s cry when the threshers arrive to harvest the corn. “Yes, but after our annual sojourn in the grain store,...

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The slow cooker chef: comforting low fat cottage pie recipe

Posted in Beef and Steak and Veal, Leftovers, Savoury Pies | 10 comments

The slow cooker chef: comforting low fat cottage pie recipe

During a cold snap a few weeks ago I had a longing for a really good Cottage Pie. So I made a version of this dish in the slow cooker (crock pot). Adding vegetables from our garden – the cottage kitchen smelt wonderful for hours. The slow cooker is a great way of cutting the fat content of a dish as the meat doesn’t have to be browned in oil, or the onions fried. When the filling was cooked, I strained off the juices and put the bowl in the refrigerator. The fat was easily removed a couple of hours later. The dish was delicious but the...

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Best Runner Beans Tips And Secrets

Posted in Vegetables | 5 comments

Best Runner Beans Tips And Secrets

I went down to get some unseasoned logs from the bottom of the garden at dusk. These keep the fire damped down well in the wood burner once it has got going and has produced a good thick layer of hot embers. Through the gloom I spotted that there was a final flush of runner beans hanging on the canes. A week ago, I’d been willing the doll-sized beans to grow. But, getting back after dark, I hadn’t visited the kitchen garden for a while and had forgotten all about them. Now we have a final sizeable harvest. Enough to freeze for Christmas...

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How to save money in 2008: September review.

Posted in Save Money | 9 comments

How to save money in 2008: September review.

I’ve always been touched by those wonderful tombs in churches and cathedrals all over England. The wealthy couple lie formally side by side, uncomfortably on their backs. At their feet, one or two little dogs lie for warmth and company. After a brief glance at the faces of the couple it‘s always the dogs that draw my attention. Quite often these dogs have clearly inspired the sculptor. They are full of life – perhaps they had dogs of their own that dived under the covers and warmed them on a freezing night. Our resolution not...

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Spam

Posted in Cottage tales | 4 comments

Spam

“Danny are you awake?” “Sort of.” “There’s just a blank screen when I try and log onto the site. I can still get in through the backdoor but there are hundreds of spam comments waiting in moderation.” A lifesaver at heart D was at his computer within seconds. Someone had hacked into the site and switched off the spam filter and managed to damage the theme too. So this is why there was just a white screen for nine hours last night. We have an excellent spam filter that generally stops an average of a hundred plus spam comments a...

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